Intel Has A Single-Chip Cloud Computer

[phoronix]

Phoronix: Intel Has A Single-Chip Cloud Computer

Intel demonstrated today their "single-chip cloud computer" processor that offers an impressive 48 cores. While there are 48 cores on a single chip, this Intel processor only consumes as much power as two standard household light bulbs (this "futuristic" processor is operating between 25 and 125 Watts)...

http://www.phoronix.com/vr.php?view=Nzc2NQ

[ad_267]

Does anyone else completely fail to see what this has to do with cloud computing? Isn't cloud computing all about internet based computing?

[Ex-Cyber]

It does seem like a bit of marketing spin, but if this processor can reduce the number of boxes needed at a datacenter to support "cloud computing" then it might make some sense as a label.

[Tenzer]

Cloud computing as a term is not much worth any longer... Everybody uses it in order to get in on the hype. My definition of "cloud computing", is not much more than a way to tell something is new :P

[wateenellende]

Interesting number, 48 cores. That's exactly what their 'larabee' product is supposed to have. My guess is that it's just the same thing.

[sturmflut]

The compare it to a "cloud" because the 48 cores do not share caches and use message-passing to communicate, thus making it more like "48 separate CPUs on a chip" than "48 cores".

Besides: 48 cores on a research CPU is nothing.

Azul systems is selling a 54 core CPU since 2008, the Vega 3. They use it in special Java accellerator boxes with up to 864 cores per system.

[Louise]

I have a feeling that this is somehow a crippled CPU.

The links says it only have 4 memory banks, so compared with todays CPU's, each core have a much lower bandwidth access.

So I guess you will be able to find cases where a 8 core CPU can kicks this CPU's ass.

Maybe for a very specialized type of calculations, where everything is pure calculations and very little data, this CPU will be good.

But I really can't think of any such cases.

[Louise]

Interesting number, 48 cores. That's exactly what their 'larabee' product is supposed to have. My guess is that it's just the same thing.

Not quite. With Larabee is closer to the PS3 model, where you have one general and fast CPU, and then many smaller specialized cores, which are not full featured X86.

Here they have all cores full x86, but the catch is very very very bad memory bandwidth. 48 have to share 4 memory banks.

[thefirstm]

Not quite. With Larabee is closer to the PS3 model, where you have one general and fast CPU, and then many smaller specialized cores, which are not full featured X86.

Except Larrabee is intended to be a GPU, and that silly Cell processor was intended to be a main CPU (even though it shares many characteristics with GPUs).

[Louise]

Except Larrabee is intended to be a GPU, and that silly Cell processor was intended to be a main CPU (even though it shares many characteristics with GPUs).

Yes, and Sony have finally realised that Try searching for IBM, Cell, cancel

So my guess is that the PS4 will have a Larrabee solution, as Sony likes to try out new technologies, and XBox 720 will have an AMD solution, since nVidia is very likely not even interested in working with MS again after the XBox 1, where MS trashed millions of SouthBridges, giving nVidia a loss in one quarter.