Opinion: Intel, AMD and Apple Leverage
the MHz Myth
dailynews.yahoo.com
The race for faster and faster speeds has been one of the strongest
driving forces prompting sales for more than one computer giant in the
market.
Despite a more techno-savvy
computer-using populace than that of say
seven to 10 years ago, most consumers still hold on to the misguided belief
that MHz -- or more appropriately now, GHz -- translates to a computer's
raw speed.
Indeed, nothing could be further from the truth, but that has not stopped
some chipmakers from capitalizing on the public's ignorance in an effort to
sell more wafers. As a matter of fact, some chip manufacturers have
allowed their silicon squares to sacrifice significant levels of performance in
an effort to increase MHz to even higher levels.
The Quick Fix
This strategic move has resulted in increased sales for these companies, but if the predictions of some
analysts prove true, this gravy train may come to an abrupt end in the not-so-distant future.
These analysts have suggested that Intel (Nasdaq: INTC - news), for example, is painting itself into a
corner with the artificially high clock rates found in its Pentium 4 line, as indeed the chip's performance
levels can only go so high without adding a yet-to-be-invented liquid nitrogen cooling unit to keep the
chips from melting under their own heat and duress.
The MHz Myth
Another company fighting for dominance in the x86 PC marketplace is Advanced Micro Devices
(NYSE: AMD - news).
AMD has competed for the top spot in Intel's world with its popular Athalon chip, for quite some time,
by also playing the MHz myth game with consumers.
Only recently has AMD allowed itself to fall behind in MHz so as to achieve a more genuine
performance increase over that of its x86 competition. After realizing that MHz/GHz can only go so far
without eventually sacrificing performance, many industry observers have predicted that AMD is
preparing a marketing blitz in an effort to educate the public about real speed in relation to MHz, and
thus give it a much-needed edge.
Shifting Gears
A few years back, Intel saw that the technology that it used in its Pentium line, known as CISC, was
starting to show its age. So Intel started development on a new chip design scheme called VLIW, or
EPIC based on a similar variant of a more advanced chip architecture by the name of RISC that Intel
eventually named Itanium.
While the new RISC-like chip design allows for significant speed advantages, it does not allow for
significant MHz overages like that of its CISC-based Pentium cousin.
Current Itanium designs have been stuck at 800MHz in pre-release form. When the chip eventually
ships, this figure will most likely drop, as most chip designs are clocked far higher in the lab than the
rate at which they actually ship. This MHz issue poses a significant problem for the company as it
transitions away from its Pentium line while still having to deal with the MHz marketing push of times
past.
A Silver Lining
At first glance, the future looks somewhat bleak for both the computer and semiconductor industries,
as indeed there will almost surely be an extremely tough road ahead to re-educate consumers.
However, a second look would reveal that there are some companies that are perfectly positioned to
take advantage of the upcoming changes within the industry.
Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL - news), IBM and Motorola formed an alliance called A.I.M. several years
back. Since then, the three have been investing significant levels of research and development into a
genuine RISC-based chip design called Power PC (or PPC).
The effort, which got a multiyear head-start, has allowed Apple to not only achieve higher overall
speeds than that of Intel's and AMD's chips, but also achieve higher MHz levels in shipping versions of
its processors than that of Intel's Itanium series, even in pre-release form.
Apple's marketing efforts to educate the public on the MHz myth over the past three years are just
now starting to see significant results.
When Intel ships its long-overdue high-end Itanium chip, it will be on a roughly similar playing field with
that of Apple's current G4 line, but it will also be around the same time that Apple will ship computers
using the G5 processors developed as a result of the A.I.M. alliance.
Ready A.I.M. Fire
Intel's inability to design an IA-64 processor that matches the P4's stratospheric clock rates puts it at a
disadvantage, after having played into the common misperception that clock rate is an accurate
measurement of performance and now lacking a solid means to continue to take advantage of that
ignorance.
With the advent of Mac OS X (news - web sites) and large-scale multiprocessing G4/G5 systems in
the offering, we may find the long-dreaded perceived performance gap turned on its head just as the
computer industry as a whole experiences an upturn.
If there has ever been a time where Apple could come back with significant market share growth, this
may be it.
Author's background: Kelly McNeill is the creator and managing editor of osOpinion.com as well as
the talent behind all of those cool graphics you see each day on OSO's home page. He appreciates
comments in regard to this editorial, and hopes you'll post them to osOpinion's forums for all to see.
His e-mail address is webmaster@osopinion.com. |
