Intel plays Kentsfield and Clovertown

By Stan Beer
Tuesday, 14 November 2006 15:44

Home IT

In one of the busiest years in its long history of innovation, Intel has launched its much anticipated quad-core processors, code named Kentsfield and Clovertown, aimed at the gamer and server markets. The launched has thrown out the challenge to upstart rival AMD which has yet to reply.

The Clovertown Xeon 5300 series is aimed at the server market, while the Kentsfield Core 2 Extreme is aimed at the gamer sector and high-end graphics user.

The early release of its quad-core range has thrown down the gauntlet to AMD, which has taken significant market share off Intel over the past two years, getting into markets that Intel once held exclusively. AMD has tried to pour scorn on Intel's new quad-core architecture, describing it as nothing more than two dual-core processors sticky-taped together because the chips are comprised of two dual-core processors.

However, Intel's new quad-core processor range display significant performance and power consumption advantages over their dual-core brethren and, as Intel CEO Paul Otellini has indicated, consumers don't care what's under the hood. All they care about is the results.

AMD which plans to release a quad-core processor on a single die in mid 2007, is planning to release its own "sticky-taped" quad-core solution called the 4x4 which, like the new Intel quad-core range will require two sockets, lending credence to Paul Otellini's sentiments.

Then thing that is still not clear, however, is whether Intel's latest efforts in releasing a veritable smorgasbord of new technology has managed to arrest the slide in market share to the benefit of AMD. If the success of the Core 2 Duo chip is anything to go by, the next quarter's results of both companies should be interesting.