By Mark LaPedus Courtesy of Silicon Strategies (01/16/2003 8:17 PM EST)

SANTA CLARA, Calif.--Intel Corp. here today confirmed it has delayed a next-generation, 64-bit microprocessor line by one year, after the company decided to re-engineer the product. The company also disclosed a new 64-bit processor in its roadmap to fill the gap for the delayed chip, code-named Montecito.

Intel was originally supposed to roll out the Montecito processor in 2004, but it will now delay the 64-bit product until 2005, according to a spokeswoman for the Santa Clara-based company.

Announced last year, Montecito is part of the company's Intanium2 line of 64-bit processors for high-end servers. Originally, the processor was supposed to be a single-core device, based on 90-nm process technology, the spokeswoman said.

Now, Intel plans to roll out a new version of Montecito in 2005. The new version is slated to be a dual-core, 64-bit chip, based on 90-nm technology, the spokeswoman said.

"Dual core was our biggest priority," according to the spokeswoman. "We've accelerated dual-core to be Montecito."

To fill in the gap, Intel announced a new processor in the roadmap. Called Madison9M, the chip is a single-core, 64-bit processor, with 9-MB of L3 cache. It is due out in 2004, the spokeswoman said.

Intel entered the 64-bit processor arena by rolling out its code-named Merced processor a couple of years ago. Co-developed by Intel and Hewlett-Packard Co., the chip was late to the market and experienced lackluster success, according to analysts.

In mid-2002, Intel rolled out the follow-on to Merced, code-named McKinley--which is a 1-GHz, 0.18-micron device. Intel refers to the McKinley chip as the Intanium2.

The follow-on to McKinley is called Madison, which is due in mid-2003. The chip is a 1.5-GHz device, based on 0.13-micron technology. It is also a single-core device.