New Itanium processor code named Tukwila is quad-core with 8 threads/core

Intel has launched new version of Itanium server-specific processors code named Tukawila with four processor cores. The highlights of this new server processor family are, eight threads per processor, more cache, up to 800 percent the interconnect bandwidth, up to 500 percent the memory bandwidth, and up to 700 percent the memory capacity using-industry standard DDR3 memory interface.

Itanium is designed to crunch lot more bytes of data compared to present day servers. When the terabyte is becoming norm in desktop computers, the servers must be heading petabytes and beyond. The complex digital data, which also includes high definition audio and video usage both in business and consumers, demands servers to get ready to handle peta-byte range of data.

Itanium has 2 billion transistors. Prevents machine crash by using machine-check architecture to handle errors across hardware, firmware and operating system.

The Itanium 9300 processor feature Intel Virtualization Technology that enables to consolidate multiple environments into single server. Its Intel 7500 chipset can directly assign I/O devices to virtual machines.

"Intel is committed to delivering a new era of mission-critical computing, and we are delighted 80 percent of Global 100 companies have chosen Itanium-based servers for their most demanding workloads," said Kirk Skaugen, vice president Intel Architecture Group and general manager Data Center Group. "Intel is continuing to drive the economics of Moore's Law into mission-critical computing with today's Itanium 9300 processor announcement, more than doubling performance for our customers once again."

"Customers need a flexible technology infrastructure that can efficiently and quickly meet changing mission-critical demands," said Martin Fink, senior vice president and general manager, Business Critical Systems, HP. "Intel's Itanium processor 9300 series, combined with HP Integrity servers, helps customers achieve new levels of scalability and resiliency with advanced virtualization capabilities to meet those needs."

Intel Itanium processors in development today are being designed for socket and binary compatibility with Intel Itanium 9300 processor-based systems and software. They are designed to scale in performance and capacity through component upgrades, without software recompilation.

The power consumption of the chip is automatically altered based on the utilization of the processor to save power.

Price: The Intel Itanium processor 9300 series are priced in the range of $946 to $3,838 for 1K units
Availability: OEM systems are expected to ship within 90 days.