PC Hardware in a Nutshell, 3rd Edition

Our Thoughts

We won’t comment in detail on server processors, because we don’t understand that market well enough. We note, however, that IT managers are notoriously conservative in adopting new platforms, and the perception of Intel as the tried-and-true 64-bit solution, particularly with regard to chipsets, probably militates against the broad acceptance of the Opteron in the datacenter. We’re sure that the Opteron will have some “wins”, but overall we think that 32-bit Intel processors will continue to dominate PC-server space. Those who need the additional memory addressability and other features of 64-bit processors will probably continue using heavy iron, at least in the short term.

On the desktop side, the picture isn’t much better for AMD. We think the Intel Pentium 5 (or whatever Intel chooses to call it) will walk all over the Athlon 64. Although the Athlon 64 runs 32-bit code competently—something Intel has never been able to achieve with its 64-bit processors—its forte is 64-bit operations, and for now 32-bit operations are sufficient for the desktop. The only 64-bit operating system available is Linux, although Microsoft promises a 64-bit Windows Real Soon Now. Even if that comes to pass, the dearth of 64-bit applications programs means that the Athlon 64 will be operating in 32-bit mode nearly all the time.

Considered as a 32-bit processor, the Athlon 64 is in effect a slightly enhanced Athlon XP. It operates at a severe disadvantage relative to the Prescott-core Pentium. ...