Today we see AMD release three new high-performance quad-core desktop processors.

[HURST]

-{ Quote: "Here’s what we have:

* AMD Phenom X4 9950 Black Edition – 2.6GHz; $235
* AMD Phenom X4 9350e – 2.0GHz; $195
* AMD Phenom X4 9150e – 1.8GHz; $175
" }-

http://blogs.zdnet.com/hardware/?p=2154

[lodore]

also reported here
http://www.hexus.net/content/item.php?item=14143

[Coolio10]

Hmmm. AMD is really dieing. Unless the puma survives than AMD is gone for sure.

[computer geek]

I agree, they did a test on a phenom once, and it lost at speed+generally all round to a core2duo. E6600

[WSFuser]

I hope theyre able to make some competitive processors cuz Intel is currently kicking their butt.

[chris2busy]

and our wallets :S


why don't they get it? L2 cache is not just for decoration...2Mb is not competitive at all

[Arup]

Whats strange is unlike Intel which uses the slower on board memory controller, AMD has on die memory controller and yet they loose out to Intel on benchmarks.

[tgell]

I think they bit off more than they could chew with the ATI aquisition.

[Firecat]

-{ Quote: "I think they bit off more than they could chew with the ATI aquisition." }-
But that ATI acquisition proved good for them as now it is the largest profit making division of AMD.....on the graphics front AMD has a great year ahead since the Radeon HD 4850 and 4870 simply make NVIDIA's GeForce GTX series pointless.....

As far as CPUs are concerned, I think AMD has to lie low for a while and concentrate on the mid-range and performance segments rather than the enthusiast segment. Aggressive pricing is the only way AMD can survive at all at this stage.

[Firecat]

-{ Quote: "Whats strange is unlike Intel which uses the slower on board memory controller, AMD has on die memory controller and yet they loose out to Intel on benchmarks." }-
They don't lose out on memory-limited benchmarks.....But they're slower in terms of pure execution. And thats the problem: efficiency. Like I said, they severely need to focus all their efforts for the mid-range and performance segment for a while till they can get their act together.

[Arup]

http://www.hexus.net/content/item.php?item=10427&page=9

Watch how quad core thrashes Phenom in Pifast memory test.

[lucas1985]

-{ Quote: "Whats strange is unlike Intel which uses the slower on board memory controller, AMD has on die memory controller and yet they loose out to Intel on benchmarks." }-
See here (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memory_disambiguation) and here (http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/intel/showdoc.aspx?i=2748) for more info :)

[dmenace]

AMD processors generally use more power than intel ones despite offering inferior performance. AMD needs to improve in this respect as well.

On a side note, if AMD does perish, who will motivate intel to create faster processors...

[Arup]

If AMD perishes the world will be left at the mercy of Intel's mediocrity like it was in the earlier 486 and Pentium days, same goes for ATI and Nvidia.

[Coolio10]

-{ Quote: "If AMD perishes the world will be left at the mercy of Intel's mediocrity like it was in the earlier 486 and Pentium days, same goes for ATI and Nvidia." }-
Don't forget overpriced products :D.

[Arup]

-{ Quote: "Don't forget overpriced products :D." }-


Indeed and end of Moore's law.

[tgell]

AMD Hit With Another Huge Writedown:

-{ Quote: "SAN FRANCISCO -- Advanced Micro Devices(AMD - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) is writing down another chunk of its ATI graphics business, bringing the total write-downs to nearly half of the hefty $5.4 billion that AMD paid to acquire the company in 2006. " }-

Article (http://www.thestreet.com/story/10425931/1/amd-hit-with-another-huge-writedown.html?puc=newshome)

[sosaiso]

-{ Quote: "AMD Hit With Another Huge Writedown:



Article (http://www.thestreet.com/story/10425931/1/amd-hit-with-another-huge-writedown.html?puc=newshome)" }-

Granted, they're probably just taking a hit to goodwill. It's a noncash item that will not affect much really. It's just re-emphasizing that AMD overpaid for ATI. Doesn't affect AMD's cash flows, which are more important for R&D and new products.