Intel to drive home chip-numbering system in May

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The marketing result of raw processor speed limits.

Since Intel is starting to run into a ceiling on raw processor speed where the "cost:performance" ratio is becoming a barrier, they have to change the metric in order to contiue to compete.

They build business based on metrics, and they need to have one that shows constant growth in order to churn the customer base. They can't survive on new sales alone. They must drive both new sales and replacement sales in order to survive. Since the old metric of clock speed is slowing and will eventually max out, they need to institute something else to push sales.

So this is no more than a marketing response to a physical reality - Intel's maxing out on raw processor speed. They need to sell the next generation of chips based on something else and this new numbering system is just that "something else".

I don't really think anyone will be fooled.

After all, AMD did this same sleight-of-hand replacing real metrics with random numbers when they couldn't compete on speed anymore and nobody was fooled then.

What we really need is a set of metrics that, acting together, tell us what the performance of a system is likely to be : we need the processor speed, the number of instructions executed per cycle, the latency of the memory, and the response time of the front-side bus.

Even this is an oversimplification, but it would do a lot more to help consumers make informed decisions than the random number schemes that AMD and Intel have cooked-up. Which is why they will never do it ... real metrics would demonstrate that we never needed to replace last year's computer in the first place, not to mention that "ancient" P2 or K6-2 that's sitting down in your basement.

Regards,
Jon

Posted by: JonathonDoe   Posted on: 03/18/04 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

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