AMD to retire the ATi brand?

Domingo said:
While AMD definitely had some serious success stories (like with the original Athlon series), I think a lot of consumers associate them with being cheaper/inferior to Intel. I can't tell you how many times I've seen and heard that with people shopping for computers.
ATI doesn't have that same connotation. Plus, AMD's colors are green. I like the whole red/green thing going on with ATI and Nvidia.
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I can totally understand why AMD would want to do this, but........

I know a lot of people that refuse to buy an AMD cpu for the exact reason that you mentioned: they view them as inferior to Intel cpu's. When I think about it, the majority of them own ATI cards and to be honest I know that they don't realize ATI is AMD. As soon as they start selling gpu's as AMD video cards these people will be switching to Nvidia, I know these people.

So, I can see pro's and con's to AMD doing away with the ATI name.
 
Sort of funny the way I came to buy my first ATi video card. I had always purchased AMD processors but when the core 2 line of processors came out I couldn't justify buying an inferior AMD product. Since I felt bad for leaving AMD for Intel, I decided to make it up to AMD and bought a ATi 4850 and have since purchased a 5850. Was a satisfied Nvidia user before that.
 
jbean7457 said:
Sort of funny the way I came to buy my first ATi video card. I had always purchased AMD processors but when the core 2 line of processors came out I couldn't justify buying an inferior AMD product. Since I felt bad for leaving AMD for Intel, I decided to make it up to AMD and bought a ATi 4850 and have since purchased a 5850. Was a satisfied Nvidia user before that.
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I don't understand brand loyalty to this degree. When AMD had the faster processors I bought AMD CPUs and nothing else. When Intel dominated with the Core 2 and Core i7, that's what I purchased. When NVIDIA has the fastest GPU I buy that. When AMD does, guess which one I choose?
 
I am sure if they call it anything, it would be AMD Radeon, Simple and Clean. I am sure they will Drop Ati and just use the Radeon Brand name.
 
Dan_D said:
I don't understand brand loyalty to this degree. When AMD had the faster processors I bought AMD CPUs and nothing else. When Intel dominated with the Core 2 and Core i7, that's what I purchased. When NVIDIA has the fastest GPU I buy that. When AMD does, guess which one I choose?
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So you're a fanboi like me?

I'm a fanboi of competition. It's the only brand I'll take. :D

I wonder when we'll see a new brand of GPU. Not so much like a 3rd party, as in like.... Nvida Macht 280 or ATI Doeltreffendheid 2870.
 
AMD should really consider putting SE,Pro, XL, XT and XTX in their GPU names. No more confusing numbers like 5830 5850 5770.... wouldn't HD5800XT or HD5800XTX be so much easier? and if they wanted to update the line up , AMD could just add 50 to the number (ex 5850XT) instead making whole new name (ex HD6850) and confusing everyone...
 
Dan_D said:
I don't understand brand loyalty to this degree. When AMD had the faster processors I bought AMD CPUs and nothing else. When Intel dominated with the Core 2 and Core i7, that's what I purchased. When NVIDIA has the fastest GPU I buy that. When AMD does, guess which one I choose?
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While nvidia may have had the faster vid card for awhile, they still charged way too much for it IMO. AMD has been about more reasonable prices, but since nvidia hasn't done a very good job of competing with the ATI cards; AMD video card prices have not dropped like a lot of us would have hoped.

I am also a huge fan of competition. I prefer the AMD/ATI brand, but I have and do own Intel, AMD, and nvidia products.
 
Growing up playing on Nvidia cards, I must say a lot of people have a negative stigma against ATI. Most of them were Nvidia or Voodoo users though ;)

I openly embrace GPU competition though, it strives for better products.
 
Have they considered that the green AMD logo is going to render a massive library of excellent red/green jokes obsolete? Green vs green is inherently unfunny.
 
wow a lot of company are doing some really weird things. ATi is a well reconized brand that goes back 15+ years WTF are they thinking?
 
runnin17 said:
While nvidia may have had the faster vid card for awhile, they still charged way too much for it IMO. AMD has been about more reasonable prices, but since nvidia hasn't done a very good job of competing with the ATI cards; AMD video card prices have not dropped like a lot of us would have hoped.

I am also a huge fan of competition. I prefer the AMD/ATI brand, but I have and do own Intel, AMD, and nvidia products.
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Not always, ATi charged well over 500usd for the 8500XT Platinum, and well over 550usd for their X1900.

