Sun has boosted the performance of its "Panther" UltraSparc-IV+ chips. It will install the 1.95 GHz UltraSparc-IV+ parts in its Sun Fire V490, V890, E2900, E4900, E6900, E20K, and E25K servers.

It says that it can also deliver versions of the chip that run at 2.1 GHz for customers who need even more power.

So far the details of the machines have not appeared on the company's online shop and the server spec sheets do not even list it as an option yet. However according to IT Jungle, the reason for the shortage is because Sun is trying to constrain demand. It is only allowing customers to special order the parts and by charging a 20 to 30 percent premium on systems with the 1.9 GHz and 2.1 GHz chips compared to machines configured with the 1.8 GHz Panthers.

Sun says that it wants to supply faster chips to critical customers, but we don't want the flood gates to open and then we have a supply issue in our fourth quarter.

More here.