We had no immediate use for the silicon fabrication plant where memories were made and had to shut it down - Andy Grove - Only the Paranoid Survive
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AMD and Intel battle to win the high-end race
BY THIS TIME, following the timetables touted at the start of this year, we were supposed to have already seen thousands of AMD Bulldozer based high-end desktop, workstation and server systems being shipped, both in their single-die C32 and dual-die G34 socket varieties, the latter packing up to 16 integer and eight floating-point cores in one socket. Intel's launch of its ultimate Sandy Bridge offerings, the Sandy Bridge E desktop, workstation and server offerings, should also be happening anytime now.
However, as we all know, that's not to be. Bulldozer is still due, and, if all goes well, we might finally see it in public around a month from now. There should be a mix of expensive server SKUs and not so expensive extreme desktop SKUs, both topping at around 3.5GHz at launch.
But essentially AMD has missed the back-to-school season and all that remains is focus on the pre-Christmas buying round, as well as the obligatory year-end surplus budget spending for those organisations whose financial year matches the calendar year.
Intel's Socket 2011 has also slipped, both on the desktop and enterprise fronts. Furthermore, the desktop version, in its high-end initial spin called the Core i7 X3960, will likely only have six cores rather than eight enabled, with the appropriate three-quarters of the total 20MB cache enabled accordingly as well.
So right now, we're looking at late November, or even December, at best for the expected launch timeframe of Intel's initial Socket 2011 desktop, workstation and server platforms.
What to make out of it? Well, AMD will still have roughly one quarter timing advantage on the new platform announcement schedule versus Intel, giving it a small window of opportunity to capture some benchmark performance crowns - likely in integer intensive benchmarks - on UP and DP platforms. The four-socket MP, with Intel's E7 Xeon series and its 10 cores per die with 30MB cache, is unassailable right now on the four processor X86 server front.
On the other hand, Intel can still pull off a quick one, using the vast performance margin headroom available in the current Westmere UP and DP six-core CPUs, launch the widely expected Core i7 995X and Xeon X5695 in a month, and use the extra five per cent or so of performance to extinguish some of the potential benchmark wins for AMD's new architecture.
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Talkin' Intel till Eyeballs Pop Out from Cost $$$$. Better Is Better, yet Always Another Better & Stuff does Wear Out.
First, Think Water Cooling to Prevent Fan Clog & overheating. Especially at $
Y1K$, Moore for 2P.
Next amd claims still use G34 Platform, yet increase PIN Count by about 60 pins. ~1974 is Current press. While Intel plans i7extreme with Sandi Bridge. Better Check UL rating.
Real News will be Pci-e3 Game Cards. So far nvidia latest list thru mid 2012 include NONE. So will ati/amd finally Give theBREAK. Nvidia is rather paused subjext, already gfx580 mars II, Tops Cake, So Why More Oldee' Stuff.yet, Nvidia claims next gpu will be 3D=30,000, tri sli Dat.
Again mythical number of 64,000 seems to about to pass by, on newer '11 3D benchmark, if promises from factory hold.
Neb still writes for theINQ, Seen Lot of Crash & Burn.
drashek Watt Burnologist
Intel doesn't have anything I need or want. AMD delivers all the CPU power/performance most people need. I'm buying a Zambezi desktop CPU and a Trinity laptop. Intel can keep their over-priced crap. I don't need it.
Multi-processor (MP)
uniprocessor (UP) dual-processor (DP)
...likely in integer intensive benchmarks - on UP and DP platforms. The four-socket MP...
I should probably know what UP, DP, and MP stand for, but do not.
R u sure that u ll be able to upgrade in the future?? How many times Intel just messed with "future" upgrades? How many times old m/bs didnt support a 6month newer CPU?
Intel's high end offerings are ridiculously expensive. I bought an i7 when they launched in 2009 and I spent nearly 600 bucks on the mobo+CPU. I don't know what the hell I was thinking ( OK I did get hired by Intel when I bought it). 600 is too much but I suppose I could have went from the extreme and paid 1300. It's not like the performance is really worth it. If I bought an AMD rig I could have upgraded it fully for the same total cost, or simply went with an SSD to get some bang form my buck.
The one good side is that I never felt the desire to upgrade anything besides the GPU and I don't think I will need to for a few more years.
As a desktop/gamer pc user still on Q6600 I realize its time for an upgrade.
I'd love to support AMD in their position of under dog but they have messed up on so many fronts with the bulldozer launch I'd be cutting my nose off to spite my face if I went the AMD route.
Firstly their continued delays have brought them into competition with LGA2011 platform and Ivybridge both of which will launch within months of bulldozer.
It may have had a chance competing against sandybridge lga1155 but not against these new intel releases.
Secondly they should have released BD on a new socket and said blow backward compatibility after all this is a new architecture.
I'm sure current AMD platform users are happy being able to carry forward their AM3+ boards a few more months until AMD switch to the FMx socket for both apu's and cpu's.
But surely the idea is to also attract new customers?
How many people that may have been attracted to AMD by the new bulldozer cpu will not purchase it because its initial launch is going to be on AM3+ which is going to be replaced in 2012 by FMx platforms? Not me for sure.
No I WAS interested in Bulldozer...but not now.
I'm going to get an LGA2011 platform and initially put a lower end sandybridge E processor in it for the immediate future in the secure knowledge that sometime next year or later if I require I will have a solid upgrade path to a 22nm Trigate Ivybridge E processor.
Sorry AMD you've messed up big time for new prospective customers.