Replies to post #3604 on Intel Corp (INTC)

[DewDiligence]

>> …you can not infer anything whatsoever about speed distribution based on maximum frequency rating because market forces dictate which speeds can be sold and at what price. <<

EP: I understand that the nominal clock speed of a given chip may not be the same as its true capability. But I was looking only for a rule of thumb – something crude like Alan’s “+/-10%.” Are you disagreeing with Alan that this rule of thumb has any value for semiconductor-industry investors and analysts?

>> TMTA may simply be doing an "AMD". Announcing products it has no ability to manufacture but must give the impression it can. If however you want to assume that 1GHz is at the high end of the frequency distribution then you need to know something about who is fabing their parts…<<

I do not see how TMTA is pulling an “AMD.” We know that the Crusoe TM5800 can be produced at 1GHz because that is the clock speed which is used in HP’s Tablet PC (which has been shipping for a couple of months) as well as other announced designs. From your argument, I conclude that TSM’s production line might be yielding even faster chips which are labeled 1G because there is currently no product using a >1G version of the TM5800.

>> A foundry is optimized for yield and not speed. I would expect to see a greater frequency distribution from a foundry than a dedicated CPU house like Intel or AMD. <<

Assuming other variables are kept constant, by what magnitude would you expect the frequency distribution to widen at a foundry relative to a dedicated house? 50%? In other words, if Alan’s “+/-10%” is a reasonable rule of thumb for dedicated houses, would “+/-15%” be a comparable rule of thumb for foundries? T.i.a. Dew