Why doesn't Intel use on-die controllers?

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dexvx

Diamond Member
Feb 2, 2000
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Originally posted by: 3chordcharlie
Rambus created a technology, and realized they could make more money by extracting licensing fees than by actually producing something, or selling their expertise. Now, maybe the dram manufacturers objected because the los of an open standard is damaging to the benefits of a freemarket, but that's unlikely; more likely is that they would be tied for the long-term to being pure commodity producers with all innovation (and associated profits) accruing to the owners of rdram IP.

Wow seriously... where do you get all this crap.

Do you know what an IP company is? They design stuff, and not make stuff and live off the royalty fees. There are many companies that operate on this basis.

Originally posted by: 3chordcharlie
For the same reasons that intel bet the farm on netburst; they didn't expect ddr to scale as well as it did (meanwhile, intel expected netburst to scale much higher).

If ddr had more or less stalled at 400mhz (instead of artificially stalling at that level) then ddr2@ 600+ mhz would be a real benefit.

As it stands, we should be getting systems with stock ddr500 ram, but we're not; the two issues are separate though; ddr2 was a miscalculation; rdram was an excellent technology that was co-opted for a grab at market power.

You have no definitive proof, beyond some overclockers that DDR memory could be mass produced at 250-300Mhz.
 

dmens

Platinum Member
Mar 18, 2005
2,275
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every post of yours is dedicated to defend Intel

I don't defend or favor anyone, and would immediately go work for AMD on a better offer. I simply state facts and expose bullshit. Your own biased views, for a company that doesn't pay you a cent, makes my technical statements hard to swallow. If you think my posts read like defenses of intel, that is because you are far removed from neutral analysis. I'd continue to state the facts even if they made me an intel fellow. I'd be afraid to see the result of AMD hiring you.

To a point you are willing to say Prescott was "Entirely New". You know very well Prescott was a further investment to scale higher in the very same "Netburst" technology. You know the rest to that story.

OK, so by your definition, there is nothing new in northwood and prescott simply because they retain the basic netburst guidelines? That's like saying there is no difference between nehalem, merom, dothan, banias, timna, P3 and P6. By your own admission, you don't know what changes made it into prescott, and I do. You might as well give up on that angle.
 

openwheelformula1

Senior member
Sep 2, 2005
727
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lol leap forward Intel, at least one of your employees has the time to participate in a traditional Intel vs. AMD forum arguement. It''s pretty funny you only defend and favor Intel 100% in ALL of your posts, yet you claim you don't favor/defend anyone. Excellent credibility.

Which part of "Prescott is not ENTIRELY new" is similar to "there is nothing new in Northwood and Prescott"? Don't put words on other's mouth, that's not nice. It's the lowest form arguing technique.
 

3chordcharlie

Diamond Member
Mar 30, 2004
9,859
1
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Originally posted by: dexvx
Originally posted by: 3chordcharlie
Rambus created a technology, and realized they could make more money by extracting licensing fees than by actually producing something, or selling their expertise. Now, maybe the dram manufacturers objected because the los of an open standard is damaging to the benefits of a freemarket, but that's unlikely; more likely is that they would be tied for the long-term to being pure commodity producers with all innovation (and associated profits) accruing to the owners of rdram IP.

Wow seriously... where do you get all this crap.

Do you know what an IP company is? They design stuff, and not make stuff and live off the royalty fees. There are many companies that operate on this basis.
Yes, I know what an IP company is, and in this case the business plan is obvious; gain market power and then use that to extract profits. It's the *right* thing to do if you think you can pull it off, and with intel in their corner, it's somewhat surprising that it didn't happen.

Originally posted by: 3chordcharlie
For the same reasons that intel bet the farm on netburst; they didn't expect ddr to scale as well as it did (meanwhile, intel expected netburst to scale much higher).

If ddr had more or less stalled at 400mhz (instead of artificially stalling at that level) then ddr2@ 600+ mhz would be a real benefit.

As it stands, we should be getting systems with stock ddr500 ram, but we're not; the two issues are separate though; ddr2 was a miscalculation; rdram was an excellent technology that was co-opted for a grab at market power.

You have no definitive proof, beyond some overclockers that DDR memory could be mass produced at 250-300Mhz.

