A new era in computer architecture
Have you ever waited impatiently for your PC to complete a compute-intensive task? Well those long waits are now a thing of the past. In 2005, Intel ushered in a new era of processor architecture by releasing our first dual-core processor. Dual-core processors are the first step in the transition to multi-core computing. Intel is already conducting research on architectures that could hold dozens or even hundreds of processors on a single die. So what exactly is multi-core?
Intel® multi-core architecture has a single Intel processor package that contains two or more processor "execution cores," or computational engines, and delivers—with appropriate software—fully parallel execution of multiple software threads. The operating system (OS) perceives each of its execution cores as a discrete processor, with all the associated execution resources.
Multi-core processor capability is central to Intel's platform approach. By enabling energy-efficient performance and more-efficient simultaneous processing of multiple tasks, multi-core processors promise to improve user experiences in both home and business environments. Learn more about the benefits of Intel® multi-core processors and technologies.
Multi-Core is the future of computing
Intel has more than 15 multi-core related projects underway and plans to increase our software and solutions enabling product lines, tools, investment and programs to further spur design and validation. In addition, we bring other unique capabilities and assets including our premier collection of technologies and world-class manufacturing capabilities.
Intel has created a group of advanced technologies, embedded into microprocessor and platform silicon, that are designed to expand user-centric capabilities on the platform. We call these technologies the "*T's" (star T's). The *T's represent an evolution in the way computer platforms are designed and used and deliver end-user benefits to platforms in all segments, providing features that enhance security, multitasking, mobility, manageability, reliability, flexibility, performance, and more.
Intel also has second-to-none manufacturing process technology (including new 65nm silicon technology) and capacity which translates into the unique capability to drive multi-core processor manufacturing in volume throughout each of our product segments. We forecast that more than 85 percent of our server processors and more than 70 percent of our mobile and desktop Pentium® family processor shipments will be multi-core–based by the end of 2006.
Intel continues to see the need for increasing compute capability and believes that performance requirements will continue to escalate over time to tera-scale computing. And, the capabilities that users expect of PCs are certain to change as dramatically as they have in the past 10 years.
As new workload and usage models migrate to mainstream computing, future computing platforms—and the people using them—will require greater performance, lower power density, and greatly expanded functionality, as well as much more realistic and natural ways to interact with computing platforms. Intel® platforms will help address these near and long-term demands with our research, development and production efforts, and deliver greater benefits along with a whole new type of value proposition. And multi-core processing from Intel is only the beginning.
