July 27, 2009

For ages Dell has not really promoted the PCs that it ships with AMD gear under the bonnet, leading some analysts to opine that the relationship was less than a happy one.

However over the weekend the Inspiron 546, which is a mainstream desktop featuring an AMD processor, is getting a push from Dell and has pride of place on its website. This is the first time in 18 months that Dell has pushed an AMD based laptop model.

Dell historically has been in bed with Intel, but has at least flirted with AMD over the years. Whenever AMD appeared to be ahead of Intel technology and price-wise, Dell included processors from the smaller chip outfit in its range.

It seemed to go back to Intel recently, like an unfaithful husband returning to the mother of his children after a torrid affair on a business trip. Some think it was the Barcelona chip that seemed to drive Dell back into Intel's arms.

But now Dell's affair with AMD seems to be on again, thanks to AMD's presently superior budget graphics chipsets. Bob Grimm, AMD's director of client product marketing, said that his company provides a good package of processors and graphics.