AMD, Intel go into reverse on car computer analogy

WE DON'T know if many people have noticed this, but here at the INQ and in different guises we've been covering AMD and Intel processor for many a year.

It was only a few years back that AMD was maintaining that it would keep its prices 30 per cent below than Intel chips, whatever they did. This would be the early Athlon days.

So now what do we have. We have AMD selling its top end FX processors and soon to be X2s at a premium over Intel dual chips which undercut the prices AMD is selling its lot at.

What gives? Well we know from our motoring correspondent that certain types of tyres are offered at a price way above other, lesser, but probably worthy offerings. And there are so many tyres available on the market that unless you're an enthusiast you won't know which types to buy for your top auto.

So are AMD and Intel pursuing the endless quest to compare computers to cars, and thereby operating the same sort of principles when they're selling their famous SKUs (stock keeping units)?

We don't think this is going to be a feasible business model, despite Microsoft's attempts to make Longhorn 2006 the new WIndows 95. It's been a while since we saw Ferodo brake linings and only oldsters remember the high street adverts for spark plugs.

We think AMD has actually got the right handle on this, apart from Dell Inc, of course. The enthusiast PC market is nothing like the enthusiast car market. You might pay 150,000 UK pounds for a high end Ferrari, and many times less for a bog standard car. But neither AMD nor Intel is ever going to command an equivalent delta price delta on PCs and where boasting you have an AMD X2 or a Pentium 4 DD with EE extensions only marks you out as a sad enthusiast rather than someone richer than Croesus. Yeah, we guess it's all relative, but a classic car of the fast racing type can still command a reasonable price, but who is going to get an AMD K6 or a Pentium II out and tell their mates - hey this one really flies?

It's like comparing guava fruits with onions. And we doubt Longhorn is going to make things much better. There is even a certain argument that says AMD and Intel are promoting addiction to racy video games at the expense of social contact. Not that we're saying that, natch.