AMD unveils 64-bit Opteron processor

By Alun Williams

Posted on 17 Apr 2003 at 17:16

AMD's 64-bit processor, the Opteron, is officially unveiled today.

PLUS: Special report from New York launch

Formerly codenamed 'Sledgehammer', the Opteron is a 64-bit processor based on the traditional desktop PC x86 architecture. AMD's marketing slogan is that it provides 'simultaneous 32- and 64-bit high-performance computing for demanding enterprise applications'.

Features of the processor include an integrated memory controller, to help avoid memory bottlenecks, and HyperTransport technology, which is intended to reduce I/O bottlenecks and system latency.

With AMD's own Web site giving the breakdown on Opteron, the technology has been long-trailed.

For those of us inhabiting the 32-bit world, the Opteron story is that the 64-bit processor provides a smooth upgrade path on our own schedule. Older applications are still compatible, and a separate environment for 64-bit software is not required. With this in mind, the intent of AMD is 'to simplify today's IT environment'.

Intel's competition in this space is the Itanium 2.

The key point of 64-bit processing is that it gives increased computing power, both in terms of the amount of information that can be crunched in one go as a data set and the range of memory addressing possible.

On the first point, the ability to move more data into memory makes for faster processing, whether the application involves database queries, image manipulation or spreadsheet calculation. On the second point, remember that 32-bit systems can address 'only' 4Gb of data, as compared with the hundreds of gigabytes addressable by 64 bits - the Opteron will able to address up to 16 terabytes.

Mitch Gatchalian, Microsoft's Product Manager for SQL Server 2000, did not rule out on principle the porting of 64-bit SQL Server to the AMD platform. It is currently optimised for the Itanium 2. Microsoft has, however, already committed to providing Opteron-optimised versions of Windows XP and Windows Server 2003.

See also:

Microsoft commits to AMD flavour of 64-bit Windows