You didn't read the comment I edited in, did you?
Editing like that is like shooting a moving target… Have you considered “preview” option?
I feel I properly answered BOTH of those questions BEFORE you asked them.
Ok, I’ll do it again with your second version of your post.
What's interesting to note about the 970 is that it's a cut-down high-clock version of the POWER4 series of CPUs, which has already proven itself in battle over a number of years. Both the 64 bit X86 alternatives have so far failed to reach the market (unless you count 900MHz Itanium 2 chips for $2700 as reaching the market).
That would be false in regards to AMD's Opteron. Refer to AMD's "beachhead" programs (some sort of “early bird” program). Note that Athlon XP can be made to run like (i.e. compatibility mode only) Athlon 64 (i.e. via AMD’s SimNow).
Define “hitting the market" (i.e. you seems to apply different “hitting the market" definitions on different products).
IBM's PPC970 64bit CPU is not the only one to attend the CeBIT show.
Refer to
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=8274Summary
- Several mass-producing X86 motherboard manufactures will be showing their X86-64 motherboards products i.e. these include Tyan, MSI, Gigabyte and Asus.
- MS's Windows X86-64bit version (beta build) edition will be also on show (not a IA-64 edition).
- AMD Athlon 64 powered Laptops.
Note that “IA-64” wasn't defined as "X86-64" (refer to
www.x86-64.com).
However, prediction is never accurate, even more so when it comes to predicting the future.
With the X86 market, one can predict the success of this market due to the past 16bit-to-32bit X86 transitions i.e. 8086/80286 (DOS/Windows 3.11) to 80386/80486/Pentium (Windows9x**/Windows NT 4.0/Windows NT 5.x). As this past transition has shown, Microsoft (the X86 king maker) will play a large part for the success of X86-32bit-to-64bit transitions.
Secondly, the large number of third party X86 motherboard manufactures (includes their corresponding customers) that supports AMD’s X86-64 platform cannot be underestimate since they may well dictate the next ruler of the massive X86 Empire. One doesn’t expect 90 percent of desktop users (including the supporting industry) to dump their software investments or move to a graded performance (for legacy software).
Both Transmeta*** and AMD support X86-64 initiatives. ***Insurance as a second source for X86-64 platform.
RAMBUS mess has shown the limits of X86 motherboard manufactures (i.e. their steadfast support for SDRAM and DDR SDRAM technologies) to follow Intel.
If the 970 can indeed hit the market in reasonable clock ranges at a reasonable price it will most probably be something of a success.
Define “success”. It’s not the first time that the PPC has the same clock speed as with X86 CPUs (refer to 1995 era). I’m just too old for such optimistic appraisals.
But how much really depends on how Intel/AMD go from here. Do they continue to produce faster and faster 32 bit chips, or start migrating people over to 64 bit?
You are forgetting one critical factor i.e. the Microsoft factor. From the average Joe and Jane POV (i.e. 90 percent of desktop market); “Microsoft” as a name is a powerful brand name.
Do they continue to produce faster and faster 32 bit chips, or start migrating people over to 64 bit?
Are you implying the Athlon 64/Opterons to be slower than Athlon XP 3000+?
I don’t think there would be Athlon 3600+ based on the current K7 Athlon XP’s Barton core.
Impossible to say. But I really expect Intel to reach something of an upper limit in clock frequencies soon.
Your statement reminds me of mid-90’s “Intel has reached its limit rhetoric”. Some people never learn (sigh).
Edit: I would just like to comment that I'm not saying POWER4 ain't been as expensive as Itanium 1 and 2. I meant to make the point that the 970 is a more marketable version of a battle-proofed chip, whereas Itanium 2 is still only for HIGH END
Such proclamations don’t hold much water in regards to “is still only for HIGH END”. The potential for 100+ transistors silicon chips for mainstream desktop use is not impossible e.g. refer to nVidia’s GeForce FX as an example.
Like DEC’s Alpha, the Itanium has battle X86’s massive empire’s legions of users, support groups and distribution channels. The 64bit distinctiveness would be yet another distinctiveness to be assimilated within X86 collective.
Hmm, the "Unverified source" story?
Insurance.
