Intel, Cray team for multi-core, clusters

Early supercomputer developer Cray said today that it was working with Intel for mutual help on advancing supercomputers. The teamwork will see Cray help Intel develop the technology for clusters as well as to improve the in-processor technology, such as newer generations of multi-core processors. In return, Cray will make its first use Intel's processors for its own supercomputers, replacing AMD Opterons and more specialized supercomputer chips.

Both companies decline to provide a roadmap for products that might stem from the union. However, Intel is already known to be developing processors with many more cores than the six-core processors that will be available this year in a bid to create massive parallel computing within single systems and thus improve the performance in newer software. The semiconductor firm demonstrated a Teraflop Research Chip early last year that offered 80 cores but warned that the processor was only a rough prototype for future designs.

Filed under: computers, industry
Other story tags: Intel, AMD, Opteron, Cray