Intel launches dual-core Itanium "Montecito"

Better late than never: After a number of delays, Intel's first dual-core Itanium processor, code-named "Montecito" is finally available. Originally planned for Q2 of 2006, the processor slipped into Q3. Intel also scrapped a 667 MHz FSB - the chip is ava

Better late than never : After a number of delays, Intel’s first dual-core Itanium processor, code-named "Montecito" is finally available. Originally planned for Q2 of 2006, the processor slipped into Q3. Intel also scrapped a 667 MHz FSB - the chip is ava

Die shot of Montecito: The CPU contains a whopping 1.7 billion transistors. There are five different models with clock speeds ranging from 1.4 to 1.6 GHz and L3 cache sizes between 8 and 24 MB.

Die shot of Montecito : The CPU contains a whopping 1.7 billion transistors. There are five different models with clock speeds ranging from 1.4 to 1.6 GHz and L3 cache sizes between 8 and 24 MB.

Montecito has been touring trade shows and especially Intel's Developer Forum display for the past two years. About a year ago, Intel announced that Montecito will deliver twice the performance and up to three times the system bandwidth of the preceding I

Montecito has been touring trade shows and especially Intel’s Developer Forum display for the past two years. About a year ago, Intel announced that Montecito will deliver twice the performance and up to three times the system bandwidth of the preceding I

Montecito's ancestors: The first Itanium processor, code-named "Merced" (right) was built in a 180 nm process and shipped first in June of 2001 with speeds of 733 and 800 MHz and L3 cache sizes of 2 and 4 MB. "McKinley" (left) succeeded Merced as first It

Montecito’s ancestors : The first Itanium processor, code-named "Merced" (right) was built in a 180 nm process and shipped first in June of 2001 with speeds of 733 and 800 MHz and L3 cache sizes of 2 and 4 MB. "McKinley" (left) succeeded Merced as first It

McKinley, the original Itanium 2 processor, was criticized for its poor 32-bit performance, just like its predecessor. While 64-bit performance (IA-64) made a substantial jump, 32-bit applications ran slower than on most of Intel's consumer processors ava

McKinley, the original Itanium 2 processor, was criticized for its poor 32-bit performance, just like its predecessor. While 64-bit performance (IA-64) made a substantial jump, 32-bit applications ran slower than on most of Intel’s consumer processors ava

A wafer of single-core Itanium 2 (Madison) processors.

A wafer of single-core Itanium 2 (Madison) processors.

Itanium still trails the market in terms of sales and Intel still has to heavily invest to generate interest for its processor. Most significantly, the "Itanium Solutions Alliance" recently said that it would invest $10 billion in hardware support through

Itanium still trails the market in terms of sales and Intel still has to heavily invest to generate interest for its processor. Most significantly, the "Itanium Solutions Alliance" recently said that it would invest $10 billion in hardware support through

Probably the most prestigeous Itanium system built to date: The "Columbia" supercomputer, unveiled in October 2004, at NASA's Ames Research Center at Moffett Field in Silicon Valley, runs on 20 SGI Altix systems with 512 processors each. With a total of 1

Probably the most prestigeous Itanium system built to date : The "Columbia" supercomputer, unveiled in October 2004, at NASA’s Ames Research Center at Moffett Field in Silicon Valley, runs on 20 SGI Altix systems with 512 processors each. With a total of 1

The new dual-core Itanium 2 is available from $749 - which buys a 1.4 GHz/12 MB/FSB400 model. Roughly five times the price of the entry level model ($3692) gets you a 1.6 GHz model that not only offers a FSB533 option and twice the L3 cache, but also is H

The new dual-core Itanium 2 is available from $749 - which buys a 1.4 GHz/12 MB/FSB400 model. Roughly five times the price of the entry level model ($3692) gets you a 1.6 GHz model that not only offers a FSB533 option and twice the L3 cache, but also is H

For power-conscious Itanium buyers, there is a single-core Montecito processor that runs at 1.6 GHz and comes with 6 MB of L3 cache and FSB400/533: Intel says the 9010 won't consume more than 75 watts. Price: $696. With the introduction of the new Itaniu

For power-conscious Itanium buyers, there is a single-core Montecito processor that runs at 1.6 GHz and comes with 6 MB of L3 cache and FSB400/533 : Intel says the 9010 won’t consume more than 75 watts. Price : $696. With the introduction of the new Itaniu