Intel readies Itanic anti-Opteron campaign

CHIP GIANT Intel, as you'd expect, is not sitting down waiting for its customers to start leaking away to the firm that annoys it more than most - AMD.

According to reliable sources, if existing or future customers meet their Intel sales team and say things like: "Hmm, I wonder if I should build a small Opteron cluster", Chipzilla's team look at each other nervously.

Later, back at the local Intel ranch, the sales team scrabble around and pull out a Powerpoint presentation called the Itanium Incentives Programme.

This interesting document allows wild would-be renegade customers to participate in a scheme in which they're allowed to buy Itanic chips for considerably less than the list prices they usually pay.

This is only for "selected important customers", so if you're talking to Intel any time real soon about 64-bit clusters and the like, make sure you drop something into the conversation like: "Hmm, I've heard these cheap Opterons are quite good for little clusters".

You know it makes sense. µ