I´m VERY disapointed with AMD thunderbird and duron release

[Nuno]

Intel deliberatly made coppermine incompatible with older BX mb pulling a stupid new voltage protocol, but AMD has disapointed me very much.

Even Intel offers coppermine in both slot and socket versions, and now AMD will release the new cpu´s in socket A ONLY. Suposedly there will be some scarce slot A cpu´s at first ONLY to selected OEM´s. SO there we are again. The upgrade paths are screwed. Damn, what did they have to lose releasing a retail slot A thunderbird? Even if it was somewhat more expensive due to manufacturing costs? So AMD doesn´t give a shit to former consumers willing to ugrade. Ok, note taken. I will remember that next time I upgrade.

But much more serious is the thunderbird being incompatible with KX133. I have serious trouble in believing this. That would be the most serious shoot on the foot AMD could have....

[CHHAS]

Yes, it's a damn shame that the Thunderbird will only come in socket A (ok, not really a problem for me as I have a bx board, and need to get a new one anyway). Lets just hope that Socket A -> Slot A converters appear (I have a feeling they will).

The KX133 problem (if it exists) could very well be an oversight on VIA's part, as I've read that the AMD750 chipset is compatible with Thunderbird (and Duron).

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P3 500, 224 MB ram, G400 16SH,
Maxtor DM 40+ 30GB, IBM Deskstar 16GP 10GB, Maxtor 4320 13 GB
SB Live Value

[isochar]

Actually, according to the article at The Register, AMD seems to be having motherboard problems...
http://www.theregister.co.uk/000504-000024.html

[Nuno]

Personally I am not very worried with KX133 incompatibility (I have a Gigabyte 7-IX AMD 750 chipset and I was not thinking of upgrading to KX133 - I always had something that kept telling me "Don´t buy VIA. Don´t buy VIA"). But I think this is very bad to AMD.

That'll teach them to laugh at Intel's 820 Caminogate misfortunes

I wonder how these news influence AMD in stock market now...

About slockets, I hope they appear but it seems that there are some technical dificulties about them. The EV6 bus is much more advanced than Intel´s GTL+, and much more pickier. A EV6 slocket could be imposible to designed because of the added noise in the sensitive bus. But let´s hope this is just a rumor...

[paulcs]

The writing was on the wall, so to speak, a couple of weeks ago. I mentioned here that I intended to wait before upgrading to an Athlon platform because of the Socket A situation. Someone responded, in the declarative, that the new Athlon CPU's would be readily available in both formats.

I suspect the only reason Intel continues to stick with the Slot 1 format (to the extent that they have) is that they have botched things so badly and acceptable Socket 370 solutions just aren't as available as Intel originally intended. I also suspect that the long life of the BX platform created a situation where a sudden transition to socketed platforms would have created serious disruptions in the market, particularly the OEM market.

Having said that, Slot 1 parts are becoming scarcer, and they are often more expensive than their Socket 370 counterparts. I suspect this has as much to do with supply and demand issues as it does manufacturering cost issues.

Engineering issues aside, and they sound pretty serious, AMD doesn't really face the same situation. I think OEM's, for the most part, will be either please or less ticked-off by the rapid transition. Socketed parts are cheaper and better performers. I just don't think AMD has enough market share to disrupt anything in a big way, and the consequences of a more rapid transition will be less dire.

The people who are really getting screw by this are, as usual, early adopters: in particular, people who jumped on the KV133 chipset. I doubt this is AMD's fault. I think VIA, once again, may have screwed up.

Intel is the proverbial 800 pound gorilla. They are arrogant, heavy handed, and act very much like the monopoly they are. VIA, at least to my mind, seems to act without considering the consequences of their actions on their clients. I think if they expect to really challenge Intel on the high end, this will have to change.

I don't think this is true of AMD. I believe, a while back, they put into motion a brilliant long-term strategy, and it has been paying off as of late. I just hope they don't become too reliant on VIA, because I don't think VIA is particularly reliable. I know AMD has indicated they don't want to get into the chipset business. I wish they would reconsider.

Once again, I apologize for the long-winded rant.

Paul
paulcs@flashcom.net

[The PIT]

I agree with you Paulcs. Amd should reconsider about getting involved in the motherboard arena. That would give Intel even more things to worry about. Intel haven't handled the competion very well and another kick up the rear would benifit is all.

[Taz]

From the information I have read AMD's 750 chipset works with both Duron and Thunderbird but VIA's KX133 chipset works with neither. Considering the help AMD is reported to have given to AMD during the design of the KX133 chipset and knowing their own long term plans it seems surprising there is this compatability issue. There are three possible reasons for this, AMD didn't provide VIA with the correct info, unlikely as they are keen to let someone else produce the chipsets and want these to be a success. VIA had the correct info but didn't follow it, possible if they were in a rush to release it. It was all part of VIA's plans all along, considering their KV133 chipset supports both and is based largely on the KX133 chipset this seems the most likely.

[Alfie]

paulcs is right,the writing has been on the wall for a while now.
Athlons would change over to a socket design.
The plus side of socket is overwhelming from a manufacturer's viewpoint,
cheaper to produce, on chip cache,etc.
From the consumers viewpoint,
faster cpu!cheaper price!
For those that have already purchased a Via 133 mobo,the path of changing cpus is limited.However,there are still plenty of slot A cpus available and we have Greebe!
AMD is releasing new chipsets later this year.
This is over on JC's which is promising
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00/05/06, 3:00pm - Biggest news of the day, possibly the story of the week: thanks to Barry Carson for this one: Here, a report that Micron is planning to port their "Samurai" DDR chipset to an EV-6 platform for the Athlon derivatives
So,although there are negatives,there's also the bright side!

[ParaKnowYa]

Well as soon as those new CPUs from AMD hit the market Via will have their KZ133 ready and board manufacturers will grab it. In case anyone would like to enjoy the plus the KX or in this case the KZ comes with he/ she can get one of those brand new KZ based boards then!

Well, KZ hmmmm... actually I'm not sure but it definitely was something with Z in it! =) hehehe

regards
PKY www.paraknowya.de