Sun Intros Eight-Core Processor

By Jessica Davis -- Electronic News, 11/14/2005

Sun Microsystems has introduced a multi-threaded, low-power processor that uses half the energy of Intel Xeon or IBM processors.

The device, previously code-named Niagra, offers “unparalleled transactional throughput and is designed to save customers millions of dollars on skyrocketing datacenter power, cooling and space costs,” the company said, in a statement.  Intel Xeon and IBM processors typically use 150 Watts, while Niagra uses only 70, Sun said.

“Think of it as a 32 way system on a server,” said Scott McNealy, CEO, at the company’s roll out event in San Francisco.  “It burns up to 70 Watts, approximately 2 Watts per thread. That compares to 50 to 70 Watts per thread compared to our competitors.

What customers are fired up about is performance improvement,” McNealy said. “All the sudden you get a whole bunch of tasks happening in parallel.  But they will also get an energy savings that is significant. We are pretty excited about it. This chip burns less than a common light bulb.”

The UltraSparc T1 processor introduced today features Sparc-based “CoolThreads” technology and eight cores--each with four threads--for a total of 32 threads that work simultaneously so many tasks are performed in parallel. The chip, manufactured using 90 nanometer process technology, saves energy while increasing system throughput and uses Sun's CMT processor architecture to keep pace with the multi-threaded application environment of the Internet.

"It's time the technology industry took a stand - tripling your datacenter performance shouldn't mean tripling your power bill and needing more coal fired power plants," said Jonathan Schwartz, president and COO, in a statement.

"It's becoming more obvious by the day that extreme efficiency is good for the environment, and good for business - there are proofpoints everywhere, from hybrid auto companies that can't keep up with demand to fuel efficient aircraft dominating the marketplace,” he said. “Customers want this same Eco-responsibility in their datacenters. Our UltraSparc T1 systems deliver radical performance improvement, without the sticker shock of energy costs associated with IBM's Power-based systems."