Will AMD ever become a chipset manufacturer?

[Muerto]

Do you guys think it will ever happen? I hope it does. I can remember when the KX133 chipset first came out, there was almost no significant performance improvement over the AMD750 chipset using PC100 SDRAM.

The fact that Intel is a chipset manufacturer is one of the biggest strengths that the P3 and P4 have going for them. If anyone will know how to get the most out of a CPU it will be the CPU manufacturer. If AMD would start designing more chipsets the Athlon/Duron would get even faster (I think anyway).

 

[Cosmic_Horror]

well as you have answered, AMD already are a chipset manufacturer.

Well there is a lot more to chipsets than preformance. I firstly want stability, compatability and features.

The question is , does AMD want to battle Intel on the cpu front while it contests the chipset market against Via?

 

[Muerto]

I guess if AMD did become a major chipset manufacturer (beyond what they do now) that would jepordize their relationship with VIA. Although VIA is now making CPUs. I think it will happen but not for a year or two.

 

[MikeyP]

Currently AMD is using every available inch of fab space to build CPU's/Flash which have a higher profit margin compared to chipsets. Give them a few more years of good profits and the opportunity to expand their facilities.

 

[sean2002]

I remember reading somewhere that AMD stated that they did not want to get into making chipsets, rather they would rely on VIA, Ali, SIS etc. to supply the chipsets for their CPUS

 

[EY2K]

AMD, at this point, cannot make their own chipsets and push them into the marketplace. It would not be wise financially for them. Reasons???

1) Intel has way too many Fabs at their disposal, so they are able to get away with making chipsets.
2) AMD needs as much of the Fabs it can get right now just to meet the demand of all it's consumers, and the fact that they are ramping up to higher clockspeeds while manufacturing mobile CPUs now is all placing a heavy stress on AMD's current Fab facilities than ever.
3) Typically, there is not much profit to be gained in manufacturing chipsets since they are sold at such high quantities and sold for significantly less than CPUs.

So basically, the way I see it it is in AMD's best interest to continue pushing their CPUs and only design a chipset when there is an absolute need. After all they now have ALi's support as well. I expect ALi's solution to mature down the road. After all, not like the first VIA chipsets kicked arse. I do expect that if AMD ever does become the size of Intel, then they too will design chipsets. That's a BIG 'if' though. Don't worry about my last comment, cuz I am an AMD fan.

 

[Degenerate]

<< Typically, there is not much profit to be gained in manufacturing chipsets since they are sold at such high quantities and sold for significantly less than CPUs >>



how would you comment on the 815 with the onborad graphics for the Celerons and AMD's Durons for the value segment?

 

[EY2K]

I'm not sure what you mean exactly since the i815 only applies to the Intel CPUs NOT AMD Durons. However, SiS makes a budget all-in-one chipset like the i815 for the AMD Duron, called the SiS 730. AMD roadmaps indicate NO plans for an AMD 'budget' chipset anytime soon.

 

[yiwonder]

I think if AMD will eventually be forced into being a bigger chipset maker. Whether they produce as many as Intel or not, they will need to produce chips because I believe that if they are to be truly successful, they must be independent from third party chipset makers to enable AMD CPUs to succeed. This shouldn't be the top priority though for AMD because as long as they produce good CPUs, good chipsets will be out to support them. AMD's 760 strategy was good in that they produced a fairly good chipset to get the ball rolling, then other chipsets have begun to take the flag from the 760.

It really depends on how Intel fares and whether AMD wants to truly be independent.