KEY POINTS:
At a high-tech computer chip-making factory in Singapore, a company with multi-billion dollar revenues but one formidable rival is playing catch-up.
Engineers in white coats operate a machine which performs the last task in a production cycle that started with raw silicon in a factory in Dresden, Germany. They use an industrial laser to etch the finished computer processors with the company's logo - AMD. Then the trays of silicon and metal squares are packaged up and shipped around the world.
After a six-month delay, California-based Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) is finally ready to launch its first quad-core processors, which will first sell in the server market, then in desktop PCs later in the year.
With the launch of the Barcelona processors, AMD trails arch-rival and market leader Intel, which started shipping its Xeon quad-core processors in November, setting new benchmarks for performance and efficiency.
The intervening period has been a tough time for AMD, with a resurgent Intel pushing home its quad-core advantage and discounting its line of dual-core processors, putting pressure on margins across the industry. To top things off, AMD's head of sales and marketing, Henri Richard, will step down just prior to Barcelona's launch on September 10.
AMD chose a different route to Intel in creating its new generation of processor technology. Rather than bundling together two dual-core chips as Intel did, it engineered a way to put four processor cores on a single chip. AMD claims that, and the integrated memory controller it pioneered for its processors, will deliver a performance edge over Intel.
It is also touting the ability to slot Barcelonas into the socket housings of its existing dual-core Opteron line-up.
But in the fast-paced computer chip industry, the delay has certainly lost AMD the momentum it built up in its dual-core processor battles with Intel.
"It hasn't been [wafer] yield issues. Our wafer yields are looking very good right now. It's issues with the silicon that came up and fixing those takes weeks," AMD's product manager for commercial desktops, Simon Solotko, said of the issues that dogged Barcelona.
"We believe it's definitely worth the wait. We don't run our business around what Intel does."
Maybe not, but the company's executives are acutely aware of the need to make a big impact with Barcelona.
"If I do exactly the same thing as Intel does, I can expect zero incremental sale," said John Fruehe, AMD's worldwide market development manager for server and workstation products.
"Who ever got fired for buying Intel? We've got to be better than them."
Asked to sum up Barcelona's advantages over Intel's existing server line-up, he answered: "Smart design, energy-efficient, killer performance."
He said reducing power consumption and conserving space in the data centres that house banks of servers were as important to customers as increased processor performance.
"People are running out of space in their data centres. And you might be willing to pay 25c per kilowatt hour but the power company may not be able to sell it to you," he said.
"We were energy efficient back before anyone thought it was cool."
One of the biggest drivers of technology upgrades in the server market was the use of virtualisation technology to run multiple applications using the same server resources.
Fruehe said most companies had employed virtualisation technology from companies like VMware in some capacity but that it would take the might of Microsoft, which has built virtualisation capability into its Microsoft Server 2008 platform, to spur wider adoption.
Despite allowing companies to piggyback on their existing server capacity with more applications, Fruehe didn't believe it would lead to slower sales of server processors.
"Instead of selling 20 low-end processors, I sell four high-end ones. [The customer] probably ends up spending the same money."
More relevant to consumers is AMD's Phenom quad-core range which will be fitted into desktop PCs later this year, because, said Fruehe "Windows Vista needs two cores and you need two cores".
Further down the track, AMD intends to merge a graphics and computer processor on a single chip - a technology it has dubbed Fusion.
CORE ISSUES
* AMD's quad-core processors put four cores on a single chip.
* AMD claims this gives them an edge over Intel's quad-core processors which bundle together two dual-core chips.
* Users will be able to take AMD's quad-core Barcelona processors and pop them directly into an existing socket housing a dual-core Opteron.
* Peter Griffin visited AMD's Singapore plant as a guest of AMD.
