Hell freezes over - Dell to ship AMD

Written by Wil Harris

May 19, 2006 | 10:46

Tags: #desktop #michael-rollins #opteron #server #woodcrest

Companies: #amd #dell #intel

Dell has announced that it is going to begin shipping computers with chips in from AMD.

The move breaks its long-standing Intel-only deal. Many thought that the move would never happen, whilst others saw it as inevitable. Since Dell bought Alienware earlier this year, however, it has been shipping AMD chips indirectly.

Initially, it is thought that Dell will be using AMD Opterons in four-way server boxes. Dell has previously suggested that there has been no demand from its customers for AMD, but the market would suggest otherwise, with shipments of AMD Opterons up from server companies like HP and IBM, whilst sales of Dell's Intel-only servers have gone down.

Marty Seyer, AMD senior vice president of Commercial Business, said that "We welcome Dell, and Dell customers, to the world of AMD64. Dell is a customer-focused company and we’re pleased to see that they are listening to their customers and providing them the choice of innovative AMD products. We look forward to working closely with Dell in bringing the benefits of AMD leadership in performance-per-watt solutions to Dell customers.”

Dell's financial statement for its Enterprise business has the AMD announcement almost buried in a range of reports, but says that "In the enterprise, we will launch new ninth generation servers featuring Intel's Woodcrest microprocessors. Dell will also introduce new AMD Opteron processors in our multi-processor servers by the end of the year offering a great new technology to our customers at the high-end of our server line."

Ironically, it has chosen to finally bite the bullet and go AMD at a time when Intel is just readying technology that may be able to own AMD in both the server and desktop markets. If Core 2 Duo chips in both those spaces perform as well as expected, AMD could have a major problem on their hands.

Well, so that's that. What do you make of the move? Has Dell done the right thing? Let us know your thoughts over in the forums.
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