I HAD A CHANCE to chat with two lovely ladies from AMD at E3, and got a first hand look at the Opteron chip, the Athlon64 chip, and the new Mobile XP-M chip. They were all mechanical samples, and highlighted the newest processors coming from AMD. The usual presentation followed, but one point stuck in my head and I asked the ladies to expand.
The point was made by AMD that IBM was able to port DB2 from 32 bit to 64 x86 in two days. Two days. When pressed further, the AMD ladies indicated that the 64 bit port of Unreal Tournament 2003 took one programmer one week.
This is likely causing some worries over at La Intella, as the IA64 platform requires significant coding. Whether Intel likes it or not, people will be porting their software to 64 bit x86 in droves if it is as simple as AMD is making it out to be. This could result in widespread adoption of the 64 bit x86 standard, which would surely be a nettle in Intel's side.
Another feature of the Sledgehammer core is that it can run 32 bit applications simultaneously with 64 bit applications.
Currently, it is the only processor on the market that can perform that feat, and this will further complicate matters. AMD has positioned itself nicely to be a drop in replacement for hardware with very little software modification/adoption required. When 64 bit software becomes available, it's a matter of installing and running.
Another worrisome development is the availability of a "One Way" Opteron. AMD is touting this as a workstation chip, but you can be sure it will be tipping up in desktops around the world. This chip is available shortly, and Nvidia already has a chipset on the ground. At this point you have to wonder if Intella is hearing footsteps and peeking over its shoulder. µ
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