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"Anyway, HP's customers at least have a choice now. Which is a good thing. Dell's customers dont have that. "
What kind of imbecilic remark is this?
Of course Dell customers have a choice - the same choice that ANY customer has.
They can buy a Dell PC with an Intel processor or buy an HP PC with an AMD processor- or any other product with any other processor they so desire.
Look at the data - Dell is now the largest PC maker and the fastest growing Teir 1 PC maker on the planet. Dell's customers have spoken - they prefer the Dell product with an Intel microprocessor. Otherwise, they would have called up HP and ordered an AMD-based PC.
But they didn't. Did they?
Wonder why? You can't use the AMD exuse that Dell goons forced their customers to buy Intel - because Dell is a mail order/internet based company - and doesn't have an army of goons traveling the planet with night sticks and guns.
They have a horde of phone operators and internet-based software taking orders - and those orders keep piling in - for Intel-based PCs.
Get over it.
AMD is a second tier company offering second tier products to second and third tier customers.
-SZ
"Opteron's fabulousness isn't primarily due to having 64-bit registers. It's due to the integration of the chipset's crossbar switches and memory controllers with the CPU on one piece of silicon.
Just as the on-die cache has proven to be a huge benefit in improving performance and lowering costs, so does on-die chipset boost performance and lower costs."
So how does all this Opteron fabulousness result in a herculean 193 sq. mm. die size, 2 extra metal layers, 8 extra masking layers, an extremely expensive SOI process that results in 18% yields and sub 2 GHz clcok speeds and produce "improving performance and lowering costs," ?
Come on - riddle me this one?
-SZ
Looks like Intel already has working 90 nM CPUs - Dothan and Prescott, and will be showing these today. This is well in advance of their launch target.
"Intel will show its next-generation desktop and mobile processors, Prescott and Dothan, later Thursday during presentations. The ramp to Intel's 90-nanometer process technology is going well, and Intel expects the ramp to 90 nanometers to proceed faster than the last jump to the currently used 0.13 micron technology, he said. "
Intel's Barrett pushes for IT investment
By Tom Krazit, IDG News Service May 15, 2003
NEW YORK -- Established enterprises and economies will have to upgrade their IT infrastructure soon to compete once the global economy turns around, said Intel Chief Executive Officer Craig Barrett in a press conference prior to Intel's spring analyst event Thursday.
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"IT is the only vehicle on which established economies will be able to compete" with fast-growing economies such as China and India, Barrett said. Intel has yet to see evidence of that recovery in the U.S. and Western Europe, he said.
Without IT investment on the part of companies in those regions, the industry could see a "jobless recovery," where the talent flows to the economies with the latest and greatest IT technology, he said.
Barrett reaffirmed Intel's guidance for the second quarter. "We're optimistic while waiting for business to recover. This is the deepest recession high tech has ever seen," he said. In April, Intel forecast second-quarter revenue to come in between $6.4 billion and $7 billion.
The spread of SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) has had little material effect on Intel's business, but the company has been forced to hold individual meetings with its partners in Asia to discuss future products, rather than the usual group meetings, he said.
Intel will show its next-generation desktop and mobile processors, Prescott and Dothan, later Thursday during presentations. The ramp to Intel's 90-nanometer process technology is going well, and Intel expects the ramp to 90 nanometers to proceed faster than the last jump to the currently used 0.13 micron technology, he said.
Look what HP just launched in America
HP unwraps Centrino notebook
Compaq Presario X1000 features wide screen
By Tom Krazit May 14, 2003
A widescreen display on Hewlett-Packard's (HP's) new Compaq Presario X1000 notebook makes it easier to work on multiple applications in the same screen, or edit digital media, the company said in a release.
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Consumers aren't looking for mobility in a notebook as much as they want performance, said Fredrik Hamberger, senior product marketing manager for HP. HP used Intel's Centrino package of chips in this notebook, but thinks the widescreen display and media ports set the notebook apart from competitors, he said.
The Palo Alto, California, company built a SD/MMC (secure digital/multimedia memory card) slot so users could transfer files from digital cameras and MP3 players, Hamberger said. The notebook also comes with three USB (universal serial bus) 2.0 ports and an IEEE 1394 port for video transfers.
HP is only making one configuration of the X1000 available as of May 21. That notebook will cost $2,399, after a $100 rebate, with a 1.4GHz Pentium M processor, the Intel Pro Wireless 2100 chip, 512MB of DDR (double data rate) memory, a high-speed 60GB hard drive that operates at 5,400 revolutions per minute, a Mobility Radeon 9200 graphics card from ATI Technologies, and a DVD-ROM/CD-RW drive.
Configurable models will be available in June. A base configuration with a 1.3GHz Pentium M processor, the Intel Pro Wireless 2100 chip, a Mobility Radeon 7500 graphics card from ATI, a 40GB hard drive, 256MB of DDR memory, and a CD-ROM drive will cost $1,299, after the $100 rebate.
The notebooks will launch in the U.S. at first, and HP will roll them out around the rest of the world in the middle of the year, Hamberger said.
"all the chips from AMD's current stepping are running at a 2800+ level or better, according to the overclockers."
The overclockers concluded this, did they?
And how many 2800+ level devices did the overclockers test?
Did they buy up all of AMD's 2800+ production from the past few months?
Let's see - does that mean they bought up 50 devices?
Or 5,000 devices?
or 476,397 devices?
Just what kind of statistical sampling did the overclockers use?
And by the way, who are these overclockers?
Are they registered somewhere with validated credentials to authenticate their results?
or did a few pimply wart-heads toss out some data on a couple of chips that caused you to drool down your chin?
-SZ
"Aside from all of Jerry's limos they've hocked off everything "
AMD still has a corporate airplane that Mr. Sanders uses for his personal purposes. Perhaps this too can be sold to generatw some badly needed cash?
"The company's former chief executive, Jerry Sanders, who remains its chairman, earned $916,838 in 2002 and $495,660 in other compensation that included the use of company vehicles and the company airplane. "
Reuters
AMD chairman, CEO earned no bonuses in 2002-filing
Friday March 14, 8:01 pm ET
LOS ANGELES, March 14 (Reuters) - The new chief executive of chip maker Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NYSE:AMD - News) earned nearly $900,000 in salary in 2002 but was not paid a bonus, the company said in a filing with securities regulators on Friday.
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In a proxy statement filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (News - Websites), AMD said Hector Ruiz, who became CEO in April, was paid $896,945 in salary.
His total compensation for the year topped $1.3 million, including what the company said was a payment of just more than $315,000 to cover a tax penalty related to a retirement account Ruiz forfeited when he left Motorola Inc. (NYSE:MOT - News) for AMD.
AMD also listed $305,318 in "other" long-term compensation for Ruiz in 2002, including what it said was $265,287 deposited in a trust account to replace the forfeited retirement benefit from his tenure at Motorola.
Ruiz was also granted a total of 1.2 million stock options in 2002, AMD said, at an exercise price of $16.05.
The company's former chief executive, Jerry Sanders, who remains its chairman, earned $916,838 in 2002 and $495,660 in other compensation that included the use of company vehicles and the company airplane. Sanders received no option grants in 2002, according to the filing.
AMD also said it was seeking shareholder approval for a stock option exchange plan that would allow employees holding options with exercise prices above $10 per share to trade in those options for fewer shares at a lower exercise price.
AMD said employee options for up to 27.3 million shares could be tendered under the program and exchanged for up to 15.4 million new options with lower strike prices.
The exchanges would be in ratios from 1.5-to-1 up to 2.4-to-1, depending on the exercise price of the original option, AMD said.
Shares in AMD, after losing more than 59 percent of their value in 2002, are off nearly 11 percent in 2003. The stock closed at $5.77 on the New York Stock Exchange (News - Websites) on Friday.
Moody's may cut Advanced Micro Devices
Wednesday May 7, 1:53 pm ET
(The following statement was released by the rating agency)
Approximately $903 Million of Debt Securties Affected.
NEW YORK, May 7 - Moody's Investors Service (News - Websites) placed the ratings of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NYSE:AMD - News; AMD) under review for possible downgrade based on its concern that continued cash burn may lead AMD to raise another round of capital over the near to intermediate term. The ratings under review for downgrade include: Senior implied rating -- B2 Senior convertible notes $403 million due 2007 -- B3 Senior convertible notes $500 million due 2022 (first put date 2009) -- B3 Senior secured shelf registration -- (P) B2 Senior unsecured shelf registration -- (P) B3 Subordinated shelf registration -- (P) Caa1 Preferred stock shelf registration -- (P) Caa2 The review is prompted by AMD's debt of $1.9 billion at March 2003, contributing to the highest book leverage in several years. At March 2003, the company had $800 million of cash and marketable securities, down from $1.04 billion at December 2002. Some of this cash reduction relates to payments made to IBM as part of the joint development agreement with IBM that will focus on logic production at the 65 nanometer node beginning later in 2003. AMD continues to make progress in cost reductions, with a goal of break even operations at an $800 million revenue level ($715 million revenues in Q1). Achieving such revenue level over the next few quarters, however, will be challenging, as it is dependent upon uncertain market demand and pricing, as well as the company's own execution. As a result, Moody's believes there is a likely scenario of ongoing operating losses and operational cash burn, even though full year capital expenditures of $650 million will be less than expected depreciation of around $800 million. Debt maturities relating to AMD's microprocessor facility in Dresden, Germany (Fab 30) approximate $32m million in 2003 and $80 million in 2004. Borrowings of approximately $600 million related to Fab 30 are secured by that plant's property plant and equipment. AMD's $403 million 4.50% senior convertible notes do not mature until 2007, and its $500 million senior convertible notes are initially subject to a put provision in 2009. The company's $200 million secured revolving credit is mostly available, although it matures July 2003. The company has made recent progress in introducing new microprocessor product for the desktop and mobile computing markets, where unit growth helped it to report sequential revenue gains in the seasonally down first quarter. AMD also launched its long awaited Opteron processor family that can process both 32 bit and 64 bit software, and offer reduced memory latency, thereby helping to improve overall server performance and speed. With the support of operating system software vendors including Microsoft, as well as support from server vendors including IBM, the successful rollout of Opteron should help AMD to broaden its microprocessor end markets and compete against Intel for the first time in the server segment. However, adoption, pricing, and ultimate demand remain uncertain The review will focus on AMD's prospects for profitable and cash flow positive operations over the near to intermediate term; bank facility and other available forms of borrowing arrangements and their terms; AMD's ability to finance requisite capital expenditures and research and development with internally generated funds; the costs and benefits of its recently commenced joint development agreement with IBM that will focus on logic production at the 65 nanometer node beginning later in 2003; as well as the operational and financial impact of AMD's and Fujitsu's recent decision to form a new joint venture by combining the two companies' entire flash operations into one entity, which will be consolidated by AMD. Moody's expects to complete its review over the next several weeks. Advanced Micro Devices, Inc., headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, designs and manufactures microprocessors, flash memory, and other semiconductors products.
IBM commitment to 64-bit Opteron ‘lukewarm’
AMD’s 64-bit Opteron processor is not the magic silver bullet that will pull the chipmaker out of its current financial situation, The Aberdeen Group digital consumer technology analyst Peter Kastner says.
