AMD to launch Barcelona in seven places

AMD WILL LAUNCH its next-generation Opteron processor next week in a series of events co-located around the globe. AMD executives will also be trotting around globally - this time though, Asia will not have Henri Richard as its traditional guest since Henri is off this Sunday with an Italian GP in Monza being the last day of his five year stint.

There is no doubt AMD will want to keep the confidence of financial analysts, press and general customers with some demonstrations of high-clocked Barcelona/Agena FX systems - probably spotting B2 revisions, not B1 or B0 as it is rumoured on some sites.

The launch will take place in San Francisco and Barcelona for the western world, while AMD APAC will coordinate launch events in Beijing, Bangalore, Seoul, Taipei and Tokyo - raising the number of events to seven.

AMD PR teams are now in sub T-7 mode meaning there's less than one week for preparation of one very important launch for the company. Given that the veil of secrecy is being lifted and that more and more scores are flying out, it will be interesting to see how the market will react to this low-voltage server part.

Sparks will be flying in October and November when AMD will go head to head against the 45nm Yorkfield processors, but by that time the B3 speedbin should be out the door, showing off the workstation Opterons, Phenom FX and X4 processors to their full potential. µ