Intel will next week change the face of volume computer systems by releasing its first EM64T chips, which combine full 32bit performance with 64bit capabilities, and by introducing support for a radically new platform including the PCI Express bus.

Codenamed Nocona, the 32/64bit chip is intended for dual-CPU workstation and, later this summer, server configurations. Like the Itanium, Nocona will provide access to large amounts of memory but, unlike Itanium, it will allow buyers to maintain their investment in 32bit programs without a performance penalty. The 3.6GHz chip will be branded under the Xeon name.

Nocona will add to server choice but muddy the waters for IT buyers pondering 64bit Windows and Linux server directions, as it also competes with AMD's Opteron chip. Although AMD has gained support from IBM, HP and Sun, watchers such as Microprocessor Report editor-in-chief Peter Glaskowsky believe Intel's platform strength will help EM64T chips outsell AMD's hybrid chips by the end of this year.

Although the new chip will gain attention, delays are expected before software vendors make 64bit applications for it. Perhaps more importantly, Nocona will also use new chipsets, previously known as Tumwater and Lindenhurst, which provide a platform for the PCI Express expansion bus. This will raise the speed at which storage, graphics and other peripherals communicate with chips.

Intel described PCI Express as the most important architectural change for a decade. It offers almost four times the bandwidth of PCI-X. Anil Vasudeva of analyst firm Imex Research said, "PCI Express has the backing of Intel and you would expect it to catch on."

The chipsets also support a variation of the SpeedStep technology, reducing laptop power consumption, and DDR2 - a faster memory with low power consumption.

"For a customer with 1,000 blades, the power saved would be significant," said Marco Biermann, European product engineer for memory-module maker Kingston Technology. "Together with motherboard support for technologies like Wi-Fi, PCI Express, Serial ATA and BTX [a case designed to run cooler], the changes represent a technology breakthrough."

Separately, Intel said PCI Express and DDR2 are also being introduced for the desktop in the Grantsdale and Alderwood chipsets, and the firm has begun using a new numbering scheme for desktop chips.

AMD last week said that it had completed the design cycle for its first dual-core 32/64bit processors and will have products available in mid-2005. Dual-core processors combine two processors in a single piece of silicon for greater efficiency.