[link|http://www.theinquirer.net/25010201.htm|Here].

It seems Intel has a skunkworks project to fight AMD's Hammer if Itanic doesn't start doing well and Hammer takes off.

According to a [SJMN] story up there, and based on an engineer, who quite sensibly declines to be named, the "Yamhill Technology" which is essentially based on X86-64 features, will be built into allegedly 32-bit chip Prescott with the option to turn the code on or off, depending on how well the Intel folk think sales of Itanic are still crap, and sales of Hammer are very good.

As we have reported before, the work is going on in Ronler Acres and we can assure you that if Intel has to bite the bullet and dump Itanic, it will do so.

The newspaper says that the Itanium has cost Intel $1 billion over the seven (actually eight) years it's been in the making, but we believe the true figure is higher than that.

Intel rarely, in our experience, puts ideology above market forces and if the Itanium fails to bolster its investment, it will have no compunction in pulling the trigger.

But it's a bit too early to call it a day, isn't it? What with the agreement with Compaq over Itanium migration, and the imminent introduction of three McKinleys, which certainly hold out some promise, there's still a lot to play for.


Cheers,
Scott.