Robert and other AMD supporters,
There has been a lot of talks on the technical performances of K6 and PII, I don't know which is better, but I think in the short term it is not important.
Here is what I see is the key in the next few month,
1) Corp america will not buy K6 chips in the next 3 to 6 month, nothing against AMD, Corp America are very carefull, not until it is proven that all of the bugs are worked out, they won't buy them, (same thing happened with 486 to P, and from P to PPro)
2) meanwhile, Corp upgrade will be using INTEL's CPUs, (may not be PII, but at least P or PPro)
3) which leaves K6 in the consumer market, the performance advantage of K6 over P in the consumer market is small.
4) K6 pricing is 25% less than P-Pro and P-II, so K6 will cost more than the standard P and PMMX, which will give consumers little reason to go with K6.
5) AMD now have to make a decision, keep K6 price high for possible Corp business and not gain much ground in the consumer market? or cut K6 prices, and making it as a low end product?
From INTEL's side, it is important for INTEL to move away from the P standard by end of this year (by using slot one). This must done before K6 takes hold in either market.
so IMHO, K6 may or may not be better than P-II, however, it NOT the key to K6 success.
Can AMD pull this OFF?, yes, but it is far from certain.
-H.P. |
