AMD CPU speculation... and expert conjecture

[Cazalan]

Well the rumors are that Steamy won't see the light of day until sometime in 2014, so basically as far as desktop goes, what you see right now is what you'll be seeing this time next year.

Probably true for the desktop SR, but the APU for laptops should still be out. With the shifting market that's what AMD needs to worry about most. The enthusiasts won't be happy but AMD is barely treading water right now. Go into a computer store these days and it's all laptops and AIO units which the APU works great for.

Lucky for AMD they have a few console design wins with the PS4 looking to be the most profitable (CPU+GPU).

 

[gamerk316]

Probably true for the desktop SR, but the APU for laptops should still be out. With the shifting market that's what AMD needs to worry about most. The enthusiasts won't be happy but AMD is barely treading water right now. Go into a computer store these days and it's all laptops and AIO units which the APU works great for.

Lucky for AMD they have a few console design wins with the PS4 looking to be the most profitable (CPU+GPU).

But low margins though; remember how the H/W makers lose money on the H/W at launch? That limits the margins AMD can make on those parts. I'm actually worried AMD is actually going to DECREASE profit by supporting lower-margin parts like these...Supporting low-margin parts isn't going to save AMD.

 

[viridiancrystal]

AMD isn't a charity, They run a business. There is absolutely no way that they would make chips for consoles for this long if they hadn't been making a profit. That is how business is supposed work.

 

[r0ck3tm@n]

i dont think tht amd will beat intel cpu when it comes out in 2014

I don't know that AMD will have any engineers working for them in 2014 with their new CEO being the way he is. I think maybe *he* should be downsized. However, it is possible that AMD could make a CPU that is as fast in some workloads as Intel's best desktop/workstation CPU. I would like to see AMD continue on with Steamroller and aim for workstation loads. Why not have 12 cores? I have to calm myself down just thinking about a first class 12 core workstation CPU.

 

[mayankleoboy1]

^ They already are as fast/faster as an IB i7 in integer heavy, highly parallel, low branching workloads.

In all other workloads, well.........

 

[gamerk316]

AMD isn't a charity, They run a business. There is absolutely no way that they would make chips for consoles for this long if they hadn't been making a profit. That is how business is supposed work.

Oh, I'm sure they are making a profit, but HOW MUCH is the issue. Remember, space to grow dies is limited, so if you start growing a lot of low-profit-margin parts, it eats into your bottom line. Worse, those parts won't even grow AMD's desktop share, let alone brand awareness (how many people REALLY know what hardware drives consoles?)

So yeah, design win, but not one that gives AMD a lot of new revenue.

^ They already are as fast/faster as an IB i7 in integer heavy, highly parallel, low branching workloads.

In all other workloads, well.........

Which I again note was a predictable result based on the high level design of the chip. It was everyone who was looking for ways BD wasn't flawed, rather then looking at it for what it was, that was incorrect in performance.

Yes, under BEST CASE loads, BD was faster then SB. Same with PD and IB. But those workloads are seen in the SERVER space, hence why BD/PD does so badly in most desktop loads.

Hence my argument that AMD would be better served exiting the desktop market (aside from MAYBE fusion at the low end) to focus on the higher profit-margin server space, where they are more competitive performance wise.

 

[amdfangirl]

I don't know that AMD will have any engineers working for them in 2014 with their new CEO being the way he is.

Earlier I told them to sell engineers to Intel. I hope they've decided against this.

 

[griptwister]

Earlier I told them to sell engineers to Intel. I hope they've decided against this.

Funny that you mention that... I happen to know a Intel engineer that used to work for AMD...

I think you have engineers confused with the people that actually design the chips...

Engineers just make the chips, they don't design them.

 

[m32]

^ We like to think that Engineers do it all.

 

[esrever]

Funny that you mention that... I happen to know a Intel engineer that used to work for AMD...

I think you have engineers confused with the people that actually design the chips...

Engineers just make the chips, they don't design them.

who do you think designs them then? Engineers is a broad term and they do basically all the technical things. There are engineers designing the chips just as there are ones doing everything else.

