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AMD: 2007 was a lesson
With large lay-offs, limited funds and delayed processors, many people predict a hellish future for AMD. But is it really all doom and gloom at AMD? We put the question to AMD
AMD is now courting the lower end of the price range with its latest Phenom CPUs, but is this necessarily a signal of weakness? ‘Our Phenom processor price range is below $200 US,’ says Amato, but adds that ‘this is where 96 per cent of the people are buying a PC.’
He’s also keen to point out that since the acquisition of ATI, AMD now also makes its own chipsets, which he says contributes to lowering the overall cost of an all-AMD system. ‘If you compare the total price of our platform, including the processor and chipset, against the competition’s platform,’ says Amato, ‘AMD is still delivering better performance or equal performance at a cheaper price.’
Maybe this is true in other areas of the world, but AMD chips aren’t particularly cheap over here in Blighty. A quick price check on Scan revealed that AMD’s 2.4GHz triple-core Phenom X3 8750 currently costs £125.73, while a quad-core 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 only just £8.16 more at £133.89. You can even get a supporting Gigabyte GAP31-DSL motherboard for the Core 2 chip for just £44.17, which isn’t vastly different from the prices of budget boards based on AMD’s own chipsets.
Nevertheless, Amato insists that ‘we already think that our pricing, including the triple core chips, is right. We’ve received very positive feedback from the channel and our OEMs, because we’ve provided better modularity and better pricing scalability to allow OEMs and system integrators to offer the right system at the right price.’
Will AMD ever have the top chip again?
AMD may be positioning its Phenom range of chips at the mainstream market, but will it ever have an Intel-beating top chip such as the Athlon 64 FX again? We ask Amato if AMD now plans to only concentrate its efforts on the lower end of the market now.
‘Absolutely not,’ replies Amato, ‘but 96 per cent of the people buying a PC are buying a PC where the processor price is below $200. With this in mind, we’re working on several parts of the system.’ He also says that AMD has plans to increase the speed of the Phenom chips even further, and also talks a little bit about AMD’s future CPU architecture, which he says will be completely different.
‘We’re already working on the next generation CPU,’ he says, but will it be an Intel beater? ‘Beating the competition by 30 per cent at the CPU level will be difficult for both parties,’ he says, ‘it will be difficult for Intel to beat AMD by 30 per cent and vise-versa.’ However, he adds that AMD plans to continue the level of innovation that it started with the AMD64 architecture’s integrated memory controller and 64-bit instructions.
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****With all the banter from the "Experts" I believe my decision to build an AMD powered PC is the smart thing to do**** No its really not. Well.... it is if you like wasting money. I try not to spend the same amount (or god forbid more) on an inferior product. It just doesnt make any sense.
Comment by pveater at 7:58am 9th May 2008
Do you think Intel will keep those cpu prices low? do you think Nvidia will bother to make those faster gpus when no one is around to compete with them? I dont care how fast or even cheap intel or nvidia will be as long as their competitor AMD still exists then im going to buy AMD not for brand loyalty but to keep competition alive. I guess your all forgetting that way back if it werent for the k6 series ordianry peopl in thrid world countries like mine would never have afforded desktop pcs. Intel was never going to lower their overpriced almost like a 2ndhand car pentium 2 pcs. When AMDcame out with the k6 series thsi caused a blossoming of the pc industry in my country with internet shops, printing, graphics etc which used to be the enclave of the very rich. And if AMD bails or fails then we the consumers will go back to this very undesirable situtation where a monopoly rules over the market completely. So im sticking with AMD for the principle of it.
Comment by bongbong at 2:01pm 5th May 2008
Do you think Intel will keep those cpu prices low? do you think Nvidia will bother to make those faster gpus when no one is around to compete with them? I dont care how fast or even cheap intel or nvidia will be as long as their competitor AMD still exists then im going to buy AMD not for brand loyalty but to keep competition alive. I guess your all forgetting that way back if it werent for the k6 series ordianry peopl in thrid world countries like mine would never have afforded desktop pcs. Intel was never going to lower their overpriced almost like a 2ndhand car pentium 2 pcs. When AMDcame out with the k6 series thsi caused a blossoming of the pc industry in my country with internet shops, printing, graphics etc which used to be the enclave of the very rich. And if MAD bails or fails then we the consumers will go back to this very undesirable situtation where a monopoly rules over the market completely. So im sticking with AMD for the principle of it.
