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Microprocessor
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| Top Stories for January 25, 2002 (details below) | |
| C/Net | AMD scores points against Intel in 2001 |
| EE Times | Via launches DDR chip set for mobile Pentium IIIs |
| Semiconductor Business News | Nvidia to enter chip set market with product geared for AMD-based PCs, sources say |
| EBN | Rambus affirms modest share of DRAM market |
| EBN | Rambus exec downplays demise of four-bank design |
| Semiconductor Business News | Rambus officials insist future bright despite threats from rival DDR camp |
| Semiconductor Business News | Intel prepares to start 300-mm wafer production in Q1 |
| Truths...from the rumor mill | |
| The Inquirer | AMD's take on power consumption versus P4 |
| The Inquirer | Intel fights back on AMD claims |
| The Inquirer | Via plays David to the Intel goliath |
| The Inquirer | UMC squishes AMD buy in rumours |
| The Inquirer | Microsoft-Intel hypethreading confusion continues |
| The Inquirer | Transmeta in Compaq, Tosh wins? |
| Microprocessor
Headline News Collected By Robert R. Collins |
Week of January 20, 2002 |
Older News |
| January 25, 2002 | |
AMD scores points against Intel in 2001By John G. Spooner January 24, 2002 |
PC chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices gained ground in its
rivalry with chip king Intel during 2001, despite a surge by
Intel in the fourth quarter. AMD gained nearly four points of market share against its rival to end the year with just more than 20 percent of the PC processor market, despite losing two points sequentially from the third quarter, according to new numbers released by Mercury Research this week. |
Via launches DDR chip set for mobile Pentium IIIsBy Mike Clendenin January 24, 2002 |
Via Technologies Inc. is hoping to push double-data-rate DRAM
technology into Pentium III-based laptop computers with the
release of an upgraded chip set code-named Twister-T DDR, the
company said Wednesday (Jan. 23). The chip set is the first to support the 266-MHz DDR standard for Intel Corp.'s Pentium III mobile chips, Via said. It will also support desktop Pentium IIIs, Intel's Celerons and Via's own C3 processors used in laptops. |
Nvidia to enter chip set market with product geared for AMD-based PCs, sources sayJanuary 24, 2002 |
Nvidia Corp. will reportedly take another shot at the PC chip
set market, announcing a non-integrated product geared for PCs
based on Advanced Micro Devices Inc.'s Athlon processors,
according to sources at the Platform Conference here this
week. Sources at the conference indicated that Nvidia is currently sampling the nForce 415-D, a chip set that supports double-data-rate (DDR) SDRAM and other features. The Santa Clara-based company is expected to roll out the chip next month, sources said. |
Rambus affirms modest share of DRAM marketBy Jack Robertson January 24, 2002 |
Rambus Inc. in briefings this week showed projections of a 12%
Direct RDRAM share of the total DRAM market by 2005 -- a far
cry from the 50-to-75% share that supporters had forecast in
recent years. In presentations to the Platform Conference in San Jose, Calif. and elsewhere, Rambus affirmed forecasts by IDC that also showed rival DDR memory taking nearly 80% total DRAM market share in the same time period. |
Rambus exec downplays demise of four-bank designBy Jack Robertson January 24, 2002 |
Rambus Inc. on Wednesday said the demise of the four-bank
Direct RDRAM is not a problem, because prices of the once-high
premium RDRAM memory chip have now dropped to parity with the
rival DDR devices. Frank Fox, vice president and general manager of RDRAM Solutions Division, said the four-bank chip was originally designed to be a lower cost version to make Direct Rambus more competitive. "It is no longer needed now because RDRAM prices have dropped to the competitive levels where the four-bank version was originally targeted," he told EBN. |
Rambus officials insist future bright despite threats from rival DDR campBy Mark LaPedus January 24, 2002 |
During the Platform Conference here, executives from Rambus
Inc. insisted that the company's future remains bright despite
the current IC downturn and Intel Corp.'s decision to back a
