How much longer can AMD hold on????

mikeblas said:
3000 people currently? Is that more or less than before? More or less than AMD? When?

What's an "active" chipset?

The AMD-8000 chipset is the one I think of most often, as it's on a couple of the servers I use. The Tyan Opteron-based dual-socket K8SomethingSomething motherboards that were so popular a few years back used these. Their older chipsets weren't unpopular, and my recollection is that the similar AMD-compatible nVidia chipsets of the day weren't very-well received. Point is, they've always either made their own motherboard chipsets or contracted with other vendors (VIA or nVidia mostly, IIRC) to get it done, when their processors haven't been electrically compatible with the Intel parts.

What system chipsets did ATI make before?

It was more than just a bit. You attacked me personally, rather than sticking to the topic of the conversation; and were completely unprovoked. I'm glad you've decided to apologize, and even happier that you've realized that your posts aren't as perfectly clear as you had assumed.
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Active-as in currently in use/for sale/in production.

They have had server chipsets it looks like-but no popular desktop/mainstream chipset. All the major chipsets I've ever heard/read about being used were Via, nVidia or something other than AMD.

ATi had roughly 3-4 other chipsets before being acquired by AMD.
Mobility Radeon 7000
9100 IGP
Xpress 200/200P
X3200 (which was renamed after the acquisition to 580X)
 
|CR|Constantine said:
AMD is in a huge cash crunch right now. The purchase of ATi was clearly done at the wrong time considering that they had to borrow 2 billion from existing investors just to keep the business running.

AMD would have been better served picking up ATi after Barcelona's release in the market place.


As of right now (puts on my wizard guru hat) AMD is at a crucial turning point. If they cannot get Barcy and Phenom out before Crysis they are in a world of trouble. I think people have forgotten just how powerful perception is in the hardware community. If AMD releases a chip that is grossly underclocked lower than Intel at the start, the negative perception will be overwhelming.

A perfect example is to take a look at the HD2900XT. ATi could come out with a magic set of new drivers that could make that card be quicker than an 8800Ultra and no one would even give a rats ass. Because the damage has been done. I has been labeled the bastard late child that was riddled with problems.

Moreover I also believe people forgot just how many I.T. Administrative professional like myself are hardware junkies as well. Our perception does carry over into our professions and our buying decisions in the workplace. AMD made a name for itself by catering to the high end and locking in us enthusiasts. So much so we convinced our bosses to go Opteron instead of Xeon. Which might I add was not an easy undertaking.

Hector's biggest mistake was not catering to the high end and if Barcy is not up to snuff FROM DAY ONE, than IBM will be picking up AMD by years end. That's what the wizard guru hat on my head is telling me.
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Pretty dead on assessment.
 
i think if 2900xt had a magic driver, i will be there ASAP. I am holding out till the next geforce or radeon refresh.

but that is just my opinion.
 
mikeblas said:
So you're figuring that AMD has more employees post merger because they've laid off less people than were in the company they bought?

I suppose that's accurate, but people can (and often do) leave during a buy out, and leave for other reasons besides layoffs. That attrition wouldn't be in the numbers I found. But carrying that supposition, I'd still wonder why AMD isn't laying off more people, since they're losing money in buckets.
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That was precisely my reasoning.

Like you say however, it's certainly possible that there have been significant departures not accounted for in the layoff figures. My totally unsubstantiated feeling on this is that they probably don't make up the difference in employees gained in the merger.

The more important point, having to do with AMDs "health" in general, is that there are substantially fewer employees in the aggregate of the two companies compared to when they were separate. Conceivably, the layoffs were entirely nonessential personale, but that's a little difficult to believe.
 
One thing though that does raise a question or two...

Why did many of ATi's "prominent" former employees like Dave Orton, especially, leave (read - QUIT) so abruptly? Maybe it is a difference of corporate cultures like many think, but...

Perhaps the situation is akin to rats fleeing a sinking ship? I certainly hope I'm just being paranoid and DAAMIT comes out on top, but you can't ignore the facts - AMD is bleeding to death and unless things change drastically (delivering on promises, executing and releasing on time, etc.) not even all the life sized maxi-pads are going to stop the hemmorage until there's nothing left to bleed out.

I bet Paul Otellini and his cronies at inhell are busting out the Cristal as we speak.
 
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