AMD Shoots for Quad Cores

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. is planning for quads.

The Sunnyvale, Calif., chip maker is aiming to roll out a quad-core-capable processor family during 2007 and switch to an all-new processor architecture later this decade.

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The quad-capable family will result in a wide range of four core processors, including offerings for desktops, notebooks and one for servers that can fit into machines with as many as 32 processors, AMD executives said in a meeting for analysts.

AMD aims to use its ability to step up on processor cores in 2007, along with its move to a new processor architecture around 2008 or 2009 as a means to meet its goals of maintaining what it sees as a technical lead over Intel Corp., its larger rival, while fostering a grow rate thats at least two-times the market average, company executives said in a meeting for analysts on Tuesday.

As one way of growing, AMD aims to double the number of computer platforms available from top-tier manufacturers that use its chips.

It hopes to use its Opteron chips recent wins in rack-mount servers to gain more acceptance in areas such as blade servers, corporate desktops and business notebooks, over time, executives explained at the meeting.

"People that can trust us for their server technology can trust us for their client technology," said Henri Richard, AMDs chief sales and marketing officer, in his presentation to analysts.

Click here to read more about AMDs efforts to court businesses with chips for desktops.

But winning business customers means giving corporate IT managers, whose top of mind concerns include utilizing all of the computer resources they have at hand, what they need, explained Marty Seyer, AMDs general manager for commercial business and performance computing.

Next Page: "Its about multicore."