Re: AMD planning 45nm 12-Core 'Istanbul' Processor ?

On Apr 28, 9:20 am, chrisv <chr...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> Jan Panteltje wrote:
> >>> Wish them luck - without AMD the whole CPU world would be
> >>> boring and damn expensive.
>
> >>Amdroid fantasy.  The PC as a platform is pushed on the low end by
> >>game boxes and on the high end by IBM and Sun.
>
> >>What could be more boring than the x86 domination we have now?
> >>Without AMD, there would be no such monoculture.
>
> >Competition.
> >Intel would still be with Pentium 2 if not for AMD
>
> Or  IA64, with Intel having a complete monopoly, and all that implies.

Without AMD, one of threee things would have happened:

1. Intel would have had the resources to deliver a satisfactory
Itanium product and accompanying compiler on schedule.

2. Intel would have been forced into a partial retreat to x86, anyway.

3. Sparc or Power would be holding much larger market share under any
number of possible licensing and manufacturing arrangements.

I personally believe that what we've got is the worst of all possible
worlds: AMD on death's door, Microsoft holding on to its monopoly
catering to just one ISA, and, to all intents and purposes, zero
diversity in processor architecture.

Robert.