AMD is Approaching Platform Number One

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As things stand, AMD probably feels that it has the high ground over Intel in some very specific market sectors. AMD’s view is that the new chipset means that you can use your budget PC for watching movies, surfing the web and playing an array of games and, provided you’re using integrated graphics, you’ll get a better user experience out of the AMD hardware than you will from Intel. This is great if you’re one of the minority who builds Media Center PCs at home but the real bonanza for AMD lies in supplying platforms, which consist of a CPU, chipset and GPU or, better yet, a CPU and motherboard with integrated graphics to the big PC builders.

Throughout its PR campaign for the 690 chipset AMD constantly compared itself to Intel without a single mention of nVidia. Intel sells components and platforms whereas nVidia makes graphics chips and chipsets but doesn’t make CPUs, although some people suggest this will be a step it takes in the future. On the face of it AMD can reasonably compare itself to Intel and then claim a victory as it has better graphics technology and lower prices, which is exactly what the budget end of the market requires. It follows that Dell, Gateway and the rest should all ditch Intel tout de suite and make the switch to AMD but in my opinion this is pure fantasy hoisted aloft on an updraft of optimism.

For one thing Intel’s GMA X3000 graphics are in the right ballpark, whereas the GMA950 in i945G wasn’t even playing the same sport. Secondly, Intel can overcome a great many graphics woes by piling on the Core 2 Duo processing power. Thirdly, Intel can cut costs when it migrates to 45nm later this year. Fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh is the Intel brand and marketing budget. Shoppers on the High Street know and trust Intel but they are barely aware of AMD/ATI . That may not be right or proper but it’s true.

Eighth is the fact that Intel gets platforms while I very much doubt that AMD does. This part pains me as it makes me sound like an Intel fan boy but I’m going to spell it out.

Driver support on Intel's website is superb, but looking at AMD’s website on 2nd March, two days after the launch of 690 it seems as though the most recent driver is dated January 2004 and provides AC’97 audio on the 8111 chipset. After communication with AMD it was pointed out that the drivers for motherboard chipsets are included in the Catalyst Software Suite. This means that AMD's motherboard driver support should be as regular as its graphics drivers - meaning every month - but it would be nice if AMD made it more obvious where those drivers are.

When I was testing the Asus 690 board with an Athlon 64 X2 5000+ CPU I had to run an AMD CPU driver to get PCMark05 to run correctly. Until I hit this problem for the first time a year ago I had no idea there were such things as CPU drivers yet I have never seen a motherboard driver CD that includes this piece of software.

In short, there’s a damn sight more to a platform than a CPU, chipset and GPU and while I’m not at all sure that AMD knows the difference I am utterly certain that Intel takes the platform as an article of faith.

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