TWY, Re: "Please answer the question I posed to you in my previous post."
Why? So you can pick it apart? Ask yourself why I brought this up in the first place. If you are concentrating specifically on the exact number of processors are actually being produced, then you are missing my point. Maybe I'm wrong, or maybe I'm right about the majority of CPUs being produced being 1GHz Pentium III chips, but either way, I think you'll be resourceful enough to find shortcomings in any breakdown that I give you. Instead, consider my original comment, which was that Intel's failures last year with the launch of the 1.13GHz processor have little to do with their current manufacturing capabilities. The proof is with the fact that Intel can produce 1GHz Pentium III chips in the millions, in order to satisfy customer demand for the product that was previously a hurdle for them last year.
Ali's thesis that he is pushing is that AMD has always had a superior process over Intel's, and uses for proof data that shows AMD's K6 and K7 processor lines reaching clock frequencies previously unattainable by micro-architectures of similar pipeline length. My rebuttal is that AMD's frequencies are primarily due to their ability to tweak process settings, since they only have to propagate changes in their process through their single fab in Dresden (I don't think they are pursuing the same tweaks in their Austin fab). Intel, on the other hand, is bound by their copy-exactly philosophy, which becomes a requirement if they want to micro-manage several facilities. But in true Ali fashion, he has successfully turned the topic away from one which his point has become diluted. One cannot claim that AMD has superiority in a process if their main improvements only apply to a fraction of their output. Taken into perspective, AMD has certain advantages that wouldn't be available to them if they were a larger company. It's good for them if they can push Athlon frequencies higher on a given process through tweaking their methodology, but bad for them if they are forced to make these changes work through a number of manufacturing facilities if they even do gain the market share that they are going for. That's my point. You're the process expert, and I'd love to hear your opinion on it, but don't go changing the subject, just because you think your argument is stronger elsewhere.
wanna_bmw |
