Intel Corp (INTC)

[Tenchu]

Doug, And if it is for PR purposes ("We had the first dual core!"), well, why not count a 2-socket system? Isn't that good enough, as far as the software is concerned?

2-socket systems are generally more expensive than 1-socket systems because of many reasons. There is no getting around this fact. Just look at all of the failed attempts to bring 2-socket systems to the desktop.

(And the cost of the system goes up exponentially as you double the number of sockets. 4-socket systems are more than double the cost of 2-socket systems, 8-socket systems are more than double that of 4-socket system, and so on.)

If you can bring the power of a 2-socket system into a single socket system, you can achieve significant cost savings. Hence the whole hype surrounding multi-core, because the "first" one there is the "first" one to gain that performance-per-dollar advantage. (Notice the quotes, though. Lot of good it did Intel to claim to be the "first.")

Tenchu