Supporting this view, Kastner cites lower than expected performance benchmarks and what he calls a “lukewarm” reception from high-profile launch supporter IBM.
“AMD’s new 64-bit microprocessor shows a number of benchmarks that place it ahead of its competition, but not by the kind of margin that one would have anticipated between 32- and 64-bit architectures,” Kastner says. “The issue at hand is whether AMD’s 64-bit microprocessor can gain a measurable segment of the Intel compatible 32-bit server market”.
In a move described as “bold”, AMD announced that its 64-bit Opteron microprocessors would have backwards compatibility to run 32-bit, Intel-based architecture programs. Two-way Opteron machines are currently available and four-way configurations will be available later this quarter, according to AMD. A one-way version is planned for the Q3 2003.
But Intel will not stand still. “Aberdeen anticipates faster versions of the 32-bit Xeon processor, as well as the next iteration of the Itanium 64-bit processor, to be announced within the next 90 days,” Kastner predicts. “Thus, by the time AMD begins shipping its four-way Opteron configurations, Intel will have a new pony to put in the race”.
AMD are showing off benchmarks comparing the Opteron with Intel’s 32 bit Xeon and Itanium machines, representing Intel’s 32 and 64-bit architectures. But while these benchmarks, not surprisingly, show that AMD is generally ahead of its competition, the margin is not as great as one would have anticipated between the differences of a 32 and 64-bit architecture, Kastner says.
While announcing support for Opteron, IBM will not sell an Opteron machine beside the well-regarded Intel-based xSeries. Instead, IBM will provide a high-performance, “computing service on demand” running on Opteron machines.
“We consider this a lukewarm endorsement by IBM,” Kastner explains. “We don’t believe IBM’s strategy with AMD is complete with the Opteron-based services announcement. It is our working supposition that IBM, AMD, and nVidia will partner more closely in the future”.
Kastner concludes: “Very few buyers should run out and order an Opteron machine today. Those buyers would be on an extremely limited budget with a high-performance computing task, as well as the pioneer spirit needed to deal with the inevitable issues of a new hardware technology that has to build the software, application, and service ecosystem around it”.
2 May 2003
"AMD certainly "believed" in such a goal when they formed their so-called True Performance Initiative"
AMD's Value Proposition Committe has re-christened this the Toilet Paper Initiative.
That assigns it a name commensurate with its value.
-SZ
"QS hasn´t done any harm to the customers, but has helped AMD considerably."
You couldn't be more wrong.
Ever since AMD introduced QS in Q3 2001, they have posted a loss in every single quarter - 7 in a row, and heading for 8.
AMD's market share went into an immediate nose dive, dropping from 21-22% down to about 12%.
AMD's inventory problems went haywire, creating huge amounts of unsold products in the channel and in customers storage, much of which AMD was forced to buy back.
AMD stopped reporting unit shipments to their shareholders - many AMD fan boys used to dump all over intellibees because Intel never reported exact unit shipments. But the AMD fan boys remained silent in the extreme when AMD, due to humiliating embarrassment, stopped reporting processor unit shipments about a year ago.
-SZ
"Intel is not making huge profits/success in the area where AMD bought Alchemy."
Intel's near total domination of the Windows CE PDA market is a huge and complete success.
Intel's xscale CPU development, addressing PDA, Network Procesing and wireless handsets is a huge success.
You think AMD copied Intel by buying Alchemy just so AMD can lose even MORE money? (Yeah - you're probably right).
" Intel is nothing but a bunch of scumbags and one of these days the axe of justice will fall on them. "
No they are not. Intel is hugely successful - and those people who are failures - and you appear to be one of them - resent such overwhelming success.
If you weren't such a blithering boob, you'd realize that Intel has been investigated twice by the FTC and has come away with a clean bill of health both times.
The fact that other companies can't run their business as good as Intel runs theirs just leads to wild fantasies and rumors about "dirty tricks".
Face it - Business is war - and Intel plays to win. And they win.
Losers just whine and mope and spout their sour grape "I'm a Victim" baloney.
-SZ
"Intel has been abusing its monopoly status to buy out and shut down compiler companies that support AMD. This isn't a "free ride" issue, its a restraint of trade issue. "
You are making fanatical canards and prevarications.
If Intel did what you said, AMD would have sued immediately, the FTC and DOJ would have been drawn in, etc.
It didn't happen - except in your mind.
Instead of acquiring compiler expertise - as Intel did - AMD chose to pay $50 million for Alchemy - to once again try to compete with Intel in a market where Intel is experiencing huge success.
So face it - AMD made a strategic decision to piss away $50,000,000 instead of bolstering their CPU software.
-SZ
"Seems like it was a wise investment. IBM is on board."
IBM on board? Not quite.
IBM has offered faint praise and non-commital promises of adding servers to their own-rent-a-server-farm..
IBM has NOT committed to making an Opteron Server for sale to an IBM customer.
As for Dell, well..here's a few Dell announcements that will give you a clear idea of Dell's commitment to AMD:
"Dimension XPS features a 3.0GHz Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 processor with Hyper-Threading technology and 800MHz front side bus, 256MB DDR400 SDRAM memory, "
April 28, 2003 09:02
Dell Enters Enthusiast Market with Most Powerful and Expandable Dimension System Ever; Dimension XPS Sets New Standard for Performance, Expandability and Value
ROUND ROCK, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 28, 2003--Dell (Nasdaq:DELL) today introduced the Dimension XPS -- its most powerful and expandable consumer desktop system to date -- a system designed to provide the highest level of performance in 3D gaming, high-end multimedia applications and demanding productivity applications.
The Dimension XPS offers hardware features that deliver uncompromising performance and system expansion. With its standard 460-watt power supply, Creative(R) Audigy(tm) 2 sound card, 128MB ATI Radeon(tm) 9800 and 9800 Pro graphics cards, support for the latest Intel processors, and Serial ATA (SATA) hard drives in a RAID 0 or RAID 1 configuration, the XPS is built to run today's most demanding 3D games and multimedia applications with ease.
"The XPS is a powerful addition to the Dimension family," said Tim Mattox, vice president of Dell's client product marketing group, "Both hard-core gamers and customers who require enhanced expandability will find the Dimension XPS an ideal platform for delivering the highest levels of performance in an innovative and highly serviceable chassis."
The Dimension XPS features a sleek large tower Venice blue chassis with midnight gray and brushed silver accents. For customers interested in future expansion, it offers up to three 5.25-inch drive bays, and also accommodates up to three internal 3.5-inch bays. To accommodate external expansion, the XPS system features two 1394 ports and eight USB 2.0 ports. It is the first Dimension to have a front-accessible 1394 port, which offers a new level of convenience for digital video enthusiasts. The tower houses a 460-watt power supply at the bottom of the chassis to separate it from the main interior of the system. The innovative chassis design results in a quieter system, and also makes internal components easy to access for maintenance and upgrades.
Expanded Peripheral Options, Dedicated Dimension XPS Support
Because many customers want peripherals optimized for fast-paced 3D games, Dell offers a suite of game controllers, joysticks, mice and speakers within the Dimension XPS configurator on www.dell.com. Additionally, all systems come standard with dedicated XPS Phone Support. Through a unique Express Service Code, Dimension XPS customers dial into a dedicated XPS support queue staffed by advanced technicians who share the same passion for 3D gaming and enthusiast applications.
Pricing Information and Technical Specifications
For $2,199(a), the Dimension XPS features a 3.0GHz Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 processor with Hyper-Threading technology and 800MHz front side bus, 256MB DDR400 SDRAM memory, Radeon 9800 graphics card, Creative(R) Audigy 2 sound card, a 60GB hard drive, a 16x DVD drive, a 19-inch (18-inch viewable) monitor, and Windows(R) XP Home, one year limited warranty(b) plus one year at-home service(c), and dedicated Dimension XPS technical phone support.
The Dimension XPS includes support for the following:
-- Pentium(R) 4 processor options that utilize an 800MHz front
side bus and Hyper-Threading technology
-- Dual-channel DDR-SDRAM memory running at 400MHz
-- ATI's new Radeon 9800 or Radeon 9800 PRO
-- 460-watt power supply standard
-- Two 1394 ports standard
-- Eight USB 2.0 ports standard
-- Creative(R) Audigy 2 sound card standard
-- Serial ATA RAID option via the Serial ATA RAID Controller
(SARC) 150 DC card; Customers can choose either a RAID 0 or
RAID 1 configuration
-- Ultra ATA-100 hard drive capacities up to 200GB
-- Optical drives options include:16x DVD, 48x/24x/48x CD-RW, or
48x CD-RW/DVD, DVD+RW/ +R(d) combination drives
-- Integrated 10/100 Ethernet connectivity
-- Microsoft(R) Windows XP Home or Professional
-- Dedicated XPS Support through specialized phone queue
-- Standard 1 year limited warranty(b) plus 1 year at-home
service(c); Optional upgrade up to 4 years
For more information about this product, go to www.dell.com/dimension.
About Dell
Dell Computer Corporation (Nasdaq:DELL) is a premier provider of products and services required for customers worldwide to build their information-technology and Internet infrastructures. Company revenue for the past year totaled $35.4 billion. Dell, through its direct business model, designs, manufactures and customizes products and services to customer requirements, and offers an extensive selection of software and peripherals. Information on Dell and its products can be obtained at www.dell.com.
Dell is a trademark of Dell Computer Corporation.
Dell disclaims any proprietary interest in the marks and names of others.
(a) Pricing, specifications, availability, and terms of offers may
change without notice. Taxes and shipping charges are extra,
and vary.
(b) You can get a copy of our limited warranties and guarantees by
writing Dell USA LP, Attn: Warranties, One Dell Way, Round
Rock, TX 78682. To purchase warranty only or for information
on other service options, please call 1-800-915-3355 or visit
http://www.dell4me.com/termsandconditions.
(c) At-home or on-site service provided via third-party contract
with customer. Technician will be dispatched if necessary
following phone-based troubleshooting, often the next business
day. Availability varies. Other conditions apply.
(d) Discs burned with this drive may not be compatible with some
existing drives and players; using DVD+R media provides
maximum compatibility.
CONTACT: Dell Computer Corporation, Round Rock
Jess Blackburn, 512/725-0187
jess_blackburn@dell.com
or
Ebony Rose, 512/728-8037
ebony_rose@dell.com
"I thought Newisys was staffed with ex-Dell and ex-IBM execs?"
It is. But IBM isn't footing the bill - AMD is.
"Newisys raised nearly $28 million in investment last year.
One early investor was AMD. "
August 12, 2002 12:56
Austin American-Statesman, Texas, Plugged In Column
Jump to first matched term
Austin American-Statesman, Texas
Aug. 12--ESOTERIX GAINS $5 MILLION FROM ITS SOLE INVESTOR: Austin-based laboratory services company Esoterix Inc. has landed another $5 million from its only investor, New York-based Behrman Capital. JP Morgan Chase & Co. has also expanded the company's line of credit from $8 million to $14 million.
Esoterix, which does specialty lab work in areas such as infectious disease and services for clinical trials, has about 600 employees worldwide, including 150 in Austin. The company has raised more than $55 million since its founding in 1995.