It is being mass produced at those speeds. It is not, however a standard, and therefore is not the 'right' refinement for mass-produced ram. As a manufacturer looking for credibility in the mainstream market, producing ddr400 @2225 is more impressive than producing ddr500 at likely-higher latencies (but still lower than ddr2).

It's also a moot point when you consider that overclocked systems (especially AMD-based ones) prove that clock speed is king, and low-latency ddr is perfectly adequate, even at less than 400mhz.
 

dmens

Platinum Member
Mar 18, 2005
2,275
965
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It's Friday, I'm taking it easy. As for "defend and favor intel", again it's your own blind bias that makes you see my posts as such. Just because I correct others when they use bullshit to bash intel doesn't make me pro-intel, or anti-AMD. I'd correct bullshit as I see it.

I don't see how I am putting words in your mouth. You blithely deny the assertion that prescott has enough changes to justify the "entirely new" tag. Assuming that you know what made it into prescott, I simply stated an P6 counterexample that would align with your statement, since I'd say prescott was more of a change over northwood than some of consecutive families I listed. But since it is obvious you have no idea what you're talking about, there's no point continuing down this road.
 

designit

Banned
Jul 14, 2005
481
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Originally posted by: TuxDave
Originally posted by: formulav8
Originally posted by: TuxDave
Originally posted by: formulav8
Others will have more insight than me though.

Jason

I sure hope so.

Apparently YOU don't.
Jason

I could say nothing and still sound more educated than you. My god "Arrogance"? What kind of decision process is that? It would almost impossible to use the "AMD came up with it first so we better abandon all ideas of implementing it because it would hurt our pride" argument. That's terrible. Anyways, read one post up. It's on its way. So much for your 'arrogance' argument.
You and everyone attacking this person sound like sore losers.
Now I practically don?t give a Ras ass about Intel AMD, nvedia or any f**ing company, but sure get annoyed by those sore looser "call it fan boys who gives a damn" just lurking around forums insulting people. No wonder Intel is still living in dark ages.

 

JK949

Senior member
Jul 6, 2003
377
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At the risk of never getting a question answered I have to say this has been
the most entertaining reading I have come accross in awhile. It is closer to a
sitcom than a forum / post for getting an answer to a question. Sorry for dropping
in for a comment. I'm not a regular to this forum but I may start just for the
entertainment.


 

TheRyuu

Diamond Member
Dec 3, 2005
5,479
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I seem to have started a flame war here. Well, I didn't start it, I just pulled up a chair and watched ;).

Lets calm down children... :p

After reading a lot of the thread it seems that you can't bring up stuff about how Intel and AMD work, and how their processors work without starting some flame war from some fanboys. They deny being fanboys, yet they still defend the company whether it be AMD or Intel.

Have we even reached a conclusion as to why Intel doesn't advance to these "newer" technologies?
So far we have this:
-Intel makes sh!t tone of money on Northbridge
-Arrogance (maby not)
-On-die memory controller in roadmap, but why not impliment it sooner?
-Not sure if anything other than arrogance on Hypertransport argument
-Rambus argument? Were did that come from? Oh, talking about competing technologies.

So have we reached ONE conclusion yet?
 

Acanthus

Lifer
Aug 28, 2001
19,915
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ostif.org
Dmens defends intel more often because he works there, and obviously knows a little more about that product. Its easier to call BS when you know what in it and exactly how it works.

Anyone who calls HT a "patch of netbursts long pipeline" doesnt know what they are talking about and deserves to get called out.
 

openwheelformula1

Senior member
Sep 2, 2005
727
0
0
lmao I guess the key to make an arguement is to claim you work for who you defend for, then your arguements are automatically legit. Ethically no Intel employees should be relegating its competition. Unless you are in PR.
 

liebremx

Member
Apr 6, 2005
35
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dmens works for Intel on a processor therefore to be good at his job he MUST know all the nitty little details about Intel's microprocessors that most people don't know nor have access to (even it you work for Intel but are in a different group). The knowledge most people have is .. I''d say shallow, therefore is pretty easy to point out errors in comments/arguments regarding the stuff you KNOW THE MOST: Intel processors because those comments/arguments are based on limited information so they become speculations and can be refuted easily by a person with the whole picture... That simple...
Could you give us a lecture on Tomasulo scheduling? Don't think so.
Can dmens give a lecture on carbon nano-tubes? Don't think so.
 

