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Intel hits AMD with quad-core 70% performance boost
Stan Beer
Thursday, 28 September 2006 18:28
AMD has tried to gain a lot of political capital from the fact that Intel's new quad-core package is not really a quad-core chip but in fact two dual-core chips "stitched together". However, Intel CEO Paul Otellini has a point when he says that consumers don't care whether they're getting four cores on a single die or four cores spread across two chips. What they care about is performance.
And performance is what Intel has been focussing on and delivering in spades for the past six months.
The dual-core Core 2 Extreme blew its AMD Athlon counterparts out of the water in benchmark tests and the Core 2 Duo has proven to be a winner in both the notebook and desktop space.
With its new quad-core offering, Intel has turned the spiggot up a notch or two. The November release for the gamer market is one thing, but the real pressure on AMD will be applied with the release of the Core 2 Quad for the mainstream desktop and notebook markets in Q1 2007.
Of course AMD will hit back a few months later with the release of its "real" quad-core processor in mid-2007. However, six months is a long time in this business. Market shares can be won and lost. For Intel, it is a window of opportunity. For AMD, it is a period of digging in its heels and trying to hold its ground.
On the question of 65nm and 45nm development, Intel has been touting chip production as an area where it has the edge on AMD. This is true of course. AMD is yet to get its Dresden 65nm production plant up and running. However, the market really couldn't give a damn how chips are produced. All consumers are interested are price and performance, not manufacturing details.
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