 

[griptwister]

who do you think designs them then? Engineers is a broad term and they do basically all the technical things. There are engineers designing the chips just as there are ones doing everything else.

Believe what you want sir, but there is a difference... CAD Engineers get kind of pissy when you get them mixed with regular engineers... So I've experienced... Intel guys are kind of uptight...

 

[fazers_on_stun]

Most likely if they do have 10 watt chips they will be cutting performance left and right.


Either way haswell is only going to be 10% better on average(higher clock speed, better turbo or IPC? in CPU benchmarks even according to Intel troll sites,

Haswell is all about power consumption upgrades and Graphics. I'm wondering if it will overclock well on the desktop lets see if they can get 5.0Ghz on air with a mid-range cooler i'll be like wow.

I think Intel intends to extend the range of Haswell from enthusiast-class desktop down to ultra-mobile, 7 or 8 watt parts. Point is, even at the lowest power consumption they would be able to instantly turn on needed resources plus turbo up both CPU and iGPU to whatever task is required.

 

[fazers_on_stun]

Probably true for the desktop SR, but the APU for laptops should still be out. With the shifting market that's what AMD needs to worry about most. The enthusiasts won't be happy but AMD is barely treading water right now. Go into a computer store these days and it's all laptops and AIO units which the APU works great for.

Lucky for AMD they have a few console design wins with the PS4 looking to be the most profitable (CPU+GPU).

Hopefully AMD will release the APUs but the rumors floating around are that all we'll see next year is Trinity 1.1 or so..

 

[fazers_on_stun]

But low margins though; remember how the H/W makers lose money on the H/W at launch? That limits the margins AMD can make on those parts. I'm actually worried AMD is actually going to DECREASE profit by supporting lower-margin parts like these...Supporting low-margin parts isn't going to save AMD.

It'll keep them going for a while but yeah, it's hard to live on Intel's left-overs..

AMD really needs their SeaMicro effort to pay off in low-power cloud servers where Intel doesn't have that much of a presence yet. IIRC every 8 or 9 smartphones or tablets sold means another server needed to handle all that data being consumed, or at least that was the situation from a year or so ago. That shouldn't need expensive, power-hungry Xeons - just some data switches to process requests and pump out the data...

 

[Chad Boga]

It'll keep them going for a while but yeah, it's hard to live on Intel's left-overs..

AMD really needs their SeaMicro effort to pay off in low-power cloud servers where Intel doesn't have that much of a presence yet. IIRC every 8 or 9 smartphones or tablets sold means another server needed to handle all that data being consumed, or at least that was the situation from a year or so ago. That shouldn't need expensive, power-hungry Xeons - just some data switches to process requests and pump out the data...

I thought the figure being bandied about was for every 600 smartphones, 1 server is required.

 

[Cazalan]

I thought the figure being bandied about was for every 600 smartphones, 1 server is required.

Depends on what "required" means. I read a Microsoft white paper a couple years back that said Microsoft has 1 mail server (Exchange) for every 10 employees. Between clustering, backups, load balancing, etc. And that's just for email.

As smartphones get more powerful the behind the scenes demands for supporting them increase.

 

[fazers_on_stun]

I thought the figure being bandied about was for every 600 smartphones, 1 server is required.

Will have to look, but I think it was an article here on THG from a year or so ago, and the figure was something like 8.7 smartphones/tablets vs. server sold to service them...

 

[fazers_on_stun]

From http://money.msn.com/business-news/article.aspx?feed=OBR&date=20121113&id=15790846

(Reuters) - Advanced Micro Devices has hired JPMorgan Chase & Co to explore options, which could include a potential sale, as the chipmaker struggles to find a role in an industry increasingly focused on mobile and away from traditional PCs, according to three sources familiar with the situation.

Sources said an outright sale of the company is not a priority, and other options for AMD could include a sale of its portfolio of patents.

One of Silicon Valley's oldest chipmakers, AMD is laying off engineers and some analysts are concerned it may not find new markets for its chips in time to reverse a declining cash reserve.

AMD's shares have fallen more than 60 percent this year, giving it a market value of about $1.4 billion. It also has long-term debt and capital lease obligations of about $2 billion.

