Online petition on Intel vs. AMD duel

[TransformX]

http://www.sun.com/x64/

[Whirl-Secret]

Have you seen their prices? We bought an IBM 1u P4 (not xeon) entire server for the same price as a sun hard disk

[TransformX]

I heard their X64 series are *MUCH* cheaper than their spark solutions. Better have a second look..

[Technoid]

The last 2 servers we have bought at work are IBM x-series 3xx machines - lovely, but they use xeons. I showed the IT boss some SQL server benchmarks of Opteron vs Xeon and he was very impressed - so we asked all our preferred suppliers for a quote of a dual Opteron 2u server, and EVERY ONE of them ignored it and sent a price for Xeon machines.

In the end we went for our favourite supplier (he gives us IBM coffeemats and maglites!!!) and the trusted IBM servers, and guess what it had xeons in it.

Well, that pretty much sums up the situation

Remember when the athlon first came out and it took months befor you could buy a mobo because Intel threatened to cut suply of BX chips to anyone making Athlon mobos?

Does anyone think Intel isnt still up to those tactics?

[schmosef]

Yeah, but with Canadian factories...right?

Our tax laws differ a bit when it comes to depreciation, as in sometimes you can get a 100% write off the first year. Companies here are getting cars, hardware etc. etc. just because of the tax break and not even because they need 'em.

Dr. Mordrid

Although I've only had to visit/work with a couple of US factories, almost all my customers are international. One of them has several hundred factories. I used to have a lot of business in the automotive sector. I've worked with tier 1, 2, and 3 automotive suppliers. When the per minute fines for causing downtime at the Ford/GM/etc. assembly line are in the 4-5 figure range, they don't upgrade equipment, just because they can.

In the manufacturing industry a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. They don't change things unless there's a direct benefit (ie., improved productivity/reduced manufacturing costs).

I guarantee to you that tax advantages are sought after the decision to upgrade/change equipment has been made. They don't factor into the decision itself.

[schmosef]

One of the probs I have heard from other IT guys who deal with servers (I'm quoting a certified Compaq server fixer) is the motherboard chipsets that come with AMD comps. Afaict that's not really been an issue since the K6s or something like that, but people have a long memory.

The last 2 servers we have bought at work are IBM x-series 3xx machines - lovely, but they use xeons. I showed the IT boss some SQL server benchmarks of Opteron vs Xeon and he was very impressed - so we asked all our preferred suppliers for a quote of a dual Opteron 2u server, and EVERY ONE of them ignored it and sent a price for Xeon machines.

In the end we went for our favourite supplier (he gives us IBM coffeemats and maglites!!!) and the trusted IBM servers, and guess what it had xeons in it.

As a way of getting revenge, every desktop computer of ours that I upgrade (we do 2-3 manually every month to re-use those win2k licences and save the environment a bit) uses AMD64s or Semprons now.

Like I said, AMD needs to go after the OEMs, not the end users.

[Umfriend]

I guess though it might help OEMs to start offering AMD-based solutions seriously (if at all) when they notice a specific demand from it from end-users.

And besides, challenges are fun, so what's the fuss?

[Whirl-Secret]

from what I've seen of OEMs, they would hate to have to offer a choice, or, heavens forbid, try to choose themselves what was best for their client.

They have their brands that they are certified for, and it's their job to convince ppl like me that I need what they are willing to sell. Yes you would think it would be the other way round (I tell them what I want and they quote me a price) but it doesn't seem to end up like that often.

I actually really like the guys in our suppliers, but they do cringe when i mention 'Opteron' and send a quote with 'Xeon' written on it, perhaps hoping I won't notice. In fairness, they have much more experience with Xeons and intel chipset motherboards but still... meh.

I guess it doesn't really matter what cpu we have when our main CRM software is GoldMine that uses Borland environment and makes a dual xeon look like an abacus

[Mehen]

Erm you critisize AMD for a jokey 'duel' petition when Intel has used dirty tactics for years to prevent OEMs from even stocking AMDs?

Intel make good chipsets, and good mobile chips, but their server cpus get smoked by Opterons, while keeping an enormous % of market share. I believe AMD are justified in using these tactics to spread awareness.

I think it really just surprised me that they didn't use dirty/sneaky tactics as is the norm in the IT industry but instead challenged them to an outright duel!!

I guess enough is enough and AMD just went for the gusto


Although I have never built a server, I as well have been switching the computers I build for others to AMD - many of them still insist on Intel (they relate Intel to "name brand") but for the most part I can convince them otherwise. It is only now with dual core AMDs that my next system (I do a fair amount of multitasking for a non-business user) will be AMD.

[this is post 500!!!]

[Nowhere]

Hmmm...rigth now accepting this offer would end up very good to Intel; sure, their Netburst CPUs would get officially beaten for half a year, but now Intel has Core 2 architecture and AMD would have to accept another round

PS. You know...this would be actually much better than various "hardware sites" we have now - at least both contestants would make sure that benchmark are fair and accurate.

[ND66]

In the manufacturing industry a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. They don't change things unless there's a direct benefit (ie., improved productivity/reduced manufacturing costs).

Agreed. I do work for one & right now we're trying to eliminate all the P-II's from the production environment here.
The main thing for approval, the purchase need to be justified on how much more revenue this purchase will bring in the door. Convenience will not get you anywhere. Or you’ll have to prove that this machine is obsolete in terms of our software maker – must meet minimum software requirements.

I guarantee to you that tax advantages are sought after the decision to upgrade/change equipment has been made. They don't factor into the decision itself.

In real life this applies to more serious buys, like huge production or CNC equipment with the price tag starting at minimum of $100 000.00

[TransformX]

I think AMD would still win if you take $$ into the equation. AMD still delivers more computing power per dollar.