Originally posted by Apopas
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Incidentally, Intel claimed that the i860 was a 64-bit CPU in the 90s, but I think that only applied to certain components while most remained 32-bit... and it really sucked as a desktop Unix CPU.
I also suspect that the push to make Itanium 'the next big thing' was what made Intel try to avoid going to 64-bit on x86 until AMD left them with no choice; a 64-bit P4 would probably have beaten Itanium just as AMD's 64-bit CPUs often did... if not on raw performance, then at least on price/performance.
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