Replies to post #43747 on Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD)

[CombJelly]

"That is actually a pretty short sighted question"

Not really. Power supplies and cooling are pretty mature technologies. Sure, they could be better, but there is a very large basis that is bucked only at great risk. And bucking that trend incures a cost. Trying to transition to a new standard, like BTX is a very big risk. That is something that is only done if there isn't a choice. And there is other choices. Increasing IPC(instructions per cycle) isn't easy. And certainly, trying to move to parallel processing has many problems with respect to software. This has been known for decades. But constantly pushing clock rates has known limitations. If nothing else, RAM speeds haven't been able to keep up with processors since the heyday of core.

Sure, even a Banias-based design can out grown ATX. But if the cost/benefit isn't there, it is a non-starter. It is an economics and basic engineering question.

[Tiger64]

Nawww...I think Intel wanted to pass costs onto computer manufacturers-- not just for the good of it ya know...;>)

[Petz]

If Banias of even Dothan was intended for desktop use, why not

1)give it a much faster FSB. This hints that SMP was never envisioned.
2)give it hyperthreading. They would have known that consumers would think eliminating HT was a step down.
3)give it PAE mode compatability
4)design or at least announce an SMP chipset for it

Petz