hans007

Lifer
Feb 1, 2000
20,212
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Originally posted by: openwheelformula1
lmao I learn something new every day from hardcore fans. I didn't know Prescott was an "ENTIRELY NEW" chip. Maybe they abandoned netburst and gave us more IPC. To both Intel fanatics hans007 and dmens, I was showing a big discrepency between the each company's development and improvement. Don't get offended if you thought I discredited hyperthreading. I loved my 2.8c, but it was short lived and quickly displaced by a Newcastle. BTW hans007, not "any process shrink" will "dramatically increase efficiency the way Winchester did after Newcastle. Especially near the ceiling of an archtecture such as netburst. There are VERY good reasons why Intel is abandoning netburst you know. I bet you haven't seen power consumption differences from reputable sites such as spcr. At least dmens passion for Intel is backed up by knowledge. Enjoy your Prescott/Smithfield/Presler, and I'll probably be joining you once Conroe hits the shelves. At the mean time I'll stick to my efficient and powerful X2 and Venice (Relatively to netburst that is). Ciao.


Hypothetically, if Intel suddenly decided to impliment integrated memory controller and hyper transport. Can you honestly tell me you wouldn't like it?

AMD PR hype? What? AMD has a PR department?

Am I a wannabe engineer? LMAO hell yeah, graduate student at UCSB-Material.



ok, i majored in computer science and spent time optimizing instruction paths and learning about pipelining, branch prediction and latencies and why hyperthreading actually works. yes i will admit i'm a software engineer. but whatever i think i am just as justified in saying what i have said. at least i did not resort to calling anyone a fanatic. i am just trying to present what i believe is a better representation of why intel has done what they have done.


amd does have a pr department, its called the law team that is trying to get into the news every other week with their antitrust case. now i am not calling the lawsuit completely baseless, as there is likely some merit in it, though 90% of what they are doing is just to get their name in the news and keep intel on their toes.

and yes it would be good if intel had an integrated memory controller and hypertransport. and i probably would like it if it were free. unfortunately they already had a working chipset foundation and fsb, and the amoutn of r&d/testing for all new stuff would probably raise the price of all their products. perhaps they decided the cost / benefit for most systems was not enough. a nice corollary would be the ddr2 support for the athlon64. if i had asked you ayear ago if you would like it you'd probably have said sure.. and then i'd have to tell you it'd take a year to come out, all new motherboards, heatsinks and a 10% increase in die space, as well as costs that would be paid by you.

as for your process shrink "idea" the shrink did increase the efficiency of the prescott from 90nm to 65nm. the 130nm to 90nm was not a shrink as it was a completely different core design.

yonah is proof of why you do not need an on die controller. i know you like the venice design, but give intel some credit their mobile cpus , including even the dothan and banias are clock for clock with anything amd makes, and use even less power with no on die controller. the yonah chips even only have 2mb of cache for 2 cores which is a much more advanced shared cache design compared to the non shared caches in the x2 chips.

also i owned a winchester AND several newcastles. that was a direct shrink with no real optimizations, which is why it also only was used in up to 3500+ speed grades. you have already said that shrinking the prescott being an "end of life" proces was not worth while. but it has in fact given it better energy efficiency from 90nm to 65nm. the heat difference was comparable to the smithfield -> presler in percentage probably even less of a difference.

and as to your "ceiling of an architecture" statment, the newcastle hit 2.6 ghz fine in the fx55. does this mean that the process shrink to .90nm on the athlon 64 also "is near the cieling of an architecture", seeing as the highest rated single core 90nm cpu amd made was the fx57 , at a mere 200mhz higher clock speed. no. by your own words, you say they are retiring prescott because of heat. and yeah that sprobably true. but your own justification would say that the dual core athlon 64 should be retired, since its top end cpus such as the fx60 are putting out presler-like heat. so i am expecting you to call the fx62 a furnace whenever it comes out. it would only be fair.


the amd 64 architecture by your own definition woudl then also be classified as "near the ceiling" would it not? face it, a shrink is energy efficient. amd's shrink is no better than intels shrink . they both increased mainly energy efficiency and did not really increase top end clock speeds. amd and intel have both used shrinks mainly to pack more cores and cache. shrinsk are not giving higher clocks now, that doesnt mean any architecture is at its cieling.

