Dell moves to AMD

According to a story first reported by the (we saw it on Slashdot), the word from Taiwan is that Dell has placed an order with three different manufacturers for servers, laptops, and motherboards based on AMD CPUs. This switch is significant because Dell, the number one seller of home desktops, has been an Intel-only shop for years. Dell has paid the price for that loyalty however, as AMD's faster CPUs have surpassed Intel's on performance tests, leaving Dell systems with comparatively slower performance results in product reviews.

Dell has not yet responded to our request for comment, and specifics of what this news means for future products remain unknown. At best, it will lend Dell's significant weight to the CPU competition, which we hope will translate to lower prices and more capable technology.

Update: We're still waiting to hear back from Dell's stateside PR rep, but the word from Dell Asia (via InfoWorld Netherlands) is that Dell's switch is just a rumor. (Thanks, Blue's News).