Advanced
Micro Devices Inc (AMD) customers such as Dell Inc, Hewlett-Packard Co and Sun
Microsystems have begun shipping computer systems that use AMD''s next-generation
microchip, codenamed Barcelona. The new chip is the company''s long awaited response
to rival Intel''s domination of the server market. Just
last week Intel launched the Xeon 7300 in a bid to target network servers. While
AMD''s Barcelona targets network servers as well, it is not limited to this segment
unlike Intel''s Xeon. The Barcelona is being touted as AMD''s next big design advance.
According to analysts, Barcelona boasts of certain features, which give it an
edge over rival Intel''s quad core offerings. AMD
says that its design is a ''native'' quad core, that is, it has built four identical
cores onto a single piece of silicon. By contrast, Intel connects two dual-core
chip designs that have been placed side by side on a chip in order to form a quad
core. This design overhaul, according to AMD, allows Barcelona to perform better.
According
to analysts, Intel''s own Nehala chips, that use a design similar to AMD''s will
only be available after a year.
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