*Cue Dr. Evil Laugh*  Yes, that is correct, 2 Billion transistors will take up refuge on the upcoming Tukwila processor, the successor to Itanium’s Montvale processors.  Even more surprising is that it is built on Intel’s 65nm technology, making this one BIG chip.
We first heard of Intel’s quad-core Tukwila back in 2006. Now, it’s launching at the International Solid State Circuits Conference. Expected to arrive in the second half of the year, the 2GHz Itanium processor packs in more than 2 billion transistors. Unfortunately, it’s headed straight to the raised-floor room, not your consumer-class desktop. The good news for IT types is that the proc doubles the performance of Intel’s enterprise-class, 9100-series Montvale processors with just a 25% increase in power consumption. So, we looking at 4 billion transistors by 2010 Mr. Moore? Probably, Tukwila is still using 65-nm processes as opposed to Intel’s new 45-nm technology.