AMD Creating a new Category of Enthusiast...

I wrote this article for the most recent edition of CPU Magazine. I was on the panel at the 4x4 launch and I got the general impression that AMD could potentially create a new category of enthusiast with 4x4. They certainly have the architectural advantage and their idea is sound, but there are still some challenges.

For the last few years, AMD has transformed itself from an underdog incumbent to a mainstream alternative with big OEM support. Under the management of Hector Ruiz, AMD was able to take the performance lead over Intel without any warning, which paved the way to where the company finds itself today.

AMD had successfully fought against Intel, and against all odds AMD has gained market share while producing solid numbers. In order to achieve this considerable feat, AMD had to build a better mousetrap, and that’s just what it did—but now it faces a challenge.

In late July, a bloodied and worn Intel finally released a desktop killer. The Core 2 Duo, otherwise known as Conroe, beats AMD’s Athlons in pretty much every major benchmark. Core 2 Duo is by far the best processor on the market right now for enthusiasts, and AMD is busy working to make up the difference.

Intel created a monster with Core 2 Duo by using similar DNA as its Pentium M processors. Yes it is true that Intel has a better platform, but in terms of architecture the company is still behind AMD and Intel’s people know this. By architecture I am referring to the scalability of the company’s current product line. AMD will scale better under multiple processors thanks to its integrated memory controller and HyperTransport, but Intel’s processors are now arguably more efficient as they draw less power and produce less heat.

As most of you are no doubt aware, AMD announced its 4x4 technology in July. Many questions have come up since the announcement regarding the potential real-world benefits for gamers and enthusiasts. With Intel Kentsfield around the corner and AMD 4x4 on the way, the concept of multithreaded gaming is becoming an exciting reality. Of course it’s not all about multithreaded gaming for AMD; there are many more benefits of 4x4 which may be realized thanks to the company’s flexible architecture.

With 4x4 we’ll be able to install two processors into a machine, each with its own dedicated bank of memory. So, for example, we could install two dual-core processors (or two quad-core processors, for that matter) with 2GB of RAM each for a total system memory of 4GB. What does this mean to the enthusiast? It means that you can run multiple instances of certain games under specific circumstances.

Consider, for instance, the World of Warcraft player who has multiple characters under different accounts. With a properly configured system it’s possible to load two instances of the game at once and trade items back and forth, or skin with one while killing with the other. I’m certainly not suggesting that this is what people want, but there are some extreme users out there who will appreciate such capabilities. Another great feature of dedicated memory banks is the ability to encode movies in the background while playing a game and not sacrificing one iota of performance. Or, even better, you can operate a dedicated server while playing the game and not even notice the difference. All of this will be possible with 4x4.

With the help of Nvidia, and others, AMD is creating an entirely new motherboard concept for 4x4. It’s not your standard-issue workstation motherboard; rather, it’s an enthusiast-class multiprocessor motherboard with support for unbuffered non-ECC enthusiast-class memory. AMD also promises to release three tiers of 4x4 in the box where processor kits will start “well under $1,000” and go up from there.

The problem that I see us potentially running into is that of power. AMD needs to be mindful that not many of us enthusiasts, let alone OEMs, want to use 1K PSUs in our machines. We aren’t interested in using loud cooling systems and effectively going backward for the sake of getting a few incremental sales. I am sure that AMD is looking at this fact, and if somehow it is able to get its EE low-power processors online, we’ll probably have a winner.

Either way I believe AMD is paving the way for a new category of enthusiast, and many of us will be supporting it. There are certainly some exciting times ahead.