We're not slower...We're smarter...

Recently a media publication called us out for being slow to launch, referring to our configurator as being "dated". Admittedly neither Voodoo nor HP launched new systems featuring the latest Intel processor on the day of launch. we felt it was important to address the issue as many customers have been asking why we delayed, and it's really not an issue of being slower than our competition.

I was asked to answer some questions for CRN which covers this topic and some crystal ball related stuff. A copy of this article is below with a link to the full story.


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Rahul Sood is the founder of high-performance gaming system builder VoodooPC, which was acquired by Hewlett-Packard in late 2006. He currently serves as CTO for HP's Global Gaming Business and regularly blogs at rahulsood.com. Sood made waves recently when he publicly called out Intel for launching its first 45nm-process desktop processor without first ensuring compatibility with Nvidia's SLI. In an e-mail interview with Sood, ChannelWeb asked the gaming guru about that notorious blog post and picked his brain for what he thinks will be the most important chip developments in the coming year.

How are two new products from Intel and AMD - Intel's first 45nm desktop CPU and AMD's 'Spider' platform for gaming systems - benchmarking for Voodoo?

As always, we're excited about new technology, especially new processors and video cards. That said, these launches haven't been without their challenges. When you're down to three companies who ultimately control the landscape it's almost like watching a three-headed abomination fight with itself. It's somewhat interesting, to say the least. So interesting that I wrote an article on it here!

That said, I can tell you that we're very excited about Intel's new processor. And HP Gaming, which includes HP Blackbird 002 and the Voodoo product line, will launch it once it passes all of our stringent tests - and it hasn't yet.

As far as AMD's Spider goes, we think there may be an opportunity for a price-performance configuration, but at this point I can't say for sure.

You mentioned on your blog that you were disappointed that Intel's new 45nm Core 2 Quad Extreme CPU wasn't rolled out with compatibility with Nvidia products worked out in advance. Can you elaborate?

Anytime a major process change occurs there are always minor tweaks/bugs that need to be worked through. What I can say is HP Gaming will not release products with new technology unless that technology passes our stringent tests. This is not only to protect our customers, but also a true testament to our level of engineering. We saw many companies jump on the launch bandwagon, and they are delaying orders up until the middle of January now. How is that good for their customers? You don't need to be a fly on the wall in their customer service departments to hear what their customers are saying.

The bottom line is HP Gaming will launch this new platform when we're ready. We are very excited about it, though. Intel has done a killer job on this processor, no question about it. Their chipset is great too, but we won't ramrod their motherboard into our offering because it doesn't support Nvidia SLI. We could do it with Crossfire, and may do so, but there are other issues which are preventing us from doing so.

What kind of demand from Voodoo customers are you seeing for those new products?

Our customers typically look to us for our recommendation. Already we have lineups for HP Blackbird 002 machines with Voodoo DNA. We expect that when we launch a new platform that our customers will be excited to get their hands on it.

Let's look in the crystal ball. What do you think will be the top processor/platform stories to watch in 2008?

Good question, I think there are a number of interesting technologies and industry dynamics to watch out for.

STORAGE: Solid State will start to kick in. The cool thing about Solid State is you don't need to be a hard drive manufacturer to get into the game. We'll likely see various memory manufacturers, semi-conductors, and others jump into the mix. The storage industry is about to get turned on its head. I still think regular disk storage will be strong, and it will help supplement the Solid State industry. I still think Western Digital will be acquired at some point. I can imagine a Raptor SSD hybrid of some sort.

GRAPHICS: Nvidia can do no wrong. The only time the competition seems to catch up to Nvidia is when Nvidia screws something up. Lately, they've been doing pretty well. And other than not quite being ready for the launch of Intel's new processor, their drivers have been stellar and their focus on core gaming has been nothing short of excellent.

