Let The Games Begin: AMD, Intel Launch Next-Gen Processors
April 22, 2005 3:00 PM ET
Intel and Advanced Micro Devices continued their dual-core tit for tat last week, with both companies launching their next-generation processors and AMD betting big that the channel will bolster its position.
AMD, Sunnyvale, Calif., received a boost at its dual-core launch party in New York with the announcement that component supplier Supermicro Computer had abandoned its Intel-only market position and would supply motherboards for AMD-based systems.
 | |
| |
Supermicro, San Jose, Calif., said it would expand its entire product line to include optimized systems for single-core and dual-core AMD products. Vendors including Hewlett-Packard, IBM and Sun Microsystems also said they would begin shipping systems based on the new AMD chips. The processors include the Opteron 800 series for four- and eight-way dual-core servers. AMD said the Opteron 200 series for workstations would be available in May.
Earlier in the week, Intel as planned began shipping its Pentium Processor Extreme Edition 840 at 3.2GHz with the Intel 955X Express chipset—its first dual-core processor for desktops.
The dual-core processors are built to include two separate processing cores on the same silicon footprint as previous single-core chips.
John Freres, president of Meridian IT Solutions, Schaumburg, Ill., said despite the fact that Intel continues to hold a substantial market-share lead over AMD, the "game is not over yet."
"I think that AMD has got a great story," Freres said. "I think they're very much nipping hard at Intel's heels. You haven't seen a lot of innovation out of Intel of late. I think AMD is doing exactly what they need to do to penetrate and get the market share away from Intel."
Ruiz said the company will work even closer with the channel on this product rollout than in the past. "The channel has been a great partner for us," Ruiz said. "The channel will play a huge role."
AMD priced the Opteron 800 series at $1,514 in 1,000-unit quantities for Model 865 and $2,649 in 1,000-unit quantities for the Model 875. When they ship next month, the Opteron 265 processors will be priced at $851 and the Model 275 will be priced at $1,299, also based on 1,000-unit quantities.
ELIZABETH MONTALBANO contributed to this story.
|
Five Companies That Dropped The Ball This Week For the week ending Feb. 10, CRN looks at five companies that were either asleep at the wheel or just didn't make good decisions. |
|
Five Companies That Came To Win This Week For the week ending Feb. 10, CRN looks at five companies that brought their 'A' game and made moves to beat out competitors |
|
10 Challenges That HP Wants Partners To Tackle Right Now CRN speaks with HP's business unit chiefs to get a sense of where they'd like partners to focus in the coming year, as well as how CEO Meg Whitman is making a difference. |
 More
Slide Shows |
