NVIDIA's Project Denver CPU puts the nail in Wintel's coffin
For years there have been rumors that NVIDIA has a top-secret x86 processor project, and last November an NVIDIA exec all but confirmed that the company is looking at making an x86 chip at some point. That's why today's processor announcement from NVIDIA was both surprising and unsurprising.
No, NVIDIA didn't finally take the wraps off its x86 project—assuming that it hasn't been cancelled, that's still a secret. But the chipmaker did unveil Project Denver, a desktop-caliber ARM processor core that's aimed squarely at servers and workstations, and will run the ARM port of Windows 8. This is NVIDIA's first attempt at a real general-purpose microprocessor design that will compete directly with Intel's desktop and server parts.
The company has offered nothing in the way of architectural details, saying only that the project exists and that the company has had a team of crack CPU architects working secretly on it for some time. Indeed, NVIDIA CEO Jen-Hsuan's very brief but dramatic announcement of Denver raised more questions than it answered. However, I think I have a good idea of exactly what the first Denver-based chips will look like.
