Intel’s Latest Chips: It’s All About (Low) Power - And What about AMD?
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AMD showed every sign of not being at all impressed by Intel’s latest move. In one article about the new chips, AMD is quoted as saying that “[The new micro-architecture] is taking the Pentium 3 architecture and using that in the desktop space. By calling it next generation, they are trying to put the best coat of paint on it that they can.” In the meantime, though, AMD is creating low power processors of its own. Indeed, just this month the company released two additional low-power AMD64 processors as part of its Longevity program.
AMD seems to not be aiming for the standard consumer electronics market, however – at least, not with these chips. Though they will beat Intel’s chips to market – with an availability date of Q4 2005 – they will be going to “high-end embedded customers.” What does that mean? According to Intel’s press release, “They are intended for incorporation into systems such as rugged field PCs, workstations and servers; blade servers for low airflow or other constrained environments; and process automation servers.”
Interestingly, AMD’s current processor roadmap, as displayed on its website, doesn’t show a shift from 90nm. Then again, it only covers until the end of 2005, and even Intel won’t be putting out chips on the smaller architecture until late next year. Still, in addition to its Turion chips, specifically designed for mobile devices, AMD offers mobile versions of its Athlon and Sempron chips, so it can hardly be said to be neglecting that end of the market. In fact, the company said that it wanted to be in high-volume 65nm production by mid-2006. The timeline closely parallels Intel’s, possibly even beating it slightly, depending on the vagaries of manufacturing. And the battle for market share goes on.
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