<< I am saying it is unwise for companies to rely on one supplier for any component. In that context, yes, if I were an OEM, I would have given some business to AMD in the K6-2 K6-3 days. Not much, of course but enough to keep the other supplier honest. >>
That's probably true in general, but if I were a company with a reputation for outstanding products, I wouldn't let any part of my product line be tainted with crap just to have a second source. No offense to you AMD lifers, but the k6-2 and k6-3 were garbage. The performance was just unacceptable. Right now, AMD's product is clearly acceptable, so I definitely think it's the right move for Dell to jump on board. I still don't think it will happen in the near future though, and by the time we get to p4 we'll have to look and see if the athlon is still acceptable. (my guess is it will be, but i leave open the possibility that it won't be)
<< Who said anything about leaked benchmarks? I have been talking about low-IPC for Willamette before the chip was taped out. The longer the chip takes from getting to market, the less competitive it becomes. >>
There is at least one expert (paul demone) who would disagree strongly with your low ipc theory. From all the debates I've seen him participate in on the subject I don't feel anyone has proved him wrong. I don't know enough about processor specs to come up with my own theory on the subject, so if you do more power to you, but I wouldn't classify that as fact until the chip is out and we see what it is.
<< I disagree, 100%. Dell will almost always get a better deal from Intel if there is a second source. It may appear otherwise, in theory. >>
Well I'm only dealing in theory here, but as long as the second source exists and is prevelent, they might get a better deal not using AMD. They definitely wouldn't get as good a deal if there was no alternative, but I don't think they need to use the alternative to force intel's hand.
(a basketball analogy, since I'm from chicago) Every big name free agent this year threatened to join the Bulls for the maximum allowable salary, so they would get bigger contracts from other teams. None of them had any intention of joining the bulls, but the fact that it was possible made a lot of other teams over pay for players. |