AMD stock up 10 cents today, I guess on the sale speculation.. Strikes me as far too early to be thinking about selling the company, but then none of us here are privy to the internal reports and thinking going on inside the company.

 

[fazers_on_stun]

AMD denies report it is considering sale

Shares of chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices Inc. spiked and then retreated Tuesday after a report said the company was exploring options including a sale. The company denied it.

Reuters said on Tuesday afternoon that AMD had hired JPMorgan Chase & Co to explore strategic options including a sale, citing unnamed sources. The sources said the outright sale of the company was not a priority, but that options could include the sale of its patents.

"AMD is not actively pursuing a sale of the company or significant assets at this time," AMD said in a statement. "AMD's board and management believe that the strategy the company is currently pursuing to drive long-term growth by leveraging AMD's highly differentiated technology assets is the right approach to enhance shareholder value."

AMD shares, which had risen as much as 36 cents, or 18 percent, to $2.35 after the published report, fell back to end the regular session 5 percent higher at $2.09.

In after-hours trading, shares lost 6 cents, or 2.9 percent, to $2.03.

The stock has lost about 76 percent of its value since reaching a 52-week high of $8.35 in March.

Methinks somebody is spiking sales rumours and then making a bundle every 4 months or so - Triny, where are u dood??

 

[-Fran-]

From http://money.msn.com/business-news/article.aspx?feed=OBR&date=20121113&id=15790846

(Reuters) - Advanced Micro Devices has hired JPMorgan Chase & Co to explore options, which could include a potential sale, as the chipmaker struggles to find a role in an industry increasingly focused on mobile and away from traditional PCs, according to three sources familiar with the situation.

Sources said an outright sale of the company is not a priority, and other options for AMD could include a sale of its portfolio of patents.

One of Silicon Valley's oldest chipmakers, AMD is laying off engineers and some analysts are concerned it may not find new markets for its chips in time to reverse a declining cash reserve.

AMD's shares have fallen more than 60 percent this year, giving it a market value of about $1.4 billion. It also has long-term debt and capital lease obligations of about $2 billion.

AMD stock up 10 cents today, I guess on the sale speculation.. Strikes me as far too early to be thinking about selling the company, but then none of us here are privy to the internal reports and thinking going on inside the company.

http://techreport.com/news/23896/reuters-amd-hires-jpmorgan-chase-to-explore-options

Well, there they are speculating that even Intel might buy AMD. It's quite a round business for Intel indeed. Video card tech, not having the trouble of negotiation another x86 license deal, x86_64 extensions and the APU designs that AMD still has and develops.

From all the companies that could be interested, Facebook is the most oblivious to me, hahaha.

Cheers!

 

[griptwister]

http://techreport.com/news/23896/reuters-amd-hires-jpmorgan-chase-to-explore-options

Well, there they are speculating that even Intel might buy AMD. It's quite a round business for Intel indeed. Video card tech, not having the trouble of negotiation another x86 license deal, x86_64 extensions and the APU designs that AMD still has and develops.

From all the companies that could be interested, Facebook is the most oblivious to me, hahaha.

Cheers!

That's cray stuff right there bro! If AMD gets bought out by Intel, we can expect better performance CPUs and GPUs, but they'd dominate the market! And that would mean higher prices.

Interesting FB took an interest

 

[anxiousinfusion]

Given all of the recent bad news it looks like all the talk of AMD closing shop isn't just bashing or joking around anymore. We may seriously be looking at the end of this company now , such a weird reality.

It's possible that they wouldn't sell all of their assets and likely remain in the GPU business only.

 

[mayankleoboy1]

Intel cant legally buy AMD, can it ?

 

[dogman_1234]

They can, but the FTC would frown upon it...

 

[esrever]

Given all of the recent bad news it looks like all the talk of AMD closing shop isn't just bashing or joking around anymore. We may seriously be looking at the end of this company now , such a weird reality.

It's possible that they wouldn't sell all of their assets and likely remain in the GPU business only.

the gpu segment of AMD is a rather small section. It will be unlikely that AMD will quit cpu unless it wants to get rid of 70% of its workforce and become a significantly smaller company.