Six-core chips from Intel, AMD to debut soon

The coming weeks and months will see the launch of new six-core processors from both Intel and AMD. Indeed, the official roll-out of Intel's new 6-core "Westmere" processors is expected to take place later this month. While not the first 6-core chip to be introduced from Intel, the Core i7-980X is aimed at dual-socket platforms and is distinguished from the earlier 6-core Extreme Edition chips based on its fabrication using advanced 32-nanometer process technology.

Unlike earlier Core 2 processors though, the new chips comes with Hyper-Threading to effectively double the number of threads that can be executed per core. Preliminary pricing pegs the processor at just over $1,000 and is shown to run at 3.33GHz and with 12MB of built-in cache memory.

Not to be outdone, AMD announced on Tuesday that its first six-core processor designed for desktops--the Phenom II X6--will ship in Q2 this year. Specifics such as speed and size of its cache are not available though. With regards to the possible usage of these processors, at least one analyst thinks that the processing capabilities of six-core chips are meaningful only for a very small segment of the market that requires immense processing power.

Jim McGregor, chief technology strategist at In-Stat noted, "Does it mean something for the average consumer? No. Would it be absolute overkill? Yes." McGregor gave his opinion that dual and quad-core systems are "adequate" for most average consumers.

For more on this story:
- check out this article at CNET News
- check out this article at HPCwire
- check out this article at Network World

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