Again, hope this isn't a repost.....found the post concerning AMD continuing on overclocking stance..............but this is a different one.............
- Advanced Micro Devices may well be sticking to its policy on overclocking but the effort required to unlock XP chips stands the risk that the firm could alienate its loyal user base.
A few years back at the Other Plaice we visited Fab 30 in Dresden and a senior marketing director at AMD made no secret of the fact that the real money for his firm lay in the corporate and business sector.
At that time he seemed to suggest that the "enthusiasts", "overclockers" and "gamers" were just the useful fuel AMD would use for the booster stage of its flight to Planet Intel.
But people are beginning to realise that overclocking Intel Northwood processors will now give them more than they expected and because of the "surgery" involved in unlocking XPs may be a better route to go.
Surgery is always dangerous of course, as Dr Pabst told us this time last year...
One told the INQUIRER: "If AMD had made unlocked XPs, even at a premium, I would probably have had at least one or two of them now running."
He suggested that AMD should re-think its policy because previously loyal users were disappointed at its current stance on overclocking.
"AMD should not let its recent success go to its head," he said. "Intel is hungry and is unlocking its Northwood chips. Now is not the time for AMD to play corporate market schemes to muzzle the end user to put up with the status quo."
Indeed, there is solid evidence from both Intel roadmaps and from recent appointments made at the chip giant, that it has realised the error of some of its previous ways. For example, after a period where it virtually abandoned the game community, it is now actively wooing developers again, and has hired staff to specifically look at this arena.
It appears that the pendulum is starting to swing in a different direction, and if AMD is not careful, despite its massive gains over the last 18 months, it could find itself with a stack of disappointed gamers.
That wouldn't do - these people, along with the "enthusiasts" and "overclockers" - have far more influence in the marketplace than AMD might suspect, it seems to us.
Now we hear - but can't verify - that all Athlon MPs come straight from the factory with no overclocking stuff added at all... is there really any difference between MPs and XPs apart from the label?
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