For up to four CPU systems in the mid-term, and eight CPUs in Q4, 2001, there will be a 1.4GHz, large cache product Foster shipping in Q1 2001. It will also sport 256K of on-die L2 cache, but to up the speed even more, it will come in flavors with 0K, 512K, or 1M of level 3 cache integrated onto the packaging.

Following Foster is a chip code-named Gallatin. We have no details on it other than we know it will replace the regular Foster and that it is intended for dual processor InfiniBand systems.

In the high-end workstation market, Intel plans on shipping Itanium-based systems in Q3, 2000. With up to four 733MHz processors and 16M of cache system wide, the first generation of Itanium workstations holds much potential. IA-64 based workstations will only be aimed at those who need 64-bit addressing or are planning on moving to 64-bit in the long run. For those who only need 32-bit addressing, Foster should hold better 32-bit performance. In the second half of 2001, Itanium will be replaced by McKinley. Madison and Deerfield will follow in 2002.

At this point, you may be wondering what AMD has in store for the workstation market. In mid-2000, AMD will come out with their Thunderbird CPU, which adds on-die L2 cache to the Athlon. This should bring Athlon performance up to or beyond the level of Intel's Coppermine on a clock per clock basis. In late 2000, AMD will come out with their Mustang CPU, which should have a larger on-die L2 cache than the Thunderbird, and will compete with Intel's Willamette on the desktop. In mid-2001, AMD should release their Sledgehammer CPU, which will add 64-bit addressing and a modern FPU with RISC-like instructions to the previous designs. We expect Sledgehammer to compete with Willamette on the desktop as well as Foster, the low-end Itanium and McKinley in the workstation market.