[PW] RESEARCH--multcore computer chips

[c at llum.org]

> I need some historical facts about "multicore" chips, also given as 
> "multi-core". If given by any other name, it's not the right 
> critter :)
>
> What company made the first ever multicore chips? 
> In what year did the company make them? 
> What was the chip’s name?

Hi David,

A little clarification may be required as what constitutes "multi-core" is sometimes open to a little debate. e.g. dies, degree of specialisation, etc..

Also it's very difficult to determine exactly what research was being done when, and at what point a experimental design becomes a product.

However, assuming you're concerned with fairly general-purpose, commercially available processors, with it being multi-core by virtue of being dual-core on a single die, then the answer is probably the IBM Power4 which was released in 2001.

The other mainstream processors were a fair way behind that -- I think the first PA-RISC was the 8800 in 2003, Sun produced the SPARC IV in Feb 2004, AMD and Intel produced their first commercial multicores in Spring 2005.

Hope this helps, and goes at least part way to answering your question.


  Callum