Hewlett-Packard is deepening its portfolio of Advanced Micro Systems-based systems with a thin client and new servers running processors made by Intel’s chief rival.
HP is rolling out the HP t5720, a thin client based on AMD’s Geode NX 1500 chip. The Palo Alto, Calif.-based computer maker also said it is adding new AMD Opteron dual-core processors to the HP ProLiant DL145, DL385 and DL585 servers, as well as the HP ProLiant BL25p, BL35p and BL45p blades.
With these new additions, HP becomes the second tier-one manufacturer this month to integrate AMD processors into its system lineup. Earlier this month, Lenovo said it also would make some versions of its new Lenovo 3000 lineup of desktops and notebooks available with AMD processors.
The t5720 is HP’s first thin client based on an AMD processor and is configured with up to 512 Mbytes of flash memory and 512 Mbytes of DDR RAM. Its starting street price, with 256 Mbytes of DDR RAM, is $699. HP didn’t specify when the systems would be generally available.
The new ProLiant systems will be based on AMD’s Dual-Core Opteron Models 185, 285 and 885 and keep power consumption to 95 watts, HP said. The new servers were slated to be available March 20.
AMD, Sunnyvale, Calif., has been picking up significant market share from Intel over the past several quarters—so much so that executives from Intel, Santa Clara, Calif., recently informed Wall Street that it would miss its previous first-quarter earnings targets due in part to AMD’s gains. However, many in the channel are less persuaded by the AMD platforms.
“I really don’t see that much momentum” toward AMD among customers, said Bunty Lalchandani, president of MicroWorld, a Newport Beach, Calif.-based software and hardware reseller.
“There is definitely a place for AMD, and AMD-related products and technology in the market. But I don’t know whether there is still much push to that,” he said.
Lalchandani also said he has seen recent strength in the HP server product line, but that most accounts—especially in the small- and midsize-business space—more often stay with the recommendation of their solution provider. And, for MicroWorld, that recommendation will be to stay with the Intel platform, Lalchandani said.
“We stick with the Intel platform,” he said. “The AMD platform is less expensive, but we are just more comfortable with Intel. It’s more secure for us, as far as compatibility with third-party software.”
While HP has offered AMD-based systems since 1996, most of that time those products have been for the consumer retail space. Following AMD’s shipment of its 64-bit Opteron in 2003, HP slowly began integrating that processor into its server platform for businesses.
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