AMD's ATI graphics are getting better all the time. Their latest cards are great. The drivers ... well ... that's another story. AMD started out well, with better Vista drivers then Nvidia, but then Nvidia whipped past them like a Ford GT would against a Chrysler Minivan. I'd like to see AMD put more focus on their video drivers, because if I can't play Crysis, or even Test Drive 2, then how the heck can we recommend them to our customers? Blaaaaahhhhh ... don't even get me started. Test Drive 2? Man ...

ADVANCED MICRO DEVICES: AMD will likely retrench. It seems that AMD may need to scale back a bit, and put more focus into stronger product innovation. They should focus on building stronger relationships with their best customers as they go forward. Hopefully, their asset-light strategy starts to unfold.

What more can I say here other than the obvious? AMD is a necessary company, with great people working inside. They employ some of the best talent in the industry, and it's important that they get through these challenges.

NVIDIA: Nvidia will push platforms. While staying close to their graphics roots, Nvidia will likely push harder into platforms and we've already seen some interesting moves by them this year in the notebook space. There's no doubt that their nForce team wants to own the platform business. Of course, we're delayed slightly on Nvidia-based motherboards for Intel's 45nm, but does anyone really care? It seems to me that most customers are willing to wait it out, which proves that Nvidia has some loyalists in one of the most fickle customer psychographics in the world.

Nvidia should probably get into the business of making CPUs, or pushing hard on GPU computing. They are in the perfect position to do it -- they're strong, they're fab-less and they have one of the smartest CEOs in the world running the show. Who knows? Maybe they'll look to buy VIA ... or perhaps they are watching AMD closely. Either way, they could seriously turn this industry upside down if somehow, somewhere, they were able to create an end-to-end solution for their customers.

All of this makes Nvidia a major competitor of Intel's, and of AMD's. Yet all three companies need to remain best friends!

INTEL: Intel will kick ass. There is zero doubt that Intel has a strong story. Their innovations are amazing, they put their Israeli team front and center, and they continue to innovate like madmen. Intel will likely expand their platform business this year. They are going to get bigger, uglier and more aggressive.

If there's one thing Intel has learned from their previous rough years, it's relationship-building. Their customer service is awesome and they're running on all cylinders. While they continue to tweak their business, they are also adding more cylinders to their engine block, a few turbos and some nitrous oxide.

Check out the full article here.

If they only had soul...

Here is an extended version of the article I wrote for print this month - describing the correlation of the car industry to the PC industry. It's a long one, don't say I didn't warn you....

I recently traveled to California for some meetings, and as is my wont, I rented a car in San Francisco and drove to Cupertino. I was pleased to hear that the car was an Impala when I checked in at the Hertz counter because I am currently in the process of restoring a 1964 Impala SS Convertible. As I walked down the aisle looking for the Impala, I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I certainly didn’t expect the uninspired piece of crap I found waiting for me.

As I sat in the car, I began to see a correlation between the soulless American cars of today and the potential reasons why American car manufacturers are in trouble. I, like many, appreciate cars with “soul,” and as most would agree, almost every 1960s-ish American car had a soul. Take the 1965 Lincoln Continental Convertible with suicide doors, for example. This car was a thing of beauty, perhaps way ahead of its time. Of course, the 1960-plus Corvettes and the Mustang pony cars would make anyone smile. These are some serious cars with an incredible heritage, so what happened to the soul? Where did it go?

At the risk of making Mark Solomon (our lead industrial designer and the guy who designed Blackbird) puke, I’m about to tell the story that I’ve been telling a lot at HP for the last little while. Also, a warning to longtime CPU readers: I touched on this topic (albeit not nearly as much detail) in my very first CPU column back in 2005. As you can probably tell, it has a deep meaning for me and, I feel, directly correlates to our industry. Back in the 1960s, Henry Ford II recognized a correlation between winning races and selling cars. He led the charge with the help of Lee Iacocca, then president of Ford and the father of the pony car, to help sell more Mustangs. It was Lee Iacocca who said, “Race on Sunday, sell on Monday.”

