AMD vs Intel in 2004

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Intel, AMD, and chipset changes Changes
by Wesley Fink
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Intel Changes Direction Again

After fighting the heat issues that came from the 90nm die-shrink, deeper pipes for greater speed, and the introduction of Socket 775, Intel has quietly given up on one of this year’s big events. Intel has let its partners know that the 4GHz Prescott simply will not be released this year. In fact this Pentium 4 may never be released.

Industry insiders say Intel will concentrate instead on dual-core processors which are set to debut about the middle of next year. This has to be a bitter pill for Intel to swallow, and AMD is also widely expected to ship dual-core processors in 2005.

In related news Intel has also changed the launch of the 1066 FSB that was to finally bring improved performance and a reason to buy Socket 775. While there is a launch of a very expensive 3.46GHz .13 Pentium 4EE and a 925XE motherboard with a1066 FSB, this is now targeted to be a very expensive combination with a CPU that will sell for more than $1,000. The mainstream 1066 is presenting production problems for Intel and may also be delayed until mid 2005.

AMD Launches 4000+ and FX55

While Intel was scaling back expectations, AMD went ahead with their planned launch of the 4000+ Athlon 64 and the even faster FX55 chips. These were the chips that were to set the standards for 4.0GHz performance, but they now will stand alone at the top of the speed pyramid. AMD expects these to be the last of the .13 processors, which means AMD will have new opportunities to reach even higher performance with the upcoming high-end .09 processors.

First 90nm chips from AMD Ship

Continuing the contrast between current situations for AMD and Intel, AMD has shipped the 90nm 3000+, 3200+, and 3500+ processors for dual-channel Socket 939. These are the first 90nm chips from AMD Dresden and early testing shows the AMD die-shrink is succeeding where Intel failed. The new chips run with much lower power consumption that the .13 parts and temperatures are even cooler than the .13 parts.

All of this means a great potential for overclocking the new 90nm Athlon 64. In tests of a random sample of 90nm, A64 chips most reached 2.6GHz – the performance level of the fastest FX55 processor. This was particularly impressive for the 90nm 3000+ which start at a very conservative 1.8GHz.

The last time we saw a stable 50% overclock with a CPU it was with the 2.4 Pentium 4 Northwood. It looks like AMD has some winners with the new 90nm processors and the price of entry for the top Socket 939 CPU is now less than $200.

nVidia nForce4 brings PCI Express and SLI to Athlon 64

It has been four months since nVidia first showed their new nForce4 motherboard at Computex. However, the new chipset for Athlon 64 Socket 939 is now shipping and you will soon see nForce4 motherboards on your dealers’ shelves. nForce4 is basically a refined nForce3 Ultra chipset with PCI Express instead of AGP/PCI.

nVidia has also introduced a very interesting Dual-Video card version of the nForce4 called nForce4 SLI. SLI stands for Scalable Link Interface, and it allows an Athlon 64 CPU to harness the power of two top video cards. Results comparing a single video card to two cards in an SLI board are very interesting.

For computer old-timers you will recognize this as similar to something 3dfx introduced with the Voodoo2 in about 1996. That isn’t really a complete surprise as nVidia bought what was left of 3dfx and it is rumored that former 3dfx Engineers had a big part in developing the GeForce 6 series video cards.

ATI Introduces a Chipset for Athlon 64 Motherboards

If seems that a snowball is developing for Athlon 64. ATI has been developing motherboard chipsets for both the new Intel 775 and the Socket 939 Athlon 64. However, after seeing how well the Athlon 64 is doing in the marketplace, ATI decided to release the A64 chipset now and hold off on the Pentium 4 775 chipset until next year.

The new ATI chipset for Athlon 64 supports Socket 939, PCI Express, and comes in both an integrated ATI video DX9 version and a discrete chipset version without video. The feature-set is just as up-to-date as the nVidia nForce4 and ATI has high hopes for their first try at entering the AMD market. Since the memory controller is on the Athlon 64 and not a part of the chipset, ATI has a good chance of delivering a chipset with competitive performance. ATI also tantalized us all with their plans to also produce early next year an SLI motherboard with their new chipset that will support two ATI PCI Express video cards.

VIA K8T890 and the Future K8T890 PRO

In case it is not clear enough that AMD, as well as Intel, is going to PCI Express, VIA also showed their first reference boards for Athlon 64 with PCI Express. The K8T890 should be included in shipping boards in the next few weeks. Not to be left out, VIA showed future plans for a K8T890 PRO chipset with their own version of an SLI dual-video solution that they claim will work with any brand video cards.

The past year has been very good for AMD, and the developments in the marketplace are a reflection of the shifting retail market shares that are now happening between AMD and Intel. AMD is the clear performance winner today, but as in the past, that will surely change again as Intel regroups and sets out in new technological directions. Competition is good for the computer market – it keeps choices high and prices lower than they might otherwise be.

[teemanshorty]

Amd definately won this year. hands down, it seemed like noone wanted to buy their new 775 boards and cpu's (what was to gain besides PCI-E)?
with the proliferation of 64-bit cpu's amd finally made a strong showing with someone other than overclockers.