Elmer,
I don't think I agree with your premise, which is that AMD has to say that Hammer will be the fastest processor (whether or not it is true) just to keep people interested. A good comparison point would be the first quarter or 2 of Athlon. Nobody wanted to be in any way associated (publically) with Athlon, Asus wrapped Athlon motherboards in unmarked brown boxes, and Athlon processor still made it big.
Now, while there are no great PR masterpieces written pledging devotion to Hammer (wait for the sickle line of processors), everybody who is selling K7 Athlon processors today, will just continue to sell K8 Athlon processors, whether they are way above Intel P4 in performance , approximately even, or slightly below. I don't see why AMD would have to go way out on the limb convincing people who are already convinced.
Tier 1 server guys may need more persuasion, and it is still a long shot, IMO, that AMD will end up in Tier 1 OEM line-ups. If anybody needs the level of persuasion you are referring to, it is these guys, but convincing these guys to go along is not a question of life and death for AMD.
Joe |
