Actually, the Intel Core 2 microarchitechure is a 64 bit extension to the P6, which is …. genuinely old. Long story.
And didn’t I just quote that part? “We share UNDERLYING BREAKTHROUGHS in areas of chip design and manufacturing…” (my emphasis).
And then they list three parts of developing a process technology. Chips are not designed in labs, they’re designed on CAD/CAM machines in offices, and produced in labs and then later in fabs. And how to design an out of order execution unit is not only difficult, but exceedingly complex.
Trust me though, the POWER5 and K8 share nothing in common from a design perspective. Somewhat like the Alpha? Yes, but nothing like the POWER5.
