AMD today announced three new models in its dual-core Opteron processor family. Leading the industry in x86 performance and performance-per-watt capabilities, AMD claims the new processors will help minimise overall server power consumption and cooling requirements.

The Dual-Core AMD Opteron processor Model 885 for up to 8-way/16-core enterprise-class servers and Model 285 for high performance 4-way/4-core workstations and servers are immediately available. The Model 185 for 1-way/2-core servers and workstations is expected to be available within 30 days. All three models claim the highest performance available for x86 servers and power consumption remains within AMD’s standard thermal envelope.

In addition to offering native dual-core technology, the AMD Opteron processor helps deliver a significant savings for enterprise datacentres, says AMD. Dual-Core AMD Opteron processors offer significant performance gains while operating in the same power and thermal infrastructure as single-core AMD Opteron processors. This means fewer servers can do the job of many, to lower overall operating costs.

AMD PowerNow! technology with Optimized Power Management can increase those savings even further because it enables servers and workstations to dynamically power down processors, based on usage. AMD PowerNow! technology can reduce CPU power consumption by up to 75 per cent during idle time, to help decrease the strain on datacentre cooling and ventilation systems and helping minimise overall power consumption for enterprise IT and workstation customers.

IBM, one of the first vendors to ship Dual-Core AMD Opteron processor-based platforms, will support the new processors in its servers and workstation product lines, with the BladeCenter LS20, e326m server, and IntelliStation A Pro. The LS20 blade and e326m rack server will utilize the Dual-Core AMD Opteron processor Model 285 to provide improved performance-per-watt advantages for customers looking to scale-out their high-performance computing clusters or BladeCenter deployments.

Additionally, the updated IntelliStation A Pro offers an even more robust 32- and 64-bit computing platform for high-quality visualisation in the fields of engineering and digital content, digital rendering and chemical and petroleum research.

Sun Microsystems revamped and expanded its entire x64 AMD Opteron processor-based server, workstation and High Performance Computing (HPC) product lines with AMD’s latest dual-core processors. Today’s announcement will mark Sun’s continued support of the AMD Opteron processor in its Sun Fire x64 servers and workstations, including the ‘Galaxy’ Sun Fire X4100 and X4200 servers, and its recently announced Sun Ultra 40 Workstation.

HP will add the new Dual-Core AMD Opteron processors across its extensive portfolio of AMD Opteron processor-based HP ProLiant servers and workstations. Dual-Core AMD Opteron processor Model 885 will add to the performance of the 4-processor/8-core HP ProLiant DL 585 and BL45p, while Dual-Core AMD Opteron processor Model 285 will do the same for the 2-processor/4-core HP ProLiant DL385 and DL145 G2, plus the HP ProLiant BL25p and BL35p server blades. HP will also match Dual-Core AMD Opteron processor Model 285 with the performance-class HP xw9300 Workstation that features multi-processing capabilities and support for dual PCI-Express x16 graphics.

The Dual-Core AMD Opteron processor Model 885 is priced at $2149 (£1224) in 1000-unit quantities and the Model 285 is priced at $1051 (£598) in 1000-unit quantities. The Dual-Core AMD Opteron processor Model 185, is scheduled to be available within 30 days.

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BIOS, Mar 06, 06 | Print | Send | Comments (0) | Posted In Processor