Sun's Niagara 2 is 'world's fastest multi-core chip'

It's been a long time coming but it's finally here: Sun's brand-spanking-new UltraSPARC T2 (a.k.a. "Niagara 2") chip launches this week and the company is calling it "the world's fastest multi-core commodity chip." Clocking in at 1.4Ghz, the 8-core chip boasts a whopping 64 threads, eight lanes of PCI Express I/O and four memory controllers. Sun claims that the Niagara 2 will boost server performance to previously unseen levels, as has been demonstrated in a "pair of record-setting SPEC benchmark results." In addition to blazing-fast number crunching, the Niagara 2 is designed to be more energy-efficient than rival chips, adding that extra bit of value for treehuggers and budget-conscious IT managers everywhere. Though no formal announcement has been made yet regarding servers, Sun is expected to launch Niagara 2-based 1U and 2U boxes, as well as a new Niagara 2-based T6300 blade server, later this year.

For more on Niagara 2:
- see this article from the Register