The company is opening new facilities in New Jersey and the Netherlands later this year. Esoterix said it had 2001 sales of $68.7 million and is profitable, but didn't provide specific numbers.
NEWISYS COULD HELP PUSH AMD INTO THE BUSINESS: Newisys Inc., a 2-year-old Austin startup, might be the ice breaker that launches Advanced Micro Devices Inc.'s latest processor family into the enterprise server business.
On Tuesday, Newisys is expected to show off its first prototype server, a skinny rack-mounted Web server that has two AMD Opteron processors under the hood.
Newisys will demonstrate the server at a Linux trade show in San Francisco.
Chief executive Phil Hester, a longtime IBM engineering manager, says Newisys is developing a family of advanced Opteron-based servers. But Newisys won't be making any of those new boxes. Instead, it plans to sell the blueprints to established systems makers such as IBM Corp., Hitachi Ltd. and Fujitsu Ltd.
Those companies could use Newisys to create Hammer-based products in a few months, saving themselves time and money.
AMD's chips have never made much of a dent in the market for mission-critical corporate servers, but analysts say Hester's team has the necessary credentials in the server business to pull off the strategy.
Newisys raised nearly $28 million in investment last year.
One early investor was AMD.
CIRRUS LAUNCHES ITS FIRST OVERSEAS-BASED DIVISION: Go East, young man.
Austin-based Cirrus Logic Inc. created its first overseas-based engineering division last week in Shenzhen, China, which Cirrus reckons is a budding center for the manufacturing of cutting-edge consumer entertainment devices.
The new engineering design center will include 10 sales representatives and 55 applications engineers, who will do the software and hardware design required to incorporate Cirrus chips into new consumer products.
Craig Ensley, the company's engineering vice president, predicts that China, Taiwan and South Korea, among other Asian countries, will become the dominant makers of consumer electronics products during the next several years. China already accounts for about 10 percent of Cirrus' chip sales, he said.
SILICON LABS CO-FOUNDERS INTEND TO SELL SHARES: The three Silicon Laboratories Inc. co-founders last week signaled their intention to sell $13.6 million worth of stock in the company, a communications chip maker.
In filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, CEO Nav Sooch said he intended to sell $6.3 million worth of stock, and vice presidents Dave Welland and Jeff Scott filed to sell $4.5 million and $2.8 million in stock, respectively.
Unlike a lot of tech executives selling shares in ailing companies, however, Silicon Labs is profitable and growing rapidly. Shares closed at $23.06 on Friday.
They're up 15 percent during the past year.
-----
To see more of the Austin American-Statesman, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.austin360.com
(c) 2002, Austin American-Statesman, Texas. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News. JPM, AMD, IBM, HIT, FJTSY, FJTSF, CRUS, SLAB,
J.P. MORGAN CHASE CO - JPM
Price 25.46
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Price 8.83
Net Change 0.00
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INTL BUSINESS MACH - IBM
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08/12/02 23:21 PM EDT
More Info
"5. Then why is no one buying them? What explains the Itanium's failure to sell well? "
The failure is with Amdroids who continue to ignore reality and the adoption of Itaniums.
Read on, dude - about HP, NEC, Switzerland, India, British Petroleum, SGI, Dell, Cal Tech, etc.
Then compare that list to....Newisys - AMD's flunkee-owned company !!!!!!
Dell demos Itanium 2 server
Company reveals few details about new system
By Tom Krazit April 24, 2003
Dell Computer publicly demonstrated an Itanium 2 server for the first time at Microsoft's Windows Server 2003 launch event in San Francisco Thursday, and said it will release such a system later this year.
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Dell has expressed support for Intel's Itanium 2 processor in the past, but has been reluctant to share details about its plans for the chip. Thursday's demonstration didn't mark a change in that strategy, as Dell spokesman Bruce Anderson declined to comment about the server's price, configuration, or specific launch date.
It was also unclear whether Dell is waiting for Madison , the next version of the Itanium 2, to launch in the middle of this year before it releases a system using a chip from the Itanium processor family. Anderson also declined to comment on whether the performance benefits expected from Madison 's higher clock speed and larger cache were the reason for Dell's year-long hesitation in deploying an Itanium 2 server.
Itanium 2 is a 64-bit processor launched last July that uses an entirely different instruction set than 64-bit RISC (reduced instruction set computing) processors or 32-bit processors from Intel and Advanced Micro Devices. It was developed in conjunction with Hewlett-Packard, which has been the primary backer of Itanium 2. The chip has won praise for its performance, but it requires IT managers to recompile all of their applications for the new instruction set to take advantage of that performance.
Dell and IBM have been reluctant to release servers using the chip. IBM announced this week it would release a server using a competing 64-bit chip, AMD's Opteron.
Dell, based in Round Rock, Texas , expects to sell Itanium 2-based servers to the high-performance computing market, Anderson said. Intel released benchmarks Thursday claiming an HP server with 64 Madison processors, Windows Server 2003 and Microsoft's new 64-bit SQL Server database achieved the highest-ever single-system transaction processing score as measured by the TPC-C benchmark for high-performance online transaction-processing computers. However, benchmarking claims are notoriously unreliable, according to one analyst.
"In general we don't tend to pay a lot of attention to benchmarks. They show a vendor's dedication to a particular area, but we advise our clients to look at actually running a database within their own application environment. Is the database going to support their applications? Is the packaged application available? Those are the sort of questions they should ask," said Betsy Burton, an analyst at Stamford, Conn.-based Gartner.
Tom Krazit is a U.S. correspondent for the IDG News Service, an InfoWorld affiliate.
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HP Itanium systems benchmarks are the business
Silk purse from a sow's ear
By Staff at the Newsdesk: Wednesday 16 April 2003, 14:21
HP HAS RELEASED some performance information on its Madison based severs. The 6MB L3 cache Itanium 2 running at 1.5GHz is a bit of all-right according to the firm. It says that many of the latest results beat previous bests by 40%. It also claims those previous bests were held by Itanium 2 based HP servers.
The benchmarks in question are Specweb99_SSL and SAP Standard Application SD. An HP quad-processor system managed 3,344 simultaneous connections running on HP-UX 11i. Pretty impressive. HP claims that equivalent IBM and Sun systems couldn't even manage half that speed.
The SAP benchmark ran 860 simulated users with 1.97second average response time. Again, HP is claiming that this stomps all over the opposition.
It could be that the Itanium is finally starting to prove its worth. If anyone was going to make a silk purse from the sow's ear that was the original Itanic, the combination of HP and Intel were likely to be the ones. µ
Press Release Source: Intel
BP Deploys HP Intel Itanium 2-Based Systems for Seismic Imaging Research
Monday April 21, 11:02 am ET
Intel Itanium 2-Based Solution Running Linux Delivers Significant Price-Performance Improvement, Time Savings for Oil, Gas Exploration
HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 21, 2003-- Intel Corporation and HP (NYSE:HPQ - News) today announced that BP, one of the world's largest petroleum and petrochemicals companies, has added new and additional computing capabilities to its advanced seismic research facility. The research facility will benefit from the addition of HP Intel® Itanium® 2-based systems running Linux, resulting in dramatically faster seismic imaging.
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Based in Houston, BP's advanced seismic research center now includes a high-performance computing (HPC) cluster of 259 HP rx5670 systems with more than 1,000 Itanium 2 processors, providing a total of 4 teraflops and 8000 GB of memory, running under the Linux operating system. The HP Server rx5670 is part of HP's broad portfolio of industry-standard Itanium-based hardware for enterprise customers. Using HP's Itanium 2-based systems running Linux as well as Intel and HP software, compilers and tools, BP has achieved a significant increase in computing power, resulting in clearer images of the Earth's subsurface structures and the hydrocarbons they contain.
"To achieve the most cost-effective and productive drilling procedure, we have to gather massive sets of seismic data and analyze them quickly and accurately," said Keith Gray, manager of BP's HPC center. "The combination of HP Itanium 2-based servers running Linux and software tools and services from Intel and HP gives us the power to produce better-defined results in a fraction of the time."
"The BP seismic solution illustrates the growing momentum for Itanium 2-based systems in heavy-duty enterprise computing," said John Davies, vice president, sales and marketing group and director of Intel's Solutions Market Development Group. "By using Itanium 2-based systems to run one of the most powerful commercial computing centers in the world, BP is able to take advantage of the world-class reliability, scalability and power provided by the Itanium 2 processor."
"Itanium 2-based solutions are increasingly becoming the platform of choice for highly demanding applications in the technical and commercial marketplaces as they save customers valuable time and money," said Mark Hudson, vice president of Marketing for HP's Business Critical Systems. "By deploying Itanium 2-based HP systems running Linux, BP is able to assess and manage the search for hydrocarbons more efficiently, while also reducing the risk inherent in exploration and development."
Moore's Law -- conceived by Intel co-founder Gordon Moore in 1968 -- has pushed the performance of Intel-based computing platforms to the forefront of scientific and business innovation, helping to slash computing costs and expand high performance computing beyond the confines of proprietary supercomputers to a more mainstream production environment. Intel-based solutions are rapidly becoming the platform of choice because of their outstanding price/performance and scalability, support for open-source development, and extended, multi-vendor environment.
The Intel Itanium 2 processor is the second in the Itanium processor family, a line of enterprise-class processors from Intel that brings the performance and volume economics of Intel architecture to the most data-intensive business-critical and technical computing applications. The Itanium processor family enables a broad choice of reliable platforms and software for high-end servers and workstations at significantly lower cost with better performance than many proprietary offerings.
Additional Information
An article about BP's HPC center appears in the April 2003 issue of Frontiers, BP's group magazine of technology and innovation. The article, written by the magazine's editor Terry Knott, may be read at www.bp.com/frontiers.
About HP
HP is a leading global provider of products, technologies, solutions and services to consumers and businesses. The company's offerings span IT infrastructure, personal computing and access devices, global services and imaging and printing. HP completed its acquisition of Compaq Computer Corporation on May 3, 2002. More information about HP is available at www.hp.com.
About Intel
Intel, the world's largest chip maker, is also a leading manufacturer of computer, networking and communications products. Additional information about Intel is available at www.intel.com/pressroom.
This news release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions. All statements other than statements of historical fact are statements that could be deemed forward-looking statements. Risks, uncertainties and assumptions include the possibility that the market for the sale of certain products and services may not develop as expected; that development and performance of these products and services may not proceed as planned; and other risks that are described from time to time in HP's Securities and Exchange Commission reports, including but not limited to HP's quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended January 31, 2003, and subsequently filed reports. If any of these risks or uncertainties materializes or any of these assumptions proves incorrect, HP's results could differ materially from HP's expectations in these statements. HP assumes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements.
Intel and Itanium are trademarks or registered trademarks of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries in the United States and other countries.
Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Contact:
Intel Corporation
Barbara Grimes, 503/712-6024
barbara.t.grimes@intel.com
or
HP
Elizabeth Phillips, 408/447-4534
elizabeth.phillips2@hp.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source: Intel
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April 23, 2003 13:00
India's Institute of Science to Power Supercomputing Center with SGI Altix 3000 System and Intel Itanium 2 Processors
Jump to first matched term
Leading High-Performance Computing Institute Selects India's First Itanium 2-Based SGI System to Further Scientific Discovery
BANGALORE, India, INTEL DEVELOPER FORUM, April 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- SGI (NYSE: SGI) announced that the Supercomputing Education Research Centre (SERC), India's leading center for high-performance computing (HPC) at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) in Bangalore, has purchased India's first SGI(R) Altix(TM) 3000 system, powered by 32 Intel(R) Itanium(R) 2 processors.
