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SAN FRANCISCO -- Intel is offering a few more details about its plans to release processors with 64-bit extensions, as well as information about the Itanium processor family and its forthcoming mobile technologies.

The Nocona Xeon processor will debut at 3.6GHz in the second quarter with support for 64-bit extensions technology, says Mike Fister, senior vice president and general manager of Intel's enterprise platforms group. His keynote address Wednesday afternoon at the Spring Intel Developer Forum here followed Tuesday's announcement that Intel will release processors with 64-bit extensions.

More on Nocona

Nocona will also come with 1MB of Level 2 cache and an 800MHz front-side bus, and will support three different operating modes: pure 32-bit mode, a combination 64-bit/32-bit mode, and a pure 64-bit mode, Fister says.

The Xeon MP server processor line will also receive the extensions technology enhancement next year, Fister says. Intel expects it will take more time to validate the new technologies with large, multiprocessor servers.

Intel released this week a 3.2GHz Xeon processor with 2MB of cache. Older Xeon processors had just 1MB of cache.

Two new Itanium processors designed for two-way servers will ship this year with 3MB of cache at 1.4GHz and 1.6GHz. This line of dual-processor Itanium chips will continue into the future with the Millington processor in 2005, and the multicore Dinoma processor will be released sometime after Millington, according to Intel.

The standard Itanium processor for multiprocessor servers will have two cores in 2005 with the introduction of Montecito. Fister revealed a few details about the Bayshore chipset that will come with Montecito. Bayshore makes use of a faster front-side bus, DDR2 memory, and PCI Express, he says.

Montecito will also come with two new technologies. Pellston is the code name for new cache reliability technology, and Foxton represents the multicore, multithreaded approach Intel is taking to improve performance, Fister says.

Fister welcomed representatives from Hewlett-Packard, Dell, and IBM during his keynote. The three server companies professed support for both the Itanium processor and Intel's 64-bit extensions technology. IBM already sells servers with rival Advanced Micro Devices' Opteron processor with similar extensions technology, and HP is said to be considering using Opteron in a server.

Post-Centrino Preview

Shifting gears after the server discussion, Intel Vice President and General Manager Anand Chandrasekher highlighted Intel's progress with its Centrino mobile technology. Chandrasekher sported a recently shaved head, the result of a promise that he would lose his hair if the Centrino sales team met its targets.

The 90-nanometer version of the Pentium M mobile processor, known as Dothan, will launch in the second quarter, Chandrasekher says. Intel delayed the chip from a scheduled first quarter release after finding what he called a "quality issue" that needed repair.

Dothan will be followed by the Sonoma package in the second half of this year. Sonoma updates the Centrino package of the Pentium M, a mobile chipset, and a wireless chip. Sonoma will include Dothan, a new chipset code-named Alviso, and a wireless chip that supports for the three major 802.11 standards.

Intel also showed off some notebook reference designs that utilize the Sonoma technology. Newport and Florence are concept devices that Intel licenses to interested notebook manufacturers.

Newport has been around for a while, and products based on the design will appear this year from Legend Group, Chandrasekher says. Newport enables notebook users to view information such as battery life or wireless network signal strength via a small screen attached to the cover of a notebook.

Notebooks based on Florence are a little further away from release, Chandrasekher says. He showed three Florence designs, including a 17-inch mobile entertainment PC that uses a wireless keyboard with a built-in remote control and voice over IP phone.

Chandrasekher also announced the Standards Panel Working Group has released a new specification that should help notebook display manufacturers ship products more quickly and make displays interchangable across a wide range of notebooks.