Chip Wars, Part Deux
Tech vendors must be getting caught up in the fall television premiere season.
There are all sorts of new things coming out. We've got competitors going after
Microsoft Office, big guns aiming at SaaS, Intel announcing a new line of high-performance
chips that use less power (good news for green computing initiatives) and AMD
with the first ever odd-numbered core chip.
Intel's
new line of chips, with the slightly cryptic code-name Nehalem (it's the
name of a city and river in Oregon), will go as high as eight-core. That's some
serious processing power. I can already hear the gamers in the crowd rejoicing.
Intel made this announcement at its twice-yearly tech conference. It couldn't
come at a better time -- not because Intel is preaching to the choir at its
own conference, but because things are heating up in the pitched battle with
AMD.
The day before Intel's conference kicked off, AMD rolled out the first three-core
processor, saying the unusual architecture was partially a response to the fact
that its quad-core processors hadn't exactly stormed the world. The AMD Phenom,
as the new three-way chip is called, should fit in nicely for customers needing
more horsepower than a dual-core, but aren't ready to buck up for a quad-core
or higher. Look for the Phenom some time in the first quarter of 2008.
This ongoing battle between Intel and AMD can only be good for the rest of
us; chips will get more powerful, and hopefully less expensive.
Some of you weighed in a couple of weeks ago on where you stand on the front
lines of the chip wars. What about the rest of you? Hanging with the stalwart
Intel, or opting for the feisty AMD? Let me process your response at [email protected].
Posted by Lafe Low on September 19, 2007 at 11:57 AM