AMD + Dell = *Happyface*

personally i dont care much..if i want a desktop im going to build it myself. I suppose an AMD laptop wouldnt be bad, as long as its fasat, good for gaming and is cheap like a 9300.

I imagine if that does happen, it will be great news for the XPS desktops.

AMD + Dell = *Happyface*

AMD + Dell = *8==============) O8*

Also keep in mind this is what...the fifth time said "serious dialog" has come up? You'd think people would learn to take it with a grain of salt.

Personally I think Dell pulls this stuff when they want to pad a quarterly estimate, since Intel probably offers MASSIVE incentives to them to stay a loyal customer...thereby making more product available to them for cheaper, which in turn creates cheaper Dells, and leaves AMD with egg on its face for having plumed its feathers in expectation.

I choose to view it like a schoolyard kickball teammate choosing episode - AMD might have the heart, but Intel has the bigger foot and has a better reputation for kissing ass.

Part of the reason Dell goes with Intel (besides the aforementioned sugardaddy incentives) is Intel has to REALLY screw something up for their overall yield to be affected. If AMD runs into production problems (as they have in the past), Dell could be left with unfulfillable orders. Even the most adamant AMDroid has to admit Intel has AMD beat on the ability to MAKE chips.

Also let's still not forget that Intel's own motherboards are usually *about* as rock-stable as one can get (yes, I know the XPS600 desktops use the nForce4). Only third-party chipsets are available for AMD chips since the AMD-8000 was AMD's last core logic, and I think Athlon MPs are a little outdated now. It'd be yet another concern for Dell, because even if the vast majority of their CS base is in India, if they get more calls because of a less-reliable product, they'll have to pay them more!

And if Dell decides to become AMD's #1 customer of Sempron chips (because let's face it, this IS where it's going to start, not with the XPS line with the FX/X2 line), AMD might have to very well shift their processes to produce more of those to keep Dell happy, driving the cost of Opterons and Athlon FX/X2s WAY the hell up, as well as possibly even making AMD bow out of other successful enterprises such as their flash memory business.

I don't have to say what a boon this would be to Intel were AMD to shift from higher-end/mainstream to produce Dell's "value" chips. This is why I've always been afraid AMD producing for Dell could wind up making AMD a new age Cyrix. At the furthest end of the spectrum, Dell would *undoubtedly* be AMD's biggest customer...so Dell could get away with pretty much bleeding the company dry and setting it up for easy acquisition by either itself or even Microsoft. Granted, this is at the furthest extreme, but in business, you're essentially married to your best customer. AMD's had the unique ability to spread itself out - and yes I know HP/Compaq and Gateway use AMD chips and THEY haven't "annexed" them, but NEITHER of those guys has the clout or capital Dell has.

As much as people say Dell using AMD might be a boon, it might be enough strain to kill AMD (as we know it) if they haphazardly enter into a contract without checking a weather report. Let's just hope Hector Ruiz can see past the potential dollar signs.

Im a huge AMD fan and like everything they offer. I do however think that intel has something going here with the pentium m, seems like a great processor, their only great processor. Just my .02

Yep me too. I would never build a Pentium-4 based desktop. I've built many PCs for friends and family and always use AMD processors eversince Intel released the P4. That 20 (or however many, I know it's alot) execution steps for the P4 is a backward design in my opinion.

Insightful post destruya.

I agree wholeheartedly. I am a massive AMD fan, however Intel's mobile processors are very well done (Pentium M). While I appreciate my P-M, I still have my "Evil Inside" sticker on my palmrest......LOL.


AMD

Dell bluffs going over to AMD every year when its time to negotiate pricing on the new stuff from Intel. Every...single...year. This is how we're able to get expensive processors in Dells for so cheap. They do, indeed, get massive discounts from Intel for pushing their crack to the junkies. Its always possible but you're more likely to get struck by lightning holding the winning PowerBall ticket.

That would suck. The winning ticket would get fried and no one can claim the prize.

Another AMD fan

Although our Centrino is a very great processor

Don't forget that AMD has the ability to use the IBM fab lines too

That sure is what it seems like.

That's a very interesting though. For years AMD was considered the value line and Intel was the performance line. Recently that has shifted around and it wouldn't be beneficial to AMD to shift it back. AMD should only supply dell if they are going into the XPS desktops. AMD sucks in mobile processors and it will be neat to see what the Turion chips do.

I recently looked at one my old games and it said AMD-K6 or Intel Pentium II. Doesn't the K6 bring back memories?

I thought the Turions performed on par with the Pentium M, except for a very slightly higher power consumption?

Intel v. AMD on performance generally comes down to what you're measuring. They both have good strong points. It can also be influenced by how the systems are built, since you can't put them into the exact same system anymore.

I personally avoid Intel chipsets. I haven't seen anything that really makes me feel they're that much more stable than the third-party chips used for AMD chipsets, and I'm certainly not impressed with the performance of Intel boards when compared to third-party chipset makers for Intel chips.

Dell CEO Kevin Rollins interviewed for eWeek recently, and pretty much said they had no intention to build AMD into any of their systems. He was wise enough not to state it as hard fact, since too many CEOs have painted themselves into corners by saying they'd never do a thing, but it was pretty clear they're not seriously looking in that direction.

Part of it may be that Intel is hinting at some serious firepower coming around the corner. A lot of people are looking at that with some anticipation that it may put Intel way out ahead in the performance arena. If that happens, Dell won't want to look like they shot themselves in the foot by not just waiting for it. I'm personally taking it with a grain of salt, as the Pentium IV looked sweet as candy on paper, but that brand new architecture turned out to be far more fluff than stuff once it hit the real world. Worst case for Dell waiting it out is that they have to tell people they just did what they always did.

Personally, I'd like to just see Intel stop calling their chips "Pentium", as long as they don't adopt a Microsoft naming scheme and start releasing "Desktop Chip 2006" or somesuch nonsense.

Pentium is a tired name that now has an image of being a power hungry sub-par chip compared with the AMD X2. It's time for them to ditch the name and I"m glad they are going with CoreSolo & CoreDuo for laptops. The desktop chips will be renamed at a later date.

Yeah I think they are pretty close. AMD needs a strong platform like Centrino has.