David Shapshak
It took 20 years for the computer processor to break the one-gigahertz barrier, but only a year to double that speed. This week Intel, the world’s largest manufacturer of the silicon-based processor that powers a major chunk of the planet’s computers, announced its latest chip: the Pentium 4 running at two gigahertz.
But the accolades for breaking the one-gigahertz milestone were claimed by rival Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) last March. Intel also launched its one-gigahertz chip last year.
Both manufacturers are ready to admit, however, that speed is no longer the primary factor in a chip’s performance, and take other factors into account such as the chipset, the processor is attached to.
Intel says these new chips feature a different micro-architecture, which gives them “headroom for the future”. Calum Chisholm, Intel’s channel business manager, says through this new NetBurst micro-architecture, computers running the Pentium 4 can create and share digital media 81% faster.
It was a good week for processor announcements. IBM, renowned for its research division, announced it had created a logic circuit the size of a molecule, that is around 100 000 times thinner than human hair.
Researchers are exploring new ways of building micro-processors with greater processing power, while also exploring methods of using other materials than the silicon used currently.
The speed of chips based on silicon is to reach its limit some say by 2007 and the need to find alternatives is pressing. According to Moore’s Law, determined by Intel co-founder Alan Moore in 1965, the number of transistors, or electronic switches, in a computer processor will double every year, thereby increasing in performance too.
IBM’s latest logic circuit announcements involve the use of carbon nanotubes, which are made of nature’s toughest fibre and also generate less heat than silicon.
Handling the heat of a processor is a major factor in chip design and one of the reasons there is difficulty in making chips for portable computers that have less ventilation space. Smaller transistors also require less power and can be used in other devices.
While Intel cuts the prices of its chips, don’t expect to see a carbon nano- tube in your desktop for many years.