In a bold and presumably calculated statement, Sun Microsystems has proclaimed that its newfangled Niagara 2 is "the world's fastest multi-core commodity chip." Clocking in at 1.4GHz, this eight-core chip also boasts 64 threads, eight lanes of PCI Express I/O, and four memory controllers, all of which will supposedly boost server performance beyond anything we're currently seeing. Reportedly, the aforementioned claim was based on a "pair of record-setting SPEC benchmark results," but we still think that's a bit dodgy to base such a remark on. Nevertheless, Sun is suggesting that this CPU will "consume less power and do more work per clock tick than its rivals," and isn't shying away from taking on the likes of Intel, IBM, and AMD. Eh, we'll stick with our 8.18GHz Pentium 4.

[Via The Register]

Intel doesn't seem to be content with its recent performance and market share wins over AMD, it's really going for the kill here. The chip giant just snapped up another partner in x86 crime: Sun Microsystems. Sun and Intel are announcing a "broad strategic alliance" today to promote Intel Xeon workstations and servers running the Solaris OS. Sun and AMD have been buddy buddy for a little while now, with AMD64 chips being heavily promoted with Solaris as of late, but it looks like those Intel roadmaps and market share promises were just too good to pass up. On Sun's end, Solaris will be optimised up for upcoming single, dual and quad processor Xeon systems that can run Solaris, Windows and Linux, which are due for 2007. Sun will also be working with Intel on "4-way systems," but doesn't seem to be doing away with its current SPARC and X64 offerings just yet. For Intel's part, the chip maker "is embracing Solaris as a mainstream OS," and is joining in a Solaris OEM agreement to allow Intel the option to distribute and support the Solaris OS. Intel will also lend a hand optimizing Solaris and Java for Xeon, and is putting its stamp of approval on OpenSolaris, open Java and NetBeans as well. The two companies "anticipate rapid growth of Solaris on Xeon platforms," but with a mere 4200 apps on "800+ platforms," there sure seems to be a lot of room to grow for Sun.