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AMD wields its Hammer

Neowin · Feb 26, 2002 20:16 EST with -1 comments

Advanced Micro Devices provided the first public demonstration of its forthcoming Hammer chip Tuesday. The company hopes to use the chip to challenge Intel on desktops and in servers.

At meetings in San Francisco, the Sunnyvale, Calif.-based company showed off Hammer-based computers running a 64-bit version of Linux as well as Microsoft Windows.

The Hammer family of processors will differ from other AMD chips--and other Intel processors--in that they will be able to run conventional 32-bit applications found on Windows PCs today as well as 64-bit applications. The bit numbers refer to the amount of data the processor can digest at once.

In general, 64-bit computers are more powerful than their 32-bit counterparts, but few 64-bit applications exist in the Windows world. AMD's strategy with the chip is to capture customers who plan to transition to 64-bit applications over time.

News source: CNET