Both were the bad@ss GPU of their days.
 
UG_PL said:
AMD should really consider putting SE,Pro, XL, XT and XTX in their GPU names. No more confusing numbers like 5830 5850 5770.... wouldn't HD5800XT or HD5800XTX be so much easier? and if they wanted to update the line up , AMD could just add 50 to the number (ex 5850XT) instead making whole new name (ex HD6850) and confusing everyone...
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I prefer the numerical scheme to the suffix naming scheme.

They might also be trying to take advantage of Apple now using their product so they can use that media exposure to let people know about the name change as well.
 
UG_PL said:
AMD should really consider putting SE,Pro, XL, XT and XTX in their GPU names. No more confusing numbers like 5830 5850 5770.... wouldn't HD5800XT or HD5800XTX be so much easier? and if they wanted to update the line up , AMD could just add 50 to the number (ex 5850XT) instead making whole new name (ex HD6850) and confusing everyone...
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XFX X6970XTX XXX XTREME EDITION XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
 
SixtyWattMan said:
XFX X6970XTX XXX XTREME EDITION XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
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No, simply call it the: AMD Radeon SEX edition.

Simple enough? :p
 
leh18621 said:
I can totally understand why AMD would want to do this, but........

I know a lot of people that refuse to buy an AMD cpu for the exact reason that you mentioned: they view them as inferior to Intel cpu's. When I think about it, the majority of them own ATI cards and to be honest I know that they don't realize ATI is AMD. As soon as they start selling gpu's as AMD video cards these people will be switching to Nvidia, I know these people.

So, I can see pro's and con's to AMD doing away with the ATI name.
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Can you do me a favor? For those people you mentioned that I bolded, when something comes up that is really stupid, can you like take a rubber glove and backhand them with it?

It would be cathartic for me in a cosmic sense.
 
so has anyone thought maybe they will drop the entire name.. ATI + radeon and just call then AMD HDxxxx instead of AMD radeon HDxxxx? if your going to drop the ATI name then you might as well drop the radeon name along with it since its been an ATI brand name since the beginning.. i mean if you really think about it how many of us in forums sit there and call an HD5870 a Radeon HD5870? or Radeon HD4870? we usually just call it HD5870 or HD4870, etc, etc, etc.. even if you look up common search terms people usually search for HDxxxx instead of radeon HDxxxx..
 
Interesting to note is recognition of AMD's video cards as either ATI or Radeon. I think it will be okay because I've known AMD owned ATI.. Personally, when I hear Radeon I think of AMD/ATI and when I hear ATI I think Radeon Cards.
 
sirmonkey1985 said:
so has anyone thought maybe they will drop the entire name.. ATI + radeon and just call then AMD HDxxxx instead of AMD radeon HDxxxx? if your going to drop the ATI name then you might as well drop the radeon name along with it since its been an ATI brand name since the beginning.. i mean if you really think about it how many of us in forums sit there and call an HD5870 a Radeon HD5870? or Radeon HD4870? we usually just call it HD5870 or HD4870, etc, etc, etc.. even if you look up common search terms people usually search for HDxxxx instead of radeon HDxxxx..
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Radeon is as fixed to the product line/purpose as GeForce is. Just like FireGL, FirePro, Quattro, Tesla, etc.
 
UG_PL said:
AMD should really consider putting SE,Pro, XL, XT and XTX in their GPU names. No more confusing numbers like 5830 5850 5770.... wouldn't HD5800XT or HD5800XTX be so much easier? and if they wanted to update the line up , AMD could just add 50 to the number (ex 5850XT) instead making whole new name (ex HD6850) and confusing everyone...
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I completely disagree, man. AMD's numbers are lot easier for laymen to understand rather than pseudo-random combinations of letters.

If I was a new buying with absolutely no experience with video cards, how could I possibly know whether or not Pro is better than XTX? What about GS versus GTX? My only possible guess would be to assume that the suffixes are organized alphabetically - which seems quite unlikely and risky although it coincidentally is true. With numbers, however, assuming that a larger model number reflects greater performance is a fairly intuitive guess and it turns out to be mostly accurate. A 5970 is better than a 5870 which is better than a 5850 which is better than a 5770. Things only get complicated when crossing generational gaps, such as a 4890 being better* than a 5550, but in general it works rather well.

