AMD offers discounts on Opteron upgrades

Newer Opterons offer a performance boost for existing systems

AMD has announced an upgrade programme that lets partners and customers swap older Opteron processors inside systems for newer ones at a discounted price, offering a performance boost without the cost of ripping out and replacing the entire server.

The AMD Opteron Upgrade Programme covers the 2000 series and 8000 series dual-core and quad-core Opteron chips, and enables customers to receive a discount of up to 35 per cent on the purchase cost of newer drop-in replacements.

AMD business development director John Fruehe explained in a blog post that the company designs its processors with the ability to upgrade in mind.

"In August 2006 we introduced the Socket F1207 to the world, initially with dual-core AMD Opteron processors. Later Barcelona, our first quad-core processor, was also able to plug into those sockets. Today's Shanghai processors also fit in those sockets as well," he wrote.

The company's upcoming six-core Opterons, codenamed Istanbul, will also fit the same infrastructure and will be part of the upgrade programme, AMD said.

Fruehe claimed that upgrading is a simple process and delivers an immediate boost. "In 15 minutes you can go from dual-core Rev F processors to the latest Shanghai quad cores, giving you up to 200 per cent more performance," he said.

AMD partners such as Rackable Systems and Cray are already reaping the benefits from this programme, according to the firm, because it provides a route to fast and seamless upgrades in the datacentre.