Update: Dell unveils first servers running Opterons

Dell is coming out with its first servers running Advanced Micro Devices' Opteron processors.

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Dell introduced the PowerEdge 6950, a four-socket server, and the PowerEdge SC1435, a two-socket model, Monday at Oracle OpenWorld in San Francisco.

Dell says the 6950, with a base price of $6,500, is designed for demanding computing work such as database management, server consolidation, virtualization and migration from RISC (reduced instruction set computing) processor-based systems.

The SC1435, with a base price of $1,300, is designed to run in dense rack server environments and is targeted at small- to medium-size businesses seeking improved price-performance and energy-efficiency.

“These products further the price-performance leadership that Dell has had in the server market, and also improved performance by watt," said Michael Dell, chairman of Dell, in a keynote address. Dell, like other server makers, is touting the efficiency of new models as datacenter managers try to curtail power consumption due to high energy costs.

Up until now, Dell had used only Intel server processors, but is now joining server competitors Hewlett-Packard, Sun Microsystems, IBM, and others in offering AMD Opteron processors as an alternative to Intel's Xeon processors.

"Dell finally came around," said Nathan Brookwood, principal analyst with Insight 64, a technology market research firm.

Dell had been able to satisfy its customer by selling only Intel-powered machines, but when AMD's Opteron began to cut into Intel's market dominance, Dell's customers started asking for the Opteron alternative, too.

"Until the past 12 months, [not offering Opteron] never really hurt Dell, but it was beginning to have an impact," Brookwood said.

Hector Ruiz, AMD's chief executive officer hinted at the Dell announcement during a keynote address he made prior to Dell's at OpenWorld, which organizers said is to draw more than 40,000 IT professionals this week at the Moscone Center.