32-core processors from Intel by 2010
The world’s leading microprocessor manufacturer plans to launch 32-core CPUs by the end of the decade.
Processor manufacturers previously expected higher performance from a steady increase in clocks, so much so that Intel recently promised more tens of gigahertz CPUs. However, a higher clock value resulted in higher consumption and heat production, so much so that they soon reached the limits of single-core solutions. This was followed by the first dual-core processors, which are still a novelty. Despite the lower clock speed, they perform computational operations much faster than their single-core counterparts, plus they do so with lower heat dissipation.
Source: http://www.intel.com/corporate/education/emea/af11/files/presentations/sborkar.pdf
According to the current schedule, the first quad-core Intel processor is expected to be released in January 2007, and by 2010 the 32-core will be on the market. According to X-bit labs, the chip, codenamed Gulftown, will be made with 32nm manufacturing technology, each core receiving 512 KB of second-level cache, clocked at just 2 gigahertz, yet fifteen times faster speeds are expected on today's processors. Of course, the main problem here too: the capabilities of multi-core data processors can only be exploited by software that is adequately prepared for parallel execution.
