What Are You Going To Do?

The last few months, the general sentiment on the websites has been “Intel is ahead,” “Intel is winning,” “the momentum is shifting to Intel.”

We don’t quite agree with that. We do believe Intel pretty much has its act back together again. We do believe Northwoods are competitive processors, and overall are a little ahead of equivalent XP solutions. We do believe Intel solutions have attracted more interest lately.

However, we also believe there hasn’t been a shift along the lines of the PII/PIII to Athlon shift we saw a few years ago, yet.

It seems to us as of the moment, interest in Intel overclocking has crawled up from the sewer to the gutter (OK, maybe the pavement). However, it seems like most current socket A owners are gritting their teeth and holding on until they see what AMD’s new products will do.

We could be wrong, so we have a few questions, and this will be one we’ll tally up and give you results with percentages. This one will take a while to tabulate and then analyze, so I won’t promise results until next week.

1. On your latest-and-greatest machine, what processor are you running, and how fast are you running it?

2. In 2002, have you changed your latest-and-greatest machine (either by upgrading or building a new one)?

a. No.
b. Upgraded.
c. Built a new one.

If you answered “No,” skip to question 6.

3. If you answered “Yes” to question 2, did you:

a. Continue with AMD.
b. Continue with Intel.
c. Shift from AMD to Intel.
d. Shift from Intel to AMD.
e. Do something else.

4. If you answered “Yes” to question 2, what was your old processor, and what did you replace it with?

5. If you answered “Yes” to question 2, what was the biggest reason why you did?

a. I wanted a faster machine.
b. I wanted a quieter machine.
c. I wanted a machine that was less of a hassle.
d. I just wanted to try something new.
e. Other (explain).

6. Which of the following most closely describes your current plans over the next nine months.

a. I will buy/upgrade to a Thoroughbred system.
b. I will buy/upgrade to a PIV system.
c. I am waiting to see what Hammer does.
d. I am waiting to see what Barton does.
e. I am waiting to see what dual DDR for the PIV does.
f. I’m happy with what I have.
g. I don’t plan into the distant future, I buy whenever I think I need to buy.

7. Will Christmas this year be a major factor in your personal computer buying (or getting) decisions?

a. Yes
b. No

8. How likely/willing are you to change platforms from AMD to Intel or vice versa?

a. I’ll do it at the drop of a hat.
b. I’m more reluctant to switch, but mainly because it costs more money than to just upgrade a CPU.
c. I’m reluctant to switch, mainly because I find my current platform better for me/I’m loyal to that platform.

(For the following two, you have thirty seconds to say something to these men. That’s one hundred words max. After that, the guy walks away and nothing you say after that counts. No ifs, ands or buts. So don’t pucker up, get to the point and keep it short.)

9. What would you say to the head of AMD?

10. What would you say to the head of Intel?

Thank you for your cooperation!

Ed