Intel’s Hyper-Threading Technology

1 October 2004

Intel’s Hyper-Threading Technology Surpasses 50 Million Mark In Just Over Two Years

Intel Corporation has shipped more than 50 million of its desktop, server and mobile processors with Hyper-Threading (HT) Technology since its inception two years ago.

“We created Hyper-Threading technology with two main objectives in mind,” said Louis Burns, Intel vice president and general manager of the Desktop Platforms Group. “The first was to provide a boost in computing performance beyond clock speed in a platform-centric manner to manage a variety of tasks and commands simultaneously. Secondly, the technology was our initial foray into parallel processing to better prepare the industry for the inevitable move to multi-core processors and computers.”

HT Technology is part of a family of premier Intel silicon technologies that also includes La Grande (security), Vanderpool (virtualisation) and Extended Memory 64 technology (memory addressability), all of which are either available today or under development. Intel plans to deliver more of these platform-centric silicon technologies in the future.

A single Intel processor supporting HT Technology presents itself to newer operating systems and applications as two virtual processors. The processor can work on two sets of tasks simultaneously using resources that otherwise would sit idle, getting more work done in the same amount of time. For example, a home user can play an immersive game while downloading audio or video, compressing or editing photos or designing special effects. In an office environment HT-enabled PCs can run such background applications as continuous virus scanning, encryption or compression simultaneously, all the while minimising disruption and pauses for other business users in the same computing environment.

Performance boosts vary, and can reach up to 25 percent when the computer system has an Intel processor with HT Technology and enabled chipset, BIOS, operating system and application software.

At the recent Intel Developer Forum, the company indicated that virtually all of its 32-bit enterprise platforms were shipping with HT technology. Intel also described several multi- and dual-core projects for the server, desktop and mobile market segments, and said it expects to start shipping dual-core processors in 2005 with volume growing throughout 2006.

The company also plans to have its 65 nanometre manufacturing technology process ready in 2005 with high-volume product shipments in 2006. The new advanced manufacturing process helps to increase the number of transistors squeezed onto a single silicon chip, giving Intel the foundation to deliver future multi-core products and other innovative features inside the company’s silicon products at a lower cost.

Intel, the world’s largest chip maker, is also a leading manufacturer of computer, networking and communications products. Additional information about Intel is available at www.intel.com/pressroom.

ENDS

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