July 1 - 12:00pm EDT   HP this morning used an educational conference as an opportunity to unveil a quad-core workstation inexpensive enough to be bought by anyone: the xw4550 uses a latest-generation 2GHz AMD Opteron to offer up performance which is normally off-limits to those in school or at work. The system can handle video editing and other heavy-duty tasks while still being durable and tamper-proof enough to sit in a public place, according to its creator. The system can appropriately be locked down in hardware and software. [full story]

June 3 - 1:50pm EDT   AMD today seized on the Computex show to launch a new set of quad-core Opterons aimed at high-end home users and budget workstations or servers. The 1300 series is rated for just one processor socket and meant for users that are comfortable with four cores; the feature set is the same as for the full-power 2000- and 8000-series, including better power saving and support for virtualization and the company's signature HyperTransport bus. [full story]

May 12 - 4:05pm EDT   AMD on Monday sought to push the limits of its high-end processors and launched new quad-core versions of the Opteron HE processor. All five new entries consume an average of just 55 watts, or much less than the 75 and 105 watts of power used by existing Opterons and less than some of their Intel Xeon equivalents. The cooler-running chips allow the system to run in both smaller workstation PCs as well as blades and rackmount servers, where many Opterons are often too hot for the tight spaces. [full story]

May 7 - 6:40pm EDT   AMD on Wednesday unveiled definitive plans for 6- and 12-core Opteron processors, made with a 45nm fabrication process, which will be available most likely during 2009. TG Daily writes that the company will continue to support the Socket F (1207) platform through to its 6-core, single-die Istanbul, but will make a departure from the standard in 2010, when AMD unveils its Maranello platform. Production samples of the 45nm chips have already been made available to vendors. [full story]

April 28 - 1:10pm EDT   Early supercomputer developer Cray said today that it was working with Intel for mutual help on advancing supercomputers. The teamwork will see Cray help Intel develop the technology for clusters as well as to improve the in-processor technology, such as newer generations of multi-core processors. In return, Cray will make its first use Intel's processors for its own supercomputers, replacing AMD Opterons and more specialized supercomputer chips. [full story]

April 14 - 8:15am EDT   HP this morning has marked the launch of NAB with two systems targeted at AV editors or most anyone who depends on very high end performance. A new version of the xw8600 uses Intel's latest 3.2GHz quad-core Xeon to handle very processor-intensive tasks such as media encoding; up to two each can fit in a single system to make it the most individually powerful desktop at HP, the company says. Systems built on the new chip vary in price but lift the price by about $2,460 both through the faster design as well as the requirement of using 4GB of 800MHz memory. [full story]

March 4 - 10:45am EST   AMD today stepped closer towards equality with Intel today by revealing the first working examples of its own 45 nanometer processors. Co-developed with IBM, the chips combine AMD's own existing quad-core technology with the smaller, more efficient chip design to improve the amount of performance without increasing power and heat as a result. The company is still hesitant to reveal full details but explains that there will be both desktop-oriented processors, codenamed "Deneb," as well as server-grade "Shanghai" chips available; these are expected to translate to both single- and dual-socket upgrades to the Phenom desktop line as well as more efficient Opteron processors ... [full story]

January 18 - 12:05pm EST   AMD has finally solved the outstanding issues with some of its quad-core Phenom and Opteron processors, according to the company's CEO. Hector Ruiz tells analysts that although the fixed B3 stepping CPU is still "running through the paces," the first engineering samples should ship to system builders within two to three weeks. Production in bulk will begin sometime this quarter, with finished computers going on sale by the end of the period. [full story]