Re: 4x4 value, FX only, kludge, etc.
FX only? That would be like AMD only selling 2XX and 8XX Opterons of the single highest speedgrade.
And they don't do that.
I doubt 4x4 is FX only.* It just wouldn't make any sense whatsoever. Who would build a board that could only be used by a single, expensive flagship part? Allowing a range of speeds increases AMD's pricing leverage immensely. $100 dualie-capable X2 3800's would be very attractive, IMHO. The expense of adding a 2nd socket (and shifting 2 of 4 DIMM slots to the 2nd slot) can't be much more than a few bucks.
Bottom line: Adding the dualie capability to A64s is free for AMD, practically free for the boardmakers, and yet vastly increases the value of the platform.
Seriously, think about the effect on ASPs this simple "marketing gimmick" could have: Imagine a "2-for-1" sale on $500 4x4 FX's. Run the sale for one week, every month to make it "special..."
o FX's would FLY off the shelves
o ASP=$250 a chip
o it costs AMD nothing
o AMD gets to shift product mix to higher-margin parts...
o Yet they sell every chip they can make 'cause many customers are taking two chips with each sale.
I don't understand why some are calling this a kludge, either. Stopgap to counter a high-performance Intel chip, maybe. But this is exactly what Hammer was MADE for: Glueless connectivity. The server guys aren't flocking to Opteron because multi-socket systems are a "kludge", but because Opteron provides elegant, inexpensive, performant multi-socket scalability with negligible tradeoffs. Who wouldn't spend $15 more on a dualie-capable MB, just for the option of filling the 2nd socket at a later date? Nobody's forcing you to fill both sockets immediately.
fpg
*Unless the use of the "FX" moniker is changed from representing the single flagship part to differentiating a range of dual-capable A64's of different speeds. That would be ideal, being an indication of a real difference in capability and not just a sticker put on a merely fast but otherwise normal A64. |
