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Researchers create ultra-fast '1,000 core' processor, Intel also toys with the idea
We've already seen field programmable gate arrays (or FPGAs) used to create energy efficient supercomputers, but a team of researchers at the University of Glasgow led by Dr. Wim Vanderbauwhede now say that they have "effectively" created a 1,000 core processor based on the technology. To do that, the researchers divvied up the millions of transistors in the FPGA into 1,000 mini-circuits that are each able to process their own instructions -- which, while still a proof of concept, has already proven to be about twenty times faster than "modern computers" in some early tests. Interestingly, Intel has also been musing about the idea of a 1,000 core processor recently, with Timothy Mattson of the company's Microprocessor Technology Laboratory saying that such a processor is "feasible." He's referring to Intel's Single-chip Cloud Computer (or SCC, pictured here), which currently packs a whopping 48 cores, but could "theoretically" scale up to 1,000 cores. He does note, however, that there are a number of other complicating factors that could limit the number of cores that are actually useful -- namely, Amdahl's law (see below) -- but he says that Intel is "looking very hard at a range of applications that may indeed require that many cores." [Thanks, Andrew]
Intel's 48-core processor destined for science, ships to universities soon
If you've been hankering to get your hands on that stamp-sized 48-core processor Intel introduced last year, you'd better brush off your doctorate -- the chipmaker says it will send samples of the CPU to researchers and academic institutions by the end of Q2. Clocked between 1.66GHz and 1.83GHz like Intel's Atom netbook chips, the 48 cores won't boost your framerates in Crysis -- rather, they're intended for linear algebra, fluid dynamics and server work -- but what we wouldn't give to try. Oh well -- suppose we'll just have to make do with puny 8- and 12-core chips for now.
Intel crams 48 cores onto stamp-sized processor, wants to do what Cell did
Just when we thought Intel's yet-to-release six-core Core i9 would be the future, the silicon giant drops the bomb yet again with more multi-core madness -- the experimental 48-core Single-chip Cloud Computer (SCC), a.k.a. Rock Creek. While it looks like Intel still has a long way from their 80-core target in 2011, this bad boy packs an impressive 1.3 billion transistors on a 45nm fabrication, but sucks up just 125 watts which is a far cry from Core i9's 130 watts. Intel's stated that their main goal is to use SCC's parallel computation -- a field where high clock speed isn't necessary -- to enhance gesture control. Sounds familiar? Yes, it was Toshiba's SpursEngine, but there's no harm in having a new contender for the challenge. You go, girl!