Henry Ford II asked Lee Iacocca to find out who the best race car builder was, and of course at the time it was Ferrari. They then set out to buy Ferrari, not knowing that Ferrari had already approached Ford by way of a dealership in Germany in order to figure out a way that they might partner. Long story short, Enzo Ferrari needed Ford just as much as Ford needed Ferrari.

They eventually worked out a deal where Ford would buy all of Ferrari for $18 million dollars, and Ferrari would run the races while Ford would handle production cars. Believe it or not, both Enzo and Lee were sketching “Ford Ferrari” logos for production sports cars and “Ferrari Ford” logos for race cars. The goal: to create the ultimate race car, win the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and sell more Mustangs.

The Indianapolis 500 is renowned as the world’s biggest single sporting event, and the Monaco Grand Prix is also very famous and prestigious, but the 24 hours of Le Mans stands apart as the most revered of all motor races. Le Mans has hosted races since before the turn of the century and was the site of the first officially recognized French Grand Prix in 1906.

Well, it was all good until it became clear that Enzo wanted control of Indianapolis, as well, and Ford would have none of it. In the end, the relationship quickly dissolved and Enzo killed the deal, enraging Henry Ford in the process. Ford was so incensed that he pledged to crush Ferrari by spending as much as it took to destroy the company at Le Mans.

Ford charged Iacocca with finding another racing partner. Iacocca made a deal with Lola Cars and also hired a consultant named Carol Shelby to help create what was then the most talked-about race car in American history, the Ford GT 40.

It took a few years to get it right, but in 1966 there was jubilation in Dearborn as GT40s swept the first three places at Le Mans against the best Europe had to offer. Ford had accomplished something no American company had ever done before.

Ford repeated wins in ’67, ’68, and ’69 when lighter, more powerful GT40 Mark IVs again beat the Ferraris and Porsches at Le Mans. The GT40’s lap record stood until 1970, and its speed and distance records until ’71.

The bottom line is Ford was successful, and sold more Mustangs during that period than expected. But after proving it could be done, the company stopped. Japanese and German car companies entered the market, gas mileage became an issue, costs were cut, parts were shared, and fast-forward to today, where by and large cars have all but lost their soul. Many American cars look the same, and most models are created to fit certain “price bands” rather than cater to a specific customer. Sound at all like the PC market?

Well it does to me.

About Sharing Parts: There’s nothing wrong with sharing parts, when done right. When done wrong, however, you end up with way too many models which all look the same, with a different badge on the back, and a different price range. You end up with a bunch of models with no significant difference! American car manufacturers should take a page from Audi and Lamborghini and learn how to share parts without ruining a brand. They should simplify their portfolios and cut out the models which have no customer affinity. Ford is starting to do this, and thus they are starting to turn around.

About Winning Races in the PC Industry: The phrase “Win races on Sunday, sell cars on Monday” has huge implications across multiple industries, including ours. I believe it was Jen-Hsun Huang (CEO of Nvidia) who first brought this correlation into our industry when Nvidia went out years ago recruiting the best gaming companies to use their cards in our review systems.

AMD was quick to follow suit, most likely under the direction of Henri Richard, a car enthusiast, and a bit of a marketing guru.

(side note: Interestingly, AMD isn't even close to winning any races at the moment, although their graphic side is starting to pick up. ...It's probably worth noting that I'm very surprised and disappointed at AMD's constant mis-steps in execution on the CPU side as of late, we really expected and hoped for much more at this stage in the game. Like any of our partners, we wish both well and hope competition remains but it looks like Intel continues to school AMD on execution.)

Thus Intel is actively picking up the slack, they're winning the race in a big way and their numbers prove it.

We also see companies like Dell doing similar things with the XPS to help lift their entire portfolio. Of course at HP there is Voodoo DNA, Acer with Ferrari, and so on.

