Intel has finally entered the 64-bit race...

[Hivetyrant]

Yup, you can see the original article here

As of today, Intel has officially entered 64-bit computing with its new 600 series of Intel Pentium 4 Extreme Edition 64-bit processors supporting HT Technology. The chips are curently available in Japan and wealthy Europeans can also buy theirs online. Follow the download tab for the European retailers website. Intel Corporation announced the availability of five new processors for desktop computers that deliver entertainment and IT benefits for consumers and businesses. When coupled with the widely adopted Intel 925/915 Express chipset family, the processors can help enable improved performance and more rapid response times for computing platforms. Intel is now shipping the Intel Pentium 4 Processor Extreme Edition 3.73 GHz supporting Hyper-Threading (HT) Technology and four new processors in the Intel Pentium 4 Processor 6xx sequence supporting HT Technology. All five of the new processors support 64-bit memory addressability through Intel Extended Memory 64 Technology (Intel EM64T). Intel plans to ship EM64T on versions of every newly introduced Intel desktop processor including the company's Intel Celeron D processor lines later this year. The Intel Pentium 4 Processor 6xx sequence processors help enable new power-saving benefits to the desktop with Enhanced Intel SpeedStep Technology (EIST). Similar to the technology used in Intel Centrino Mobile Technology, EIST can enable power-saving by reducing overall average processor power consumption. The new processors will support the upcoming Microsoft Windows XP Professional x64 Edition operating system and will enable users to experience the benefits of 64-bit computing. The Pentium 4 Processor Extreme Edition 3.73 GHz supporting HT Technology features a fast 1066 MHz system bus and 2MB of L2 cache that improves performance for such applications such as high-definition video and gaming that benefit from large amounts of data readily available to the processor. The Intel Pentium 4 Processor 6xx sequence supporting HT Technology comes in speeds of up to 3.60 GHz, features an 800MHz system bus, a doubled L2 cache of 2MB, and Enhanced Intel SpeedStep Technology (EIST). This power-saving capability is supported by Windows XP Service Pack 2. Additionally, the larger L2 cache provides potential performance benefits while Execute Disable Bit technology offers improved protection from certain types of viruses when coupled with Windows XP Service Pack 2. Intel ended 2004 with more than two-thirds of its Pentium processors shipping with HT Technology and introduced a number of enabling tools, software and programs to lay a strong foundation for its upcoming dual-core platforms coming later in 2005. With these new processors, Intel continues to lead the way for innovative offerings for the digital home and digital office in 2005, extending the award-winning Intel® 925/915 Express chipset families and providing a strong platform foundation for the latest PC uses.

[ 02-23-2005, 06:33 AM: Message edited by: Hivetyrant ]

[Sir Degrader]

Huzzah. This is very good.

[Thoran]

lol... With these offerings, Intel continues lead the way in the race to catch up with AMD, who has had a true 64 bit processor on the market for well over a year... and one that's much better architected than the 'tack on' 64 bit extended P4 architecture.

[img]smile.gif[/img] Sorry just couldn't help myself.

[Brayf]

Sorry, I have no idea what any of that article means... Could you put it in layman's terms? Exactly how much better is this technology going to be than my Athlon 1800+?

[Dace De'Briago]

In laymans terms, much better. It probably runs about twice as fast as your current processor, and I'd imagine costs about 20 times more.

If you upgrade, take the Socket 939 AMD 64-Bit Processor route. Very cost effective and ridiculously powerful (oh, and some degree of future proofing!).

[Thoran]

While I was making fun of Intel hubris, there's nothing wrong with the P4, it's inferior to the AMD 64 bit processor design (more evident in the workstation arena) but it's still a very good design for desktops.

Either an Athlon 64 or a fast P4 will be quite a bit faster than your 1800, although the supporting hardware is also very important (if your Graphics card and disk subsystems are very fast, the performance difference won't be as noticeable)

If you're looking to buy I tend to tell people to get something that fits their budget... IMO these days the choice of System Manufacturer is more important than processor at any given price point.

Also I'd tend to suggest PCI Express unless the buyer is very cash strapped. And if you're a gamer, put more emphasis on getting a good graphics card and decent amount of memory than on getting the very fastest processor out there.

[LennonCook]

So, whatever happened to the Itanium 2, Intel & HP's second go at a 64 bit processor? It was shipped in 2002.
Contrast to the Athlon 64 and the Opteron, which were shipped in 2003.

Not only has Intel been in the 64-bit race for quite a while longer than this P4 Extreme, they've also been in it longer than AMD.

[Kakero]

It's more expansive than amd processor. So I wouldn't consider getting it. Eventough it is better than amd.

[Thoran]

LennonCook based on their press release I believe they're talking about 'Wintel' compatable architectures (something that can run x86 code native)... and the Itanium family was out there on its own (hence the lack of general acceptance).

If you're talking about non-x86, AMD owns the x-Digital Alpha architecture... which predates the Itanium by many years (a great design that contributed a lot to the Opteron/Athlon 64).

Kakero as I said before, the P4 architecture (and the 64 bit extended P4 variant) are technologically inferior to the Opteron design... in what way do you feel they are superior? Intel made concessions in the chipset design in order to optimize clock speed... a clear example of marketing driven design. It's one of the reasons that recent Intel Chipset outlooks show Intel moving away from the P4 to a new "Dual Core" design that is basically a slightly redesigned P3.

[ 02-24-2005, 10:29 AM: Message edited by: Thoran ]

[The Fallen One]

hehe, i'll stick with my P4 1.6ghz till the new ones get ALOT cheaper ;D. Cant afford to pay a thousand bucks just for the processor. [img]tongue.gif[/img]