The SGI(R) system will provide a powerful shared supercomputing resource for SERC researchers, helping to further discoveries in the areas of gene sequencing, gene mapping, computational fluid dynamics and other cutting-edge research projects. Intel will also support IISc with Intel(R) processor-based compilers and tools to enhance the performance of various applications developed by SERC.
The system, which was presented today by Intel and SGI to SERC's chairman, Dr. S. M. Rao, at the Intel Developer Forum, will be upgraded to the next Intel Itanium 2 processor (code-named "Madison") later in the year. The SGI Altix 3000 system is a breakthrough Linux(R) solution that uniquely scales memory across all processors in all nodes in a cluster, so that users and their applications can efficiently use up to 16TB of shared-memory space -- an architectural capability called "global shared memory." Coupled with the Itanium 2 processor, the systems offer technical users world-record levels of performance with unprecedented price/performance and scalability in a standard Linux environment.
"At SERC, we have always believed in having the best computing platforms for our scientific research needs," said Dr. Rao. "Our decision to buy the outstanding SGI Altix 3000 system, and also to upgrade it to the next Intel Itanium 2 processor, is keeping in tune with this belief. SGI and Intel are providing the scalability, raw performance and reliability that HPC users need to solve the large, complex problems of both science and industry."
"The SERC deployment is an exciting high-performance computing initiative, and Intel applauds their decision to invest in open-standards-based supercomputing," said John Davies, vice president and director of Intel's Solutions Development Group. "Dozens of leading scientific institutions around the world have already switched to Itanium-based systems and are benefiting from the massive performance gains at a reduced cost. Intel is proud to work together with SGI to help researchers in India and around the world to make new discoveries and seek solutions to complex scientific problems."
"The Altix system's raw performance and immense scalability, due to Intel Itanium 2 processors and SGI NUMAflex architecture, is the absolute right fit for SERC's computational needs. The price/performance of Altix is enhanced by its leverage of the Linux operating system. We are delighted to have IISc as our first customer for this system in India," said Prasad Medury, managing director, SGI India.
SGI Altix 3000 Scaling New Heights
The Altix 3000 family of servers and superclusters offers global shared memory, which is a first for Linux OS-based computing, thus bringing supercomputing capability to Linux users across all markets and applications. Altix can scale up to 64 processors in one node and to hundreds of processors today in a supercluster environment. The built-in interconnects are 200 times faster than existing traditional interconnects, thus delivering outstanding peak and sustained performance. SGI increases the Altix system's power by offering an advanced supercomputing software environment that includes the acclaimed SGI(R) CXFS(TM) (available summer 2003), high-performance shared filesystem, optimized programming and science libraries, and supercomputing data management tools.
Future Intel Itanium 2 Processors
Intel plans to release the Itanium 2 processor 6M (Madison) midyear 2003, with up to 6MB of level 3 cache and a top frequency of 1.50 GHz. The new processor is expected to deliver 30% to 50% higher performance than the current Itanium 2 processor. Other plans include the introduction of the low-voltage Itanium 2 processor (code-named "Deerfield") in the second half of this year. It features similar performance to today's Itanium 2 processors, but at half the power, for dual-processor high-performance computing and select front-end applications. Future products include an Itanium 2 processor with 9MB of L3 cache in 2004, followed by a dual-core processor in 2005 (code-named "Montecito").
Intel Gains HPC Ground in India
At India's HPC Asia event in December 2002, Intel announced that leading Indian scientific, research and academic institutions are building Intel processor-based systems in order to take advantage of open, industry-standard technologies and ongoing price/performance improvements. This shift to industry-standard building blocks is part of a worldwide trend that has seen a dramatic increase in the number of Intel processor-based systems being used for HPC deployments.
About Intel
Intel, the world's largest chip maker, is also a leading manufacturer of computer, networking and communications products. Additional information about Intel is available at www.intel.com/pressroom.
About SERC and IISc
The Supercomputer Education and Research Centre (SERC) has been established to provide a state-of-the-art computing facility to the faculty and students of the institute. The center was conceived of as a functionally distributed supercomputing environment, housing leading-edge computing systems with sophisticated software packages and connected by a powerful high-speed network. The computing facilities are connected to the Internet and are accessible from the world over. More details can be found at www.serc.iisc.ernet.in/.
The Indian Institute of Science (IISc) was started in 1909. Since then, it has grown into a premier institution of research and advanced instruction, with more than 2000 active researchers working in almost all frontier areas of science and technology.
About SGI
SGI, also known as Silicon Graphics, Inc., is the world's leader in high-performance computing, visualization and the management of complex data. SGI's vision is to provide technology that enables the most significant scientific and creative breakthroughs of the 21st century. Whether it's sharing images to aid in brain surgery, finding oil more efficiently, studying global climate or enabling the transition from analog to digital broadcasting, SGI is dedicated to addressing the next class of challenges for scientific, engineering and creative users. SGI was named on FORTUNE magazine's 2003 list of "Top 100 Companies to Work For." With offices worldwide, the company is headquartered in Mountain View, Calif., and can be found on the Web at www.sgi.com.
NOTE: Silicon Graphics, SGI and the SGI logo are registered trademarks and Altix, NUMAflex, CXFS and XFS are trademarks of Silicon Graphics, Inc., in the United States and/or other countries worldwide. Intel and Itanium are trademarks or registered trademarks of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries in the United States and other countries. Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds. All other trademarks mentioned herein are the property of their respective owners.
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20010510/SFTH025LOGO)
CONTACT: Ginny Babbitt, +1-650-933-4519, or ginnyb@sgi.com, or PR Hotline, +1-650-933-7777, or PR Fax, +1-650-932-0737 all for SGI.
SOURCE Silicon Graphics Inc.
/CONTACT: Ginny Babbitt, +1-650-933-4519, or ginnyb@sgi.com, or PR
Hotline, +1-650-933-7777, or PR Fax, +1-650-932-0737 all for SGI/
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(SGI)
California Institute of Technology Selects HP Itanium 2 Systems for Scientific Research on TeraGrid Project
Business Editors/High-Tech Writers
PALO ALTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 16, 2003--
HP Continues to Drive Industry-wide Adoption of Its Itanium 2-based Servers
HP (NYSE:HPQ) today announced that the California Institute of Technology's Center for Advanced Computing Research (CACR) has installed HP Itanium(R) 2-based servers running on Linux as part of its 32-node cluster dedicated to data intensive applications on the TeraGrid project, the world's largest, fastest, distributed infrastructure for open scientific research.
As the focal point for research in computational science and engineering at the California Institute of Technology, CACR turned to HP's dual-processor clustered rx2600 Itanium(R) 2-based servers to provide an infrastructure that can easily adapt to its fast-evolving computing needs.
"We rely on continuous performance improvements to advance the sophistication of our simulations and maintain a rapid research pace," said James C.T. Pool, executive director, CACR. "HP has been providing CACR with reliable, high-performance systems for years. We have performed initial testing with NAS Parallel Benchmarks, High Performance Linpack, Pallas MPI Benchmarks, and local applications stressing computational and data intensive aspects of the HP cluster. We are pleased with the results to date."
CACR will employ 17 Itanium 2-based servers to provide the performance and stability required to run data-intensive applications, perform scientific simulations and move large volumes of data across the network in real time for the National Science Foundation's TeraGrid project.
The TeraGrid is an $88 million project funded by the NSF and will allow researchers across the United States to more quickly analyze, simulate and help solve some of the most complex scientific problems such as molecular modeling for disease detection, drug discovery, automobile crash simulations and research on alternative energy sources.
Enabled by the Intel(R) Itanium 2 processor and the high-bandwidth, low-latency HP Chipset zx1, the HP servers will connect to a collection of high-performance computers at five labs(1), creating a giant virtual computer accessible from any point on the TeraGrid. The system is expected to be operational by July.
"We are extremely pleased to expand our relationship with CACR. Not only does it speak to the strength of HP's Itanium-based solutions, but it also underlines our commitment to the technical computing space," said Winston Prather, vice president, high performance technical computing, HP Enterprise Systems Group. "Today's announcement is further testimony of the increasing number of organizations that are choosing Itanium-based servers for their high-performance computing needs."
CACR also is using eight single-processor HP zx2000 Itanium 2-based workstations for the development of earth sciences applications and parallel visualization software.
HP has been supplying high-performance systems to CACR for several years, including an HP Superdome server running HP-UX being used for scientific research.
TeraGrid is a multi-year effort to build and deploy the world's largest, fastest, distributed infrastructure for open scientific research. When completed, the TeraGrid will include 20 teraflops of computing power distributed at five sites, facilities capable of managing and storing nearly 1 petabyte of data, high-resolution visualization environments and toolkits for grid computing. These components will be tightly integrated and connected through a network that will operate at 40 gigabits per second -- the fastest research network on the planet. More information about the TeraGrid is available at http://www.teragrid.org.
About CACR
For almost two decades, the Center for Advanced Computing Research and its predecessors at the California Institute of Technology have provided leading-edge capabilities for computational science and engineering research collaborations and experimented with new technologies to help define the technical computing environment of the future. More information about CACR is available at http://www.cacr.caltech.edu.
About HP
HP is a leading global provider of products, technologies, solutions and services to consumers and businesses. The company's offerings span IT infrastructure, personal computing and access devices, global services and imaging and printing. HP completed its acquisition of Compaq Computer Corporation on May 3, 2002. More information about HP is available at http://www.hp.com.
(1) The four labs include the San Diego Supercomputing Center, the Argonne National Laboratory, the National Center for Supercomputing Applications, the Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center and the California Institute of Technology.
Note to Editors: Intel and Itanium are registered trademarks of Intel Corp. or its subsidiaries in the United States and other countries.
This news release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions. All statements other than statements of historical fact are statements that could be deemed forward-looking statements. Risks, uncertainties and assumptions include the possibility that the market for the sale of certain products and services may not develop as expected; that development and performance of these products and services may not proceed as planned; and other risks that are described from time to time in HP's Securities and Exchange Commission reports, including but not limited to HP's quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended January 31, 2003, and subsequently filed reports. If any of these risks or uncertainties materializes or any of these assumptions proves incorrect, HP's results could differ materially from HP's expectations in these statements. HP assumes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements.
--30--PW/sf*
CONTACT: HP
Jim Dunlap, 508/467-2739
jim.dunlap@hp.com
or
Burson-Marsteller for HP
Patricia Ugarte, 415/591-4086
patricia_ugarte@sfo.bm.com
or
Calif. Institute of Technology
Sarah Emery Bunn, 626/395-4622
sarah@caltech.edu
KEYWORD: CALIFORNIA
INDUSTRY KEYWORD: SOFTWARE NETWORKING E-COMMERCE INTERNET HARDWARE
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SOURCE: HP
Swedish institute goes Itanium
By Stephen Shankland
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
April 11, 2003, 4:04 PM PT
http://news.com.com/2100-1010-996530.html
Hewlett-Packard has sold 90 dual-processor Itanium 2 machines to the Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden's largest engineering school, for use in a wide variety of intense calculation tasks.
