AMD rolls out a new version of Opteron processors

Advanced Micro Devices introduced a new version of its prevailing Opteron processor, in an attempt to expand on the momentum and market share the company has acquired in the server market in the past three years. The Next-generation AMD Opteron family was launched on Tuesday, featuring industry-leading performance-per-watt and outstanding virtualization capabilities.

These Opteron processors are designed by the company in order to enable the customers to increase computing capacity without altering datacenter infrastructure. The new dual-core chip, known as Rev F, comes with improved virtualization capabilities and upgraded integrated memory.

Customers trust AMD for critical server applications, as evidenced by our record Q2 2006 AMD Opteron processor sales, and in 2006, AMD expects to double the number of AMD Opteron processor-based systems offered from global and regional tier-one OEMs,” said Randy Allen, corporate vice president, Server and Workstation Division, AMD.

The company claims to have continued innovation along with customer directed path as the completion of the design of Quad-Core AMD Opteron processors was also announced in addition to the launch of its Next-generation AMD Opteron processors.

Designed around the Rev F Opteron, the company expects to have 50 systems by the end of this year, which is more than twice the amount of Opteron-based systems sold last year.

AMD has gained at the expense of its biggest rival and the world’s largest chipmaker, Intel. In its ongoing battle with AMD, Intel launched a new version of its Xeon chip that is more efficient and less power-hungry than a previous version, earlier in June this year.
AMD’s share in the server space was 22% in the first quarter which got inflated to 25% in the second quarter.

AMD and Intel are now expected to compete on the server chips that have four cores.

Quad-Core AMD Opteron processors are expected to be electrical-, thermal- and socket-compatible with the already introduced Next-Generation AMD Opteron processors. This long-term approach means AMD customers can benefit from an architecture that scales to meet changing needs and escalating demands.