AMD To Provide On-Demand Power Management for the Rack-Dense Enterprise Market
Monday December 6, 12:01 am ET
Addition of AMD PowerNow!(TM) Technology with Optimized Power Management Will Further Enhance the AMD Opteron(TM) Processor for Datacenters
SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 6, 2004-- AMD (NYSE:AMD - News) today announced the AMD Opteron(TM) processor family will include AMD PowerNow!(TM) technology with Optimized Power Management (OPM) in the first half of 2005. AMD PowerNow! technology for the AMD Opteron processor is designed to allow enterprise IT and workstation customers to decrease overall power consumption by enabling them to optimize performance-on-demand.
The addition of the innovative AMD PowerNow! technology with OPM is expected to strengthen the industry-leading performance-per-watt capabilities of the AMD Opteron processor. Not only will AMD PowerNow! technology with OPM provide enhanced power management capabilities, it can also aid in platform investment protection for today's demanding enterprise server environments by providing less strain on datacenter cooling and ventilation systems.
The integration of AMD PowerNow! technology with OPM can reduce power consumption in the datacenter by dynamically changing power states based on workload utilization. This flexibility will not only enable lower total datacenter operational costs, but will also provide additional work environment benefits:
* Lower Cost of Ownership: Power-on-demand allows systems to run at optimum performance and power levels, reducing electricity costs.
* Investment Protection: AMD PowerNow! technology can reduce heat, decreasing strain on facility cooling systems.
* Lower Acoustics: AMD PowerNow! technology can reduce heat produced by a system's processors, allowing cooling fans to run at reduced speeds and keep noise levels down.
"The addition of AMD PowerNow! technology to the AMD Opteron processor will prove to be another proof point in AMD's philosophy of customer-centric innovation and listening to the needs of enterprise IT managers," said Marty Seyer, corporate vice president and general manager of the AMD Microprocessor Business Unit, Computation Products Group. "With innovative technologies like AMD PowerNow! technology with Optimized Power Management and our upcoming AMD64 multi-core technology, AMD will continue to lead the industry in performance-per-watt efficiencies."
Industry Support
Since its introduction nearly four years ago, AMD PowerNow! technology has been widely embraced by AMD's notebook customers. In the first half of 2005, leading server and workstation OEMs currently offering AMD Opteron processor-based platforms will support this latest enhancement to the industry's first 32- and 64-bit x86 processor.
"Power efficiency is one of a set of emerging components that is redefining the total cost of ownership for datacenter solutions," said Paul Miller, vice president of marketing, Industry Standard Servers, HP. "AMD Opteron processor-based HP ProLiant servers coupled with the power management advantages of AMD PowerNow! technology will enable our customers to manage their datacenters, offering the greatest rack density, while at the same time reducing IT operating costs. That combination is tough to beat."
"IBM is committed to optimizing the datacenter environment and IBM PowerExecutive and Calibrated Vectored Cooling technologies already bring distinct advantages to our customers," said Alex Yost, director, IBM eServer Product Management. "AMD's PowerNow! technology adds to these solutions to ensure the performance-per-watt efficiencies, and expands our choice of the best data center solutions for our customers."
"Our joint customers expect us to deliver on the promise of innovation throughout the datacenter -- from OS-level innovation in Solaris 10 to processor-level innovation like AMD PowerNow! technology," said John Fowler, executive vice president at Sun Microsystems. "This additional technology from AMD will give our Sun Fire servers and Sun Java Workstations based on the AMD Opteron processor even better performance-per-watt capabilities, which is directly in line with Sun's goal of simplifying the datacenter."
About the AMD Opteron(TM) Processor
The world's first 32-bit and 64-bit processor compatible with the x86 architecture, the AMD Opteron processor is based on AMD64 technology with Direct Connect Architecture. Direct Connect Architecture helps eliminate the bottlenecks inherent in a front-side bus by directly connecting the processors, the memory controller and the I/O to the central processor unit to enable improved overall system performance and efficiency. AMD was the first to announce the completion of an x86-based dual-core processor design and the first to demonstrate an x86-based dual-core processor for 32- and 64-bit computing. As more solution providers join the AMD64 ecosystem, the industry is approaching the day when 32-bit-only systems will become obsolete.
About AMD
AMD (NYSE:AMD - News) designs and produces innovative microprocessors, Flash memory devices and low-power processor solutions for the computer, communications and consumer electronics industries. AMD is dedicated to helping its customers deliver standards-based, customer-focused solutions for technology users, ranging from enterprises and governments to individual consumers. For more information, visit www.amd.com.
Cautionary Statement
This release contains forward-looking statements, which are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Investors are cautioned that forward-looking statements in this release involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations, including the possibility that the company may not achieve its current product and technology introduction schedules. We urge investors to review in detail the risks and uncertainties in the company's Securities and Exchange Commission filings, including but not limited to the Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 28, 2003, and the Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 26, 2004.
AMD, the AMD Arrow logo, AMD Opteron, and combinations thereof, are trademarks or Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. Other names are for informational purposes only and may be trademarks of their respective owners.
Contact:
AMD
Andrew Fox, 512-602-9002 (PR)
andrew.fox@amd.com
or
Mike Haase, 408-749-3124 (IR)
Source: AMD