The institute purchased 74 rx2600 dual-processor servers and 16 zx6000 dual-processor workstations, HP said Friday. They will be used at the ParallelDatorCentrum, a computing center funded chiefly by the Swedish National Infrastructure for Computing, to tackle problems in areas ranging from life sciences to astrophysics. The institute did not release how much it paid for the machines, but calculations show that they would cost at least $1.3 million on the market.
The 90-computer cluster is expected to be running by this summer, but within a year, the institute expects to triple its computing capacity with additional HP computers. In addition, the cluster will be linked into Sweden's national "grid" for scientific computing, one of many networks of shared computers that collectively tackle even larger computing problems.
HP helped design Intel's Itanium processor family, a high-end product that first came out in 2001. Intel hopes Itanium will push aside IBM's Power processors and Sun Microsystems' UltraSparc processors.
Market researcher Gartner asserts that by the end of 2003, Itanium servers will be mature enough for databases--the data-storage task that's at the heart of business computing. Thus far, Itanium systems have been most widely used in clusters of smaller machines interlinked for high-performance technical computing jobs.
On Thursday, researchers at the U.S.-based National Partnership for Advanced Computational Infrastructure announced full Itanium 2 support for its software, which is designed to make it less difficult to set up Linux-based supercomputer clusters.
In 2002, HP was the top seller in the $4.7 billion market for high-performance technical computers. However, No. 2 IBM's share of that market grew while HP's share shrank.
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http://news.com.com/2100-1012-996357.html
IBM wins academic oil research deal March 21, 2003
http://news.com.com/2100-1010-993657.html
IBM nabs hot supercomputer deal in arctic March 12, 2003
http://news.com.com/2100-1010-992337.html
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Get this story's "Big Picture"
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Copyright ©1995-2003 CNET Networks, Inc. All rights reserved.
Records: Star Analyst Misled AT&T Investors To Get Kids In Preschool
AMD's Opteron could face quiet times
By Chris Kraeuter, CBS.MarketWatch.com
Last Update: 3:28 AM ET April 26, 2003
NEW YORK (CBS.MW) -- Although AMD launched its Opteron chip to much fanfare -- with executives touting it as the most important product in their history -- analysts said it might be years before the chip is considered a success or failure.
"The bottom line is that Opteron is not the magic silver bullet that will pull AMD out of its large loss situation," wrote Peter Kastner, chief research analyst with Aberdeen. "The payoff from Opteron, based on every other 64-bit architecture's history, will take place over the course of a decade. The battle has not even begun."
In its most recent quarterly report, AMD saw its losses grow and sales drop from the year-earlier period. See full story.
At the product launch on Tuesday, only IBM -- among server manufacturing heavyweights Big Blue (IBM: news, chart, profile), Hewlett-Packard (HPQ: news, chart, profile), Dell (DELL: news, chart, profile) and Sun Microsystems (SUNW: news, chart, profile) -- stepped forward to support the chips. Even then, IBM offered what Kastner called "lukewarm" support.
Smaller server manufacturers Einux and RackSaver announced they will sell products with AMD's (AMD: news, chart, profile) Opteron chips. Further, major software vendors like Microsoft (MSFT: news, chart, profile) and Oracle (ORCL: news, chart, profile) announced they will optimize their own products to run better on Opteron. See full story.
Kastner said in an interview that the next year will be an important one for AMD as the necessary software and Internet infrastructure actually materializes to work with Opteron: "Maybe a year from now, corporate buyers will begin to sniff at this, but in the meantime, it's very early."
As for the server manufacturers, Peter Glaskowsky, editor-in-chief of the Microprocessor Report, said it's typically the smaller companies that are first to market with products incorporating new chips.
"It takes a very long time for OEMs [original equipment manufacturers] to make up their minds about new server processors," he said.
"All AMD needs to do is basically line up enough OEMs to account for as many chips as they can make," he said. "As manufacturing ramps, you will see more announcements."
'Treason'
Don't count on Hewlett-Packard, though, to be one of those companies moving away from Intel's (INTC: news, chart, profile) Itanium in favor of Opteron, the industry's first chip that is capable of processing data in chunks of 32 bits and 64 bits simultaneously.
Intel's Itanium chip processes data in 64-bit chunks, but it is not backward compatible with 32-bit applications. For 32-bit processing, Intel dominates the market with its ubiquitous Xeon chips.
"We see no compelling reason to change our long-standing plans," said Brian Cox, product line manager for H-P servers.
Considering Intel's and H-P's long-standing relationship in the server market, including H-P's work on developing the Itanium architecture, Intel isn't going to let its No. 2 customer and $4 billion in annual revenue just walk out the door.
"Intel would regard that as treason," Glaskowsky said.
Nonetheless, H-P's Cox said the company considered using Opteron, but that the chips "didn't add value to solving the computer problems of our customers."
AMD said its chip works faster than Itanium and offers an easier roadmap for customers headed toward larger, more complex applications.
Glaskowsky said the migration ability is a definite edge for AMD.
"The question is, is that enough for a company like AMD to become an effective 64-bit vendor? There are reasons to suppose they will but we are definitely going to have to see what happens over the next few years to see how this chip gets taken up by the market."
Chris Kraeuter is a reporter for CBS.MarketWatch.com in San Francisco.
" I say boot his ass."
Your foul mouth should get you rejected from this board.
"by my understanding 85 W max is for the 130 nm Opteron 2.4 Ghz, max clock for this process"
Your understanding?
Does AMD mention a 2.4 GHz Opteron in their data sheet?
No - of course they don't.
The data sheet applies to the parts they are shipping today.
And that is 1.4 and 1.6 GHz and the phantom 1.8 GHz Opterons that FanBoy sites have.
face the truth - don't make up your own lies and fantasies and wrap them in "your understanding".
AMD's data sheet explicitly specifies the Opteron to burn 85 watts max. power - for the devices it is currently shipping.
Get over it.
-SZ
"It must be either first or the second problem, not both. Make up your mind!"
Making up my mind is not important.
What is important is that Server OEMs have made up THEIR mind. They recognize that AMD's Opteron die size is so huge that they cannot reliably make these in volume - and that the power dissipation is way out of bounds for such a low clock speed.
So, they all voted with their pocket books.
Dell, SUN, HP, Gateway, NEC, Fujitsu...none of them adopted the Opteron.
IBM offered a promise - but we all know that was just a courtesy call that IBM did for taking AMD's $50,000,000 yearly contract to bail AMD out of process problems. IBM needs the revenue - and they were willing to keep their customer satisfied - by offering praise and support - but no products.
Adding 64-bit capabilities increases the die size only 5% over the approximately 104 sq. mm that a 32-bit Athlon requires, using a 0.18-micron process, Lapinski said.
AMD, in another shot at Intel, establishes powerful 64-bit platform
By Mark Hachman, Electronic Buyers' News
Oct 5, 1999 (7:58 AM)
URL: http://www.ebnews.com/story/OEG19991005S0014
Taking another step away from Intel Corp., Advanced Micro Devices Inc. today disclosed a powerful, internally developed 64-bit microprocessor architecture and complementary bus design. Once known as a manufacturer of cloned Intel chips, AMD must now be considered a true alternative supplier to Intel. AMD will debut its “X86-64" architecture today at the Microprocessor Forum in San Jose, complemented by its Lightning Data Transport (LDT) I/O architecture. AMD executives also announced that they're considering the so-called K6-2 Plus, a K6-2 chip with integrated cache that takes advantage of the company's new 0.18-micron process, as a complement to the Athlon Ultra workstation/server chip the company plans to ship next year.
AMD's first 64-bit chip, named "Sledgehammer," is expected to ship in 2001, company executives said.
AMD's "X86-64" design represents an evolutionary approach. In fact, AMD has emerged as the standard-bearer for the X86 instruction set that Intel developed. Intel's 64-bit architecture, now called Itanium, is a completely new infrastructure.
"The key here is that it's a simple change," said Stephen Lapinski, director of product marketing at AMD's Computation Products Group in Sunnyvale, Calif.
Following years of catastrophic manufacturing flubs, AMD has set out to ensure that manufacturing the new chip will be the easiest piece of the puzzle. Adding 64-bit capabilities increases the die size only 5% over the approximately 104 sq. mm that a 32-bit Athlon requires, using a 0.18-micron process, Lapinski said. While AMD's timetable still calls for 0.18-micron manufacturing to begin at Fab 30 in Dresden, Germany, later this quarter, the company yesterday showcased an 800-MHz Athlon running on the new process.
More importantly, AMD claims that the combination of a small die size and its 0.18-micron process will allow the company to pack more than one 64-bit X86 microprocessor on a single die. That's important, given the fact that X86 integer instruction performance is closing in on RISC chips, Lapinski said. Through IEEE-compliant, triple-operand, double-precision floating-point instructions that AMD is designing for the new architecture, the company hopes to eliminate the floating-point advantage of RISC chips as well, he said.
Other chip designers do maintain some level of X86 compatibility. Intel's Merced microprocessor contains an X86 instruction unit, in addition to the 64-bit architecture. Compaq Computer Corp.'s 64-bit Alpha uses FX!32 binary translations and emulations to translate X86 code into its own native instructions, while Sun Microsystems Inc. pairs an X86 and SPARC core on a single add-on card. But in each, X86 instructions are relegated to second-class status, Lapinski said.
When pairing more than one microprocessor on-chip, AMD will use undisclosed custom logic to manage the infrastructure. Off-chip, however, AMD has designed the custom LDT bus for I/O and coprocessor chips. The LDT is a bidirectional bus, either 8, 16, or 32 bits wide; the bit width is negotiable at the device's initialization. Data passes through multiple logical channels in up to eight links or bridges, which can be connected to several daisy-chained devices. Lapinski declined to further discuss AMD's coprocessor strategy.
Lapinski also said he realized that there was far more to the 64-bit issue than simply designing a winning chip. "One thing we haven't brought up is the software infrastructure," he said, noting that Microsoft Corp. and Compaq have crossed swords over Windows NT support for Compaq's 64-bit Alpha microprocessor. "We don't think [OS support] will be a problem," he said.
AMD executives thought minimizing the infrastructure changes would be of benefit to OEMs. "Intel took the Merced design and forced it on [the OEMs], said Bob Mitton, division marketing manager for AMD's workstation products.
Intel executives see things a bit differently. "The bottom line is we have full X86 compatibility," said Ron Curry, director of marketing for IA-64 products at Intel, Santa Clara, Calif., who compared AMD's approach to souping up a Volkswagen with wider tires and a faster engine.
At one point, analysts speculated that the Alpha would be AMD's entry into 64-bit computing through the "Slot B" connector that both companies used. That has apparently changed. "We're not going to pursue the direction of Slot B," Lapinski said. However, Alpha Processor Inc. and start-up HotRail Inc. are expected to be the main chipset suppliers, although that does not necessarily exclude Reliance Computer Corp., he said.