 

intangir

Member
Jun 13, 2005
113
0
76
Originally posted by: wizboy11
Have we even reached a conclusion as to why Intel doesn't advance to these "newer" technologies?
So far we have this:
-Intel makes sh!t tone of money on Northbridge
-Arrogance (maby not)
-On-die memory controller in roadmap, but why not impliment it sooner?
-Not sure if anything other than arrogance on Hypertransport argument
-Rambus argument? Were did that come from? Oh, talking about competing technologies.

So have we reached ONE conclusion yet?

You neglected to mention:
-Intel tried integrated memory controllers in the past, and got burned (on Timna).
-Not having an IMC allows more flexibility in memory technologies, which speeds time-to-market (really just a restatement of the above point).
-CSI (the counterpart to Hypertransport) is later than originally intended, no question. Intel would have loved to have it sooner, but internal problems caused delays.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/12/12/intel_csi_low/
 

mhahnheuser

Member
Dec 25, 2005
81
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Originally posted by: formulav8
Originally posted by: dmens
I don't give a crap when people insult intel, or any other entity. I just laugh at puerile fanboi opinions (e.g. yours). Of course, you are entitled to hold such opinions, just don't get pissy when others mock them, LOL.


I didn't get mad or upset at all with what you said. I just didn't quite understand your manner.

I would like to know how I am the fan boy?? Honestly?? Show me all of my 1000's of posts where you support your claim i'm a fanboy?? What about you though?

I simply stated what my opinion was and how some of Intels decisions could seem to support what I said about them. I am sorry it touched you so deep that you have to act the way your are about it.

Anyways, I answered the guy that asked the question, simple as that.


Jason

Hi Jason, I don't mean to wade into your argument with dmens, but his objection is your use of the word arogant to describe Chipzilla. I've never owned an Intel CPU, and try hard not to, (and that's because of the way they so ruthlessly stomped on Cyrix in the late 90's) but arogance is not a business accumen, and Intel wouldn't be where they are today if they were so cherlish. Their venom in ridding the world of the Cyrix CPU demonstrated to me it was all about business at any cost, and I personally ended up having to pay more (too much) for my PC ugrades, so I have a bee in my bonnet about Intel, the company. Fortunately AMD survived the carnage and 3DFX (see SLI, all good things come back again, so did the PR rating) was there when it desperately mattered most and stopped top line CPU's ending up out of reach of poor consumers/upgrader's like me. Although I was forced to muck around with Duron's and Celeron's for a while, but in fairness both Morgan and Tualatin made this less painful than it could have been. The Athlon was a dream come true, real Pentium power for less money, and I fell on my knees praising AMD all they way to the pearly gates. Socket A Barton, at rediculous prices on full featured mobo's set me off into the land of wet dreams. But I nearly choked on my Bratwurst, trying to get to Dual Core. My darkest hour of inner reflection had it looking like my first Intel rig was about to materialise, when a small window of opportunity opened in the form of an ASRock, Dual 939. All upgraders hail to thee, for there was suddenly light where there was darkness, and all was once again right in the "kingdom of Upgradability." It was cheap, I could reuse my expensive AGP card on full power, my 400MHz DDR RAM safe, I could now wait for ATI's Cross-Fire tech to mature, I could bargain hunt a X2 CPU, I could buy a good value X-Fire PCIE card down the track, I might even be able to get 800MHz DDR2, SATA 2 and AM2 before setting all this up on a X-Fire board. Ah at last the next 24 months look sorted. Conroy, Merom, no Intel be buggered.
 

Marmion

Member
Dec 1, 2005
110
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Maybe the reason Intel isn't realeasing CSI anytime soon is because they are waiting for DDR3?
 

dmens

Platinum Member
Mar 18, 2005
2,275
965
136
Maybe the reason Intel isn't realeasing CSI anytime soon is because they are waiting for DDR3?

Nah, CSI is just the bus/interconnect. It is independent of memory technology since it does not interface with memory directly.
 

DrMrLordX

Lifer
Apr 27, 2000
22,898
12,959
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Originally posted by: wizboy11

So have we reached ONE conclusion yet?

I still say it has something to do with BTX and its associated motherboard layout requirements.