Talking to a number, and that's quite a large number, of vendors and chipset manufacturers here at Computex, it appears that AMD might be in some trouble delivering their up coming Hammer family in a timely way.
Although, as we've reported earlier, you can find boards at many places at the Computex show, two separate sources at chipset companies have told us that the Clawhammer, for example, is far from ready and may be delayed even beyond December. One said that realistically we were talking nine months from now. If that's true, this will be a real blow not only to people waiting for the uniprocessor systems but also to AMD.
The systems and the process appear to be far from ready, with one of these sources telling The Inquirer that AMD was experiencing some real difficulties moving from .18 micron to .13 micron technology, and that it needed to put quite a few elements in place before yields and performance were sufficiently good for volume shipments.
Further, he said, that was also having an effect on AMD's move to the Thoroughbred core, and if this information is accurate – and we have little reason to doubt it – that will have a serious effect on delivery.
There are also problems with the Sledgehammer family, The Inquirer are reliably informed by another source – this time from a company which makes boards for the server market.
According to her, AMD has not yet decided on some basic elements that it needs to get in place, including chassis types for two way, four way and other server systems. That's an important element because the type of market it is selling into will need to know this information well in advance.
Further, she said, and largely because of AMD's relative inexperience in this marketplace, it appeared to have no clear idea of the problems involved. It was not, for example, supporting SSI.
Although, as we've reported earlier, you can find boards at many places at the Computex show, two separate sources at chipset companies have told us that the Clawhammer, for example, is far from ready and may be delayed even beyond December. One said that realistically we were talking nine months from now. If that's true, this will be a real blow not only to people waiting for the uniprocessor systems but also to AMD.
The systems and the process appear to be far from ready, with one of these sources telling The Inquirer that AMD was experiencing some real difficulties moving from .18 micron to .13 micron technology, and that it needed to put quite a few elements in place before yields and performance were sufficiently good for volume shipments.
Further, he said, that was also having an effect on AMD's move to the Thoroughbred core, and if this information is accurate – and we have little reason to doubt it – that will have a serious effect on delivery.
There are also problems with the Sledgehammer family, The Inquirer are reliably informed by another source – this time from a company which makes boards for the server market.
According to her, AMD has not yet decided on some basic elements that it needs to get in place, including chassis types for two way, four way and other server systems. That's an important element because the type of market it is selling into will need to know this information well in advance.
Further, she said, and largely because of AMD's relative inexperience in this marketplace, it appeared to have no clear idea of the problems involved. It was not, for example, supporting SSI.