pair of rival memory schemes. Until recently, Intel's Pentium 4 microprocessor line only supported Rambus' RDRAM memory architecture--which was supposed to provide a major boost for the Mountain View, Calif.-based chip company and its bottom line. |
Intel prepares to start 300-mm wafer production in Q1By Mark LaPedus January 23, 2002 |
Intel Corp. is quietly moving into volume production in its
initial 300-mm wafer fab as part of a major plan to reduce the
company's manufacturing and chip costs. Intel will move into production in its first 300-mm fab "this quarter," according to a spokesman for the company. The company's first 300-mm plant, called D1C, is a 0.13-micron development fab located in Hillsboro, Ore. |
| Truths...from the rumor mill | |
AMD's take on power consumption versus P4By Eva Glass January 22, 2002 |
I SCRIBBLED DOWN SOME details of a chart which is on AMD's
roadmap and which it wants its customers to use as part of
"competitive intelligence". I mentioned these before the other day but thought maybe it was worth describing the particular slide in more detail - headed Power Consumption - Athlon XP versus Pentium 4. AMD claims it has the power versus performance advantage because its higher maximum allowable die temperature (Tdie) makes for an easier thermal design, and Intel has a lower Tdie spec, meaning more expensive heat sinks, fans and different cases. |
Intel fights back on AMD claimsBy Mike Magee January 24, 2002 |
CHIP GIANT INTEL has entered into what may turn into an
unseemly row over how thermals affect the design of a PC. Earlier this week, we reproduced an AMD chart in its latest roadmaps which used the PR rating against MHz speeds for Intel chips and which appeared to claim thermal properties of Athlon XPs beat Pentium 4 heat properties hands down. |
Via plays David to the Intel goliathBy Fuad Abazovic January 22, 2002 |
WHAT IS THE BACKGROUND to the Intel-Via spat over Pentium 4
licences - an exchange that started with a balloon being
pricked and followed with the mass briefing of lawyers for
either side? I'd like to put some pros and cons about the resulting legal fight and the hard road Via has decided to tread that may possibly cost the Taiwanese chipset company millions of dollars before the curtains close on this particular scene. |
UMC squishes AMD buy in rumoursBy Mike Magee January 24, 2002 |
THE SECOND BIGGEST FOUNDRY in Taiwan - UMC - moved swiftly to
squash rumours circulating on investors' boards that AMD was
taking a big stake in the firm last night. That followed an announcement AMD made yesterday that it would offer convertible bonds worth half a billion dollars. But some think AMD may well make an acquisition - with Transmeta in the frame once more, according to AMD Zone. |
Microsoft-Intel hypethreading confusion continuesBy Mike Magee January 24, 2002 |
INTEL AND MICROSOFT do not appear to have come to an amicable
agreement on the number of Xeon processors reported by
operating systems, it would appear from some information at
the Compaq site. Last year we reported that the two firms were in negotiations on how best to implement hyperthreading, given that Microsoft operating systems get confused by the number of processors when Intel's cunning scheme is implemented. |
Transmeta in Compaq, Tosh wins?By Mike Magee January 24, 2002 |
CHINESE LANGUAGE press reports that Compaq, Acer, Toshiba and
NEC will use Crusoe chips from struggling start up Transmeta
in future Tablet PCs they're making. According to the Economic News, that means Transmeta will want its foundry, TSMC, to increase orders for Crusoe by 50 per cent. If the reports are correct, it is a great boost for Transmeta, which found itself struggling recently when TSMC was unable to make its Crusoe chips on time. |
| January 21, 2002 | |
Intel preparing new mobile chipsBy John G. Spooner January 18, 2002 |
Intel will launch a line of new chips for mobile PCs next week
that includes a low-cost Celeron running at more that 1GHz. The Santa Clara, Calif.-based chipmaker will release a new mobile Celeron running at 1.06GHz and two low-power Pentium III-M chips for ultra-portable machines, sources familiar with Intel's plans said. Soon after the launch, consumers can expect to see new notebooks with the chips and price cuts on existing systems. |
