• Welcome to Overclockers Forums! Join us to reply in threads, receive reduced ads, and to customize your site experience!

A world without ATI/AMD?

Overclockers is supported by our readers. When you click a link to make a purchase, we may earn a commission. Learn More.
vanibanez

vanibanez

Member
​
Joined
Oct 19, 2001
Location
newfoundland, canada
I figured here is the best place to voice my concerns over recent events concerning AMD and Intel. I have noticed from reading posts on here (and overclockers.com front page headlines) and sites abroad that people are really nailing AMD to the perverbial cross over its recent actions and inactions.
I too agree with some of these but we all have to also wonder about other things....if AMD goes for a dump and Intel is the sole producer of CPU's we are looking at a bleak future for the next while. Without competition Intel will be the end-all be-all for CPU production. R & D will probably slow to a crawl and prices will no doubt begin to rise.
The same can be said for VGA production. With ATI/AMD out of the way, Nvidia will be in the same situation as Intel.
Now I have been an AMD user/fan for as long as I've had a pc, the price and performance have always been good. I still have an Athlon 64 +3000 that I have used with no issues. Hopefully the worst does not happen.
But what do people out here in the forums think will happen in the near future? Best and worst case scenarios? What will you do if your next upgrade has an Intel and Nvidia only option?
 
I seriously doubt AMD will go under. They moved to another niche in the market and will find a way to recover from their wounds (that they inflicted upon themselves :rolleyes:).

*pst* this should be in general CPU ;)
 
I think the author WHO HAS POSTED IN THE WRONG FORUM (I know... you've already apologized... I just like rubbing it in ;) ) is talking about the "hypothetical" doomsday scenario. So it doesn't really matter if it's likely or not. He's just saying: "What if it did?"

Quite simply if AMD went under The New World Order would begin. They'd start by imprisoning babies and bombing Apple headquarters. Then they mass juice-letting...

...where they let everyone have juice.

Seriously though the day AMD filed bankruptcy IBM or Texas Instruments or somebody of that stature would buy them, change the direction of the company and there'd be some new label going after Intel's crown.

Companies don't really "go out of business" anymore. Not in the traditional sense...
 
rainless said:
Seriously though the day AMD filed bankruptcy IBM or Texas Instruments or somebody of that stature would buy them, change the direction of the company and there'd be some new label going after Intel's crown.

Companies don't really "go out of business" anymore. Not in the traditional sense...
Click to expand...
I think you nailed it ;)

I could definitely see IBM buying them out and taking their spot.
 
I guess worse case would be Intel getting everyone to "goose-march" to the stores to buy their product. All the while shouting "Hail Intel".
 
I can see that if AMD were to go under, they would definitely be bought up. But, even the legal work would take the better part of two years. Add the necessary changes to fab lines that the parent company would need to make to manufacture usable CPU's (2 years) and then finally add in the time it will take for people to trust this new brand (another year). There's five years of Intel keeping the technology right where it is, but upping prices considerably. Imagine looking at the Intel road map, but delay it 5+ years and maybe throw in a few money-saving (for Intel, anyway...) die shrinks. That's how technology would move until the "new" company actually becomes a threat.
 
You guys are making light of it, but I really don't think it's all that funny. I remember when Intel was selling high end processors for upwards of $1000. We all benefit from the competition between these two companies. I also don't think AMD has to go under for this to become a problem for us, they just have to end up in a very weak financial position where they are unable to support much R&D or offer much competition to Intel.

AMD's problems may be somewhat self inflicted, but the major issue-- that it is going up against a larger rival, with much more money at its disposal-- has not changed over the past decade or two. It really is not the most ideal situation from the standpoint of the consumer.

We can laugh about the "new world order" and make light of the situation, but there are very real reasons to believe the average person has not benefited from the dual monopoly of Microsoft and Intel in the PC area.
 
reclaimer122 said:
I can see that if AMD were to go under, they would definitely be bought up. But, even the legal work would take the better part of two years. Add the necessary changes to fab lines that the parent company would need to make to manufacture usable CPU's (2 years) and then finally add in the time it will take for people to trust this new brand (another year). There's five years of Intel keeping the technology right where it is, but upping prices considerably. Imagine looking at the Intel road map, but delay it 5+ years and maybe throw in a few money-saving (for Intel, anyway...) die shrinks. That's how technology would move until the "new" company actually becomes a threat.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't go so far as to say that development would stand still. After all, Intel still needs a reason to create a reason for people to buy new computers with their chips in them. I do believe that we'd see much higher prices, however, as was the case in the past when Intel was more dominant. I also would definitely expect to see a slower progression in processor advancements as Intel could more easily milk their current technology longer.

