Intel quietly ships 64-bit Prescott
Posted: Fri Aug 06, 2004 9:53 am
64-bit Intel Xeon Shipped??? WTF!
LinkyIntel has quietly released a Pentium 4 Prescott processor equipped with 64-bit instruction-set extensions. The news came to light as an unheralded part of IBM's rollout of a new family of 64-bit servers.
The 64-bit Intel Xeon — formerly code-named Nancona — is a hybrid 32/64 bit CPU, which can run both 32- and 64-bit software via a set of 64-bit instruction-set extensions. The 64-bit version of Prescott, which had only been hinted at previously, was expected to be a desktop chip. Now, Intel says it's positioned as a server part for OEMs.