Intel Corp (INTC)

[Dan3]

Re: All that and it won't match the Barton 3200+

Not that model.

All in all a rather surprising configuration.

Did you note that it had integrated video and only 2 DIMM slots?

I agree with you that Athlon-64 will not be a cheap chip to produce. Where Barton has a variable cost around $30, Athlon-64 will probably cost AMD $60 to $75 to produce, at first. AMD would still make good money selling it to HP for $125 (and having it on pricewatch for $175), but I had expected that it would be a limited volume chip selling the $200+ range in systems that started at $1,500.

Going by the integrated video and limited DIMM slots, it looks like that box will sell for under $1,000 - maybe enough under $1,000 to leave room for a cheap monitor and printer, at least for the slowest version of Athlon-64.

Picture yourself in front of the systems lined up for sale on the shelves of Circuit City or Comp USA. For a $1,000 you can get a 64-bit 2800+ HP. How much more are you willing to pay for a 32-bit 3.4ghz P4?

The 64-bit system runs all the 32-bit software and all the 64-bit software to come.

The 32-bit system runs all the 32-bit software and none of the 64-bit software to come.

For many of the technophiles that come to sites like this one, buying the 64-bit chip is a no-brainer (face it, if that completely 32-bit compatible 64-bit chip were from Intel you guys would be tearing the pockets off your pants in your haste to rip out your wallets and buy, buy, buy),

But not everyone's a technophile, and for a lot of people, not running 64-bit software that isn't here yet won't be a deciding factor. But at $1,000 (or $1,500 for a system with a 3100+, and a DVD recorder) it doesn't need to be too compelling.

I have no idea what will happen. I'm too enamoured of technology to impartially estimate how many buyers will understand the difference. My guess is that these things will fly off the shelves a lot faster than AMD and HP can produce them - no matter how fast they produce them - but I could be very wrong.

Flip side is that if the new 64-bit chip that runs the new 64-bit windows isn't in high demand (even if Windows for AMD64 is still in beta), it would represent the death knell for the viability of the high margin processor strategy that is Intel's bread and butter.