Comment by bongbong at 2:01pm 5th May 2008
With all the banter from the "Experts" I believe my decision to build an AMD powered PC is the smart thing to do, Fire alarms and Doomsday warnings remind me of "Mob" mentality. I have had no problems with their previous products, so reliability speaks volumes to me. I'll stick with loyalty over "Trick of the Week"
Comment by KLMallender at 2:22pm 2nd May 2008
A good long winded topic on people for and against AMD and Intel. To be honest i think they need to learn the lesson quick and do something before nvidia, and intel push out the Ati nose, and then begin the forefront of Intel domination followed by its underdog VIA.
Comment by Lightning_Pete at 12:24pm 2nd May 2008
I have been saying to all my friends in 2007, that 2008 will be the year for AMD, live, death, rise, fall????? ... we'll see.
Comment by tigerlewis85 at 11:26am 2nd May 2008
If only the 6600 was not as good as the best phenon for less money dam. If only the 3750x2 was not 1 year late to take on the 8800gtx and ultra There are alot of if onlys in AMD's hat but not realy anything else the 3 Core phenom is good idear on paper but realy what can you get a intel quad for these days the market gap between a fast duel core and the 6600 is just realy minute so the 3 core just wont be a mass seller me thinks. Salvation could come in the form of the 47-- series GPU's but again seeing the dismal gains nvidia made over the original 8800 series ATI will have to have done something radical remember the 29-- series (was late and crap) and then the 37-- was just late so mabey there is foward movement. (First company to come out with some decent scaling drivers for multi gpu deserves major cudose i hope for your sake its you ATI)
Comment by Cool_CR at 10:34am 2nd May 2008
My new PC bits will arrive today. My Last Intel purchase was the 486 DX2 66. Intel has won me over. It's very sad that the peoples champion (AMD) can't win me over any longer. I will be unhappy to see them go, if they do disappear, but what can they really do? On the other hand let's stomp on Labour and rid the country of the lieing, deceitful ****'s. Early indications are that the country is waking up to a new England, governed by new promises.
Comment by CSQuake at 9:15am 2nd May 2008
i need to build a proxy/file server... its gonna be an AMD. my game rig is an intel atm which was purchased last year. my laptop is an intel purchased yesterday. however, if i built these systems 3 years ago, funnily enough, it would be the EXACT opposite.
Comment by thegreat0mi at 1:13am 2nd May 2008
Are out of buisness!, Without a shadow of a doubt!
Comment by NikoBellic at 11:25pm 1st May 2008
I'm currently building my first Intel system since 2000! Since then, every time it's come to upgrade, AMD have been at the top of the heap. "Hardcore" consumers like us will always hold brands dear, but not as dear as low prices, innovative kit or through-the-roof speeds and performance. Intel has had a fantastic couple of years, just as AMD did between 2001-2006. There's nothing to stop them moving ahead once again, if they can come up with the goods in terms of price and speed. Or maybe move to a different marketplace; PVR and other home entertainment systems perhaps, or mobile data and communication packages.
Comment by F_A_F at 10:15pm 1st May 2008
Me, I hope they do bring out something new, Amd are a bit slow, but the tech is wright and you need this to move computer power on, eg Windows 95, 98, XP, Vista, we still use 32bit as a mainstream I believe we should be at a 64bit by now and maybe moving on to the next phase......so AMD, good luck and I do hope you survive.
Comment by moose19721 at 6:08pm 1st May 2008
LOL, what a pointless interview. Everything is gunna be Rosy according to this ***person*** - he is hardly going to say the company is in deep doo doo. What a waste of time, they may aswell had got Stepping A Phenom and interviewed that - atleast it would have provided more factual information. ***MODERATED FOR COARSE LANGUAGE - please keep it clean***
Comment by C7ouD at 5:59pm 1st May 2008
AMD really are in financial trouble and the company should really not be putting out a pretty picture from their own spin department. It doesn't matter how good you think your own product is or how competitive it is in the market place if the competition is kicking your ass on all fronts. CPU, Motherboard and GPU are all below par in price and performance. We know that once ATI announce a new card, Nvidia just announce a better product. AMD announce a CPU and Intel half their own price to out sell alternative from AMD. They really don't have the ability to compete on all those fronts. They should either offload something or sell up completely. Either that or only focus on the low end of the market and price accordingly. This is something he was trying to say they are doing but they are still getting hammered by everyone. I'm sorry but money talks and the competition appear to taking it all with better and cheaper products.
Comment by crazyceo at 5:56pm 1st May 2008
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