Quality Reigns Over Innovation

Intel and AMD continue to play their eternal game of technology leapfrog with sparkling new releases of 64-bit technology, dual-core chips and increasingly sophisticated chipsets.

It appears that Intel has leapt last with VARs, who believe the chip giant did a better job than its archrival, as reflected in the 2005 VARBusiness Annual Report Card (ARC) for Client & Server Processors.

Despite the flurry of activity generated by Intel and AMD around 64-bit chip technology, much of the rest of the industry has been slow to deliver fully exploitive hardware and software. Major vendors are virtually nonexistent in the 64-bit software market. Some VARs are telling customers to wait for Windows Vista, the successor desktop operating system to Windows XP, but it's still a year away from general release.

"I'm concerned about 64-bit because there's very little third-party software support. We've tried implementing pure 64-bit stuff, but there are few applications and driver support for things like scanners and printers. I'm not recommending 64-bit to customers until I can evaluate Vista," says Ray Coogan, the owner of That Computer Guy, a systems builder in Lake Havasu City, Ariz.

AMD continues to build momentum in the lower-end server market, with Hewlett-Packard deepening its commitment to the chipmaker by delivering more AMD-based two- and four-way servers. As part of its redoubled effort to become a significant player in the x86-based market, Sun also delivered servers aimed at the lower end that are powered by AMD's multicore chips.

"HP stepped up to the plate and has been a driving force for AMD-based systems. Now Sun has come out with its x86-based Galaxy one- and two-way servers," says John Humphreys, a research manager at IDC's Enterprise Computing and Modular Server programs. "We've seen tremendous growth at Sun, and their trajectory looks like they will push into the top four in the next year."

A major nonstory was Dell not delivering an AMD-based desktop or server product. Earlier this year, Dell president and CEO Kevin Rollins said his company was edging closer to adding a lower-end server to its existing Intel-based lineup because it felt AMD's products were getting better and gaining broader market acceptance. Since then, Dell has adopted a wait-and-see position.

Intel maintained a comfortable lead over AMD in its Product Quality/Reliability scores, but AMD gained ground in Technical Innovation.

"I think Intel scored better in Product Quality/Reliability not because their chips are better processors, but because of their boards," says William Carr, president of B3 Computers, Gwinn, Mich. "AMD's weakness is it doesn't have a pin-compatible processor that can run on an Intel chipset and motherboard."

Carr and other resellers say they've seen some quality improvements from AMD since it began including the Northbridge chipset.

The best opportunity for AMD to continue to make inroads against Intel is in the lower-end, Linux-based server market, in the opinion of some systems builders. Few hold out any hope of ever making any significant headway in the desktop market with an AMD/Linux-based solution.

"We are selling more and more Linux every day. Linux is working well at a server level, but at the desktop level, it still breaks," Carr says.

One tantalizing possibility on the desktop would be Apple producing a desktop system running Linux, although few VARs believe that prospect will materialize any time soon. Apple has committed to eventually delivering an x86 version of the Mac OS.

Intel also fared better in Partnership, scoring decidedly higher in the areas of Partner Portal, Sales Partnering and Solution-Provider Program.

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