Give Intel
Well, here it is, October. And this past Monday, trade magazine eWEEK reported that the chip maker is set to roll out the dual-core Xeon this month, with longtime partner and Motley Fool Stock Advisor pick Dell
Rival Advanced Micro Devices
I realize the study is a year old, but it raises an important question: Just what, exactly, has changed in the past 300-plus days? History says that it takes a notoriously long time to tune manufacturing processes to mass-produce better chips. Is it really fair to conclude that the new dual-core Xeon is as good as, or even better, than the Opteron? I'm not so sure, but the answer matters.
Think about it: When it comes to PCs, a few megahertz here and there in a microprocessor's clock speed doesn't mean much. (Ask yourself how many people bought Macs because of the PowerPC chip.) Not so in the server world. Servers drive the applications that drive commerce. The faster and more reliably they work, the more money that gets made. That's why IT managers take hardware performance seriously.
AMD has joined the war with Intel by playing up this point; the Opteron has been its chief weapon. And what a weapon it's been. AMD's deals with Hewlett-Packard
Need more Foolishness? Process this:
- Chips Ahoy! used to be a cookie. Not any longer.
- Forget the war, AMD wants to duel.
- When will Intel's margins improve?
- Look out AMD; Intel is planning a three-pronged attack.
Dell is a Motley Fool Stock Advisor pick. Conflict can be good for your portfolio. Just ask David and Tom Gardner. Each month, they slug it out in Motley Fool Stock Advisor to see who can come up with the best stock pick. Each has pounded the market by more than 30% since inception. In other words: They compete, you win. Now, come on, what's better than that? Take a risk-free trial today.
Fool contributor Tim Beyers was reminded in writing this story that there's no salsa left in the refrigerator. Time to get back to the grocery store. Tim didn't own shares in any of the companies mentioned in this story at the time of publication. You can find out what's in his portfolio by checking Tim's Fool profile, which is here. The Motley Fool has an ironclad disclosure policy.