Intel launches first dual-core Xeon processor, challenges AMD's Opteron

San Francisco (CA) - "Paxville" is Intel's first shot in the volume server and workstation segment: The new processor, in its core a version of the Pentium D 800 series, will go head-to-head with AMD's dual-core Opteron, so far the only dual-core option for servers and workstations. Intel announced that it will use aggressive pricing to push Paxville into the market.

Despite Intel had moved the launch date of Paxville form Q1 2006 to October, the processor is late, at least as far as the competitive situation is concerned. AMD chose to launch the dual-core Opteron ahead of the X2 desktop processor - as multithreaded applications primarily are available in the corporate space today - and was able to sell into this segment for the past month virtually unchallenged.

Intel officials announced that the company will use aggressive pricing to catch up with AMD's dual-core Opteron chip. However, the current price of $1043 (in 1000 unit quantities) may not be attractive enough for fence-sitters: AMD sells its dual-core Opteron 275 (2.2 GHz) for $1051, the 270 (2.0 GHz) model for $851 and the 265 (1.8 GHz) for $690.

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