Yes but even the PPro was just an evolution of the same basic 32-bit architecture.
Opteron is the chip that killed sparc, itanium, alpha etc. ; special hardware was replaced by PCs.
Well my point was that it wasn't.
It was a completely new way of handling x86 code, by first decoding it into micro-ops, then reordering it, and then executing it by a RISC-like backend.
Heck, it's Opteron that's about to be replaced by Intel's Nehalem. Ironically Nehalem is pretty much 'Opteron done right'.
True, but none of that is anything that "shook the world." It was still an evolution of the 32-bit architecture. Perhaps a slightly more radical evolution, but still nothing that "shook the world."
Hardly an accolade considering it's Opteron + 5 years
True, but none of that is anything that "shook the world." It was still an evolution of the 32-bit architecture. Perhaps a slightly more radical evolution, but still nothing that "shook the world."
The Itanium was far more revolutionary for comparison, but again nothing that "shook the world."
Regards,
SB
Opteron is the chip that killed sparc, itanium, alpha etc. ; special hardware was replaced by PCs.
one major chip should be the Intel i810. Even though we hated it. That slow shit is the grandmother of netbooks and €40 mobos with everything integrated, I don't believe you can even find a µATX mobo without an IGP those days.
Extending x86 from 32 bits to 64 bits, on the other hand, IMHO is relatively "trivial."
IIRC Penitum is able to do SMP.
Actually I see that the other way.
AMD had 5+ years to get it right, and still failed in the end (obviously during these 5 years they have constantly been working on improving the design).
Intel got it right on the first try.
Pentium Pro was the first chip to bring SMP to x86 however, and the beginning of x86 challenging RISC in the high-end arena. The chip itself may not have achieved huge sales but it began a legacy of processors that did and opened up new markets, so I'd say it was a product that 'shook the world'.
Actually AMD got it right on the first try. Scaling well past 4+ processor configurations.