A couple of years ago most of the industry was made up of little more than re-marketers for large companies such as Intel and Microsoft. There was as a lack of innovation, they were sharing parts, cutting margins, cutting retail prices, up until the point where the personal computer completely lost its soul.

Then customers started to change. They became smarter about technology buys, because the emerging demographic “grew up” on computers. I’ve said much of this before, but the dinosaurs of technology are almost gone. I have customers in their 50’s using high end PCs to play games on. It’s amazing how the demographic of advanced technology users is expanding in both directions (age wise) and to both male and female. It's therefore important to design devices that look and feel great - devices that include compelling user experiences.

By the way, if any of you have any comments on the car industry – and why you think the American’s lost their soul, we would love to hear from you. This kind of thinking helps inspire new ideas at our company.

I am still a big believer in what Ford is doing. Can you believe the new Shelby 500KR is already a collector before it's even released? That's pretty cool.

Business Week: HP's Cultural Revolution

Business Week just wrote a cool story on HP's Cultural Revolution. Certainly things are changing at HP all the time. ...and though it's a huge company, there's no questioning the desire for progress. They interviewed a bunch of us, including someone I respect and admire, Patrick Goddi from HP Labs.

Business Week: HP's Cultural Revolution
By: Reena Jana

At Hewlett-Packard's (HPQ) Page Mill Road complex in Palo Alto, Calif., in the basement beneath the meticulously preserved offices of founders William Hewlett and David Packard, is a cavernous room that has the feel of a chaotic startup. Tables and chairs are strewn about and a giant, makeshift screen takes up an entire wall, even wrapping around a corner. HP projectors made for corporate presentations are clustered together to cast huge video-game images on the wall. The life-size scenes are so crisp and detailed that you almost feel as if you could walk onto a Madden NFL game or Halo 3 battle.

This game room is the kind of place where you would expect to find young programmers hanging out, jazzed on Mountain Dew and revving up ideas for a new 3-D Web or the next generation of social media. It's a different business culture from the one you'll find in the gray cubicles, where most engineers work, in the rest of the building. The area's playful environment is critical to HP's future. The space—and its projection system, itself a prototype—is one result of the Innovation Program Office, launched in 2006 to help the info tech giant buy hip, nimble startups for its huge Personal Systems Group, which makes PCs, mobile devices, and workstations. The hope is to inject big doses of the small companies' creative juices directly into the HP culture. (See also a playbook on learning from startup cultures.)

HP has learned some key lessons on the acquisition trail over the past two years: how to develop cool, high-margin products that appeal to new consumer groups such as video-game fanatics; how to use social media to conduct Web-based consumer research; and, perhaps most important, how to inspire engineers in HP Laboratories to turn concepts into products faster.

HP's culture has been in turmoil in recent years. The HP Way, the company's management code, was once Silicon Valley's innovation model. Top executives mingled with lower-level employees to discover fresh ideas. For decades the company's engineer-led approach generated a flow of popular, affordable, and utilitarian products until it became synonymous with complacency and high costs. Carleton S. "Carly" Fiorina came in as chief executive in 1999 and tried to blow apart that culture. Her marketing-focused strategy generated strong sales but demoralized employees. Mark V. Hurd, who succeeded her in 2005, has been working to restore tradition and reinvigorate the company's 30,000 engineers.

Trouble is, restoring the HP Way may no longer be enough. The old strategy was for engineers to create technologies and products and then expect customers to buy them. Yet over the past five years the company's businesses—computers, printers and imaging machines, storage devices and servers, and info tech service—as well as those of Dell (DELL), Cisco (CSCO), and Yahoo! (YHOO)—have shifted their focus from developing cool technologies to making products customers want. "We were missing the DNA of an organization that had its finger on customer desires," says Phil McKinney, a chief technology officer of the Personal Systems Group and head of the innovation office.


