


AMD Lures IBM Veteran to Lead Chip Design 127
Rob writes "Computer Business Review is reporting that Advanced Micro Devices yesterday said it had hired Jeff VerHeul away from IBM to
lead the direction of AMD's future silicon design. VerHeul's most recent post during his
25-year stint at IBM was head of engineering and technology services. Now, he will lead
the development of all future AMD computing products, including silicon roadmap design
across all AMD's engineering sites worldwide."
Next slashdot story... (Score:5, Funny)
"ex-IBM Engineer sued for violating non compete agreement"
Re:Next slashdot story... (Score:1, Troll)
Re:Next slashdot story... (Score:2, Insightful)
My questions is how long are the rest of us going to have to wait before a ban on non-compete clauses filters out to the other 49 states?
Wrong headline (Score:2)
Re:Wrong headline (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Wrong headline (Score:2)
Re:Wrong headline (Score:2)
Re:Wrong headline (Score:2)
Not likely (Score:2)
Re:Next slashdot story... (Score:1)
Re:Next slashdot story... (Score:3, Interesting)
"ex-IBM Engineer sued for violating non compete agreement"
Very unlikely, IMHO. I've worked for IBM for the last 10 years, and I've seen firsthand how IBM handles these sorts of situations -- with kid gloves. Although IBM employees sign an employment contract that includes a non-compete clause, IBM almost never tries to enforce it. For example, I know a former IBM executive who violated his IBM non-compete agreement by going to work for a client, as CEO. That's not at all unusual, of course, though it
Re:Next slashdot story... (Score:2)
Now that it an easy question. There are 9 companies that aren't smaller than IBM in the US alone.
In 2005, IBM's Fortune 500 Rank [fortune.com] was 10, meaning 9 companies exceeded them in size. In 2004 they were number 9... they gotta watch out.
It isn't just IBM that is HUGE. HP, through merger mania is #11 [fortune.com], and tiny little direct sales PC only Dell is even ranked #28 [fortune.com]... Note I say Tiny because Dell had under $50b in revenues, and IBM had almost $100b...
Re:Next slashdot story... (Score:2, Funny)
OMG, thist must mean... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:OMG, thist must mean... (Score:1)
Re:OMG, thist must mean... (Score:1)
Re:OMG, thist must mean... (Score:2)
Move over Intel (hopefully) (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Move over Intel (hopefully) (Score:2)
Re:Move over Intel (hopefully) (Score:1, Informative)
AMD: true dual core -- now.
Intel: piecemeal dual core
AMD: mobile 64-bit cpu
Intel: mobile 32 cpu based on the Pentium iii(and is not planning to go to 64 bit there)
Open your eyes, my friend. AMD is already the next generation.
Re:Move over Intel (hopefully) (Score:1)
The only real reasons AMD doesn't have the bigger market share are:
1) Intel's been around longer
2) Intel plays more anti-competitive hardball (see: their pockets are deeper)
3) Intel's pockets are deeper
What I find great is that even though intel's compiler makes AMD code run slower, I still find AMD faster and more reliable than intel chips.
-- Proud AthlonXP T-bred 2700+ user, soon to be AMD64 in my ASUS laptop for college (yes, I know I don't *need* it. XP)
We Need a Revolution in Chip Design (Score:5, Funny)
This will not happen. Intel's marketing prowess is much better than its competition. What would scare Intel (and the others) is a revolutionary new chip that solves a major problem in the industry. Consider that all processor architectures are based on and optimized for the algorithm, a custom started by a guy named Babbage more than 150 years ago. Progress has only been incremental since.
A really new architecture should abandon the algorithmic model and adopt a non-algorithmic, signal-based synchronous software model. It would revolutionize computing and solve the nastiest problem in the computer industry: software unreliability.
But we cannot expect big companies like Intel, AMD and IBM to be truly innovative. Their approach is evolutionary, not revolutionary. Hopefully a bright upstart will get the message and make a killing while the behemoths are busy fighting each other for market share. They won't know what hit them until it is too late.
