Intel’s six- and eight-core processors are the fastest chips that consumers can get their hands on. But if you are among the research elite, the company has a new experimental chip that can offer nearly 20 times the computing power.
Intel showed an 48-core processor nicknamed the “single-chip cloud computer” that consumes about the same power as desktop processors available currently. The fully programmable 48 processing cores are the most Intel has ever had on a single silicon chip, says the company.
“This is a high core count processor that focuses on efficient energy consumption,” says Justin Rattner, chief technology officer of Intel. “It also maintains the compatibility and familiarity that people have with Intel architecture.”
The chip can operate on as little as 25 watts- or at 125 watts when running at maximum performance - same as the energy consumption of two household light bulbs, says Intel.
The 48-core processor, created using 45-nanometer technology, won’t be available in desktops for at least a few years. Instead, about 100 or more of the experimental chips will be provided for hands-on research in developing new software applications and programming models to select partners.
As chipmakers try to build more powerful processors, they have been packing more cores into a single chip. Last year, Intel showed a prototype of a 80-core processor. Earlier this year, Tilera, a startup spun out of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, promised a 100-core processor. The processor would be fabricated using 40-nanometer technology and available early next year, said Tilera.
Intel’s 48-core processor has some advantages over its rivals. It can run standard programs designed for Intel’s x86 architecture and developers can use the same kind of programming tools that they use for processors with fewer cores available currently. Compare to high-performance GPU computing arrays that require programmers to learn new techniques and development environments.
“This is an array of general purpose cores, which is quite a bit different from how the GPU guys do it,” says Rattner. “Our 48-core processor will run standard software.”
