The Itanium 2 processor marks a significant step in Intel's strategy to penetrate the upper echelons of the computing market. But analysts and others are asking whether it will thrive in the current economic ice age.

The chip, once code-named McKinley, will be touted in benchmark studies, product releases and analyst reports all this week as part of its debut. Executives at Santa Clara, Calif.-based Intel say a major redesign of the chip and improvements to the accompanying software and hardware will provide far better performance than the original Itanium, which was a major disappointment for the company.

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