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Intel Itanium 2 - 2002
Itanium 2, an enhanaced version of Itanium like its name, is Intel's high-end server processor. Since 1995, Intel and Hewlett-Packard Co. (HP) introduced what eventually would become the Itanium project, which was designed to become the processing platform that would replace not only the x86 architecture but also RISC technologies. It is theoretically capable of performing roughly 8 times more work per clock cycle than other CISC and RISC architectures due to its Parallel Computing Microarchitecture. However, the chip initially was hampered by poor performance and missed deadlines, and later hobbled by the rise of 64-bit capabilities in x86 processors, first introduced in 2003 in Advanced Micro Devices Inc.'s Opteron chip. Intel initially resisted the move, pushing ahead with Itanium and adding the IA-32 EL, but eventually brought 64-bit capabilities to its Xeon and Pentium chips in 2004.
In order to help developers and users migrate their 32-bit applications to the 64-bit platform, Intel put the 32-bit capabilities into Itanium 2.
The IA-32 Execution Layer has proven to be better performing and more flexible than the hardware-based feature. While Itanium can run 32-bit applications, the performance is not at the same level as 64-bit applications. Later, Intel decided to drop the hardware-based 32-Bit capabilties in Itanium 2.
HP has been the biggest ally for Itanium; HP is in the process of standardizing its entire line of high-end systems on Itanium 2 CPU. Other second-tier systems makers, including Silicon Graphics, NEC and Unisys have embraced Itanium 2 as a way of gaining greater traction in the high-end computing space. Several software vendors, including Microsoft and SAP, also joined together to crank up backing for the chip. However, most top-tier OEMs outside of HP, including Dell, IBM and Sun have opted out of offering Itanium servers.
The Itanium 2 chips on that right are Madison cored Qualification Sample (QS) and Engineering Sample (ES). Intel Itanium 2 1.6Ghz 9M ES has the largest built-in cache Intel ever made; even the later released processors do not have a version with such big cache size (this record was broken by the Intel processor, code named "Montecito", at 2005 Intel Developer Forum).
| Process: |
0.18 micron |
| Package: |
611pins FCPGA |
| Data Bandwidth: |
64 bit |
| Working Voltage: |
0.95V |
| Released Clock Speed(s) |
900MHz - 1600MHz |
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Intel Itanium 2 [F] [B]
Intel Itanium 2 1.3GHz 3M Qualification Sample (YA80543KC0133M) [B]
Intel Itanium 2 1.6GHz 3M Engineering Sample (YA80543KE0253M) [B]
Intel Itanium 2 1.6GHz 9M Engineering Sample (YA80543KC0259M) [B]
Itanium 2，顧名思義就是Itanium加強版，為英特爾旗下的64位元高階伺服器中央處理器晶片（CPU）。自1995年起，英特爾與惠普（HP）便開始共同開發這條伺服器處理器產品線，除了希望取代目前最普及的x86處理器，還希望一舉取代在高階伺服器常見的RISC處理器，例如IBM Power處理器或Sun UltraSPARC。跟Itanium一樣，Itanium 2使用明確平行指令碼架構（EPIC, Explicitly Parallel Instruction Computing）。原本預估在同一時脈下，使用EPIC的效能可以比傳統CISC及RISC微處理器多上八倍。但Itanium 2並不如兩家公司預期，除了面臨效能上的問題，還一度延後發表產品，後來又受到64位元x86處理器市場的侵蝕。 英特爾最大的競爭對手超微（AMD）在2003年首度發表x86 64位元的Opteron處理器，英特爾雖然一開始並未推出x86 64位元產品，但最終還是在市場需求之下，於2004年推出64位元的Xeon及Pentium處理器。
為了讓Itanium 2與目前大部分32位元的伺服器應用軟體接軌，英特爾曾為Itanium 2推出一項向下相容的32位元模擬軟體32位元執行層（IA-32 Execution Layer）。 英特爾表示，IA-32 EL將比硬體電路支援讓Itanium 2在32位元應用軟體上具有更高的效能與彈性。不過即使Itanium 2可以運作32位元程式，這些透過模擬的程式效能並不如64位元程式。後來英特爾又決定將這功能取消。
Itanium 2最大的支持者仍是HP，該公司已經計畫將高階Unix伺服器全數轉移至Itanium 2上；其他支援者還包括視算科技（Silicon Graphics Inc）、NEC、Unisys等，利用Itanium 2打造高效能伺服器。 Itanium 2軟體方面的盟友則有微軟、SAP等；不過在一線伺服器廠商中，僅存HP仍繼續銷售Itanium伺服器；例如Dell、IBM、Sun都已經停產Itanium 伺服器。
右邊的Itanium 2為Madison核心的Qualification Sample（QS，驗證樣品）及Engineering Sample（ES，工程樣品）。其中那顆Intel Itanium 2 1.6Ghz 9M ES是目前英特爾有史以來所推出過內建最大快取容量的微處理器。之後推出的新產品反而沒有這麼大容量的版本（這個記錄被2005年Intel Developer Forum上發表的代號「Montecito」微處理器所擊敗）。
| 製程： |
0.18 micron |
| 封裝： |
611pins FCPGA |
| 資料頻寬： |
64 bit |
| 工作電壓： |
0.95V |
| 工作時脈： |
900MHz - 1600MHz |
|
Intel Itanium 2 正 反
Intel Itanium 2 1.3GHz 3M Qualification Sample (YA80543KC0133M) 反
Intel Itanium 2 1.6GHz 3M Engineering Sample (YA80543KE0253M) 反
Intel Itanium 2 1.6GHz 9M Engineering Sample (YA80543KC0259M) 反
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