Intel has introduced a new version of the Pentium 4 processor running at 3.2 GHz, a marginal speed increase on its previous performance high of 3.06 GHz.
In industry standard benchmarks such as SYSmark 2002, PCs based on the Pentium 4 3.2 GHz processor delivered more than three times faster performance than the current installed base of 1 GHz PCs, the company claims. With content creation applications such as Adobe AfterEffects and Discreet 3d StudioMax, the same computers realised over 3.4 times faster performance than the installed base, according to Intel’s desktop platforms group general manager Louis Burns.
"Our latest Pentium 4 Processors with hyperthreading can handle the most demanding computer user's day," Burns says. "These individuals can start their day with a multitasking work environment, move on to encoding home movies to DVD while playing music files, and end their day with the latest multiplayer Internet games."
In other news, more than one-third of the world's supercomputers with Intel processors are now deployed in commercial/business settings, signalling the transition of high performance computing (HPC) from its academic and research origins to mainstream business usage.
The list of the world's 500 most powerful computers, issued today at www.top500.org, also reveals that Intel-based systems on the elite TOP500 list totaled 119, more than double the 56 systems on the list only six months ago, and up dramatically from just three on the list three years ago. Nineteen Itanium-based systems appeared on the list, up from two last time.
In addition, systems with as few as 92 Intel processors are appearing on the list for the first time. These are some of the smallest and most affordable systems to ever make the list, according to Intel Sales and Marketing Group VP John Davies.
"HPC is going mainstream," Davies says. "Businesses like BP, Lockheed Martin and DaimlerChrysler are joining leading academic institutions and research labs in using powerful, standards-based Intel processors and software to tackle the world's most complex computing challenges. With these powerful modeling and research systems, they can gain a tremendous business advantage."
The Itanium 2 processor family also broke into the top 10 for the first time. An HP system in use at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Washington secured the eighth position on the list.
Notably, the Xeon-based cluster at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in the US achieved No. 3 on the list, the highest position ever for any cluster. It uses a Quadrics interconnect and was manufactured by Linux Networx.