THE END OF JUNE looks set to be a Rubicon for Intel - this is when they have promised their manufacturing partners such as Dell, HP, and IBM, the next version of the Xeon DP, Nocona. Intel"s problem is not if it is going to deliver, it is pretty well surmised at this point in time that stepping 4 of the Prescott, the one with ia32E (read iAMD64 or x86-64) enabled, is in reality Nocona and that stepping 4 appears to be a very done deal.
No the problem is that the very same stepping 4 is being shown around the world is attached to a heatsink that doubles as a small boat anchor attached to a fan recently liberated from a wind tunnel. Now in the world of consumers who use a single processor this device and its associated socket and new board, case and power supply requirements are a very minor inconvenience but in the server world, where at a minimum we need two of these puppies, life is an awful lot bleaker.