Intel's 300-mm fab in Ireland remains on track despite construction delaysJanuary 18, 2002 |
Intel Corp. here today insisted that its 300-mm fab project in
Ireland remains on track for the second half of 2003 despite
ongoing construction delays with the $2.2 billion plant. According a report from the Irish Times, Intel may not restart construction on its twice-delayed Fab 24 project in Leixlip this year, as previously expected. Intel is also looking to reduce the cost of the fab by renegotiating building contracts with various companies, according to the Irish Times. |
As president, Otellini could help Intel clear hurdles, say analystsBy Mark LaPedus January 18, 2002 |
Intel Corp.'s sudden move this week to shuffle its executive
ranks is not expected to alter the company's direction, but
its new management team will face some major challenges in
2002 and beyond, according to analysts. On Wednesday, Intel named microprocessor chief Paul Otellini as its new president and chief operating officer. A 28-year veteran of Intel, Otellini was executive vice president and general manager of the Intel Architecture Group, which is responsible for the company's $21 billion microprocessor and chip set businesses. |
Intel Cautious on RecoveryBy Tom Murphy and Alex Romanelli January 21, 2002 |
Intel Corp. executives were cautious on the business outlook
for the first quarter but were bullish on its prospects to
gain market share for 2002. The company's fourth-quarter
financial results displayed a marked improvement on the
previous quarter and beat most analysts' expectations. The Santa Clara, Calif.-based company's fourth-quarter net income, including acquisition-related costs, was $504 million, up 375 percent sequentially from the third quarter's $106 million and down only 20 percent from the same quarter a year ago. The company reported earnings per share (EPS) of 7 cents, up from EPS of 2 cents in the third quarter, but 78 percent below EPS of 32 cents in the fourth quarter of 2000. |
| Truths...from the rumor mill | |
The strange case of UMC and AMDBy Mike Magee January 18, 2002 |
TAIWANESE FIRMS and investors are getting excited at the
prospect of UMC becoming the favoured foundry of AMD,
Digitimes reports today. But there's doubt whether it has the technology to swing into action with .13 micron technology, copper interconnect and the silicon on insulator (SOI) processes AMD would need from a partner. And at the same time, the Taipei Times reports that UMC shares rose on the local bourse today because of plans it announced to sell off elements of its manufacturing capacity. |
Via P4X600 and Hammer chipsets on wayBy Mike Magee January 18, 2002 |
ROADMAPS SEEN by the INQUIRER in the Porcupine indicate that
Via, which is already in litigation with Intel over alleged
patent infringement, will press on with other revisions of
chipsets for the Pentium 4. We have already reported on the P4X333 but can now report that in this quarter Via will sample its P4X600 chipset, which will support 400/533MHz front side buses (FSBs), 128-bit DDR 266/33, will include support for V-Link 533MB/s and which will go into production in Q2 of this year. |
Clawhammer performance projectedBy Mike Magee January 18, 2002 |
OVER AT A Czech site, there's some projections of the
performance of a Clawhammer rated at 3400+ PR rating, and
pitched against a Pentium 4 at 3GHz and other chips including
the Alpha. Here's the Czech page. Xbit Labs reproduces the information here, along with some further notes. |
INQUIRER anti-Intel, anti-AMD, anti-Via, anti-Nvidia...By Mike Magee January 19, 2002 |
Anti-Intel (email address supplied) [This guy is talking about
a problem with sustained PCI access in the 850/860 Rambus
chipsets, which went relatively unreported. Ed.] "No, it is important that you give all the facts. Just as I tell people there is a problem with their via chipset, I also give them the direct link to download the 'patch' that the one guy made that partially fixes the problem. You do not slander a company simply because you dislike them, It's that simple. You give all the facts and you reassure people of alternatives and of other issues. |
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