AMD also disclosed further details about its 32-bit-microprocessor strategy. Next year, the Athlon Ultra for workstations and servers will feature 1 and 2 Mbytes of off-chip, full-speed, 16-way, set-associative Level 2 cache. While AMD executives declined to discuss clock speeds, Lapinski did say that the EV-6 processor bus will run at 266 MHz, faster than the 200-MHz bus conventional Athlon chips employ. Related chipsets will feature 66-MHz, 64-bit PCI with 4X AGP Pro connections and a PC 2100 DDR DRAM interface.
Lapinski also said AMD is evaluating the so-called K6-2 "Plus," a 0.18-micron K6-2 reported to include 128 and 256 Kbytes of on-chip cache. A third chip without Level 2 cache is also thought to be under consideration, although Lapinski would not divulge details. "When the K6 hits 0.18 micron, there's a couple of things that make sense," he said. "There's a possibility that we'll have more to tell you about what's coming down the pike in the fourth quarter," he added, possibly at the Fall Comdex trade show in Las Vegas..
"Link Please"
Adding 64-bit capabilities increases the die size only 5% over the approximately 104 sq. mm that a 32-bit Athlon requires, using a 0.18-micron process, Lapinski said.
AMD, in another shot at Intel, establishes powerful 64-bit platform
By Mark Hachman, Electronic Buyers' News
Oct 5, 1999 (7:58 AM)
URL: http://www.ebnews.com/story/OEG19991005S0014
Taking another step away from Intel Corp., Advanced Micro Devices Inc. today disclosed a powerful, internally developed 64-bit microprocessor architecture and complementary bus design. Once known as a manufacturer of cloned Intel chips, AMD must now be considered a true alternative supplier to Intel. AMD will debut its “X86-64" architecture today at the Microprocessor Forum in San Jose, complemented by its Lightning Data Transport (LDT) I/O architecture. AMD executives also announced that they're considering the so-called K6-2 Plus, a K6-2 chip with integrated cache that takes advantage of the company's new 0.18-micron process, as a complement to the Athlon Ultra workstation/server chip the company plans to ship next year.
AMD's first 64-bit chip, named "Sledgehammer," is expected to ship in 2001, company executives said.
AMD's "X86-64" design represents an evolutionary approach. In fact, AMD has emerged as the standard-bearer for the X86 instruction set that Intel developed. Intel's 64-bit architecture, now called Itanium, is a completely new infrastructure.
"The key here is that it's a simple change," said Stephen Lapinski, director of product marketing at AMD's Computation Products Group in Sunnyvale, Calif.
Following years of catastrophic manufacturing flubs, AMD has set out to ensure that manufacturing the new chip will be the easiest piece of the puzzle. Adding 64-bit capabilities increases the die size only 5% over the approximately 104 sq. mm that a 32-bit Athlon requires, using a 0.18-micron process, Lapinski said. While AMD's timetable still calls for 0.18-micron manufacturing to begin at Fab 30 in Dresden, Germany, later this quarter, the company yesterday showcased an 800-MHz Athlon running on the new process.
More importantly, AMD claims that the combination of a small die size and its 0.18-micron process will allow the company to pack more than one 64-bit X86 microprocessor on a single die. That's important, given the fact that X86 integer instruction performance is closing in on RISC chips, Lapinski said. Through IEEE-compliant, triple-operand, double-precision floating-point instructions that AMD is designing for the new architecture, the company hopes to eliminate the floating-point advantage of RISC chips as well, he said.
Other chip designers do maintain some level of X86 compatibility. Intel's Merced microprocessor contains an X86 instruction unit, in addition to the 64-bit architecture. Compaq Computer Corp.'s 64-bit Alpha uses FX!32 binary translations and emulations to translate X86 code into its own and native instructions, while Sun Microsystems Inc. pairs an X86 SPARC core on a single add-on card. But in each, X86 instructions are relegated to second-class status, Lapinski said.
When pairing more than one microprocessor on-chip, AMD will use undisclosed custom logic to manage the infrastructure. Off-chip, however, AMD has designed the custom LDT bus for I/O and coprocessor chips. The LDT is a bidirectional bus, either 8, 16, or 32 bits wide; the bit width is negotiable at the device's initialization. Data passes through multiple logical channels in up to eight links or bridges, which can be connected to several daisy-chained devices. Lapinski declined to further discuss AMD's coprocessor strategy.
Lapinski also said he realized that there was far more to the 64-bit issue than simply designing a winning chip. "One thing we haven't brought up is the software infrastructure," he said, noting that Microsoft Corp. and Compaq have crossed swords over Windows NT support for Compaq's 64-bit Alpha microprocessor. "We don't think [OS support] will be a problem," he said.
AMD executives thought minimizing the infrastructure changes would be of benefit to OEMs. "Intel took the Merced design and forced it on [the OEMs], said Bob Mitton, division marketing manager for AMD's workstation products.
Intel executives see things a bit differently. "The bottom line is we have full X86 compatibility," said Ron Curry, director of marketing for IA-64 products at Intel, Santa Clara, Calif., who compared AMD's approach to souping up a Volkswagen with wider tires and a faster engine.
At one point, analysts speculated that the Alpha would be AMD's entry into 64-bit computing through the "Slot B" connector that both companies used. That has apparently changed. "We're not going to pursue the direction of Slot B," Lapinski said. However, Alpha Processor Inc. and start-up HotRail Inc. are expected to be the main chipset suppliers, although that does not necessarily exclude Reliance Computer Corp., he said.
AMD also disclosed further details about its 32-bit-microprocessor strategy. Next year, the Athlon Ultra for workstations and servers will feature 1 and 2 Mbytes of off-chip, full-speed, 16-way, set-associative Level 2 cache. While AMD executives declined to discuss clock speeds, Lapinski did say that the EV-6 processor bus will run at 266 MHz, faster than the 200-MHz bus conventional Athlon chips employ. Related chipsets will feature 66-MHz, 64-bit PCI with 4X AGP Pro connections and a PC 2100 DDR DRAM interface.
Lapinski also said AMD is evaluating the so-called K6-2 "Plus," a 0.18-micron K6-2 reported to include 128 and 256 Kbytes of on-chip cache. A third chip without Level 2 cache is also thought to be under consideration, although Lapinski would not divulge details. "When the K6 hits 0.18 micron, there's a couple of things that make sense," he said. "There's a possibility that we'll have more to tell you about what's coming down the pike in the fourth quarter," he added, possibly at the Fall Comdex trade show in Las Vegas..
"The 85 watts is maximum power. Now you argued that the P4 really can't get to maximum power in a real system with real software, so why are claiming that an Opteron can?"
For the same reason that you clamored like a castrated steer about the P4 power dissipation.
You can't have it both ways.
You dissed Intel's P4 for a power disspation that was LOWER than the slow 1.8 Ghz Opteron.
Face the facts - AMD's Opteron burns way too much power - 85 watts - at only 1.8 GHz.
Why do you think AMD is having trouble getting the clock spped up.
Oh - and AMD claims that 1.8 GHz Opterons won't be avialble until after June. Try ordering one and let me know when you take delivery of it.
That assumes that you would be fool enough to pay $800 for an AMD CPU.
-SZ
"I'm still looking for real power fugures. By my understanding 85 W is the design max, i.e. every box designer must expect this power and corresponding heat as the worst case for his computer. My still I see no figures for real 1.8 Gz power consumption."
Can't you read your own post You wrote it - 85 watts is the Opteron Max. Power consumption - just like AMD claims in AMD's Opteron Data sheet.
You are not claiming AMD is lying - are ya?
http://www.amd.com/us-en/assets/content_type/white_papers_and_tech_docs/23932.pdf
"Someone simply commented on the % increase in a subsection of the die."
You are repeating a LIE. Two lies don't make a truth.
The truth is that AMD promised a 110 Sq. mm. Opteron - and you fanboys are so blinded by the love of a loser that you completely ignore truths and facts that are present right under your nose.
For two years AMD fanboys went spouting off about AMD's small die Hammers that were going to trounce Intel. Even Hector and Jerry pounded that theme for about a year - until they had to bury their lie and shut up.
"What to you make of the 2.0 GHz part that is execpected at a lower default voltage?"
I make of it that it too is a vapor part - since AMD doesn't even have 1.8 Ghz Opterons to sell - they only have 1.4s and 1.6s. The 1.8 Ghzs were cherry picked and all the AMD fanboy sites were given them for their benchmarking. None are yet for sale.
So, 3 days have passed since the Opteron launch - and still Newisys and Racksaver are the only announced Opteron system vendors. A pretty pathetic start. Hard to see how AMD will make any money on that Optzilla chip with just two small-time customers.
-SZ
"Your comparisons are very disingenuous to the point of absurd."
No.
AMD promised a small die - and they lied.
They didn't parse what was to be small - like you and the fanboys are doing.
AMD flat -out promised a 110 sq. mm 64 bit Opteron - on a 0.18 micron process.
They shrunk the process to 0.13 and BALLOONED the die to 193 sq, mm - and a whopping 85 watts.
You can rationalize whatever you care to - the results are that AMD over promised and under delivered.
That is why Newisys - partly owned by AMD - and maybe Racksaver are the only server manufacturers to deliver a real product.
IBM delivered an intention - an unenforceable "IOU".
HP, Dell, SUN, SGI, Fujitsu, NEC, Hitachi, Bull, Gateway all stayed home.
Even Cray didn't bother to show up.
-SZ
"When its strongly expanding market share for its all-Intel, all-the-time, product line
its alternatively the devil incarnate, a screwdriver shop, or Intel's main b*tch."
Touche'.
Dan3 - your feeble comments are beyond pity.
You just can't accept the fact that AMD promised you fanboys one thing and delivered a pig to you instead.
You choose to open your mouth and swallow that pig - good for you.
Enjoy it.
-SZ
"subzero, you still didn't address my question,"
I HAVE answered your questions - in every possible way.
Your problem - as a dedicated AMD fanboy - is that you absolutely refuse to see the truth.
And the truth is that AMD promised you fan boys a SMALLER DIE - LOWER POWER - and HIGHER SPEED - with SOI.
And the LIED.
ANd youignore their LIES.
AMD delivered a fat, hot pig - 193 sq. mm die, 1.6 GHz deliverable Speed (all the benchmarks were done with NON-DELEIVERABLE 1.8 GHz Samples) - and TOASTY 85 watts - 40% higher than an equivalent Athlon XP at that speed.
You are entitled to ignore lies from AMD - which you choose to do so.
-SZ
"Do you think it's possible that in fact Opteron has 2 Mb of cache, but 1/2 is turned off the same way old Celeron had the cache partially disabled?"
You are asking me if I believe AMD made the Opteron nearly twice as large as it needs to be - and twice the cost to produce - and then crippled it by using only half the available L2 cache.
The answer is no.
Do you believe such a fairy tale?
-SZ
"Well, Intel sold 2,000 Itanium servers last year. So some of them are at JetBlue - good for them. "
Intel does not sell Itanium servers.
Intel sells Itaniums to Intel's customers who then make servers and then who sell them to their own customers.
-SZ
Jet Blue has Itanium Servers in their Corporate IT department.
(Not as cool as having chips for sale on Pricewatch !)
Helping JetBlue see black
By Joe Wilcox
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
April 23, 2003, 4:00 AM PT
http://news.com.com/2008-1082-997868.html
People working at airlines don't like to talk about crashes, not even those affecting their computers.
