[data-cat]

That is an interesting conclusion. I did not realize x86 already had 128 bit registers. That was really what I was referring to. We might not need to worry about addressing more memory yet but I feel like larger registers will still be useful.

[stephencanon]

Actually, x86 already has 256-bit vector registers (AVX), and will have 512-bit vector registers in a few years (AVX-512). If you include the exotic-but-still-x86-based xeon phi it already has 512-bit vector registers.