Asianometry Itanium: Intel’s Great Successor
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Apr 19, 2026 A deep dive into Intel and HP’s bold bet to build a new 64-bit CPU architecture. Explores HP’s VLIW roots and Intel’s choice to pursue a clean-sheet design. Follows technical struggles, delays, and the race with x86 extensions. Traces market shifts, competitor moves, and how clusters and AMD’s approach reshaped the outcome.
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Why Intel Wanted A 64‑Bit Successor
- Intel saw 64-bit as necessary to enter high-end workstations and servers dominated by RISC chips like SPARC and PA-RISC.
- The 4GB limit of 32-bit systems constrained graphics, scientific computing, and web servers driving Intel to seek a clean‑sheet successor.
EPIC As A Practical VLIW Evolution
- VLIW and its descendant EPIC move complexity from hardware to the compiler to exploit instruction-level parallelism.
- EPIC adds templates and modest hardware support to avoid VLIW's rigidity and improve portability across microarchitectures.
How HP Persuaded Intel To Adopt PAWW
- HP's PA WideWord work led Lou Platt to call Andy Grove; Intel initially said no then agreed after revisions.
- The 1994 deal transferred PAWW IP to Intel, who would design the first IA64 CPUs with HP as launch partner.
