"We're back to a position we are used to having, undeniable leadership in the area of performance," Intel vice-president Tom Kilroy told a briefing of analysts and the press in San Francisco. "It's an exciting day. Our end customers were waiting for this."
Kilroy touted its freshly released Xeon 5100 series chips as the "fastest dual-processor ramp" in Intel's history.
The chips, branded Woodcrest, outperformed the best competitor AMD had to offer while using less power, according to Intel.
The Woodcrest was up to 60 percent faster than competing chips and got as much as 80 percent more performance per watt, Kilroy said, citing results gotten by "seed companies" that have tested the processors.
"This is really mind boggling performance with energy savings as well," Kilroy said.
During an onstage demonstration in a hotel conference room, a system powered by a Woodcrest processor was pitted against one with AMD's top Opteron chip.
The Intel system completed a complex financial risk computer application quicker and used less electricity.
Kilroy conceded that Intel has struggled to stave off competition during the past 18 months but said that the Silicon Valley company has held onto its relationships with business customers.
AMD has been gaining on Intel and recently predicted that it would have 30 percent of the chip market by year's end.
"Market share is a lagging indicator," Kilroy said. "AMD is probably talking about the past. Going forward it is a different game."
Among the companies that have tested Woodcrest chips was Pixar, the computer animation film house renowned for such blockbusters as Toy Story, The Incredibles, Finding Nemo, and Cars.
The computer rooms at Pixar's studio in Emeryville, across the bay from San Francisco, is jammed full of equipment that was used non-stop to maximum capacity to make Cars, said vice-president of Technology Greg Brandeau.
Using the Woodcrest chip, Pixar was able to increase computing performance by 30 percent while using half the electricity, according to Brandeau.
"The performance is really stunning," said Brandeau, who took part in the Intel presentation. "This is really great for us. How great a movie would look was limited by how much computer power we could get."
Intel tailored a computing platform to enhance chip performance with features such as more efficient use of memory space, Kilroy said.
"I guarantee you this platform approach is really going to win out," Kilroy said. "This platform has legs that will extend out to 2009."
"Don't believe for a second this is a one-hit wonder with the 5100 series. The bar gets significantly raised with the Woodcrest."
Intel expected to introduce quad-core computer processors by early next year.
Industry analyst were watching for hints at what AMD might come up with to challenge Intel's latest offering.
"This is huge," said Jim Watts of US business intelligence firm SAS, which tested the Woodcrest and found that it cut computing time in half on complex projects. "This is Intel's most important roll-out ever."
© 2006 Agence France-Presse
To add a comment,
Please log in:
Don't have an account?
Register now to comment on stories and stay up to date on important events and issues in the Middle East with our newsletter.