AMD presented to a select few media partners the new Spider Platform centered around their latest technologies and releases, once again redefining what “performance” is and why AMD is still considered an technological leader, even after all the hoopla on its competitor’s products.

                                              The Spider platform shatters performance expectations, but in a different way than you think.

Let’s face it; a two-horse race is only exciting when the two participants are running a close race. After a few months of dominance (at least at the highest of high ends), a certain competitor in blue seems for all intents and purposes more than a few track-lengths ahead of the jockey in green. But then again the bookie’s numbers can be a bit more deceiving than at first glance.

                                             Tan See Ghee, AMD's Technology Director for South Asia.

In the product brief, we were introduced to the new AMD platform named “Spider” which comprises the new Phenom Quad-core processor, the ATI 3800 series video chipset, and the AMD 7 series motherboard chipsets, along with a host of software enhancements and hi-tech tweaks. Each of these components by itself can stand alone as big news for the competitor in green, and for all three to be brought together like this, we can expect AMD to have more than sheer performance domination up its sleeve.

In fact, it seems to me that although the central theme for the launch is still performance, it is performance that is tempered with some quantitative conditions, namely per watt and per cost. This theme is reminiscent of how AMD locked horns with Intel a few years ago over the (mis)conception of GHz = absolute speed; AMD championed processes per clock over the sheer speed of the core, something that Intel had been harping on about since the later half of their Pentium II introduction.

                                             The triad that makes up the Spider platform.

Now at this point in time AMD is once again in the underdog’s position, but don’t imagine for the tiniest moment that the two-horse race is finished; depending on public perceptions, changing cost consciousness, power efficiency requirements and future developments based on today’s technology, the race may still overturn all bets and turn up a new race leader.

                                             ATI currently possess the smallest chip process product currently available for graphics cards.

Performance per watt is becoming of greater importance for AMD. Taken all together, the three main components of the Spider platform take into consideration true power efficiency through the use of the latest production processes, especially in the case of he 55nm – based ATI HD 3800 series. The Phenom processors and the 7 series AMD chipsets both use the 65nm process. Less power is needed for small process-based chips, and combined with specific power-saving technologies like the ATI PowerPlay for the HD 3800 series and Cool‘n’Quiet 2.0 as well as CoolCore technology for the Phenom processors, AMD claims the lowest ever @ idle and moderate load energy consumption. To top it all off, AMD is heading a new initiative to measure real-world processor power consumption based on actual usage patterns; actual average power consumption are estimated to be 29W for commercial use, and 32W for consumers.

                                             Performance tempered by practical considerations of cost and power.

A happy combination of factors applied to the purpose of efficient computing can only be considered a golden opportunity rightfully taken advantage of by AMD. In other words, AMD took advantage of their recent acquisition of ATI and their existing expertise in efficient computing to claim the high ground of practical performance and define for the consumer what they consider “performance” to be.

                                             What can AMD give you?

Performance per cost, or more correctly performance per dollar, seems to be a simple concept to understand at first blush – it is true that AMD is going to be offering comparable prices for its processors compared to its competitor, yet it is also true that price is not always everything, especially in this increasingly sophisticated market we have in the Philippines with a growing enthusiast user and heavy-use consumer base. AMD aims to give a better value proposition to the consumer not by simply lowering prices, although that also plays a part.

                                             Extremely flexible upgrade path is a plus in the cost equation.

In offering a new platform that incorporates the central requirement of what I like to call “adaptability”, AMD makes sure that an initial purchase of one part of the computer will not become a liability when it comes to upgrading. In other words, the Spider platform is an open one; new processors will work on older AM2 motherboards (with the correct BIOS update) and new motherboards will work with older processors. There is also a degree of future-proofing in the said platform, with plans to support older processors even up to the third generation of the AM socket (AM3), set to debut in late 2008.

Easy upgradeability that does not require chucking the whole platform to achieve minimal speed gains naturally saves money; instead of having to buy a new motherboard immediately to be able to run a faster processor, the Spider platform can make use of the older motherboard until replacement is deemed necessary / worth the investment.

                                             Depending on budget and requirements, up to four videocards can be used.

Another factor contributing to the performance per cost equation is the fact that the graphics solution is a scalable component of the Spider platform, giving very specific price points for specific requirements while still offering the flexible upgrading path described above. Anywhere from 1 to 4 CrossfireX – connected cards can be attached to the correctly equipped motherboard, giving a wide range of options for the buyer.

                                            
Technolgies meant to further leverage AMD’s strengths were also presented, of which examples include AMD’s HyperTransport 3.0, as well as its integrated memory controller, a new overall-platform tuning application, true quad-core (as opposed to two dual cores in one chip package). AMD’s support for four graphics cards on one motherboard also presents an interesting possibility for multiple – process computing for heavily threaded tasks – a good example would be how cards in Crossfire were used as additional “cores” for Folding @ Home, a distributed-computing application wherein additional cores and threads results in a big jump in ultimate performance.

                                             A quick overview of AMD's super - integrated platform.               

Now if you were to extrapolate with four graphics cores and true quad-core CPUs, and the slow but sure introduction of new multi-threaded applications that take advantage of efficient multi-processor technology in both graphics and CPUs, then AMD would be in a good position in the future, once again proving that it’s not always speed that wins a race.

                                             Products under the Spider platform are already on the market.                       
This two-horse race is not a standard race with a standard finish line, and going fast is not the only way to get ahead of the competition. As with how AMD dispelled the GHz myth before, this may be another instance where performance as applied to the consumer is one again redefined, especially if AMD continues to support well-integrated platforms that cater to efficiency of design and execution – at an efficient price.