HP is trying to market personal computers today as being friendly, not just fast and powerful. Its slogan: "The computer is personal again." It's not just selling fast printers, but pitching terrific printing experiences. But shifting away from a tech focus to a consumer orientation is proving hard for a 156,000-person company that includes a small army of engineers convinced they are right.

Enter Voodoo PC. The gaming room at HP was the brainchild of Voodoo's Rahul Sood, co-founder of the 30-person startup based in Calgary, Canada, a cult brand among gamers. Now 35, Sood is chief technology officer of HP's new global gaming business unit.

Click here for the rest!

The 3 Headed Abomination...

There are many emails coming in from Intel fans asking why we haven't launched 45 nanometer (based on this post) on HP Blackbird. We're working on it....and if you're a fan of ATI (AMD)Crossfire and Intel chipsets with Intel 45 nanometer you'll probably see more solutions coming out in the future.

Many die hard Nvidians will choose to wait for Nvidia to get their newer nForce chipsets out - which is perfectly cool. Others might wait for newer motherboards, regardless of what they choose with Blackbird you can order a machine with an Nvidia based graphic system now, and you can always perform an upgrade later. It's pretty simple to upgrade - so our recommendation for those who want a system with Nvidia graphics - buy now, upgrade later.

Just to be clear, us not launching 45 nanometer was not a "diss" towards Intel. We love working with them, and quite frankly this chip is the best currently available CPU on the market. If you doubt that, check the HP Blackbird website and show me one AMD based configuration. Right now you won't find any, at least not with current product.

No matter how good a chip is, however, a chip is just a chip - then you need a platform to build around it. So it becomes a situation of balancing performance from various segments of the PC.

Thus you can get great performance from an Intel 45 nm + Intel chipset, but the question is whether or not Nvidia will be able to eke more performance from their chipset. History has shown that they have always owned the enthusiast chipset segment, and if anyone knows how to eke performance - it's Nvidia. ...but Intel's chipsets have always been rock solid (yeah, shut up about Granite Bay please - that was years ago).

Intel is getting very aggressive, and based on what's happened in the last year between these two giants, I don't think the aggression is going to come down anytime soon. I personally believe Intel's latest chipset is very much worthy of an enthusiast class stamp - the question is whether or not you want to be locked down to ATI(AMD)Crossfire graphics going forward (or a single Nvidia graphics card).

I still think that Nvidia should eventually get into the business of making CPU's - or turning the GPU computing initiative into a much bigger movement. Like I said before, maybe they should buy VIA - or continue to watch AMD closely.

What happens when you get three giants who are somewhat dependent on one another, yet they constantly fight with each other?

A 3 headed 4 armed abomination...(like the picture? Google Images rocks!)

This co-op-etition stuff is not an easy thing to monitor. Believe me, my job may be fun, but it's times like this when I wonder if I shouldn't be RV'ing across America with my family.

Decisions Decisions.

Intel 45 Nanometer, what happened to HP?

We haven't launched Intel's 45 Nanometer processor as planned. We, like many, were hoping that it would work flawlessly on certain chipsets - and well, unfortunately it doesn't - not yet anyways. Even though we were getting close to qualifying it - last week we received some really bad news. The bottom line is we're working on a solution for Nvidia SLI, but at the moment there isn't one.

Interestingly enough there are those out there configuring this processor in configurations which we *know* are unstable. I think their customers will be in for major disappointment based on current issues. ..although there are certain configurations which do work, the question is whether they deliver a decent value to the customer.

That said, it's not an issue of Intel's chip reliability, it's an issue of platform stability on certain current non-Intel platforms.

I don't want to get into the details, it's not a pretty situation. There is much confusion surrounding this launch -- it's somewhat unbelievable.

More Gadget Pr0n

Well, I hoped she's lick Blackbird like she licked the Apple TV, but I'll be damned if this isn't a great video! Congratulations to the team again...