Intel has had many-core projects going for some time. A few years back, it was an 80-core processor. Then came the 48-core processor, followed by Larrabee, a GPU built using many small x86 cores and tied together with a high-speed interconnect. The latest experiment is a 50-core x86 design. So what separates this from other projects? HardwareCentral has the highlights.
Intel has announced a new multi-core processor, and the fact that it was introduced at the International Supercomputing Conference (ISC) instead of the consumer-oriented Computex show taking place at the same time should be an indication of its target market.
“Knight’s Corner” is the codename for this processor, called a many integrated core (MIC) architecture. It consists of 50 x86 cores crammed onto a single 22-nanometer-process chip smaller than a postage stamp.