So it might seem strange to see a major airline turn to Windows, a product much maligned as crash-prone, as the only way to run a successful business. Yet for Jeff Cohen, chief information officer of JetBlue Airways, Windows is the only way to run a successful business--in fact, it's a nearly 100 percent Microsoft software operation.
Certainly, it's hard to argue with the success of JetBlue's standardization approach. The company flies only Airbus A320 aircraft, of which it has 41, with plans to add a dozen more by the end of the year. Having a single kind of plane, the company hopes, means lower costs for training, maintenance and parts, because everything is interchangeable.
JetBlue, which is one of just a few profitable airlines, saw its operating revenue jump 96 percent year over year in the fourth quarter and more than 98 percent for 2002 compared with the previous year. In an industry where competitors are flying to bankruptcy, JetBlue saw its fourth-quarter operating margins jump to 16.8 percent from 4.2 percent a year earlier. (The airline announces first-quarter earnings Thursday.)
Cohen's organization would like to take some credit for those margin gains. By standardizing on one operating system and using other Microsoft software, the JetBlue CIO says he cut the company's technical staff by 50 percent. Electronic publishing of pilot manuals, which are available on a cockpit laptop, also helps cut costs. For Cohen, standardization of information technology, like the approach to the planes, is helping to keep JetBlue in the black when other airlines fly in the red.
Q: Discuss your approach to a standardized IT infrastructure.
A: When I joined the company in January 2000 and from my inception as VP and CIO in April 2000, I standardized on the Windows platform. I chose to do that because I felt from the server platform all the way out to the desktop and back that to have one type of operating system and to be able to train one type of technician and to be able to buy one type of software would put a great control on the total cost of ownership of the computing world within JetBlue.
So we marched down the road of the Windows platform. We don't have any Unix; we don't have an AS/400; we don't have any mainframes--we don't have anything outside of Windows. There has been tremendous cost savings. We've also had about a 50 percent reduction in head count for the other platforms you might have to support in multi-operating system servers.
I understand that you run Unisys servers on the back end; is that correct?
We do. What I've done over the course of the last six or eight months--as the company has grown and applications have been considered critical enough, and the company has evolved the volume of data that makes sense--JetBlue basically went to a model where we were going to scale up rather than scaling out.
Different flavors have different costs of ownership. I can tell you that I would need 50 percent more staff to run other operating systems.
When I first started with the company, when we had systems that required more processing power, we just added more servers to handle the functionality. For instance, if it was a database and we needed to mirror the database, then we needed a second server. If we had an application running and we wanted to fail-over the application, then that was four servers. And if we wanted to put it on the Web, initially it might have been one server but ended up to be six or eight servers. All of that together got us a system at 12, 14, 16 servers, serving up one application.
That sounds like a lot of administration.
From an administration perspective, that was pretty difficult. If the application failed, it was difficult to tell where the problems were, so from a manageability perspective it was more difficult. From an administrative perspective, it was more difficult. And in the end, from a scalability perspective, it was more difficult. So as an IT organization, we made a decision about seven or eight months ago that we would purchase our first Unisys ES7000. That server was one of the first beta Itanium 2 systems that were delivered...That system was used initially, is being used, for our data warehouse deployment. We have since purchased a Unisys ES7000 for our maintenance and engineering systems. What's happened over the last eight months is everything that's mission-critical has been moved or is being moved to these scale-up boxes rather than scale out.
Is that second server Itanium 2?
The second server is not Itanium 2. That's a 32-bit server running 32-bit applications.
What version of Windows Server are you running on those boxes?
We are running Windows Server 2003 Datacenter--the 64-bit version--on the Itanium 2. We are running Windows Server 2003 Datacenter--the 32-bit version--on the other Unisys server.
Can I assume you are running some version of SQL Server for your database?
It's Windows SQL Server 2000 64-bit on one and it's the Oracle system on the other, because that's what the manufacturer who makes the (application software) requires. We truly try to run a 100 percent Microsoft environment to keep the cost down; but if there are applications that we buy from vendors, whatever the required database is, that's what we run.
What other systems do you have?
The Unisys ES7000; I bought another one to run our frequent-flyer program. Today that's running on the HP rx5670 Itanium server, but we are moving it to the Unisys ES7000 Itanium 2. That thing probably gets a couple thousand hits an hour.
How many users do you have? And do you have Windows XP running on the desktop?
We have about 2,500 today, and we have Windows XP on the desktop.
Which version of Office do you use?
Currently we are running Office XP predominately, but we're already running Office 2003 on about 200 desktops.
What's the attraction of Office 2003 for you over Office XP?
The 2003 version has (Extensible Markup Language) XML savings format built in. The 2003 version has a much better version of Outlook, which has a special caching mode that cuts down on network connectivity time. Office 2003 has a lot of very good feature sets built into the product that will be cost-saving to JetBlue.
How do you plan to use XML throughout your organization?
We're going to actually convert our company manuals to XML.
Do you have an Intranet? Are you using any of the portal software from Microsoft?
We use SharePoint Portal. We deployed version one as a beta customer, and we are currently a beta customer for version two.
We have one of the only paperless cockpits in the sky.
Are your desktops all standardized on one vendor?
They are standardized on one vendor, and that's HP Compaq. We use notebooks as well. We were standardized on HP, and now it's on HP Compaq.
Could you further discuss your cost savings from standardizing on one platform?
I have 20 developers today. They only develop in Visual Studio .Net. If tomorrow, I put Linux in my environment, I would have to hire server people to build, monitor, maintain and administrate those servers, and I would have to hire a development staff to develop applications under the Linux operating system. That's an awful lot of people.
Today we don't have that, because everything's Windows. Every technician that works on a server works on a Windows server. Every technician working on a desktop works on a Windows desktop. That's quite a bit easier than other flavors of desktops or OS/2 or whatever else is out there. Different flavors have different costs of ownership. I can tell you that I would need 50 percent more staff to run other operating systems.
What are some of the other different ways you are using technology to remain lean and competitive?
Well, we have one of the only paperless cockpits in the sky. On the Windows Server 2003 platform there is a service that runs in Windows called the distributed file system. For regulatory purposes with the FAA, in and around airlines there must be manuals and the manuals must be up to date. JetBlue uses the distributed file system to publish the documents, and then we built an application that we call Bluebooks, which runs on the pilot laptop. That ensures when the pilot logs in he has the most up-to-date set of manuals.
We make manual changes a couple of times a week. We have 500 pilots, so think about what the printing costs are to print multiple pages for pilots every single week and then to distribute them to the pilots. Then think of all those pilot man-hours it would take to put all of those in the books and the old pages pulled out. The other way, the pilot plugs in and he's up to date.
How else do you use these pilot laptops?
One of the other things we do on the laptops is weight and balance. Every airline on every flight must do weight and balance of the plane--basically where the baggage is, how many people--because that tells them what numbers to set on all of their gauges as part of the computer system of the plane. They need to figure out how much fuel is needed--all of those things are done by a weight-and-balance program. JetBlue is one of the few airlines that does weight and balance right on the plane.
Copyright ©1995-2003 CNET Networks, Inc. All rights reserved.
"Why is 193mm^2 such an abomination for a chip with 1Meg of cache? Get real."
Because Intel's Centrino has 1 Meg of L2 cache - and is less that 85 sq. mm die size - on a 0,13 micron bulk CMOS process.
That 1 Meg L2 Centrino is less than HALF the size of the 193 sq. mm. Opteron.
Now you get real, Paul.
-SZ
"Why would you expect necessarily lower power for a chip with 1Meg of cache as opposed to 256K?"
Because AMD promised you fanboys lower power.
And besides, SRAM cache memory doesn't tcontribute much power consumption.
Read on:
"SOI is a chipmaking technique that AMD has licensed from IBM. SOI aims to increase performance by adding a layer of oxide material between the transistor and silicon it rests on inside a chip. The oxide insulates the transistor from the silicon, reducing the amount of energy lost. The transistor, therefore, can run faster and consume less power. "
AMD delays Hammer release
By John G. Spooner
Special to CNET News.com
April 27, 2001, 1:20 p.m. PT
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1003-200-5753893.html?tag=prntfr
Advanced Micro Devices has pushed back the introduction of a pair of new processor cores by as much as six months.
The chipmaker had planned to ship the first of its next-generation "Hammer" family of processor cores in the first half of 2002. "Clawhammer," the first Hammer core, was scheduled for the first quarter of 2002. Sledgehammer, a more server oriented processor core, was scheduled for later in the first half of 2002.
Both have now been rescheduled for the second half of the year, company spokesman Ward Tisdale confirmed Friday.
AMD representatives said the company decided to wait in order to align the Hammer family of chips--which feature the ability to process data in 64-bit chunks--with a new chip manufacturing technology, called Silicon on Insulator (SOI). At the same time, the company plans to extend its Athlon processors well into 2003, instead of tapering them off earlier.
"What this does now is align Hammer with SOI from day 1," Tisdale said.
SOI is a chipmaking technique that AMD has licensed from IBM. SOI aims to increase performance by adding a layer of oxide material between the transistor and silicon it rests on inside a chip. The oxide insulates the transistor from the silicon, reducing the amount of energy lost. The transistor, therefore, can run faster and consume less power.
Still, the delay could affect AMD's attempts to break into the corporate market because one of its most touted technologies--64-bit computing for servers--will be delayed.
AMD recently landed a server deal with NEC in Japan, but has yet to announce wins with large PC sellers in North America. AMD also missed an smaller opportunity to capitalize on a shortage of 1GHz mobile Pentium IIIs from Intel, due to a series of delays on AMD's own mobile Athlon chip.
However, the company will try to make good by extending its existing line of Athlon chips well into 2003.
This is not the first time AMD has redrawn its processor road map. Just a few months ago, the company pushed back the introduction of a new desktop-oriented processor core, "Palomino." The company said it would instead dedicate production capacity to a new mobile Athlon processor, also based on the core. The chip shipped in the first quarter, but notebooks with the chip are not expected until May. Palomino-based desktop chips will not ship until the third quarter.
Originally, Palomino and "Morgan," an accompanying core aimed at low-price notebooks, were scheduled to ship in the fourth quarter of 2000. However, AMD disclosed in November plans to push them back to the first and second quarters of 2001, respectively. The chips were pushed back largely because of issues related to infrastructure. The chipsets that are needed to manufacture notebooks were not available then. AMD said, at the same time, that it had canceled a server chip called "Mustang" because of lack of demand from potential customers.
Analysts said that this time, AMD pushed back the Hammer cores because it felt it could use more time to develop them. The exact reason isn't clear.
"The delay is probably (for) tuning of either the market or the technology issues," said Dean McCarron, principal analyst at Mercury Research. "From a market perspective, there's no rush for (AMD) to get the 64-bit stuff out."
Meanwhile, AMD has disclosed a potential placeholder, "Barton." This new processor core, to be available in desktop and mobile versions, will ultimately be based on Palomino. Barton combines SOI technology with AMD's forthcoming 0.13-micron "Thoroughbred" processor core. Thoroughbred is a successor to the Palomino core.
"What Barton does is extend the Athlon well into 2003 so that the Socket A infrastructure (AMD's method for attaching a chip to a motherboard) is extended out, which gives the Athlon platform stability, especially for the commercial market," Tisdale said.
