This year, Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) (NYSE: AMD) made its presence known at Comic-Con. It was the sponsor for the annual Eisner Awards -- the "Oscars" of the comics industry. More importantly, AMD had a large demo area for PC gaming at the Omni Hotel. In addition, across the street at a local pub, more demos were available.
AMD was drawing numerous attendees to these locations. An AMD marketing manager said to me that he was pleasantly surprised not only at the number of people visiting but also at how many were technically-savvy and interested in the platform details.
AMD was showing off a wide variety of systems. One impressive platform was a gaming desktop featuring the upcoming FX processor (Bulldozer series) with 8 cores on one chip manufactured on 32nm. It had an advanced ATI graphics card that is currently available and driving three panels as a single monitor for a panoramic effect. The most amazing part is that the box (excluding monitors) retails between $699 and $999. The FX processors will be available later this summer.
AMD also showed off the current family of Phenom II and Radeon GPUs for desktops. These continue to improve and offer impressive performance at competitive prices. Of particular note were the notebooks with the recent A-series of APUs. This is the Fusion family, which integrates the CPU and GPU functions. An ATI graphics card is included. AMD's technology allows the two graphics engines to work together, resulting in greatly improved performance.
In most other PCs, an external GPU will just disable the integrated GPU. This is also the first time that I have seen gaming notebooks at Comic-Con. There is now enough horsepower for notebooks to be serious gaming machines. Also on display was a tablet PC design based on the Brazos platform. This features the C-series and E-series APUs (codenamed Ontario). The interesting feature of this tablet PC is that it attaches to a keyboard docking station.
AMD processor chips handle data very well, cheaper than competing Intel processors but not as fast enough to justify the price saving compare with Intel's chips, Intel chips perform more efficiently and faster than AMD.
It is great news that they are selling these excellent units for under $1000. At $699, most gamers can afford three monitors to experience the panoramic views. The lower cost should also help sales in some of the lesser markets. I too am pleased to hear that there are finally some lap tops being produced that have the power needed for hard core gaming. This should definitely help AMD's bottom line.
"he most amazing part is that the box (excluding monitors) retails between $699 and $999"
The most amazing thing that characterizes AMD is the combination of the low price with reliability for its systems. And it seems that AMD continues to invest in this way.The $699 per system it is an affordable price for most of the people in the developed world.
EBN Dialogue enables and encourages you to participate in live chats with notable leaders and luminaries. Not only editors and journalists, but the entire EBN community is able to comment and ask questions. Listed below are upcoming and archived chats.
Archived Dialogues
Thailand Stages a Comeback Join EBN contributor Jennifer Baljko on Thursday August 23, 2012, at 11:00 a.m. EST for a live chat on how electronic manufacturers in Thailand have shored up their supply chain to reduce the impact of future natural disasters.
Euro-Crisis: What It Means for High-Tech Firms Join EBN Editor in Chief Bolaji Ojo and Contributing Editor Jennifer Baljko on Thursday, July 12, at 10:00 a.m. EDT for a Live Chat on high-tech and Europe's economic difficulties.
Microsoft Surface: Potential Winners & Losers What are the implications for the electronics industry supply chain of Microsoft Corp.'s decision to launch its own tablet PC? Join industry veteran and EE Times' systems and OEM expert Rick Merritt on Tuesday, July 3, at 12:00 pm EDT for a Live Chat on this subject.
Join EBN contributor Jennifer Baljko on Thursday August 23, 2012, at 11:00 a.m. EST for a live chat on how electronic manufacturers in Thailand have shored up their supply chain to reduce the impact of future natural disasters.
Peter Drucker famously said "Trying to predict the future is like trying to drive down a country road at night with no lights while looking out the back window." Yet in the razor's-edge world of electronics—with a lean supply chain and just-in-time demands—the need to know the future is vital.
You've heard the saying "the No. 1 supply chain risk is your people." That hasn't always been the case. But today's complex global supply chain requires a new type of multitalented employee. It's one who understands, finance, marketing, economics, is savvy with technology, graceful with relationships and can think analytically.
Where are these people? Are universities properly preparing the next generation supply chain professionals? How do train your existing workforce for these new, demanding positions?
Brian Fuller, editor-in-chief of EBN, will lead a 60-minute Avnet Velocity panel discussion that will ask and answer these and other questions swirling around today's supply-chain talent challenges.
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