AMD Knocks Intel on Power

By John G. Spooner  |  Posted 2005-08-25 Print this article Print

AMD says the lower power consumption of its Opteron chip makes servers using it cheaper to run than those based on Intel's Xeon.

Because they use less electricity, Opteron servers also run cooler and thus require less active cooling and can also be fit more tightly together in server racks, reducing the amount of infrastructure required to run them, an AMD executive said. "Weve got the best performance-per-watt story today," said Brent Kirby, product marketing manager for Opteron, in an interview with Ziff Davis Internet. The difference comes down to the companies design philosophies. Until now, Intel has focused largely on processor speed. Chips that run faster tend to use more electricity than those that run at slower clock speeds. AMDs Opteron runs slower, but can be more efficient in that it gets more work done per clock. It also incorporates a memory controller, which it says saves on power consumption. Whereas Intels single-core Xeons run at speeds up to 3.8GHz and are likely to come out at around 3GHz when they hit the market in dual-core configurations later this year, AMDs dual-core Opterons wont reach 2.4GHz until later this quarter. AMD plans to bump the dual-core version of the chip to 2.4GHz creating the Opteron Dual-Core Model 280 and Dual-Core Model 880 for dual-core processor and multiprocessor servers, respectively, within a short time. Given that its Opteron, which consumes a maximum of 95 watts, has an integrated memory controller, AMD argues it can measure the chip against Intels Xeon, which consumes a maximum about 110 watts to 130 watts, depending on the exact model being measured, and the part of the Xeons supporting chip set, called the north bridge, which integrates the memory controller. By AMDs math, a dual-processor Intel Xeon system based on Intels latest Irwindale Xeon chip can consume about 50 watts more power than a dual-processor AMD Opteron system. A dual processor, single-core Opteron servers twin chips will consume a maximum of 190 watts, while a dual-processor, single-core Intel Irwindale Xeon DP system would include two 120-watt chips, AMD said. The company also adds the Intel memory controller, which it said public documents show consumes an additional 22 watts. Thus AMDs assessment shows an equivalent Intel machines power consumption as 52 watts higher. That 52-watt difference, multiplied by 500—for a datacenter with 500 servers in it—adds up to more than a $50,000 higher cost in electricity over year, AMD estimates. Based on an electrical cost of 10 cents per kilowatt hour, and cooling costs, which it did not break out, AMD says a company would spend $133,152 to operate 500 dual-processor, single-core Opteron systems and $183,610 to operate dual-processor, single-core Intel Irwindale Xeon-based servers. AMD did not specifically compare a dual-processor, dual-core Opteron systems figures to a dual-processor, dual-core Xeon Paxville processor, as the Intel chip isnt out yet. Read more here about Intels server and chip developments. The power consumption of both companies dual-core chips versus their single-core chips is roughly the same, however. Next Page: Incomplete analysis?


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