IBM has announced details of the world’s fastest computer chip, the microprocessor which resides in a new version of the IBM mainframe.

According to IBM, the record-breaking speed of the chip is necessary for businesses managing huge workloads, such as banks and retailers.

IBM says the world is becoming increasingly more inter-connected, resulting in more data.

Such trends are driving the need for innovation in systems that can help clients take advantage of them to provide new services and develop new business models.  

The z196 processor is a four-core chip that contains 1.4 billion transistors on a 512-square mm surface. The chip was designed by IBM engineers and was manufactured using IBM's 45nm SOI processor technology.

The mainframe processor makes use of IBM's eDRAM technology, which allows IBM to place dense DRAM caches on the same chips as high-speed microprocessors, resulting in improved performance.

96 z196 processors are installed in the zEnterprise 196 core server, allowing the system to execute more than 50 billion instructions per second.

The new IBM microprocessor technology has new software to optimise performance of data-heavy workloads, including up to a 60% improvement in data intensive and Java workloads.

IBM says energy efficiencies were achieved through advances in microprocessor design, 45nm silicon technology, more efficient power conversion and distribution, as well as advanced sensors and cooling control firmware that monitors and makes adjustments based on environmental factors