What Opteron Is

Indeed, Opteron is the first ever x86, 64 bit processor that can also run 32 bit programs. The company and the press have made considerable noise about the launch and the delayed launch of the desktop version, the AMD 64 codenamed ClawHammer, that is now scheduled for launch in September, but in reality, the Opteron and AMD's 64 bit desktop processor are based on the same core. While AMD's roadmap calls the two processors different names and has given them different launch dates, the AMD 64 will offer everything the Opteron does minus one half of Opteron's 1 M cache, and will have only one HyperTransport bus.

So while film content editors will pay a couple of thousand US dollars for Einux' latest system for professional editing tasks, the truly slick gamer can buy the machine today for its integrated DDRAM of more than one GB in size, 50% faster speeds, and, eventually, games written for 64 bit code. "Our system will represent a real screamer for games," Einux's CEO Charles Shao said.

64 Bit Math

The advent of 64 bit computing only means that the transistors can manipulate binary numbers that are 64 bits wide, compared to 32 bits wide, or even 16 bits using IBM's PC and AT machines with Intel's 8088 processors that were sold in the 1980s.

Using binary notation, transistors create binary information depending on whether a transistor receives electrical current or not. A `1' designates that the transistor has received current, a `0' means that it has not. In binary notation, a 10 represents a 2, 100 represents a 4, 1010 represents a 10, and so on. Devices based on 16 bit processing, thus, involve binary numbers with 16 places, compared with 64 places for 64 bit devices.

64 bit computing, in fact, has been pervasive in the server community for years, such as with RISC processors by Sun. It has just taken that long for the x86 environment community to agree that the timing was right. The technology largely involves no more than adding more transistors to accommodate the additional bits - a 64 bit processor represents over 2,000 additional registers and 25,000 additional transistors.

Conclusion

You could hop a train for the Bronx just down the street from AMD's Opteron launch party.

For better or for worse, AMD's launch of the Opteron was likely a historic even, set at the Altman House, where pink-wigged ladies parked their horses in the 19th century.

AMD had its day today, and the timing could not have been more perfect. The previous week, Intel suffered a momentary production glitch with a batch of 3 GHz Pentium 4s, although the problem was reportedly rectified earlier this week.

But as has been duly noted with Intel's launch of the Itanium, the server market is notoriously conservative, and both AMD and Intel are desperately chasing profits outside of the stagnant PC sector. In the big picture sense, AMD's Opteron launch is one of many stabs the company has made to gain significant share from the deep pockets of businesses since its inception as a company in 1969. So while much fanfare was made in the now economically depressed city of New York where basic services such as education and garbage disposal are in jeopardy, the jury will be out for a long while.