Sidney

By Rex Crum, CBS.MarketWatch.com
Last Update: 12:01 AM ET Aug 2, 2004

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS.MW) -- Dell and IBM on Monday threw their weight behind Intel's new Xeon processor, as each unveiled a new line of servers in what is expected to be one of the biggest shifts in server technology in more than a decade.

Dell (DELL) took the wraps off of its PowerEdge 1800, 1850, 2800 and 2850 servers, while IBM (IBM) added six new devices to its eServer line running on the Xeon. The chip, which Intel (INTC) introduced in June, is the first from the company that incorporates 64-bit processing extensions, allowing data to be processed in both 32-bit and 64 bit-size pieces.

"For us, this is the biggest refashion of our server line in at least two years," said Bruce Kornfeld, Dell's enterprise product marketing director. "It's a big step in our efforts to build the data center of the future."

While the current need for 64-bit processing power is not overwhelming, demand is expected to materialize in the coming years as newer network, storage and computing applications are developed that require greater memory and processing power.

"It gives the ability to open up the door to much broader market," said Brooks Gray, an analyst with Technology Business Research. "All the major competitors will make similar platform moves."

Competition is fierce in the Intel-compatible server market. According to research firm Gartner, Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) held the top spot in terms of servers running Intel 32-bit processors in the second quarter of the year.

H-P shipped 444,000 such servers, for 31.2 percent of the market. Dell came in second with 338,000 shipments and a 23.7 percent market share, while IBM was third with 202,000 shipments and 14.2 percent of the market.

Intel's primary processing rival, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), last year introduced its chips capable of chewing data in both 64 bits and 32 bits. AMD competes in the server market with its Opteron chip.

Last week, Microsoft (MSFT) announced its operating system supporting 64-bit extensions would not be ready until the first half of 2005, instead of later this year. The software company said the delay is quality-driven and that it needs more time to tune and test the platform.

An operating system designed for both 32-bit and 64-bit applications will be able to take full advantage of the Xeon chip's performance capabilities.

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lazyman

Opteron 165 (2) @2.85 1.42 vcore AMD Stock HSF + Chill Vent II

jmke

fixed the link

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Sidney

Again!
Thanks.

__________________
lazyman

Opteron 165 (2) @2.85 1.42 vcore AMD Stock HSF + Chill Vent II