Furthermore I think it makes a lot of sense to use one of those gratuitous zeros (9800, 2900) and replace it with more information. The removal of suffixes makes the model names denser in terms of information, and I'm all for trimming the fluff. Speaking of which, I'd be happy if AMD got rid of the HD or the Radeon parts of the nomenclature which seem to be redundant.

* - 5550 has DX11 support and better perf/watt than 4890.
 
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There are positives and negatives to this I think. If AMD struggles then their GPU market will perceived to be struggling also. Now, people generally say AMD is in serious debt vs their ATI being very successful. Combining the two could alter the public perception of their GPUs. On the other hand, the GPU line could help boost their CPU side of the business, bringing more users over from Intel to AMD. Their products will seem like more of a package than choosing one or the other. I think it's a risk to change the name at this point. AMD needs to get their high end CPUs competitive with Intel before putting ATI in the same basket with their current CPUs.
 
jeremyshaw said:
Radeon is as fixed to the product line/purpose as GeForce is. Just like FireGL, FirePro, Quattro, Tesla, etc.
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its only fixed to it as long as it sells.. the day it stops selling they will change the name.. its just a product recognition name.. just like you say ATI you think radeon.. you say radeon people think ATI.. you get rid of the ATI name then whats the purpose of the radeon name.. i mean the end purpose of getting rid of the ATI name is to streamline the business/company.. so why not just go the extra step..
 
Radeon is the brand name - look at the boxes (e.g. that BFG one on the front page - it says BFG Radeon 5750), hence I think AMD + Radeon still works.

The color is more problematic, Ati is clearly red, nvidia is green but AMD is also green. If you replace Ati with AMD are you also going to replace red with green - then everyone will think they are nvidia cards. I suppose you could mix them and get yellow :)
 
sirmonkey1985 said:
its only fixed to it as long as it sells.. the day it stops selling they will change the name.. its just a product recognition name.. just like you say ATI you think radeon.. you say radeon people think ATI.. you get rid of the ATI name then whats the purpose of the radeon name.. i mean the end purpose of getting rid of the ATI name is to streamline the business/company.. so why not just go the extra step..
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When I think Radeon, I think of a graphics card... not a company. Most people (short of fanbois, and other rare instances) could care less who makes it. Since we don't buy directly from the manufacturer, anyways. You buy MSI Radeon cards, or MSI GeForce cards, not nVidia GeForce cards. nVidia designs them, AiB/vendors package then sell them, then support them.

Either way, IF AMD is going to drop the ATi name, IMO, it would be at BullDozer launch, or only for Fusion products.

For that matter, HP never dropped the iPaq name after wrestling it away from Compaq (post aquisition). A brand name can extend beyond a manuifacturer/designer, and into a product line in itself, sort of like video game IP and titles.
 
I like the current naming scheme. Higher numbers mean better card. 5970 is the mack daddy, 5850 below that 5750, 5670 and so on.
 
UG_PL said:
AMD should really consider putting SE,Pro, XL, XT and XTX in their GPU names. No more confusing numbers like 5830 5850 5770.... wouldn't HD5800XT or HD5800XTX be so much easier? and if they wanted to update the line up , AMD could just add 50 to the number (ex 5850XT) instead making whole new name (ex HD6850) and confusing everyone...
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The whole point they changed to just using numbers is because all those XT's are MORE confusing. They said it themselves not that long a ago when they first did the transition and everyone here should be old enough to remember that.
 
I don't care what they call it, as long as it's still a good product.

I'd much rather see one of the GPU manufacturers create a GPU socket with upgradeable chips just like a CPU. It would also make putting more efficient GPU heatsinks a whole heck of a lot easier.
 
Sakom said:
I don't care what they call it, as long as it's still a good product.

I'd much rather see one of the GPU manufacturers create a GPU socket with upgradeable chips just like a CPU. It would also make putting more efficient GPU heatsinks a whole heck of a lot easier.
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Because GPUs are exactly like CPUs. Why don't they just make one standard motherboard we can stick AMD or Intel CPUs into? HOW COME NO ONE THOUGHT OF THIS? OOOOO then we can have more sockets on the motherboard that are compatible with ATI and nvidia technology magically!!! NVIDIA CAPABLE MOTHERBOARD WITH 4 GRAPHICS RAM SLOTS ULTRA SPEED.

Sorry for the sarcasm but it would never work. Graphics chips are built onto their own motherboards for a reason.
 
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