Intel Corporation today introduced new Intel Itanium 2 processors and Intel Xeon processors MP, further strengthening Intel's products for high-end enterprise computing. These processors set a new precedent for world-class performance and breadth and scale of systems. This builds on the broad choice of software and operating systems and architectural strengths that have made Intel processors the choice for the majority of server deployments. The Intel Itanium 2 processor with 6MB L3 cache is uniquely architected for demanding enterprise and technical applications. Itanium® 2-based platforms enable businesses and organizations to maximize their return on investments by delivering industry leading performance at generally lower cost and with greater choice than proprietary RISC technologies. More than 85 percent of servers shipping today are based on Intel architecture (International Data Corp., (IDC), Quarterly Server Tracker, Q1, 2003), according to industry analysts. Today's new products extend Intel's strength in multi-processor, business-critical server deployments, commonly referred to as the high end of a company's computing data center. Servers with four or more processors accounted for more than 60 percent of the total server market revenue in 2002, according to analysts With the new Itanium 2 processor (formerly code-named Madison), the 64-bit Itanium processor family makes another stride in industry-leading enterprise performance and price-performance. In addition to the 48 percent price-performance advantage over RISC platforms, an additional 10 percent in cost for an Itanium 2-based solution brings 25 to 30 percent additional performance over Intel Xeon processor MP-based systems. Itanium 2-based systems also deliver leading results on technical computing workloads, secure transactions, enterprise resource planning workloads, and raw processor performance. The new Itanium 2 processor delivers up to 30 to 50 percent greater performance than the previous Itanium 2 processor (code-named McKinley), while maintaining system compatibility with the previous Itanium 2 processor and two future Itanium processors (code-named Madison 9M and Montecito). The Itanium 2 processor also maintains software compatibility with previous and future Itanium processor family products, as well as 32-bit applications. The 32-bit Intel Xeon processor MP 2.80 GHz is compatible with existing Intel Xeon processor MP-based platforms and delivers up to 10 percent or greater performance over its predecessor and better transaction-processing performance than comparable RISC-based platforms at half the cost per transaction. Benchmark result sources include www.spec.org, www.tpc.org and www.sap.com/benchmark. Pricing and Availability The Itanium 2 processor with 6 MB of integrated level three (L3) cache at 1.50 GHz, the Itanium 2 processor with 4 MB of L3 cache at 1.40 GHz, and the Itanium 2 processor with 3 MB of L3 cache at 1.30 GHz are priced at $4,226, $2,247 and $1,338 in 1,000-unit quantities, respectively. The Intel Xeon processor MP at 2.80 GHz with 2 MB of L3 cache, the Intel Xeon processor MP at 2.50 GHz with 1 MB of L3 cache and the Intel Xeon processor MP at 2.0 GHz with 1 MB of L3 cache are priced at $3,692, $1,980 and $1,177 in 1,000-unit quantities, respectively. Source: Intel