Big Blue said today that its eight way SMP server using Intel's Profusion technology will arrive in Q3. According to Tikiri Wanduragala, IBM Netfinity manager in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, the box will come with technology developed in its Austin, rather than Raleigh facility. That means it will incorporate elements of technology developed by the RS/6000 team, he confirmed. That team will also take over the Merced project. Wanduragala claimed that IBM will have a technical edge that will make its 8500 box faster than other offerings from its competitors. The box will come with eight microprocessors, a new variant of ECC memory, and four specially developed 66MHz PCI buses, said Wanduragala. "We're using our 64-bit and optimising skills on this box," he said. "It will include X architecture components and the Lightpath technology." He said: "The sexy Unix guys have devised a scheme to give the fifth processor 50 per cent more performance than the first four. The Unix boys are telling me they'll deliver 95 per cent performance on eight processors." He continued: "The PCI bus will be ahead of the game. The bus will go at 66MHz and will have hot plug from day one. We don't shift any software in the box but it will be capable of running 32-bit Monterey." Meanwhile, IBM will announce a $1,000 server in early May which will include the usual raft of system management software, he said. ® There will be an ASIC incorporated on the memory modules which will detect failures before they happen, he said.