Intel launches Madison

Intel has launched its latest 32- and 64-bit processors for high-end computing, including the latest version of its Itanium 2 chip, code-named Madison. Both Madison and the Xeon MP processor will address the 32- and 64-bit high-end workstation and server markets. 

Speaking at the India launch in Bangalore, Intel India President Ketan Sampath said, "These new processors are highly price competitive and deliver world-class performance. They will strengthen Intel's leadership over competitive enterprise solutions market."

The launch of Itanium 2 marks Intel's latest push into the market for large data center applications. The Xeon MP processor, on the other hand, is targeted at the low-cost, high volume corporate application and small to mid database market. 

According to Intel the 32 bit Xeon processor MP is capable of delivering 10 percent or greater performance over its predecessor and better transaction processing performance than comparable RISC based platforms at half the cost per transaction.

"The new Itanium 2 processor - Madison - can deliver 30-50 percent greater performance than the previous McKinley Itanium 2 processor. It is also compatible with the McKinley," said Intel Asia Electronics' Internet Solutions Group GM, GB Kumar.

The company is also upbeat about Madison’s prospects in the high performance computing (HPC) space. 

"We’ve had a couple of impressive wins in this space. The Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore has a supercomputer machine that is powered by Itanium 2. We have other wins too in this space," added Kumar.

The Itanium 2 processor with 6MB of integrated level three cache at 1.5 GHz is priced at $4226. The Itanium 2 with 4 MB of L3 cache at 1.4 GHz is priced at $2,247. And the Itanium 2 with two processors, 3MB of L3 cache at 1.3 GHz is priced at $1,338.

The Intel Xeon processor MP at 2.8 GHz with 2MB of L3 is priced at $3692. The Intel Xeon MP at 2.5 GHz with 1 MB of L3 cache is priced at $1980 and the Intel Xeon MP at 2.0 GHz with 1 MB of L3 cache costs $1177. Prices are based on per 1,000 units.

TV MAHALINGAM 

BANGALORE