Intel will today make its Itanium 2 a candidate for inclusion in low-cost, dual-processor servers with the release of new versions of the processor.
Formerly known by its Madison DP codename, the 1.4GHz chip has a 1.5MB cache and is aimed at dual-processor configurations for use in technical computing, web servers and other front-end server tasks and clusters.
A low-voltage version of the same product, codenamed Deerfield, with 1GHz clock speed, operating at 62 watts and aimed at higher-density environments is also available.
At $744 per part, the new chips also create a new price point for Itanium, with chips ducking the $1,000 barrier for the first time. Fully configured systems will cost from less than £5,000 and both chips could also be used for workstation designs.
The pricing seems to have been enough to snare top-line IT system makers, including IBM and Dell, which will make its PowerEdge 3250 immediately available. HP and NEC are releasing workstations and servers based on the new chips. "We're broadening the appeal of Itanium, particularly for tasks such as in-memory Internet cacheing and DNS lookups," said Intel's Chris Hogg.
Although Itanium chips have sold in modest numbers so far, Intel said a further six Itanium chips are under development and raw processing performance will improve by a factor of 10 over the next three years or so.
Next year, Intel plans to release an Itanium 2 with 9MB cache at speeds from 1.5GHz and in 2005 the first dual-core Itanium chips will arrive.
