New Dual-Core Intel(R) Itanium(R) 2 Processor Doubles Performance, Reduces Power Consumption; Aggressive Growth in Itanium Hardware and Software Solutions Deliver Mission Critical Computing Freedom

The flagship 9050 model features two complete processing cores andnearly triples the cache or memory reservoir versus Intel's previousgeneration. It also can execute four instructions or threads perprocessor enhanced by Intel's Hyper-Threading technology.

The new Dual-Core Itanium 2 processors represent the world's mostintricate product design to date with more than 1.7 billiontransistors. This allows Intel designers to deliver new features tothe Itanium processor family that create robust virtualizationcapabilities, enhanced cache reliability and other mainframe-likecapabilities.

Unlike products from the remaining RISC vendors, the Dual-CoreIntel Itanium 2 Processor 9000 series offers end-user freedom througha broad choice of software with more than 8,000 applications inproduction. Itanium processor-based servers and high-performancecomputing (HPC) systems are unique in the industry. They providemission critical support for Windows*, Linux*, UNIX* and otheroperating systems as well as new migration tools off of proprietaryservers and mainframes -- delivering unbeatable flexibility and aconfident adoption path for IT managers to migrate to astandards-based architecture.

The Dual-Core Intel Itanium 2 processor 9000 series deliversperformance at a system scale unmatched by competing RISCarchitectures. It set world record results in several key serverbenchmarks including a score of 4230 SPEC_int_rate_base_2000(1),nearly triple the previous record.

"Intel remains focused on removing the proprietary shackles thatremain in the high-end of the server market segment, and withDual-Core Itanium 2 processors we are delivering unprecedented ITfreedom with a product that excels in performance, reliability andimproved energy efficiency," said Pat Gelsinger, senior vice presidentand general manager, Intel's Digital Enterprise Group. "The broadsystem and software support for Itanium 2 processors enables CIOs tomove away from aging and expensive legacy systems and instead directthose funds toward standard-based computing and business innovation.

"In virtually all areas, momentum for Itanium-based systems isgrowing. More applications were added during the first half this yearthan were available in 2003 and more than 70 percent of the top Global100 companies are choosing Itanium technology. In addition, theItanium Solutions Alliance has committed $10 billion of hardwaresupport through 2010 to the architecture."

Dual-core Itanium 2-based systems target the most computeintensive areas, such as business analytics, large data warehouses andHPC areas. This is increasingly important as companies continue tostrive for real-time decision making based on increasingly largeamounts of data; and scientists, engineers and researchers seek tosolve medical, climatic and other challenges through the use ofcomputing power. The Itanium 2 processor's EPIC architecture designprovides high levels of parallelism and computational capabilities,driving greater efficiency into analytics applications and businessintelligence software.

"Microsoft Windows Server 2003* and Microsoft SQL Server 2005*on the new dual-core, multi-threaded Itanium 2 processor will provideexceptional performance, scalability and reliability to enterprisecustomers with database workloads and line of business applications,"said Bob Muglia, senior vice president of the Server and ToolsBusiness at Microsoft. "Microsoft is resolute in its support of theItanium architecture, today and in the future."

Intel Itanium 2 Virtualization Technology

Intel Virtualization Technology (VT) is built into Itanium 2processors to enhance support for OEM and industry virtual machinemonitors (VMMs). The built-in scalability, performance and industryleading reliability capabilities of Itanium 2-based servers provide anoutstanding platform for consolidating proprietary solutions ontoindustry standards-based servers. Virtualization can help lower thetotal cost of ownership by assisting with the migration andconsolidation of different software applications from proprietaryplatforms to industry standard hardware and operating systems.

Supporting the Dual-Core Intel Itanium 2 processor 9000 series aretwo rack-optimized Intel server systems: SR870BH2 and SR870BN4. Theseserver systems provide the optimum performance, reliability andexpandability that scalable business solutions and mission-criticalapplications demand and are available today to OEMs and systemsintegrators for enterprise and high-performance computing.

Pricing and availability

Intel dual- and single-core Itanium 2 processors are shippingtoday with systems coming available in late August and growingthroughout the year.

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Dual-Core Itanium 2 processor 9050 1.6GHz 24M 533/400 MHz $3692
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Dual-Core Itanium 2 processor 9040 1.6GHz 18M 533/400 MHz $1980
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Dual-Core Itanium 2 processor 9030 1.6GHz 8M 533/400 MHz $1552
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Dual-Core Itanium 2 processor 9020 1.42GHz 12M 533/400 MHz $ 910
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Dual-Core Itanium 2 processor 9015 1.4GHz 12M 400 MHz $ 749
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Itanium 2 processor (single core) 9010 1.6GHz 6M 533/400 MHz $ 696
----------------------------------------------------------------------

About Intel

Intel, the world leader in silicon innovation, developstechnologies, products and initiatives to continually advance howpeople work and live. Additional information about Intel is availableat www.intel.com/pressroom.

Intel, the Intel logo and Itanium 2 are trademarks or registeredtrademarks of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries in the UnitedStates and other countries. *Other names and brands may be claimedas the property of others.

(1): result published on www.spec.org

Performance tests and ratings are measured using specific computersystems and/or components and reflect the approximate performance ofIntel products as measured by those tests. Any difference in systemhardware or software design or configuration may affect actualperformance. Buyers should consult other sources of information toevaluate the performance of systems or components they are consideringpurchasing. For more information on performance tests and on theperformance of Intel products, visithttp://www.intel.com/performance/resources/limits.htm or call (U.S.)1-800-628-8686 or 1-916-356-3104.

Copyright (C) 2006, Intel Corporation. *Other names and brandsmay be claimed as the property of others.

Configuration details: Performance Claim: Based on SPECpublication (SPECint_rate_base_2000)

Source www.spec.org : Itanium(R) 2 processor results of 4230 onSGI Altix 4700 system, using 128 Itanium(R) 2 processors (128processors, 256 Cores), 1.6GHz with 24MB L3 cache, 512GB memory, SGIProPACK 4 SP3 OS, published on 18th July'2006. IBM Corporation haspublished highest result of 1063 on IBM eServer p5 595 (1900 MHz, 64CPU), 64 cores, 32 chips, 2 cores/chip (SMT on), 256 GB memory and onOS AIX 5L V5.3, published in Oct'2004. Sun Microsystems has publisheda result of 1213 on Sun Fire E25K (72 processor), 144 cores, 72 chips,2 cores/chip, UltraSPARC IV+, 1.5Ghz, 288 GB memory, on Solaris 10 andresult published in Dec'2005.