The world’s second-largest processor manufacturer downplays Intel’s claims regarding the performance of its new-generation chips, Conroe and Merom.
Previously, Mooley Eden, Intel’s Mobile Platforms Director, asserted that their chip versions introduced in the second half of 2006 would operate at a level 20% higher than AMD’s products released around the same time.
“Intel makes these comparisons simply because they cannot discuss the processors currently available on the market. Everyone understands that their current products are not good at all,” commented Henri Richard, AMD’s Market Director.
Conroe and Merom are the first desktop and laptop chips to utilize Intel’s new-generation microarchitecture (NGMA). In each clock cycle, NGMA chips can process more instructions than previous products due to a larger cache (4 MB) and intelligent command routing through the central processing unit (CPU).
Meanwhile, Richard argues that NGMA chips are certainly superior to Intel’s older Netburst-based architecture, but not enough to surpass AMD’s technology. Furthermore, AMD is focusing on developing a new chip technology called AM2, which supports DDR2.
Richard also emphasized that integrating a memory controller is essential as it allows the connection between the processor and memory to operate faster than the front-side bus (FSB) in Intel’s chips.
