No Intel Inside These Boxes

Datamation content and product recommendations are editorially independent. We may make money when you click on links to our partners. Learn More.

The new and improved Hewlett-Packard Monday dropped a bombshell on its longtime chip partner Intel by saying it will turn to the competition for its new low-priced business PCs.

The Palo Alto, Calif.-based computer and printer maker said it is using Advanced Micro Devices Athlon XP processors and NVIDIA GeForce2 3D graphics cards for its Compaq D315 Business PC.

The new boxes available now have a starting price as low as $549 in the U.S. after a $100 introductory instant rebate.

HP is not abandoning Intel altogether saying it is still dedicated to the No. 1 chipmaker to provide it with Itanium processors for its server products.

“Intel is considered a major partner of HP’s. We are a close partner with them on several fronts, including new product categories such as the iPAQ Pocket PC, the tablet PC and the new Media Center PC,” said HP spokesperson Roger Frizzell. “To date, all of our business desktops have including Intel…and we just recently introduced AMD into the notebook line of commercial offerings in the past six months.”

The new Compaq D315s will also carry 20 gigabyte hard drive, 128 megabyte double data rate (DDR) SyncDRAM memory, standard 48x CD-ROM, network interface card and six USB ports.

The company said the system also can be configured to include AMD Athlon XP processors 2000+ or 2200+, up to 1 GB DDR SDRAM running at 266 megahertz (Non-ECC), a 40 GB Ultra-ATA hard drive (100 MB/s) and choice of CD-RW or DVD-ROM.

HP says the combination of the AMD chips and NVIDIA graphics cards makes it a good choice for small and medium business users. The boxes also feature a standard three-year parts, labor and service warranty and complies with DMI, WfM and WMI specifications to make it easier for system management.

“With the introduction of the Compaq D315 Business PC, the new HP is delivering on its commitment to innovation, its drive to strengthen the company’s direct strategy in the PC space and its goal to fulfill customer needs, particularly those of small- and medium-sized business,” said Jeri Callaway, senior vice president and general manager for business PCs, HP Personal Systems Group. “HP is forging aggressive new strategies even as merger integration progresses.”

The AMD Athlon XP processor features QuantiSpeed architecture, 384KB of on-chip, full-speed cache, and support for AMD’s 3DNow! Professional instructions for enhanced multimedia capabilities. The AMD Athlon XP processor is compatible with AMD’s Socket A infrastructure, and supports the advanced 266MHz front-side bus.

The processors are manufactured using AMD’s 0.13-micron copper process technology in Fab 30 in Dresden, Germany.

“This industry first–the partnering of technology powerhouses AMD, HP and NVIDIA in a business computer–means that customers now have a new choice in business desktop systems,” said Henri Richard, group vice president of worldwide sales at AMD. “Emphasizing software application performance over clock speed, our AMD Athlon XP processors and stable Socket A infrastructure unite with HP’s world-renown system design expertise and NVIDIA’s premier chipset and graphics solutions in a system designed for amazing productivity as well as dependability.”

The choice to go with AMD is a boost to the Sunnyvale, Calif.-based company, which has seen revisions to its chip lineup to battle a 39 percent loss in market share over Intel.

Many analysts don’t expect AMD to regain those sales until the company releases its new high-speed chip family called Hammer.