The message is that there is a solution to the software reliability crisis. The disadvantage is that it will require a radical change in both processor architecture and software construction methodology. But the advantage is too good to ignore: 100% software reliability! Guaranteed!
Re:We Need a Revolution in Chip Design (Score:1)
1. Algorithmic processing works, it is standard, it is understood. Things need to be done in order.
2. I'm a somewhat smart fellow, and I understood about 40% of that COSA OS design. The design is based on smaller chunks of algorithmic code, just like the new Cell processor from IBM. You know, the one powering the Xbox360 & PS3.
Seems to me the silver bullet isn't going to smash through all things in a magic
Re:We Need a Revolution in Chip Design (Score:1)
Re:We Need a Revolution in Chip Design (Score:2)
Also reliable software is dependant on reliable hardware. so it's not just the software industry that needs to focus on making sure there is enough quality in the jobs they do, it's the responsiblity of the people mass producing hardware too.
Re:We Need a Revolution in Chip Design (Score:3, Funny)
Re:We Need a Revolution in Chip Design (Score:2)
Of course something that radical would be useless to the desktop/notebook market as a whole. You'd have to start a whole new type of PC to take advantage of it, one that's fundamentally incompatible with everything else out there. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to s
Re:We Need a Revolution in Chip Design (Score:2)
But notebooks are tremendously more useful and appealing. End of story
Re:We Need a Revolution in Chip Design (Score:2)
Re:We Need a Revolution in Chip Design (Score:1)
To whom? I think he's right. What can you do on a laptop that you can't do on a PDA? There are some things, but then, of those things what can't you do on a desktop? If it's portability you want so that you can surf the web, check email, create some kind of document, etc. then a PDA is much more appealing in terms of portability. If it's something CPU-intensive (like games or some serious photoshop or Maya, etc) then the battery life of a laptop
Re:We Need a Revolution in Chip Design (Score:2)
However, they really aren't there for note taking - and lots of classes have really bursty notes, some days you'll take lots, other days none. The laptop weighs more than most notebooks will, so you're not saving space unless you carry all your day's books and such the whole day.
Some classes, like programming, are easier on a laptop if you c
Re:We Need a Revolution in Chip Design (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:We Need a Revolution in Chip Design (Score:2)
Pass the pipe. (Score:2)
"... signal-based synchronous software model. It would revolutionize computing and solve the nastiest problem in the computer industry: software unreliability."
Software would be reliable if we could produce 100% algorithms which are free from unconsidered and unhandled cases. It has nothing to do with the medium of execution, and everything to do with the design. This is why computer engineering needs to be a more popular topic.
Re:We Need a Revolution in Chip Design (Score:2)
With a chip-fab nearing $40 billion startup capital, it's hard to imagine anyone from their garages coming up with a competing chip. The days of Tesla and Edison playing in a garage are gone
Re:We Need a Revolution in Chip Design (Score:2)
Re:We Need a Revolution in Chip Design (Score:2)
I think you mean *manufacturing*
When AMD can pony up 10 billion dollars a year to invest in fab capacity then Intel has something to worry about.
Re:Move over Intel (hopefully) (Score:5, Insightful)
Or maybe because you're the typical geek who hates everything that's big and dominant. Geeks need to love "different" things, made for "special" people or not. Geeks need iPods and Unix computers, because other players and Windows computers are not for special people like you guys.
If someday AMD beats the crap out of Intel and start to be the big guy, you might as well start talking about the superiority of Intel products and how it is so unfair that AMD dominates the market. =]
And my point is...? Well, it's not really smart to be such a big fan of a company/group/etc. I think that we should give our respect to good products, actions and attitudes. Cheerleading for a commercial entity is just pure nonsense. I'm a consumer, I want good products, good actions and good attitudes. The world is about results. It's naive to expect that just because you "like" a group all of their actions are going to fit your views and needs. It's up to their shareholders if AMD is going to succeed in the long term, have giant profits or giant marketshare.
