| Intel
has announced that it has begun initial commercial shipments
of 64-bit Itanium 2 processors and that systems and software
based on the new processors are expected to be available beginning
this quarter. Over the next year, a broad base of original equipment
manufacturers (OEMs) are expected to offer a range of server
and workstation models with support from leading enterprise
software and operating system vendors, the company said.
Avtar Saini, director-South Asia for Intel said, “With
the processor’s performance, enterprise-class capabilities
and industry support, 2002 will be the year the Itanium processor
family makes real headway toward becoming the platform of choice
in high-end data centre computing.”
The Itanium 2 processor is socket-compatible with two future
generations of Itanium family processors to allow them to
be easily swapped into existing Itanium 2-based systems. This
extends the value and longevity of OEM and customer investments
in Itanium 2-based platforms. In addition, Intel has five
future Itanium processor family products in development, with
designs already underway that reach into the second half of
the decade.
Itanium 2 processors will feature 3 MB and 1.5 MB of integrated
L3 cache and 1 GHz and 900 MHz frequency speeds at prices
ranging from $1,338 to $4,226.
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