Fujitsu Boosts SPARC64 Speed

Fujitsu said Tuesday it has bumped up the performance of its SPARC64 V processor by moving to a 90-nanometer fabrication process.

The speed increase is significant, for earlier this month the company unveiled a partnership with struggling server maker Sun to merge their server lines by the middle of 2006. As part of that deal, Sun will sell Fujitsu's SPARC64-based servers later this year.

The new manufacturing process allows Fujitsu to pack more circuitry into a chip than previously. Along with an increase of the SPARC64's clock speed from 1.35GHz to 1.89GHz, the new fabrication process produces chips that average a 35 percent boost in performance over existing models, claimed Fujitsu.

SPARC is the foundation of Fujitsu's Primepower servers, and the new processor will debut in September in the 650, 850, 900, and 1500 models. The new 90-nanometer processor can also be mixed and matched with older versions of the SPARC64 in the Primepower 900, 1500, and 2500, said Fujitsu.

According to IDC, Fujitsu and Sun together own a smaller piece of the server pie than either IBM or HP, the number one- and two-biggest sellers of servers worldwide.