The CPU family from Intel that is based on its 64-bit IA-64 architecture, which is a complete departure from the x86 CPUs used in billions of PCs and electronic devices worldwide. Itaniums run HP-UX, Linux and Windows server operating systems.
The 64-Bit Future
Itanium was developed as the 64-bit future for Intel; however, two years after the first Itanium chip was released, AMD introduced 64-bit versions of the x86 architecture, and Intel followed suit. Although the Itanium uses a more advanced architecture, as of 2011, the number of Itanium CPU chips sold worldwide is nowhere near that of 32-bit and 64-bit x86 chips from all vendors. The installed base of PC (x86) software was simply too huge by the time Itaniums were introduced, and x86 chips cost less. In 2009 and 2010 respectively, Red Hat and Microsoft announced they would not support Itanium in future releases of their operating systems. HP is the major vendor of Itanium-based servers. See x86 and Xeon.
Itaniums Support IA-64 and IA-32
Itaniums run native IA-64 applications, and they run IA-32 (x86) and HP PA-RISC applications in an emulation mode. IA-32 programs are executed directly in the Itanium's hardware layer or via a software layer in the operating system (see IA-32 Execution Layer). HP PA-RISC applications are run via a software translator (see Aries). For more on the Itanium architecture, see IA-64.
Model Process Max.
Year Tech. Clock
Codename Intro (nm) Speed
Itanium (2.1 Gbps RAM bandwidth)
Merced 2001 180 800 MHz
Itanium 2 (6.4 Gbps RAM bandwith)
McKinley 2002 180 1.0 GHz
Madison 2003 130 1.6 GHz
Deerfield 2003 130 1.0 GHz
Hondo 2004 130 1.1 GHz
Fanwood 2004 130 1.6 GHz
Madison 2004 130 1.7 GHz
Itanium 2 Dual Core
Montecito 2006 90 1.6 GHz
Montvale 2007 90 1.7 GHz
Itanium 9300 Four Core
Tukwila 2010 65 1.7 GHz
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