AMD talks quad-core trash, disregards Intel's feelings

Sure, Intel may have technically beat rival AMD to market when it comes to quad-core chips. But if recent comments from AMD offer any indication, the microprocessor underdog just might have the last laugh. We've long known that AMD's forthcoming quad-core beast, known as "Barcelona," will be the first "true" quad-core chip, cramming all four cores on one die. What we didn't know, until now, is just how blazing fast it's going to be. "We expect across a wide variety of workloads for Barcelona to outperform Clovertown by 40 percent," Randy Allen, AMD's corporate vice president for server and workstation products said, with reference to the Intel "Clovertown" chips that will be on the market during the second half of this year, when "Barcelona" ships. Given Intel's strong Xeon lineup and recent gains in the server market, AMD is going to have to unleash a lot more than strong words in order to compete this year.

For more on Barcelona:
- see this post at the ZDnet hardware blog