![]() The second advantage of the 64-bit chip is its ability to handle larger floating-point numbers, which are often used in scientific and engineering calculations. The AMD64 platform can address 4 petabytes of physical memory, and a 64-bit CPU can potentially address up to 18 exabytes. Running on a 32-bit processor, for example, Windows 2003 Server can handle a maximum of 3GB of RAM, and even Unix systems top out at 4GB. ![]() ![]() Using data in high-speed, solid-state memory is significantly faster than getting it from disk, but there are limits to how much a machine can store in RAM. One is the ability to use massive amounts of memory. There are two major reasons why you might want to use a 64-bit CPU. Intel's new CPUs are expected to be compatible with AMD's 64-bit instructions. The new capability is being called Intel Extended Memory 64 Technology.Īnalysts note, however, that the new Xeons aren't expected to offer the integrated memory controllers or HyperTransport links (a chip-to-chip interconnect technology that operates at memory speeds) of AMD64 chips. In response, Intel announced in February that within a few months it would ship new versions of its Xeon server CPUs (code-named Nocona and Prescott) that could handle 64-bit applications and operating systems. In 2003, some 35,000 Opteron-based servers (almost all of them dual-processor) were sold-nearly double the number of Itanium systems. AMD's move led to faster, more cost-effective servers that didn't need to wait for the development of 64-bit applications.ĪMD followed up the Opteron in September by announcing the Athlon 64 processor family for desktops and mobile computing. Unlike the Itanium, the Opteron chips could run 32-bit applications quickly and efficiently in addition to handling new 64-bit instructions. in Sunnyvale, Calif., introduced its AMD64 platform and the Opteron series of 64-bit server CPUs. Itanium CPUs were in just 19,000 servers.Ī breakthrough came in April 2003, when Advanced Micro Devices Inc. Approximately 5.3 million servers were shipped worldwide in 2003, and of those, 4.67 million (87%) had the 32-bit x86 architecture, according to analyst Mark Melanovsky at research firm IDC. The industry-leading vendor had stunningly misread what the market wanted, and the lack of true 32-bit compatibility caused the Itanium to languish. ![]()
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