AlanBarber.Org
Sunday, June 27, 2004
64-bits from Intel on Monday
Well Intel will be releasing their first, ok technically it is their second, 64-bit CPU to fight back against the AMD Opterons. The codename is Nocona and this new CPU will be the new Xeon chip. It does 32-bit/64-bit very similar to how AMD has done it.
The Xeon chips like the Opterons are for workstation and servers so they still haven’t really released a consumer level CPU to match the AMD Athlon 64s. The Opterons and Athlon 64s are actually identical chips. The Athlon 64s are just handicapped to only run in single CPU systems and run with slower memory performance. This is done on purpose in order to make the Opterons look better for the workstation/server crowd.
Of course there are some major differences between the Xeons and Opterons. The major differences are that the Opterons have a built in memory controller that the Xeons don’t which makes data access faster. The Xeons however will be faster in raw clock speed although the Opterons are probably a bit more efficient at what they do so they can usually compete pretty closely even if they run at a slower clock. Plus the Xeons have Hyper-Threading which the Opterons don’t. Hyper-Threading is a technology that lets a single CPU act like it’s actually two CPUs. That means that a workstation that has two Xeon CPUs will look to the operating system like it’s actually a computer with four CPUs!
So I’m sure looking forward to the reviews to see how the Xeons stack up. I’ve wanted to build a dual Xeon workstation for some time so I would like to see if the new 64-bit versions of these will be worth the wait. A dual Xeon system with Hyper-Threading is just as thrilling for a geek like me as a supercharged big-block engine for a car lover.
The one major issue with these new 64-bit CPUs are that there really aren’t operating systems or the software to take advantage of the 64-bits. Someday there will be but right now most 64-bit software just isn’t out there. There are 64-bit versions of Linux and FreeBSD but not for windows yet.
Then there just isn’t really the need for 64bits for most user software. Database systems and heavy duty computing software that do things like calculate weather forecasts will benefit but the “Joe User” applications like office applications, email, web browsing, etc just don’t need 64-bits. So for the foreseeable future 64-bits really will just be something you see in servers and workstations. I really don’t think home users will need 64-bits for at least another 5+ years.
Anyways, for those interested start checking out the usual tech news sites tomorrow as I’m sure reviews will start popping up.
on 06/27/2004 at 06:52 PM