Systems Builders Aim At 64 Bits

While multicore processors are stealing the headlines, for systems builders, 64-bit computing will be a more important technology during the next six months. That's because customers are already buying 64-bit systems in force, whereas multicore has just arrived on the marketplace.

AMD kicked off the 64-bit category nearly two years ago when it debuted its AMD64 architecture and companion extensions. These are implemented in AMD's Opteron server and Athlon 64 desktop processors.

Last June, Intel battled back when it unveiled a 64-bit version of its Xeon server processor. The chip was fitted with 64-bit instruction-set extensions Intel called EM64T, which are compatible with those used by AMD.

The processor was quickly snapped up by systems builders and OEMs alike, selling 1 million 64-bit Xeons in the first six months, according to Phil Brace, director of marketing for Intel's Digital Enterprise Group. "In the fourth quarter of 2004, our [sales of] 64-bit Xeons actually exceeded 32-bit Xeons," Brace says. Total shipments of 64-bit Xeons were expected to exceed 2 million units at press time.

The 64-bit Xeon will go multicore when a dual-CPU version of the processor is released in the first quarter of 2006.

D esktop D esigns

On the desktop front, AMD's Athlon 64 processor is battling with a host of new 64-bit parts from Intel.

In February, Intel unveiled its new 600 Series of 64-bit Pentium processors. "The 6XX is a follow-on product to the Pentium 4 Prescott family," says Willy Agatstein, general manager of Intel's reseller products group. "It has an 800-MHz front-side bus, 2 MB of on-die Level-2 cache and EM64T technology. In addition, it has a number of enhanced power-management features, which allow you to get the latest performance but be able to do it at reduced power."

The 6XX parts will be Intel's first 64-bit Pentiums to be broadly available to resellers and consumers. Last summer, Intel quietly shipped to IBM an OEM version of a Pentium 4 Prescott processor equipped with 64-bit instruction-set extensions, which was used in an IBM BladeCenter blade server.

Though the new 6XXs will have caches to boost performance, folding in the 64-bit capability wasn't much of a technical challenge. More than a year ago, at an analyst's meeting for the business community, Intel president Paul Otellini revealed that Intel was building its 64-bit instruction-set extensions into all of its Prescott-class processors, but that it wasn't turning the feature on. At the time, Otellini said Intel was holding off on enabling the extensions until Microsoft was ready to release a 64-bit version of its Windows XP operating system.

With Microsoft's 64-bit OS due out this spring, systems builders see it as a driver for business.

"The technology is stirring up interest, particularly among power users," says Don Young, president of Terian Solutions, a Houston-based systems builder and integrator.

Long-term, 64 bits will blend into the background, according to Dean McCarron, principal analyst at Mercury Research in Cave Creek, Ariz. "It's going to be a moot point because most likely by midyear, both companies will be offering complete coverage in the [desktop] performance segment," he says. "It is a significant advance; however, it's not going to get used a lot initially. It's much more important for establishing an infrastructure for when the applications will be using it down the road."