Intel's Xeon locks horns with Opteron

SAN FRANCISCO: The technological battle between Intel Corp. and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. flares up, with Intel set to introduce a new chip for computer servers and workstations to compete head-on with a similar AMD product.

Intel, starting today, will begin selling its first chip able to take advantage of 64-bit computing while still able to run current software programmed for 32-bit computers, spokesman Robert Manetta said.

The 64-bit feature, which allows a computer to churn through doubly large chunks of data and accommodate vast amounts of memory, is already available in another Intel chip, called Itanium. Itanium, however, is built for high-end business applications and requires specialized software to function.

The new abilities of Intel's mainstream business server chip, Xeon, could accelerate the adoption of 64-bit computing in businesses. Microsoft is readying the final version of an operating system that will accommodate Intel's new Xeon, as well as AMD's Opteron, which has similar features.

Though AMD has tended to play a catch-up role to Intel in chip advances, AMD's Opteron was first to the table with the ability to run in both 32-bit and 64-bit modes. AMD said its technological head start has given it a market advantage that it has no intentions of losing.

"We're not going to see any slowdown at all," said Marty Seyer, an AMD vice president. "Our assessment is people are ready for an alternative."

The dual abilities of the Opteron, AMD has said, gives companies the ability to run all of their current software without a hitch while allowing them the chance to upgrade to 64-bit applications when ready.

Intel's Manetta said the initial version of Xeon will run as fast as 3.6 gigahertz, or billions of cycles per second, and will be for use in business workstations. A similar version designed specifically for servers will follow.

A desktop chip for home PCs with those features will be introduced when Intel believes an "ecosystem" of software to support the feature is developed, Intel executives have said.