See, it really is happening! AMD is getting ready to release dual-core server chips of their own and with any luck, make up for any lost time that may have blown by.

The Sunnyvale, Calif.-based chipmaker will release its first three dual-core Opteron processors for servers Wednesday and follow it up with three more server chips and a desktop line during the next two months.

Although desktop buyers will inevitably consume the performance that dual-core chips can provide, server customers will be able to use the performance almost immediately. Several applications and operating systems have already been retrofitted for running on dual-processor systems. Hewlett-Packard, IBM and others will insert the dual-core Opterons into servers.

Intel’s dual-core chips, which debuted Monday, are designed for desktops. Server versions of its Xeon server chips won’t come out until early 2006.

The release of the chips coincides with the second anniversary of the Opteron line. Before Opteron, AMD’s server market share was close to a rounding error. Now, 55 percent of the Global 100 have installed Opteron servers, according to AMD, up from 40 at the end of last year. [Read the rest]