AMD kicks off the week with five new server chips

IDG News Service - Advanced Micro Devices Inc. added five more chips to its line of Six-Core Opteron processors on Monday, offering a boost in performance with lower power consumption than current models.

The new additions include three Six-Core Opteron HE processor models that are manufactured using a 45-nanometer process and can be used in servers with four, six or eight processors. The six-core chips consume 55 watts of power, on average, compared to 75 watts and 105 watts for other models, according to AMD.

The new low-power chips -- the 2-GHz Six-Core Opteron 2423 HE, 2.1-GHz Six-Core Opteron 2425 HE, and 2.1-GHz Six-Core Opteron 8425 HE -- are priced from $455 to $1,514 each, in 1,000-unit quantities, according to AMD's most recent price list.

Lowering power consumption with the HE variants of the Six-Core Opteron allows server chip sets to be packed more closely together, reducing the space needed. It also helps contain rising power costs as companies pack more servers into data centers.

The new Six-Core Opteron chips are already available in ProLiant G6 systems from Hewlett-Packard Co. Other vendors, including IBM and Dell Inc., are readying servers to be released over the next month or so.

In addition to the introduction of the three Six-Core Opteron HE chips, AMD added two more chips to the lineup: the 2.8-GHz Six-Core Opteron SE 8439 and the 2.8-GHz Six-Core Opteron SE 2439. Both chips consume 105 watts of power, according to AMD.

They are priced at $2,649 and $1,019, respectively.

Reprinted with permission from

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