By comparison, Intel's Itanium 2 server processor tops out at 1.66 GHz.
Unisys, which makes high-power computer systems for banks and credit card companies, is already anticipating a hassle with export authorities when Intel's Itanium chip debuts later this year.
It is the economic argument in favour of running Windows 2000 on Intel's Itanium early next year that undoubtedly poses a threat to Sun at the bottom and the middle bits of its server range.
Having been caught out by the Internet-stoked demand for web and application servers as well as the very late arrival of Windows 2000 and Intel's Itanium chip, both have recently produced high-end servers that have outscored Sun's in benchmark tests.
Analysts said it was cheaper, faster and guzzled less power than anything else on the market, including Intel's muscular Itanium chip, which debuted in 2001 but never lived up to expectations.
And new software from Microsoft and the blazing Itanium chip from Intel should ignite a technology buying cycle by November.
While HP and Intel continue to invest in Itanium, Microsoft, notably, announced that it was ending Itanium support after its latest versions of Windows Server and SQL Server.
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Intel was the leading proponent of Itanium.
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AMD, is that Intel has to use software to make Itanium compatible with 32-bit programs, but this slows down the processor.
Intel, which has dedicated 64-bit silicon in Itanium, de-emphasizes the processor's 32-bit performance, according to Nathan Brookwood, and analyst with Insight 64.
The company has also struggled broadening the base for its Itanium high-end server chip (See "Intel Kicks Off Overhaul").
The company must now put its energy into ensuring that Intel 's (nasdaq: INTC - news - people ) Itanium chip architecture, upon which HP has partly staked its future, is a big success.
The product, called Primequest, uses up to 32 of Intel 's (nasdaq: INTC - news - people ) Itanium 2 processors per box and is designed to utilize both Microsoft (nasdaq: MSFT - news - people )Windows and the open source Linux operating systems.
The new company is betting heavily on a next-generation Intel (nasdaq: INTC - news - people) chip, the Itanium, which is expected to arrive in 2004.
In addition, Fujitsu (otc: FJTSY - news - people ) has designed its own chip set working with the Intel processor to raise performance and reliability for both 32-bit and 64-bit computing, Itanium's specialty.
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