AMD-Intel 64 bit race becomes tougher

Intel's "Paxville" version of Xeon, designed for machines with four or more processor sockets, now is due in 2005. And in a novel move, Intel will also release a version of Paxville for lower-end dual-processor servers.

Paxville has dual processing engines, called cores, a technology that means a single chip can do much of the work that previously required two chips. AMD released its first dual-core Opteron processors in the first half of this year, including models for four-processor and the more widely used two-processor servers. Both companies sell dual-core processors for desktop computers.

Intel's Paxville move "is clearly a time-to-market vehicle, a reaction to at least the perception of success that AMD is enjoying with Opteron," said TechKnowledge Strategies analyst Mike Feibus. "I don't think it'll make a dent in Intel's overall sales. It's more for chest-thumping purposes," informs CNET.

According to Globe And Mail, Both 64-bit Paxville and Paxville DP processors will use Intel Hyper-Threading Technology, allowing a single dual-core processor to run four threads simultaneously.

Intel has 17 multi-core projects under development and expects more than 85 per cent of its server volume exiting 2006 to be multi-core processors.

In addition to the Intel Xeon processors due in 2005, Intel began shipping the dual-core Intel Pentium D processor for single-processor servers in July, and remains on track to begin shipping dual-core Intel Itanium processors by the end of the year.