The T1 CPU from Sun is a very different processor from the ones we are used to. The approach is not unusual today - multiple core chips are now common, including the Intel Core Duo that features in many new laptops and the multiple core offerings from AMD - but what is different about the T1 is the scale of the multiple core architecture.

Current T1s have eight cores, and are capable of running four threads, providing a maximum of 32 simultaneous threads off one CPU. To achieve this, the CPU is positively stacked, not only with the multiple cores, but also memory interface, cache and other components to, more or less, make a computer on a chip.