INTEL: 2 x 32 > 64

INTEL had a technology conference call on the 32 bit Core Duo processor with revolutionary INTEL(R) Deeper Sleep Technology(DST). Admittedly, I almost fell into deep sleep while listening to the CC, but bursted into wild laughter when I heard Mooly Eden, Intel VP of the mobility group, said something I considered very funny.

What Eden said was basically that "Two 32 bit cores are better than one 64 bit core", apparently refering to Turion 64.

No, no, no, Mooly, 2x32bit is only 33 bit! You know that, right?

Then our smart Ben Lynch surprised us techies with a deep question on "relative deficiencies in INTEL interconnects and scalability for multi-processor systems or multi-core CPUs", and how INTEL is going to address that with the next generation Merom architecture. While Molly was fumbling for an answer or excuse, another INTEL guy cut in and said this kind of server question should be defered to next IDF. But Ben Lynch pressed on, saying interconnect efficiency is also pertinent to dual core mobile. Cornered, the INTEL folks danced around, talking about balance of battery life and performance.

One analyst asked why users would need dual core mobile. Mr. Eden spent a long time and came up with all sorts of multi-tasking mobile computing scenarios, such as playing doom3 and ripping mp3 at the same time, zapping a virus while editing a spreadsheet, etc, etc.