Don't Wait for Itanium
Intel's 64-bit processor creates buzz, but it won't
power PCs for some time.
by Tom Mainelli, PC World
October 15, 1999, 4:24 p.m. PT
Itanium. One simple, strange word from Intel about its
upcoming processor sparked a new round of hype in
the technology industry and throughout the media.
Despite the buzz, however, you probably won't see the
new chip in PCs for years. The earliest versions,
scheduled to ship in mid-2000, will appear mostly in
high-end servers and workstations. In time, however,
this new technology will change the way people
compute.
The Itanium may not run your next PC, but as the
company's first Intel Architecture-64 processor, it
represents a huge step away from the x86-based
architecture of previous and existing Intel processors.
The x86 family ranges from the newest Pentium III all
the way back to the 8086, introduced in the late 1970s.
The move to a new architecture is coming because over
the years Intel has fixed problems and added features
to the x86 design, making the chip increasingly
complex. Today the x86 is "a really difficult architecture
to work with," says Linley Gwennap, editorial director of
Microprocessor Report. Gwennap discussed the
processor (code-named Merced) at the Microprocessor
Forum recently. He calls the x86 design "poorly
conceived and overly complex."
A Fresh (64-bit) Start
By creating a brand new chip, Intel and partner
Hewlett-Packard start fresh with a new 64-bit
architecture. The 64-bit designation means the
processor can process data in chunks of 64 bits, unlike
today's Pentium III processors (and PC chips from Intel
competitors), which process only 32 bits at a time.
Some of Intel's competitors in the server space, where
Itanium will debut, can already accommodate 64-bit
processing, and others are developing 64-bit chips.
AMD's recently announced SledgeHammer also offers
64-bit capabilities, but it will rely on current 32-bit
architecture.
Itanium's new architecture means the processor should
simply work better, says Jim Carlson, director of
marketing for IA-64 systems at HP. Designers have
traditionally coaxed better performance out of
processors by increasing the clock speed, but the new
architecture enables chips that can do more at lower
speeds.
"By doing this at the fundamental architecture level
you're a little ahead," Carlson says. Later, as IA-64
chip speeds increase, even better performance will
result.
As Always: New Chips Need New Software
Also.......http://moneycentral.msn.com/articles/invest/jubak/4797.asp |
