Wow! I had a hard time following that. I don't think Cltek is that computer savy by the question he was asking.
Let me try to translate parawolf.
Sledghammer is AMD's idea of the future of processors while the Itanium is Intel's. Both are 64bit processors.
16bit, 32bit, and 64bit refer to the instruction set the processor uses to run software programs. The instruction set is "hardwired" in the processor. Remember everything a computer does is binary (0's and 1's) and so everything we want to do (word processing, graphics, photos, games) has to be converted into binary. For example, take the number 123,456,789; this converts to 111010110111100110100010101 in binary. That is a 27 bit number. If you were using a 16bit instruction set, you would have to run whatever calcation twice to get your result (only 16bits at a time). With a 32bit instruction set you can do a calculation with this number in one run. With a 64bit instruction set, you can run a calculation with two numbers like this at the same time--assuming your doing the same calculation. Since most of the time you are doing the same calculation on a bunch of numbers, you have just doubled the number of calculations you can do per unit of time. This makes higher bit processors inherently faster but they are harder to make which is why they aren't already out yet.
Most software out there is optimized for 32bit processing, Windows excluded. Currently, no software is optimized for 64bit processing. The same problem existed when the first true 32bit processors (the 486)came out. At that time, Intel incorporated what it called real mode and virtual mode procecessing, ie, 16bit and 32bit processing in the chip itself to keep it backward compatable.
AMD plans to do something similar with the sledgehammer, a true 64bit processor, to keep it backward compatible with all the software out there.
Intel has decided not to do that. I guess it wants to push the software makers harder into going to 64bit code. What this means is, the Itanium will have to translate 32bit code into 64bits before it can process it which will greatly slow it down--slower than an 32bit processor running at the same speed.
I hope this helps or at least makes sense.
James