The vendor also released a version of the chip targeted at uniprocessor servers. AMD has been selling the dual processor 200 series of the chip since its launch in April.
The 800 series of Opterons is designed for use in both four and eight way machines. AMD claimed that Opteron-based four way systems showed the highest performance ever on the SPEC benchmarks. Yesterday’s launch included three models, the 840, 842 and 844, which are priced at $749, $1,299 and $2,149 respectively.
The 100 series, also launched yesterday, is aimed at uniprocessor configurations. The 140, 142 and 144 are priced at $229, $438 and $669 respectively.
Yesterday’s launches come as Intel unveiled the latest version of its 64-bit Itanium processor, Madison, as well as new versions of its 32-bit Xeon processor. While the two companies will no doubt squabble over performance benchmarks for their respective architectures, they are clearly taking very different approaches to pricing. Intel launched 1.3GHz, 1.4GHz and 1.5GHz Madisons, priced at $1,338, $2,247 and $4,226 respectively. The new Xeons are clocked at 2GHz, 2.5GHz and 2.8GHz, and are priced at $1,177, $1,980 and $3,692.
The highlight of the launch of the dual processor Opterons in April was the announcement that IBM was planning to use the chip.
The company had no additional OEM wins to brag about yesterday, though Ben Williams, AMD’s director of workstation marketing, said the company was continuing to have positive conversations with vendors. The launch of the latest products had made these conversations more exciting.
He said it was important to consider the number of ISVs who were developing products for Opteron. Major vendors had already spent money porting their products to Itanium, but had seen little return. The fact that they were prepared to spending additional money porting to Opteron suggested they had a high level of confidence in the platform, Williams argued.
Source: Computerwire
