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IBM unveils Power8 and OpenPower pincer attack on Intels x86 server monopoly
2014-04-23 19:00:17| Extremetech
IBM has taken the wraps off the first servers that are powered by its monstrously powerful Power8 CPUs. With more than 4 billion transistors, packed into a stupidly large 650-square-millimeter die built on IBM's new 22nm SOI process, the 12-core (96-thread) Power8 CPU is one of the largest and probably the most powerful CPU ever built. In a separate move, IBM is opening up the entire Power8 architecture and technical documentation through the OpenPower Foundation, allowing third parties to make Power-based chips (much like ARM's licensing model), and to allow for the creation of specialized coprocessors (GPUs, FPGAs, etc.) that link directly into the CPU's memory space using IBM's new CAPI interface. You will not be surprised to hear that Nvidia, Samsung, and Google -- three huge players among hundreds more who are beholden to Intel's server monopoly -- are core members of the OpenPower Foundation. The Power8 CPU and the OpenPower Foundation are the cornerstones of a very big, well-orchestrated plan to finally put an end to x86's reign, and place a fairer, more powerful architecture at the head of the server table.
Tags: server
attack
ibm
x86
Category:Information Technology