AMD's third-generation Opteron brings a welcom focus on power-saving. But how does it stack up in a quad-core performance contest with Intel's best low-power Xeon?

AMD has finally released its much anticipated quad-core processor, putting it on level terms with Intel by measure of processor cores per CPU socket - now the competition between the two is starting to look interesting.

AMD has chosen to launch its new quad-core CPU architecture, codenamed Barcelona, initially as a server and workstation chip. As such, it becomes the third-generation Opteron processor. Nine new models of Opterons make up the launch line-up, available in both two- and four-socket trim.

In AMD parlance, therefore, that's the 2300 and 8300 series, respectively, where the second digit indicates third-generation Opteron technology. Single-socket Opteron SKUs, as well as desktop chips under the new Phenom brand, will be released towards the end of 2007 and the start of 2008; these will be based on the same Barcelona architecture.

Pair of Opteron 2347s

For our crucial first look at this all-new quad-core chip, AMD has supplied us with a pair of Opteron 2347 processors that weigh in at 1.9GHz, the second highest speed grade. If that clock speed seems unimpressive, it's important to stress that these are chips with a very particular remit.

High-density data house and enterprise workloads are what it's all about for these two-way compatible processors. The emphasis is performance per watt, power efficiency and multi-socket scaling.

AMD's aim for Barcelona wasn't just extra oomph, but doubling the number of cores per socket and increasing per-core instructions per clock, all the while keeping power consumption capped at the same level as its existing dual-core chips.

In keeping with AMD tradition, these new chips are also backwards compatible with existing Socket F platforms. Only a BIOS upgrade is required to achieve a pretty much painless quad-core upgrade. That's both an attractive and cost-effective proposition, and it revs up the competition with Intel.

So, it's in that precise context which the 1.9GHz operating frequency of the Opteron 2347 (and the 2.0GHz clockspeed of the top 2350 chip) should be viewed.

Of course, the question remains how rapidly AMD will be able to crank up the clocks for desktop and workstation applications that demand maximum per-socket grunt.