Power Paradigm

This is a story of power. No, we are not talking about politics, instead we
are talking about computing processing power. Its a known fact as we look at
the processor landscape that Intel is the king, and in the last two years,
Intels innovation engines have worked in full throttle and as a result the
market saw some of the most amazing processors that have taken PC power and
performance to new levels. In the last few years the competitive landscape has
not changed very much except for the fact that AMD keeps challenging Intel every
now and then with its processors. But it is yet to see large volume shipments in
its PC processors compared to Intel and as usual the current market dynamics
imply that its a predominantly Intel world outside. Hence, we need to accept
that reality and AMD indeed has a lot of catching up to do from a market share
perspective; but on the innovation front it does give serious competition to
Intel.

Power Ecosystem

The trend at this point in time is not just about packing more transistors
and cores. Its about how to optimize the cores and the apps users run and
attempting every core to run effectively. Moreover, graphical performance is
going to be the key and as we look at Intels Core i series, users can leverage
the chips without the use of dedicated graphical cards. However, the industry is
still obsessed with cores and its to be seen whether one has apps that can
effectively leverage all the cores. Take the case of AMD, as per industry
sources its developing a six core desktop processor called Thuban and also
developing a matching platform which is code named Leo that will create
harmonization between CPU, graphics card and chipset. Intel meanwhile is betting
big on its Core i series of processors for multiple user segmentslow-mid and
high-end notebook and desktops.

On the server side the battle becomes more intense between Intel and AMD.
Analysts aver that due to the shifting strategies on both sides, the fight
between Intels Nehalem-EX and AMDs Magny-Cours is likely to be a fight among
equals. AMD which launched Magny-Cours, end of March 2010 takes server processor
wars to new levels. AMD has launched Magny-Cours under the Opteron 6000 series.
Magny-Cours is a single threaded 12 core chip that is based on two six core die
in a package, with a total 12 Mbytes L3 cache. Stacking up with AMD, the Intels
Nehalem-EX supports four more threads than the Magny-Cours, AMDs Magny-Cours
has four more cores. Intels Nehalem-EX is also dual-threaded, eight core
processor with 24 Mbytes of L3 cache meant for use in systems with four or more
CPUs. Both microprocessors have four 64-bit DDR3 memory controllers.

So how do both these chips stack as they both look extremely powerful? Intel
having mastered multi-threading is expected to offer a significant performance
boost of up 25%, but with AMDs extra cores means more performance than Intels.
But some analysts say that Intels cores boasts of superior design and its chip
has twice the L3 cache that is more than enough for many power hungry
applications. AMD counters that Magny-Cours will score over Intel in terms of
processing performance and energy efficiency and cost per computing power. In
fact according to AMD the new chips offer 119% better performance compared to
its previous generation server chips. But as we go along, it would be
interesting to watch how the market will react to these new age chips on the
server side.

Innovation Galore

In the last quarter Intel had flooded the market with Core i series of chips
for the PC segment. While Core i7 is the high end, the Core i3 and i5 are low
and mid end series respectively. Intel has also brought in some hot technologies
with its new chips which are in the 32 nm process. One of the path-breaking
innovations Intel has done on the Core i series is the incorporation of its
Turbo Mode technology. To put it simply, Turbo Mode is a technology that
adjusts the core speed dynamically and depending on the applications processing
requirements, it will scale up and down the processing power. So this makes for
the optimal utilization of the cores based on the computing power required by
the applications. This also makes the Core i series an apt chip for
multi-tasking. Another innovation that Intel brought with its new processors is
a technology called Anti-theft which allows policy based security settings and
in the event of a laptop being stolen or lost, the data can be secured and the
notebook rendered unusable.

Says R Ravichnadran, director, sales, world ahead program, South Asia, Intel,
"Innovation is part of Intels DNA. We come up with either a new
micro-architecture or a processor technology every year based on our Tick-Tock
strategy. Tick is the processor while Tock is the micro-architecture. At this
point in time we are entering into the 32 nm multi-core era that will totally
redefine the entire power and performance ecosystem." Intel has many firsts to
its credit like putting virtualization capabilities on standard mainstream two
socket servers, trusted execution technology (TXT) that adds an extra layer of
security in managing multiple VMMs and host of other innovations. On the entry
level probably one of the disruptive things Intel did was launching its Atom
processors. Intel took the lead by developing its low cost Atom processor that
has opened up ultra-small form of computing on the netbook platform; and it has
taken a bit for AMD to counter Intels Atom.

AMD finally countered Intels Atom with its Neo processor, and despite being
a late entrant is expected to redefine the netbook market. AMD has announced its
intent that it wants to redefine the functionality of netbooks with its
processor. AMD said that its netbooks will offer rich user experience. AMD based
netbooks is one segment to watch out for in 2010.

Drivers and Trends

For both Intel and AMD the pricing is one factor that will lead both to
bigger market share. To increase its intake, AMD has launched sub $100 quad core
processors and AMD is expected to launch cheaper yet fully functional power
processors with bigger graphics that will find greater adoption. AMD as per
industry sources has been working on this balanced power, performance and price
strategy for quite some time and 2010 will see bigger dividends of this
strategy.

As we look at what AMD will be focusing at this year, we find that it is
planning to gain more market share by using its graphical capabilities. Some of
the initiatives it has taken of late also reinforces that. Recently, AMD
announced its VISION Pro technology, a new commercial PC platform brand that AMD
claims will deliver superior visual computing experience, and help businesses
increase productivity and gain competitive advantage by enabling visually
stunning communications.

At CES 2010, Intels Pankaj Kedia shows off the LG Electronics GW990 smartphone based on Intels Moorestown platform, expected to come to market later this year

According to AMD sources, graphics matter more than ever in business
communications and innovative companies are leveraging balanced PC platform
technology to generate and view rich visual presentations, including videos and
3D graphics to communicate winning ideas. Studies show that more than 80% of the
human comprehension is gained visually and that the use of visual aids with oral
presentations improves content retention as much as 6.5 times greater than using
words alone. Furthermore, the increased viewing area provided by multiple
monitors helps improve a workers productivity by as much as 40%. "At virtually
every price point, commercial PCs based on VISION Pro technology offer
incredible value and a balanced platform performance needed to leverage todays
visually oriented business applications," says Nigel Dessau, CMO, AMD.

Way Forward

The processor landscape right now is moving to the 32 nm processes and it
has come a long way from 65 nm processes. Both Intel and AMD are focusing on
adding more capabilities to their processors, its spilling out of the
traditional systems environment and there are a whole lot of opportunities on
segments like mobile handsets and e-readers. Intel will be focusing on the Core
i series and will launch many such flavors in the coming year until it comes
with its next micro-architecture. It will also come up with more powerful
multi-core server processors. On the server side, quad core will be the in
thing as many enterprises will consolidate and virtualize by moving from a
large fleet of single core servers to quad core ones. The value is significant
for CIO and CTOs in moving to quad cores. For instance, a server sprawl of 200
single core ones can be overhauled with just about twenty-five two socket quad
core servers. High end quad core laptops will also become popular but at the
moment it will be predominantly ruled by dual core ones. Clearly, as we step
into the next decade of processing powerwhich will fade out sooner or lateras
vendors keep adding more cores and take the power paradigm to new levels.
Moreover, 32 nm processes have just started and Intel is already talking about
22 nm!

Shrikanth G

shrikanthg@cybermedia.co.in