Commercial buyers "want stability, so we're giving it to them," he added.
AMD has not changed plans for introducing both desktop and mobile versions of Thoroughbred and "Appaloosa," a similar core aimed at the low-cost PC market. Chips based on these two cores are due in the first half of 2002.
Go to Front Door / Enterprise / Search / One Week View
"AMD has, much to their credit, recognized this and has manueuvered strategically and effectively to solve these problems with IBM at their side. "
That's one way to look at it.
However, with IBM's poor SOI performance (well under 1.8 GHz PP4 at 0.13 micron SOI/Copper) , they are faced with solving their own problems first.
And you know which tit AMD will be left to suck.
-SZ
"AMD never promissed 104 mm^2 to be the die size of Opteron."
Yes they did. In fact, AMD PROMISED the Sledgehammer(now Opteron) would be only 5% greater than 104 sq. mm. on a 0.18 micron process.
You exhibit a typical AMD Alzheimer memory when AMD's outright lies and distortions become obvious and you fanboys refuse to admit that AMD lied.
Read on:
"Adding 64-bit capabilities increases the die size only 5% over the approximately 104 sq. mm that a 32-bit Athlon requires, using a 0.18-micron process, Lapinski said
AMD, in another shot at Intel, establishes powerful 64-bit platform
By Mark Hachman, Electronic Buyers' News
Oct 5, 1999 (7:58 AM)
URL: http://www.ebnews.com/story/OEG19991005S0014
Taking another step away from Intel Corp., Advanced Micro Devices Inc. today disclosed a powerful, internally developed 64-bit microprocessor architecture and complementary bus design. Once known as a manufacturer of cloned Intel chips, AMD must now be considered a true alternative supplier to Intel. AMD will debut its “X86-64" architecture today at the Microprocessor Forum in San Jose, complemented by its Lightning Data Transport (LDT) I/O architecture. AMD executives also announced that they're considering the so-called K6-2 Plus, a K6-2 chip with integrated cache that takes advantage of the company's new 0.18-micron process, as a complement to the Athlon Ultra workstation/server chip the company plans to ship next year.
AMD's first 64-bit chip, named "Sledgehammer," is expected to ship in 2001, company executives said.
AMD's "X86-64" design represents an evolutionary approach. In fact, AMD has emerged as the standard-bearer for the X86 instruction set that Intel developed. Intel's 64-bit architecture, now called Itanium, is a completely new infrastructure.
"The key here is that it's a simple change," said Stephen Lapinski, director of product marketing at AMD's Computation Products Group in Sunnyvale, Calif.
Following years of catastrophic manufacturing flubs, AMD has set out to ensure that manufacturing the new chip will be the easiest piece of the puzzle. Adding 64-bit capabilities increases the die size only 5% over the approximately 104 sq. mm that a 32-bit Athlon requires, using a 0.18-micron process, Lapinski said. While AMD's timetable still calls for 0.18-micron manufacturing to begin at Fab 30 in Dresden, Germany, later this quarter, the company yesterday showcased an 800-MHz Athlon running on the new process.
More importantly, AMD claims that the combination of a small die size and its 0.18-micron process will allow the company to pack more than one 64-bit X86 microprocessor on a single die. That's important, given the fact that X86 integer instruction performance is closing in on RISC chips, Lapinski said. Through IEEE-compliant, triple-operand, double-precision floating-point instructions that AMD is designing for the new architecture, the company hopes to eliminate the floating-point advantage of RISC chips as well, he said.
Other chip designers do maintain some level of X86 compatibility. Intel's Merced microprocessor contains an X86 instruction unit, in addition to the 64-bit architecture. Compaq Computer Corp.'s 64-bit Alpha uses FX!32 binary translations and emulations to translate X86 code into its own native instructions, while Sun Microsystems Inc. pairs an X86 and SPARC core on a single add-on card. But in each, X86 instructions are relegated to second-class status, Lapinski said.
When pairing more than one microprocessor on-chip, AMD will use undisclosed custom logic to manage the infrastructure. Off-chip, however, AMD has designed the custom LDT bus for I/O and coprocessor chips. The LDT is a bidirectional bus, either 8, 16, or 32 bits wide; the bit width is negotiable at the device's initialization. Data passes through multiple logical channels in up to eight links or bridges, which can be connected to several daisy-chained devices. Lapinski declined to further discuss AMD's coprocessor strategy.
Lapinski also said he realized that there was far more to the 64-bit issue than simply designing a winning chip. "One thing we haven't brought up is the software infrastructure," he said, noting that Microsoft Corp. and Compaq have crossed swords over Windows NT support for Compaq's 64-bit Alpha microprocessor. "We don't think [OS support] will be a problem," he said.
AMD executives thought minimizing the infrastructure changes would be of benefit to OEMs. "Intel took the Merced design and forced it on [the OEMs], said Bob Mitton, division marketing manager for AMD's workstation products.
Intel executives see things a bit differently. "The bottom line is we have full X86 compatibility," said Ron Curry, director of marketing for IA-64 products at Intel, Santa Clara, Calif., who compared AMD's approach to souping up a Volkswagen with wider tires and a faster engine.
At one point, analysts speculated that the Alpha would be AMD's entry into 64-bit computing through the "Slot B" connector that both companies used. That has apparently changed. "We're not going to pursue the direction of Slot B," Lapinski said. However, Alpha Processor Inc. and start-up HotRail Inc. are expected to be the main chipset suppliers, although that does not necessarily exclude Reliance Computer Corp., he said.
AMD also disclosed further details about its 32-bit-microprocessor strategy. Next year, the Athlon Ultra for workstations and servers will feature 1 and 2 Mbytes of off-chip, full-speed, 16-way, set-associative Level 2 cache. While AMD executives declined to discuss clock speeds, Lapinski did say that the EV-6 processor bus will run at 266 MHz, faster than the 200-MHz bus conventional Athlon chips employ. Related chipsets will feature 66-MHz, 64-bit PCI with 4X AGP Pro connections and a PC 2100 DDR DRAM interface.
Lapinski also said AMD is evaluating the so-called K6-2 "Plus," a 0.18-micron K6-2 reported to include 128 and 256 Kbytes of on-chip cache. A third chip without Level 2 cache is also thought to be under consideration, although Lapinski would not divulge details. "When the K6 hits 0.18 micron, there's a couple of things that make sense," he said. "There's a possibility that we'll have more to tell you about what's coming down the pike in the fourth quarter," he added, possibly at the Fall Comdex trade show in Las Vegas..
"unless the SOI just completely doesn't work)."
For AMD, their SOI doesn't work. Period.
Remember what AMD promised several years ago for SOI - LOWER POWER - HIGHER SPEED ?
Now - look what AMD has delivered:
A SLOWER Opteron Processor with SOI than the Athlon without SOI - 1.8 GHz Oppie vs 2.1+ Ghz (Athlon) and a whopping 85 watts for the 1.8 GHz Opteron vs. less than 60 watts for a 1.8 GHz Athlon.
Now, look at die size.
The Oppie with SOI is a horrendous 193 sq. mm. - where AMD had promise 104 sq. mm. several years ago.
In every possible viewpoint, AMD's SOI is a complete and utter failure.
1.8 GHz - 193 sq. mm. - 85 watts - SOI is an abomination.
-SZ
Wednesday February 13,2002 12:36 am Eastern Time
AMD says on track to return to profit in Q2
TOKYO, Feb 13 (Reuters) - Advanced Micro Devices Inc, the world's second-largest maker of microprocessors that run PCs, is on track to meet its targeted return to net profit in the second quarter, chief operating officer Hector Ruiz said on Wednesday.
The company has said repeatedly in recent months it expected to return to profitability in the second quarter after last year's deep info-tech slump sent AMD and many other chip makers into the red.
``The market last year declined 32 percent, the worst year in the history of the semiconductor industry. We were fortunate that our sales were down only 16 percent,'' Ruiz told a news conference.
``Going into 2002, there's a lot of uncertainty. Most of the estimates from analysts range from no growth to single-digit growth. We expect to outperform the market.''
But Ruiz said it was hard to gauge how the market was performing only six weeks into the new year, although there was nothing so far that would prompt a change to the company's earnings outlook.
AMD expects capital spending to be flat at best in 2002 compared with the previous year, although no specific target has been set, he said.
Rival microprocessor maker Intel Corp (NasdaqNM:INTC - news), the world's biggest chipmaker, has said it would cut its capital spending this year after hefty investments last year.
Ruiz said the market for flash memory chips, used extensively in cellphones, communications equipment and consumer electronics, would pick up later this year after slack demand last year triggered a supply surplus and steep price declines.
``We see wireless to start recovering in the second half of this year and networking communications to begin recovering toward the end of this year,'' he said.
``We expect significant growth to resume in 2003 and beyond.''
AMD, the world's second-largest flash memory chip producer, has a joint venture with Fujitsu Ltd , the world's third-largest flash memory maker. Intel is the largest.
Ruiz said AMD and Fujitsu were unlikely to shift flash memory chip production to 300 mm wafers this year or next.
``Both of us have adequate capacity for the next year or two,'' he said.
The semiconductor industry is beginning to shift to dinner plate-sized 300 mm wafers, which Ruiz said could generate cost savings of 30 percent or more compared with the currently standard 200 mm variety.
AMD's shares ended Tuesday trade up 0.8 percent at $15.12. They have rebounded slightly after hitting a two-month low of $13.47 earlier this month.
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AMD's broken record keeps on playing.....
Re: Dirk Meyer - "essentially no issues on the manufacturing front"
Yes, from that interview picture of Dirk Meyer, Dirk sure did resemble Iraq's Information Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf.
-SZ
DD <Are you saying that SOI itself is a useless technique for mainstream products, or rather that the problem is with AMD’s implementation >
AMD and IBM have been big fanatical proponents of simple (not fully depleted) SOI - and were pounding the table 3 to 4 years ago with SOI's promise for much higher speeds and lower power dissipation than bulk silicon.
Three years ago - mind you.
Since that time, AMD has fabricated and sold 2.2 GHz Athlons on bulk silicon - and 1.4 or 1.6 GHz seems to be their best effort on SOI Hammers.
Conclusion - AMD's SOI is terrible for speed.
I would assume it is even further terrible for yields.
IBM also seems to be saddled with an SOI process that, at the 0.13 micron level, cannot get speeds beyond 1.4 or possibly 1.8 GHz for their Power4/5/Apple products.
The simple conclusion s that AMD and IBM have invested a fortune in SOI that has taken them three steps backewards in performance.
Couple that with AMD's 2 1/2 to 3 year delay in introducing a Hammer/SOI product, and you have a disaster that has played out before our very eyes.
Mind you, AMD publicly delayed the Hammer the first time 2 years ago with the open excuse that they wanted to ALIGN the Hammer introduction with that of AMD's SOI process. That alignment was to have taken place one year go - and the Hammer has been delayed an additional two times since then.
-SZ
Dan3 <Maybe if Intel had an SOI process, they could have remained competitive in large cache chips.>
If Intel had AMD's SOI process, Intel's SOI products would be slugs and 2 years late to market.
Just like AMD's SOI products.
-SZ