Intel, AMD Settle Antitrust Disputes, Intel to Pay AMD $1.25 Billion

[zmatt]

The first Athlon was a lot better than the Pentium 3.
If Intel had have upgraded the Pentium 3's architecture instead of using Netburst, they still would have been behind AMD for some time.

Despite what it might appear to the consumers, Core 2 wasn't this sudden leap after a revival of the Pentium 3. The general Core architecture is the result of years and years of research and development, and billions and billions of dollars - which was happening all the time even when Netburst was their main architecture.

And Intel could afford to do all that research and development at the same time that they were using Netburst as their main architecture because they held a monopoly on the market.

As I said, the damage done to AMD is in large part their inability to put nearly as much resources into R&D - which shouldn't have been the case in a fair market.
Had AMD been able to spend even half as much as Intel, I am certain they would be far more competitive.

I mean, the original Phenom processors didn't do as well as they should have. We all know that.
Was it because AMD are not very good at designing processors? I don't think so.
At the time that Phenom processors were being developed, AMD were having an extremely difficult time staying alive financially. And that wouldn't have been the case in a fair market.
The Phenom II is pretty much what the original Phenom processors should have been. And it came onto the market fairly late to compete against Intel.

If AMD had the proper resources, I am sure the original Phenom processors would have basically been what the Phenom II's are now. And Bulldozer could have started development a full 1-2 years earlier. From what I've seen, Bulldozer might give the i7's a run for their money, IPC wise.

So then we are in agreement, AMD lacks the resources to keep up with Intel in R&D. What AMD has going for it is the second most advanced fabs in the world (behind Intel) that is can make money by making other people's chips on the side, and a knack for undercutting Intel. They need to get back to their roots and scratch away at Intel's margins. The only way you can outperform Intel's chips for more than one generation is if you can outspend them. The only chip company that could come close to that is IBM and Intel ended up beating them too. There is a good reason Apple no longer uses POWER.

 

[Apokalipse]

So then we are in agreement, AMD lacks the resources to keep up with Intel in R&D.

They wouldn't lack the resources if the market was fair.

 

[zmatt]

I will take that as a yes.

 

[Peter.Cort]

AMD will cut into Intel's market share when they can develop a product that will compete with intel's i7 (or whatever happens to be the top of the line chip at the time) and have it cost less to users AND to AMD to fabricate. Sure AMD can undercut Intel but what they're undercutting is a small fraction of Intels market in the older quads like the q6 and q9 series, which quite frankly I'm not so sure Intel is ****ting their pants over...

 

[zmatt]

AMD will cut into Intel's market share when they can develop a product that will compete with intel's i7 (or whatever happens to be the top of the line chip at the time) and have it cost less to users AND to AMD to fabricate. Sure AMD can undercut Intel but what they're undercutting is a small fraction of Intels market in the older quads like the q6 and q9 series, which quite frankly I'm not so sure Intel is ****ting their pants over...

There is little to no money made in the high end cpu market. few people will ever use or see a core i7. But there are many core 2s sitting out there and if AMD can undercut that then they can make a killing.

Toyota didn't become the largest car company in the world by making cheaper super cars than Ferrari and lamborghini. No, they made cheap and reliable econoboxes. Only after they succeeded at that did they make fast cars.

 

[Baez]

Good points Matt.

 

[Wildside]

^^ indeed. AMD has it game right now with lower pricing than Intel. Plus, it just brings competition to lower prices of high end chips too.

 

[Apokalipse]

There is little to no money made in the high end cpu market. few people will ever use or see a core i7. But there are many core 2s sitting out there and if AMD can undercut that then they can make a killing.

Toyota didn't become the largest car company in the world by making cheaper super cars than Ferrari and lamborghini. No, they made cheap and reliable econoboxes. Only after they succeeded at that did they make fast cars.

A lot of people will buy Intel because they have the fastest chp, even if that's not the chip they're going for.

 

[zmatt]

A lot of people will buy Intel because they have the fastest chp, even if that's not the chip they're going for.

People who buy prebuilt machines really don't care. They buy whatever meets their stupid criteria. They do the same thing with cars. Either they have an irrational loyalty to a brand or model *cough* mustangs *cough*, or they get what looks cool. Often they may even get the cheapest.

 

[Wildside]

People who buy prebuilt machines really don't care. They buy whatever meets their stupid criteria. They do the same thing with cars. Either they have an irrational loyalty to a brand or model *cough* mustangs *cough*, or they get what looks cool. Often they may even get the cheapest.

whatever is cheaper wins in that scenario.