1 October 2004
Intel’s Hyper-Threading Technology Surpasses 50 Million Mark In Just Over Two Years
Intel Corporation has shipped more than 50 million of its desktop, server and mobile processors with Hyper-Threading
(HT) Technology since its inception two years ago.
“We created Hyper-Threading technology with two main objectives in mind,” said Louis Burns, Intel vice president and
general manager of the Desktop Platforms Group. “The first was to provide a boost in computing performance beyond clock
speed in a platform-centric manner to manage a variety of tasks and commands simultaneously. Secondly, the technology
was our initial foray into parallel processing to better prepare the industry for the inevitable move to multi-core
processors and computers.”
HT Technology is part of a family of premier Intel silicon technologies that also includes La Grande (security),
Vanderpool (virtualisation) and Extended Memory 64 technology (memory addressability), all of which are either available
today or under development. Intel plans to deliver more of these platform-centric silicon technologies in the future.
A single Intel processor supporting HT Technology presents itself to newer operating systems and applications as two
virtual processors. The processor can work on two sets of tasks simultaneously using resources that otherwise would sit
idle, getting more work done in the same amount of time. For example, a home user can play an immersive game while
downloading audio or video, compressing or editing photos or designing special effects. In an office environment
HT-enabled PCs can run such background applications as continuous virus scanning, encryption or compression
simultaneously, all the while minimising disruption and pauses for other business users in the same computing
environment.
Performance boosts vary, and can reach up to 25 percent when the computer system has an Intel processor with HT
Technology and enabled chipset, BIOS, operating system and application software.
At the recent Intel Developer Forum, the company indicated that virtually all of its 32-bit enterprise platforms were
shipping with HT technology. Intel also described several multi- and dual-core projects for the server, desktop and
mobile market segments, and said it expects to start shipping dual-core processors in 2005 with volume growing
throughout 2006.
The company also plans to have its 65 nanometre manufacturing technology process ready in 2005 with high-volume product
shipments in 2006. The new advanced manufacturing process helps to increase the number of transistors squeezed onto a
single silicon chip, giving Intel the foundation to deliver future multi-core products and other innovative features
inside the company’s silicon products at a lower cost.
Intel, the world’s largest chip maker, is also a leading manufacturer of computer, networking and communications
products. Additional information about Intel is available at www.intel.com/pressroom.
ENDS