Nehalem: Intel's new challenge to RISC processorsTime for a quick reality check on Intel’s comparison of the Nehalem server chip - unveiled at a press briefing today - and its RISC-based rivals.If you believe Intel’s surreal price/performance numbers shown today, you wonder how CIOs today can still keep their jobs and continue buying IBM and Sun RISC-based servers.Intel Xeon vs. Sun SPARC: 1.7 times the performance for less than half the cost;Intel Xeon vs. IBM POWER: 2.5 times the performance for 1/10th the cost.“Enterprises spend 40 percent of their budgets into proprietary environments such as SPARC or POWER RISC-systems. These are expensive, proprietary, evolving more slowly, typically carry higher maintenance costs, software licensing costs, etc [...] Comparing to the IBM POWER environment, its almost humorous,” quipped Pat Gelsinger, senior vice president and general manager of Intel’s Digital Enterprise Group. “It’s time to start a major refresh out of the proprietary world!”So I asked chip analyst, Nathan Brookwood, for some explanations. What really happens is that enterprises buy large IBM POWER, Sun SPARC and even Itanium servers for their reliability, scalability, the software they run, etc. Things that Intel’s latest Xeon server chip can’t match.Along with those very large systems, enterprises also buy smaller SPARC/POWER/Itanium servers, to use in their branch offices. But why?“Because of compatibility. Enterprises are not buying the small RISC-based for their performance, but because they use the same software than their very large RISC-based systems, which simplifies IT management,” explains Brookwood of analyst firm, Insight64.So as long as Intel Xeon chips are cantoned at the low-end of the server market, RISC-based chipmakers - like IBM or Sun - have little to worry of the Santa Clara, Calif.-company nibbling on their market.Unless of course, there’s a renewed effort from Intel behind Itaniu...