Intel unveils two new Itanium 2s

Intel has announced two new Itanium 2 64-bit processors aimed at the lower end of the price scale.

The first Itanium 2 is a 1.4GHz processor with a 1.5MB cache. Its greatly reduced cache compared with Itanium processors announced in June cuts its cost.

The second processor has a similarly restricted cache but runs more slowly at 1GHz. Its slower speed cuts power use to nearly half that of other Itaniums and reduces heat build-up, allowing more processors per server and smaller hardware because processors can be packed more tightly.

Both processors have been designed to work in dual-processor environments, allowing users to stack processing power for data-intensive applications.

Hewlett Packard is the first Intel partner to announce new servers based on the processors. Its HP Workstation zx2000 includes the new low-voltage Itanium processor, and claims application performance increases of up to 10 per cent.

Earlier this year HP dropped its own AlphaServer processors in favour of Intel architecture.

"The 64-bit architecture and excellent performance of this new platform is key to unlocking the next level of product evolution," said Sue Forkin, director of workstations business for HP Personal Systems Group in the UK.

Prices for the processors are $1,172 for the 1.4 GHz processor and $744 for the low-voltage Itanium, both prices in units of 1,000 or above.