Turion 64: Strong Like Bull

In March of 2003 Intel launched an aggressive launch campaign on their new brand “Centrino”. The Intel Centrino brand was created to represent an entire notebook platform consisting of an Intel chipset, an Intel Pentium M CPU, and an Intel wireless card. The chipset initially included an integrated graphics solution but they eventually supported discrete solutions from both ATi and Nvidia as well.

The idea was certainly sound; Intel wanted to create a standard foundation for which manufacturers could build a solid notebook design that represented great battery life, great performance, and seamless wireless. The Pentium 4M was being replaced because it was getting far too hot, too draining, and just too cumbersome for notebooks.

The Pentium M CPU was by far the best product that Intel had released, and even though it ran at half the GHz of any other Intel CPU it performed just as well or better. Intel’s team in Israel figured out that GHz didn’t necessarily equal better technology and performance. They realized that by combining a great chipset with a great processor Intel was able to milk the performance of the Pentium M to the max. This platform surprised many, and clearly it was a huge turning point for Intel. It was at that time that the Intel GHz marketing seemed to be losing ground.

In fact, at that time Voodoo was pretty vocal with Intel when we said that their notebook parts were killer, and they were much better than their desktop parts. I remember sitting with one of their desktop part managers telling him that we planned to launch Pentium M on the desktop in the interim. He turned a blind eye to it.

Intel's marketing was still focused on GHz rather than actual performance on the desktop workstation and server, while on notebook they didn't promote by way of GHz. We would attend channel conferences and there would be mixed messages about reaching 3GHz+ on the desktop and how GHz equals performance. That was about the time that we saw the future and we were able to determine that Intel could be in trouble if they didn’t get a consistent message out soon.

AMD in the meantime was always focusing on serious technological advances, quieter cooling, faster CPUs, lower power consumption, efficient processing, and pretty much all the things that the Intel Pentium 4 didn’t represent. For AMD, their notebook offerings were great, but they didn’t allow for true thin and light platforms at the time. The Intel Centrino was definitely the best overall solution for mobility. By the time the Pentium M was in full swing the AMD sales reps were secretly chuckling as their message of “GHz means nothing” was legitimized by their largest critic and competitor.

So, what ended up happening? Intel Centrino continued to redefine the notebook segment. With notebooks you don’t really have the flexibility of choosing components like your motherboard and video card as you do on a desktop, therefore platform designs seem to make sense. Intel's strongest business from a technology standpoint is notebook, no question no debate - the seed was planted in 2003. Intel also dropped the GHz marketing messages and switched to model #'s similar to the competition.

Meanwhile AMD continued to gain ground on desktop, workstation, and eventually server. AMD processors were, and continue to be, more efficient, more powerful, and more technologically advanced than their competitions offerings. On the notebook, however, AMD had something up their sleeves that no one knew about until March of 2005.

In March 2005 AMD launched the Turion 64 processor for notebooks. Turion 64 is essentially an ultra low watt version of the Athlon 64. Shipping in both 25 watt and 35 watt versions, the Turion was almost too good to be true. Although it was not a platform, AMD believed that offering customer’s flexibility to choose their own components made for a great product.

From a technical standpoint the Turion 64 is more advanced than the Pentium M simply because it’s available in 25 watt versions with true 64 bit integration. The Turion 64 is faster than the Pentium M, and it is Windows Vista ready, and it currently supports other 64 bit operating systems. The Turion 64 could be better though, much better.

Here in lies the problem. While Intel Israel designed Centrino to be a platform solution, AMD didn’t focus on the platform. AMD focused on building the most kick-ass processor possible, but did not organize standard platforms in place for the launch. For notebooks this is key to real success.

The AMD Turion 64 was met with open arms by a few ODMS, perhaps not as many as we would have liked to see but surprisingly it has done extremely well considering how young it is. Many ODMs picked it up based on the technological achievements of AMD alone, and they are now starting to realize that it has so much more potential. Even though early Turion was not platform based, we were still able to select components that worked well together.

Intel makes a fantastic chipset, a great wireless card, and a great processor. AMD makes an unbelievable processor and combined with the right chipset it could potentially unlock performance and battery saving features that we’re not seeing now. The Turion 64 is like a V12 engine on six cylinders. It has extra cylinders and a turbo just waiting to be used – combined with the right platform and you will see an unstoppable technology. One must consider that in the future as the new platforms come out it's likely that newer Turions will come out as well.

Intel Core Duo is essentially a 32 bit Pentium M with dual cores. Current AMD Turion 64 parts are 64 bit low voltage with single cores. What this means to you is Turion 64 is truly Windows Vista ready – as Vista is slated to be a 64 bit OS. While dual core technology is great, 32 bit dual core is not that exciting.

Turion 64 is most likely the next Opteron 64. I say this because it’s no secret that AMD is working on a notebook platform strategy that will shake up the industry. AMD will offer choices, and by maximizing the performance of notebooks while increasing battery life and wireless performance we should see a sudden change in the notebook market. AMD will work with companies that know how to make chipsets scream and wireless long, and they will provide proper guidance in order to unlock the potential of the Turion 64. Although current Core Duo is still impressive, by the time the new Turion platforms start rolling the competition will be tight.

Already we’re seeing more ODMs jumping on the AMD Turion 64 bandwagon. Wait a few months and you’ll see AMDs brand position in the notebook market transform into a premium alternative. The future of Turion 64 looks to be strong, very strong, and with loads of market share to grow into, I believe Turion 64 is poised to be the next Opteron in terms of share growth.

Current Turion 64 offerings are feisty, like the Tasmanian devil in a straight jacket, - but once we remove the straps and cut that jacket open the Turion 64 is a screamer. It will eat anything in its path which means you should brace yourself for another AMD phenomenon.

If you’re an ODM reading this and you haven’t figured it out yet, you better wake up before it’s too late. You’ll be lucky if you smell fumes by the time the dust settles.

An analyst called me the other day and he brought up an interesting point. He said that Intel demands a higher ASP from their notebook product and he was wondering why. The answer seems obvious once you read throught his article. As AMD transitions from Sempron to Turion their ASP is increasing - but the Intel platform strategy has certainly helped increase their ASP. As AMD employs their "customer centric innovation" strategy to the new platforms I imagine the choices they create will certainly change things.

Intel is clutching onto their notebook business with all hands on deck, rightfully so, because it is by far their strongest product and it won't be long until the competition heats up in this sector. Even though AMD Turion 64 has had a great start with Acer, HP, Fujitsu, and of course Voodoo ENVY, it is only scratching the surface. I have always said that I love the Pentium M, I love the concept of platforms, and although I like Core Duo it would have been nice to see 64 bit support.

I hope this article makes sense, I could go on all day but I don't have the time. The morale of the story is you should “go long on Turion 64” as it has a very promising future.