[H]ard looks at AMD's triple core

[onebxr]

I think that ATI/AMD are stepping out of the race and trying to hit in the budget sector. There is alot of money to be had going low price. Speaking from a cash strapped perspective, if I can get a product that will do what a higher priced product will do I will get that product. I know that the AM2 architecture is not as good as the Core2duo line but it works really well and is almost 1/2 the price. To me that makes me want a AM2 chip and I can use that saved money to buy something else like more memory or a better video card.
So back to my point, I think that AMD/ATI are happy going for the middle of the road buyers, not trying to have the fastest, but a product that will do its job well and not break the bank.
JMO
-1

[One4yu2c]

Originally Posted by simple_inhibition

no, what im saying is say joe snuffy has exactly $200 to spend, so that puts the Q6600 out of his price range.

Now here's the wrench: The Q6600 is already priced at $280 street, which would be considered the high end of mainstream pricing. That's today. When tri-core parts emerge, what will the market look like then, or shortly thereafter? My guess is you'll see some budget priced quad-cores trickle in, a Q6400 or Q6300 perhaps. And then there's the price cuts, which should get particularly attractive when Penryn comes out.

For tri-core to succeed from a marketing standpoint, AMD will have to be very careful with pricing. And even then, they're at risk of devaluing their own dual-core line. I'd like to think they've done their research and have a solid strategy, but then again, they're the same suits (except the ones participating in the mass exodus) that approved gobbling up ATI when they really couldn't afford to do so.

[Capper]

Lets wait to see the big marketing machine kick loose the cob webs.....but some interesting points are made.

Remember, INTELs Quads aren't "really" Quads, they are two Dual Cores jammed together on the die, connected by the FSB. These new AMD Quads are supposed to be true Quads, and as long as they have been in development, and long as everyone has been waiting, and as long as the delays have been......my gut tells me that there is more to the story than most everyone realizes.

With Intel so firmly established with the Conroe, Kentsfield, Xeon, and now Penryn, etc........AMD would have to have a major, across the board solution that beats INTEL handily......and I honestly don't see it, and from what I've heard, people are going to be a little underwhelmed with Phenom.

I also think people need to look at the fact that if they already have a Core @ chip, moving to AMD is basically going to be a new CPU, motherboard, and maybe RAM........and to expect people to make that jump in a time when we're on the verge of recession, with disposable income drying up....is asking too much.

My gut feeling, and this is just me, and I may be wrong, is that AMD is going back to the AMD we all knew and loved before S939, a modestly priced, great price to performance ration chip.....to match their graphics card. I hate to say it, but given their financial status, our economy, and everything we're seeing from the tech side, and I just can't see any instance where AMD competes with INTEL straight up....

Lets flip flop, and say by chance that all the rumors and leaks are wrong, and that Phenom does 2 second Super Pis, cooks dinner, and somehow makes your staff ore productive (give me 10).........with its processors almost across the board better than anything AMD has available, all INTEL has to do is cut prices again........and AMD is in a bigger, deeper hole.

Sorry, don't want to rain on any parades, but I'm not buying the rosey marketing gimmicks or fan boi rants about whats coming, AMD missed their bus a long time.

[halutzparilla]

what is a true quads??? i know that the Q6XXX line is two die together... but what defines the true quads??? would someone care to elaborate??? and differentiates the two???

[Yellowhello]

Originally Posted by halutzparilla

what is a true quads??? i know that the Q6XXX line is two die together... but what defines the true quads??? would someone care to elaborate??? and differentiates the two???

If you look under the heatspreader of a current Intel quadcore, you will see two dies like this:

On the other hand, of you look under the heatspreader of a AMD Phenom part, it will look something like this:

[Telexen]

To expand on yellowhello's explanation even though it's already been said, Intel's Quad Cores are just two completely seperate die with two cores on them each. AMD's Quad core die has 4 cores designed onto the single die.

We don't know yet if this *really* gives an advantage one way or the other - but you can be sure that AMD's costs are high and if they ever do suddenly have a problem with yield from these wafers then it willl be a lot of money down the toilet.

[Capper]

The one big advantage should be the integrated memory controller, something you can't have with the cores connected via the FSB.....thats always been AMD's big marketing push over INTEL, at the Dual and now at the Quad level.

[gvblake22]

From everything I've heard over the years, it seems to me that it is possible (relatively easy) to shut down a single core in a multi-core processor and have a working product. I remember reading about some new AMD or Intel power saving technique that could shut down individual processing cores and/or areas of cache (in addition to lowering clock speed and voltage). Seems that if they are able to do this on the fly, it would not be too hard to neuter a quad core part to make it three core.

The feeling I got from reading the [H] article was that AMD is making lemonate out of lemons. Seems like they have working quad core parts, but the quality control isn't good enough yet to get enough high-speed quad core parts. But somehow they found that with only three cores they are able to ramp the speed much higher. These parts will prettymuch have to take over dual core pricing. If they are too close to Intel's quad core, people will just opt for that, but if they are too low, people will just buy the higher speed dual core counterpart. It is definitely going to be a very delicate marketing game for AMD and I really hope for the best with these new chips.