[Info-vax] Why it is a good idea that OpenVMS isn't on x86-64 just yet

[John Reagan]

On Friday, January 15, 2016 at 7:16:35 AM UTC-5, Neil Rieck wrote:
> Why it is a good idea that OpenVMS isn't on x86-64 just yet
>  
> Skylake bug causes Intel chips to freeze under 'complex workloads' 
>  
> http://www.extremetech.com/computing/220953-skylake-bug-causes-intel-chips-to-freeze-in-complex-workloads
> 
> Neil Rieck
> Kitchener / Waterloo / Cambridge,
> Ontario, Canada.
> http://www3.sympatico.ca/n.rieck/OpenVMS.html

In addition to Jan-Erik's response, it isn't ALL Skylakes.  You have to have hyperthreading enabled which limits you to the i7 chips (currently just the 6700).  The Xeon server chips (E3 v5) have only just come onto the market.

Xeon motherboards are just coming to market now (Gigabyte announced several at CES this week for example).  I'm sure that HPE, Dell, etc. are working on their platforms as well.

I built a new Skylake system for myself over the holidays.  Gigabyte motherboard, i5 6500 Skylake CPU, 16GB ram, an SSD system drive, and Windows 10.  While I don't search for primes (or Bitcoins), I haven't had a problem with it yet.  [I am using my older Core 2 Duo system running W7 for this post however, I haven't moved over all my files.]