Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD)

[Petz]

OK, if K8/256K has approx same die size as K7, basing Paris on K8 makes sense. (I was under the impression that K8/256K would be larger than K7/512K.) It will have the cost saving of on-die memory controller, good for the value market and better performance per MHz to boot.

Here's what DOESN'T make sense -- eliminating AMD64 compatibility.

The socket supports it, no problem there.

Removing 64-bit capability would not same enough die space to be worth the headache. The 64-bit capability does not "slow down" the chip when running 32-bit Windows. Even if these low-end chips are never connected to more than two 512M DIMMs, by then there will be 64-bit-enabled games, video editing applications, encryption/decryption apps etc for Windows XP 64 that will just run a lot slower in 32-bit mode.

People will buy 64-bit PCs not because they want 4G of RAM, but because it will run their applications faster.

Petz