AMD Opteron

Keywords

optimus, Microsoft, Intel, Itanium processor, Windows Server 2003, x86 processors, SuSE, Red Hat, Parametric superiority

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The Road Ahead

AMD's hopes for Opteron were reflected in its chip's name, derived from the Latin "optimus". But the chip faced an uphill battle to beat Intel's established processors in single and multiway workstations and servers. Opteron chips competed with Intel's Xeon processors as well as with its Itanium chips. Server vendors who wanted an Intel-based 32-bit system chose the Xeon, and if they wanted 64-bit system, they could choose Itanium.

When Microsoft rolled out its PC server operating system on April 24,2003 it had versions supporting Intel's Itanium processor. But the software giant did not announce a firm date for shipping a version supporting the 64-bit capabilities of Opteron. The 32-bit versions of Windows Server 2003 would run on all x86 processors including Opteron, which had both, 32-bit and 64-bit modes. A Microsoft executive would only say that a version supporting Opteron's 64-bit capabilities would come sometime after that launch and before the next major release of the OS code-named Black Home.

"We haven't been able to settle on what that [64-bit Operton] product will look like, what the schedule will be or how we will announce it yet" said Bob O'Brien, Group Product Manager for Microsoft's Windows Server division18. Microsoft ultimately expected to support the Opteron in a manner similar to how it first supported Itanium, with an interim release product specific to that CPU. One observer said that the product could come in late 2003 or in 2004. AMD expected Opteron would have 32-bit support in Windows Server 2003, with 64-bit support following sometime later. SuSE, a company that made Linux-based products based in Nuremberg, Germany and Red Hat, another Linux company, reported that they would provide Linux software written for Opteron. AMD's rollout of Opteron seemed to be behind Intel's, which had launched the first version of its Itanium in May 2002 and unveiled an improved version, Itanium 2 in 2003. All of the major server vendors had lined up to use Intel's chips. Enterprise-level companies wanted a brand name server, and Intel had locked up all of the major players. The huge resources that Intel had, made it a formidable competitor. Analysts wondered who would emerge winner in the battle of David vs. Goliath.

References

1. "AMD Aims for 45nm in 2007," Electronic News, October 3, 2003.
2. "AMD to Set up Fully Owned Company in China," Asia Intelligence Wire, October 5, 2003.
3. Gomes, Lee, "Intel Turns to a Stunt As Challenger AMD Beats It to the Market," Wall Street
Journal - Eastern Edition, September 29, 2003.
4. "AMD Powers Down for 2004," Computergram Weekly, September 19, 2003.
5. "AMD Opterons Power Supercomputer," Electronic News, August 4, 2003.
6. Fay, Joe, "AMD's Opteron Pricing to Track Xeon," Unigram.X, August 15, 2003.
7. Moltzen, Edward F, "AMD Opteron Gets Lift from Distributors," Computer Reseller News,
August 25, 2003.
8. Morgan, Timothy Prickett, "IBM Debuts Servers Based on AMD Opterons," Computergram Weekly, June 31, 2003.
9. Piven, Joshua, "AMD'sOpteron Aims at Itanium in 64-Bit Battle," Computer Technology Review, June 2003.
10. Kovar, Joseph F, "Opportunity Rich for 64-bit AMD Opteron," Computer Reseller News, May 19, 2003.
11. "Appro Readies Blade Servers Based on AMD Opterons," Computergram Weekly, April 9, 2003.
12. Robertson, Jack, "AMD Opteron Woos Conservative Server Market," EBN, April 21 , 2003.
13. Randazzese, Vincent A, "AMD'S Opteron Ups Ante vs. Intel's Xeon," Computer Reseller News, April 28, 2003.
14. Keltcher, Chetana N; McGrath, Kevin J; Ahmed, Ardsher; Conway, Pat. IEEE Micro, "The
AMD Opteron Processor for Multiprocessor Servers," March/April 2003.
15. Morgan, Timothy Prickett, "Newisys Causes A Stir With AMD Opteron Servers," Computergram
Weekly, January 13, 2003.
16. Moltzen, Edward F, "Price Talk Envelops AMD Opteron," Computer Reseller News, December 23, 2002.
17. Popovich, Ken, "Cray Supercomputer to Tap AMD's Opteron," eWeek, October 28, 2002.
18. Popovich, Ken, "IBM Backs AMD's Opteron Processor," eWeek, August 5, 2002.
19. Abbinanti, David, "AMD Support," VARBusiness, July 22, 2002.
20. Fay, Joe, "Dell Hints at Plans for AMD's Opteron," Unigram.X, May 3, 2002.
21. "Hammer Time At Microsoft - Windows to Support AMD's Opteron," Computergram Weekly, April 25, 2002.
22. "The (Still) Dirty Dozen-Intel Lee Clifford, Julie Creswell," David Stories Published: Fortune, October 15, 2001.
23. "The Man Who Came Back From the Dead", Brian Dumaine Published, Fortune, September 11, 2001.
24. "‘Life'at the Bottom" Julia Boorstin Published, Fortune, July 6, 2001.