My advice, as I have nasty insider information from Intel (yay Phoenix!) is to get the nice 32 bit chip.
The 64 bit chip out my Athlon is actually a _fake_ 64 bits. Basically they soldered two 32 bit chips together in a creative way (I'm not even jokin here, though I am oversimplifying) and the end result is fast, but not really all that special, which is why it'll work in the same old case, with same old hardware and softawre you've always used.
Intel is working on a new REAL 64 bit chip, that when it comes out will not be backwards compatible with previous software or hardware(because it itself will be speaking a whole new language) but will blow Athlon's chip out of the water. Microsoft is already working on (in final testing I should say) the operating system for this beast of a processor, and most of the hardware and major software companies are following in suit. But basically when that chip comes out, if it does half as well as projections say, your Athlon chip won't be worth the silicon its made out of.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2003-10-06 10:27 am (UTC)The 64 bit chip out my Athlon is actually a _fake_ 64 bits. Basically they soldered two 32 bit chips together in a creative way (I'm not even jokin here, though I am oversimplifying) and the end result is fast, but not really all that special, which is why it'll work in the same old case, with same old hardware and softawre you've always used.
Intel is working on a new REAL 64 bit chip, that when it comes out will not be backwards compatible with previous software or hardware(because it itself will be speaking a whole new language) but will blow Athlon's chip out of the water. Microsoft is already working on (in final testing I should say) the operating system for this beast of a processor, and most of the hardware and major software companies are following in suit. But basically when that chip comes out, if it does half as well as projections say, your Athlon chip won't be worth the silicon its made out of.
So save your pennies, dude. :)