Intel Updates Itanium 2

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At its Intel Developer Forum conference in Taipei this week, Intel plans to update its Itanium 2 processor line.

The company will introduce two new configurations of the chip, designed for dual-processor servers.

A 1.4-GHz version of the processor with 3MB of level 3 cache will be available as of Tuesday, and a faster, 1.6-GHz version with the same amount of cache will be available as of May, the company says in a statement.

Product Plans

A variety of computer vendors including Dell, IBM, and Fujitsu plan to ship systems with the processors, Intel says.

These servers are expected to be faster, and cost approximately 30 percent less than current Itanium dual-processor systems.

Current systems are built with the 1.4-GHz processor that Intel launched last September. That chip contains 1.5MB of cache.

When purchased in 1000-unit quantities, the new 1.4-GHz chip will cost $1172 per processor, while its 1.6-GHz sister processor will cost $2408, Intel says.

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