DELL IS KNOWN for its stance on AMD, or its lack of a stance on AMD. The power games, wishy washy statements and brinksmanship are getting very old and dull, and there is little that is fact publicly available.We all know the drill, you call Dell, it gives you one of 12 standard blow off lines, and half heartedly tries to convince you that you don't want Opterons, contrary to the reason you called Dell in the first place.
The 64-bit question is however, what does it tell you if you are serious? Well, if it thinks you mean business, and you have something that makes it think twice before blowing you off, it will try a little harder.
A corporate account with a buying history does nicely, and with that in mind, an intrepid reader asked nicely, and got a response....First, Dell tried the old SWAT lines - company reliability and stability. That didn't work. Then Dell tried to throw out a few benchmarks, and that got no further, but the benchmarks are incredibly funny. More on those later. Lastly, it passed the buck to Intel and said the person should call Intel for a better brainwashing on its vision and roadmaps.
The person who sent me the benchmark missive either wasn't big enough or persistent enough, but if you are, you can buy Opterons from Dell now. You just have to convince Dell that you are out the door if you don't get what you want and you are big enough to care about.
If you make it through the, yawn, excuse me, persuasive yet scintillating speech, and satisfy the above criteria, Dell will sell you Opterons, but only through 'back channels' and quietly, very quietly. In fact, please don't let anyone know, it could lead to some embarrassing phone calls. Keep this between you and me please.
You just have to convince Dell that you are out the door if you don't get what you want and you are big enough to care about.
Want a toaster AND a computer in one!
For this xmas season, you don't need a heater for those long cold nights, just buy an 1ntel Prescott and your heating problems are a thing of the past.
