IBM unveils Power7 chips

IBM is set to launch its Power7 processor today at an event in New York.

The move comes as Oracle is set to step into the market following its acquisition of Sun Microsystems.

The new eight-core processor is based on the cell chip it built for the Sony Playstation.

Each core will allow four threads to run simultaneously and feature a technology IBM calls "Turbo Core," which it claims will increase the chip's performance two fold compared to the previous Power6 processor family.

The company will also be launching four new servers for the chips to be used with either 32 or 64 cores, although these are not set to start shipping until later in the month.

The chips will be used by the Blue Waters high performance computer project, which aims to be the first system to sustain one petaflop performance for multiple science and engineering applications.

Jennifer Scott is a former freelance journalist and currently political reporter for Sky News. She has a varied writing history, having started her career at Dennis Publishing, working in various roles across its business technology titles, including ITPro. Jennifer has specialised in a number of areas over the years and has produced a wealth of content for ITPro, focusing largely on data storage, networking, cloud computing, and telecommunications.

Most recently Jennifer has turned her skills to the political sphere and broadcast journalism, where she has worked for the BBC as a political reporter, before moving to Sky News.