Intel: Developers Should Face up to Hundreds, Thousands of Cores
Intel: Developers Should Face up to Hundreds, Thousands of Cores
by , 1:55 PM EDT, July 1st, 2008
In his Intel blog on Monday, Anwar Ghuloum told developers he had some difficult news to deliver: developers should start to think about many, many more cores in the Intel CPUs -- perhaps thousands in the long term. Apple may be anticipating this with the new Grand Central technology in Snow Leopard.
Mr. Ghuloum commented that in discussions with developers, sometimes they're trying to do the "minimal amount of work they need to do to tap" the performance of Intel's dual, quad and larger core systems. However, he wrote:
"Increasingly, we are discussing how to scale performance to core counts that we aren't yet shipping (but in some cases we've hinted heavily that we're heading in this direction). Dozens, hundreds, and even thousands of cores are not unusual design points around which the conversations meander..."
Mr. Ghuloum went on to offer some sage advice: Developers should start thinking now, in the early stages of new development, what tools they're going to use and how they're going to code for a considerable number of cores.
The problem in the past has been that elegantly threading safe threads and making them all work well together has been a tough job, hampered by difficult and rudimentary APIs.
At WWDC, Apple told developers that they've developed a new, high level tool, Grand Central, that will facilitate the writing of highly threaded applications.
Current technology has reached its limits when it comes to managing and dissipating the heat generated by even low voltage 3.0 GHz-class processors. As a result, a fundamental change in technology has occurred: more power via more cores. Accordingly, new thinking is required to exploit multi-core CPUs.
"For more mainstream application developers, this advice is usually unwelcome ... but it is an encouraging sign that developers are increasingly coming to this realization on their own," Mr. Ghuloum noted.
Observer Comments
Tue Jul 01, 2008 3:12 pm Subject: Skating where the puck is going to be
Gretzky's quote continues to epitomise Apple's strategy when it comes to new technology. Apple anticipates new directions, takes advantage of them and becomes ready before anyone else even realised what is going on.
I am very anxious to see how Snow Leopart will behave on my old Core Duo iMac.
Comments are currently closed. Please email the author instead.
Recent Headlines - Updated February 13th
- Sat, 4:11 PM
- MacOS KenDensed - MacOS KenDensed: iPad 3 Frenzy, Big-time Apple & Steve Jobs, G-Man
- Fri, 8:10 PM
- News - Apple Sues Motorola Mobility in California Over German Case
- 7:54 PM
- Free on iTunes - OnLive Desktop: Windows & Office on Your iPad
- 7:43 PM
- Product News - Apple Rolls Out MacBook Air Configurations for Education
- 6:35 PM
- Just a Peek - Battle Pocket Bulge With The Hint for iPhone
- 6:01 PM
- Rumor - Apple Reportedly Bringing MacBook Air Styling to Pro Line
- 4:50 PM
- Particle Debris - The Hidden Gotchas of Browser Security
- 3:56 PM
- Apple Stock Watch - Analyst: Paying a Dividend Makes Sense for Apple
- 2:58 PM
- Deal Brothers - iMac 27-inch 2.93GHz Intel Quad-Core i7 processor: $1,999
- 2:45 PM
- In-Depth Review - Theodolite App for iOS is Breathtaking
- 12:52 PM
- Apple Stock Watch - Mizuho Securities Starts Apple Coverage with $635 Target
- 11:35 AM
- Hot Forum Topic - Forum Poll: Are You Planning on Buying a New iPad?
The Mac Observer Reader Specials
TypeStyler 11 is now in the Mac App Store!! -- Special Introductory Price of $59.95!! -- To Buy From The Mac App Store Click Here Now!! Or buy direct
from Strider Software.
Mac RAM Upgrades: MacBook Pro 16GB kits $475, 8GB Kits for $119.99! iMac 16GB RAM Kits (4x 4GB) for $229.99! Mac Pro Memory 32GB Kit for $399.99, 64GB Kit for $889.99! Mac Hard Drives 2TB Seagate SATA II for $249.99! Click Here!
If you're using a Mac, then you've gotta check out Online Poker Mac.
This mac poker and online casino mac site
actually does the unthinkable, it actually rewards!