I'd like to add that this is not some sort of conspiracy theory, it's just a smart way of doing business. A lot of people probably think Intel's goal is to make processors, but their real goal is to make money. That doesn't make them "bad", per se, but they are a company and their primary motivation is not altruism. Don't make the mistake of thinking any company is your friend, or operates with your best interests at heart. Except for those who own a significant amount of Intel stock, none of us benefit from AMD struggling.
 
IF AMD were to go under i would worry, but ATI can die anytime they like (its not like they really exists anyway for Linux users), competition in the GPU market will go on without them, Intels Larrabee project will see to that. Ok, so i dont have high hopes for Intel GPUs for gaming in the first few years, but in time it will be an alternative for gamers. In addition GPU makers need people to always upgrade to make money in the mid and high end market, nvidia would only hurt themselves if they slow down the R&D, plus Intel would overtake them very fast if they did ("Intel got deep pockets", heard it before maybe? :) )
 
It is hard to even contemplate AMD going under. AMD processors were all my circle of friends dreamed about when we were little :drool:
 
Last edited:
The AMD name may well disappear. IBM is doing some amazing stuff with optical based chips in their R&D. If Green goes down, I expect IBM will hire up all the expertise they can and grab the fabs. They will probably spin ATI back out as a division and let a majority of what was AMD go.The first reason for this is to eliminate the bloat. The second is to get rid of any internal strife from loyalists to old green. If IBM does end up taking on AMD, things could get quite interesting in the next few years.

Edit: a few links to articles about the new stuff coming out of IBM's R&D....

TGDaily article

Ars Technica artical

Interesting reads both.
 
Last edited:
I don't see AMD really going out of business, I can see them going bankrupt but not out of business. There are a few factors to think of here. AMD still sells a lot of processors, they just can't make as much of a profit as they did a few years back. There stocks may be falling but it should level out soon. Just because the phenom x4's are giving us performance issues, doesn't mean that we are going to have problems with the x2's, they may even outperform the x4's for all we know.
One thing is for certain though is that AMD needs to have a hit with the x2's in order to stay in business. If they can get at least close to core 2 performance (which in reality clock for clock agena is not that far behind) and keep the price down, than I can see AMD coming back
ATi has a mild hit with the 38xx series of graphics cards and this will help AMD a little bit until they can release the new phenoms.
 
jmsanders2 said:
IF anything, Microsoft will just buy AMD lol. Then we won't have any problems because we all know AMD is screwing up vista. Go go gadget BS! :beer:
Click to expand...

That would be an interesting thought, except that I don't think, due to anti-trust, Microsoft can buy a hardware company, especially not one as big as AMD/ATi
 
Dapman02 said:
That would be an interesting thought, except that I don't think, due to anti-trust, Microsoft can buy a hardware company, especially not one as big as AMD/ATi
Click to expand...

I was just throwing the concept out there in jest. IBM/ AMD would be more likely as I doubt MS wouldn't want to go down that route even if they could, unless the price is right. Either way, AMD isn't going anywhere imo. They'll downsize quickly and keep trying to sue Intel. Then at some point, R&D will magically come up with a new processor from the gods and everyone will love them again, either that or they'll be subsidized :mad: to live on in purgatory.

Worst case, amd sells off ati for quick cash and goes down in history as david eventually losing to goliath (where are all these religious references and terms coming from? *washes mouth*)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

mackerel
Intel Foundry update - April 2024
Replies
0
Views
118
mackerel
mackerel
D
New Laptop this year
Replies
8
Views
416
Dravenspur
D
mackerel
Arrow Lake leaks
Replies
14
Views
383
Flamethrower1972
Flamethrower1972
don256us
FAQ: What is T32's current standing in the world?
Replies
8
Views
465
dfonda
dfonda
don256us
We are #8 in the world.
Replies
16
Views
697
Flamethrower1972
Flamethrower1972
Back