AMD: Spider plugs market gap
SINGAPORE--Advanced Micro Devices' "Spider" platform, which debuted on Monday, addresses a market segment that its key rivals--NVIDIA and Intel--currently do not, according to a senior executive.
This segment melds two target audience, namely the HTPC (Home Theater PC)/media center and games markets, Tan See Ghee, AMD's South Asia technology director, told ZDNet Asia on the sidelines of a media briefing here Tuesday.
Neither Intel nor NVIDIA has a product offering that addresses both target markets concurrently, Tan noted. He added that the new Spider platform lets users access good high-definition HTPC content, and at the same time, accelerate their game performance. "[That is] what the Spider platform is all about," he said.
Designed for desktop PCs, Spider is marketed as AMD's first "platform" product and consists of the chipmaker's new quad-core Phenom chip, 7-series chipsets and graphics chips. The Phenom FX processors are essentially desktop versions of AMD's Barcelona quad-core processors.
Prices for AMD Phenom 9600 2.3GHz and 2.2GHz processors are available immediately for US$283 and US$251, respectively, in 1,000-unit pricing.
Tan said: "[Components on] our entire platform--from the GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) to the CPU and the chipset--are all very energy-efficient, and at the same time, can deliver very good performance for both games and quiet home-theater enjoyment," Tan said.
Asked which major PC vendors will be distributing Spider-based systems in Asia, Tan said this week's launch is targeted mainly for sale in white box or self-assembled PC markets.
However, he added that major PC vendors are expected to offer Phenom in their regular offerings in the first quarter of 2008.