Extreme Processors from Intel: Pentium 4 with 2MB L3 Cache and Dual-Core Xeon CPU

by Anton Shilov
09/16/2003 | 04:59 PM

During today’s Intel Developer Forum Fall 2003 Intel discussed a couple of its extremely innovative and powerful microprocessors that will come in short- and long-terms. As you probably understood, I talk about the soon-to-come Intel Pentium 4 processor with 2MB of L3 cache as well as dual-core Intel Xeon processor coming in 2005.

In order to answer AMD Athlon 64 FX processors with a 32-bit processor boasting with ultimate performance, Intel will launch its Pentium 4 Extreme Edition processor for hardcore gamers and PC enthusiasts. The processor will feature 800MHz Quad Pumped Bus, 3.20GHz clock-speed and the Hyper-Threading technology. But the main weapon of this incredible CPU will be its 2MB of L3 cache in addition to “Gallatin” core with a bit different micro architecture. its 512KB of L2 cache! The processor will consist of 108 million of transistors, nearly doubled figure from the original Northwood core. As our Intel sources suggest, the Pentium 4 Extreme Edition are based on Xeon

The chip will hardly give a huge performance advantage over the current Intel Pentium 4 3.20GHz with 512KB of L2 for all applications, but those, which are dependent on PSB or CPU caches will certainly benefit from the large L3 cache of the Intel Pentium 4 Extreme Edition processor.

You will find some more information about the chip itself as well as its availability details in our second part of IDF coverage concerning Intel Pentium 4 Extreme Edition.

In the long-term future Intel will release another extreme CPU, but this time for the enterprise markets. The dual-core chip currently known as Tulsa will emerge in about two year’s time. This will be the first Xeon and also the first IA32 microprocessor with two cores. Thanks to the Hyper-Threading technology, the chip will be able to handle four or even eight threads at once, competing with solutions from other server chipmakers. The Intel Xeon "Tulsa" processor will also open the door into the multi-threaded era for relatively cost-effective applications.

You may learn some additional facts about Tulsa and other server CPUs in our Intel Developer Forum Day 1 Coverage.