AMD's upcoming Athlon 64 low-end variants, codenamed 'Paris' and 'Victoria', will not be offered as 64-bit processors but as 32-bit upgrades to the current Athlon XP line. So claims Xbit Labs, having glanced at the chip maker's latest roadmaps.
Paris and Victoria emerged earlier this year, when they were revealed to be cut-down versions of the Athlon 64. At the time, it was assumed that was simply a matter of their smaller, 256KB L2 cache. Paris will be fabbed at 130nm, and is due to ship sometime during Q4 2003. Victoria will debut late Q2 or early Q3 2004.
However, it now appears that the chips will not operate in 64-bit mode. The Athlon 64 supports three modes of operation: 32-bit 'legacy' mode, dual 32/64-bit 'compatibility' mode and pure 64-bit mode. The last two require a 64-bit OS, and are essentially sub-modes of the chip's 64-bit 'long' mode. If Xbit Labs' report is correct, Paris and Victoria will be limited to 'legacy' mode.
AMD has always touted Athlon 64's full 32-bit compatibility, partly to make it easy for users to migrate from the 32-bit domain to the 64-bit world, but mostly because it allows it to use one chip to target both domains, rather develop, market and manufacture two products, which is Intel's approach.
For now, AMD will continue to offer Athlon XP as a lower-cost alternative to Athlon 64 for OEMs and users who feel the latter has yet to prove itself. It might seem logical to just kill off the XP and drive punters toward the 64 - whether they use the 64-bit mode or not - but there would likely be some resistance to such a move. And some buyers will still assume - incorrectly - that the Athlon 64 is somehow not-quite-compatible with or unsuitable for 32-bit apps. Sure, the fanboys appreciate the difference, but AMD has and wants to target plenty of other buyers, many of whom don't.
Check it out on The Register.
<b><font color=red>
"Remain at stock speed"</b> - The Overclocker.
</font color=red>
Paris and Victoria emerged earlier this year, when they were revealed to be cut-down versions of the Athlon 64. At the time, it was assumed that was simply a matter of their smaller, 256KB L2 cache. Paris will be fabbed at 130nm, and is due to ship sometime during Q4 2003. Victoria will debut late Q2 or early Q3 2004.
However, it now appears that the chips will not operate in 64-bit mode. The Athlon 64 supports three modes of operation: 32-bit 'legacy' mode, dual 32/64-bit 'compatibility' mode and pure 64-bit mode. The last two require a 64-bit OS, and are essentially sub-modes of the chip's 64-bit 'long' mode. If Xbit Labs' report is correct, Paris and Victoria will be limited to 'legacy' mode.
AMD has always touted Athlon 64's full 32-bit compatibility, partly to make it easy for users to migrate from the 32-bit domain to the 64-bit world, but mostly because it allows it to use one chip to target both domains, rather develop, market and manufacture two products, which is Intel's approach.
For now, AMD will continue to offer Athlon XP as a lower-cost alternative to Athlon 64 for OEMs and users who feel the latter has yet to prove itself. It might seem logical to just kill off the XP and drive punters toward the 64 - whether they use the 64-bit mode or not - but there would likely be some resistance to such a move. And some buyers will still assume - incorrectly - that the Athlon 64 is somehow not-quite-compatible with or unsuitable for 32-bit apps. Sure, the fanboys appreciate the difference, but AMD has and wants to target plenty of other buyers, many of whom don't.
Check it out on The Register.
<b><font color=red>
"Remain at stock speed"</b> - The Overclocker.
</font color=red>
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