I'm giving my soul to good results, not for companies, groups or whatever. That's why my current PC holds an AMD processor. Next time I'm buying a computer, I'll just buy whatever is best for me, AMD or not. I'm not "hoping" AMD wins, I'm just hoping the market is filled with good products and plenty of choice.
Re:Move over Intel (hopefully) (Score:2, Insightful)
>> I've always personally favoured AMD chips, simply because they're damn good value, and efficient.
> I think that we should give our respect to good products, actions and attitudes.
Parent never said he was a *fan* of AMD, just that he liked AMD's products. Your entire post, albeit interesting, is moot point. Which I guess is alright, (+4 interesting, -1 moot)
I think calling people on fanatical chee
Re:Move over Intel (hopefully) (Score:2)
Right, because things are that black-and-white in real world, right? Like, everything that Microsoft does is crap and Apple products are made for dumb people?
but I don't see a problem with cheerleading a company that produces good products, tends to be the "good guy" in relation to their major competitor (see: Intel v. AMD for list of anti-com
Re:Move over Intel (hopefully) (Score:2)
Au contraire, the iPod has grown far too popular. The true geeks only swim in the iRiver!
- shazow
Re:Move over Intel (hopefully) (Score:3, Insightful)
Excellent. Everyone agrees on this one.
Now consider that when the number of competitors in a marketplace decreases, that the remaining businesses don't need to provide as much quality for the price. Ultimately, with a single large dominant player in the marketplace, be it chips, OS, routers, petrol, telephone service or whatever, you end up paying a lot of money for little quality.
And there are multiple barriers to entry in a
Re:Move over Intel (hopefully) (Score:2)
=]
Re: (Score:2)
Re:Move over Intel (hopefully) (Score:1)
Re:Move over Intel (hopefully) (Score:2)
Then I can't see why you "hope" that AMD succeeds or anything like that. You should "hope" that anyone invents good stuff, so you can buy it.
Re:Move over Intel (hopefully) (Score:1)
Parent modded insightful?? The iPod is the market share leader in portable digital music players by a hefty margin. How does the most popular of a type of device qualify as "different?" Unix is a much more elegant operating system than anything MS has put out to date. Geeks typically have training that make
Re:Move over Intel (hopefully) (Score:2)
You don't need to be truly unique to be "different" (or "special"). There are a lot of groups where being "special" just means being like everyone else in the said group.
In fact, you don't even need an official group to be "special". Using things perceived as "special" (like a stylish music player) is an important part of
Re:Move over Intel (hopefully) (Score:1)
Of course, if AMD beats out Intel, then we can forget the "good value" part because AMD will also have the pricing power that Intel currently has. Sigh - can't win...
In other news.... (Score:2)
IBM (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:IBM (Score:3, Funny)
But...why? (Score:4, Insightful)
So isn't this by all signs a step backwards?
Re:But...why? (Score:4, Insightful)
Their strategy is simple: Hire the best they can find.
Clarification (Score:2)
Their strategy is simple: Hire the best they can find.
Hey now, I understand I didn't say much about my reasons for believing AMD has been out-innovating IBM, but no reason to put little men made of straw in my mouth (and then bash them to their component molecules). As the article states, this guy is responsible for overall direction, and I was assuming that was the topic--
Re:But...why? (Score:4, Insightful)
-S
Re:But...why? (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:But...why? (Score:1, Insightful)
POWER5, POWER6 and other initiatives are things IBM has to do for IBM, period. The margin is high but it's part of an integ
Re:But...why? (Score:2)
Besides, the Cell could be built with the control core running any architecture. It's the headaches with the basic technology that I believe AMD would be interested in -- imagine one of those suckers with an Ath64 control core?
Personally, I want a chip with an Opteron 8xx-based con
Power PC's strength is system-on-chip (Score:5, Interesting)
This kind of chip is hard to program for, but can deliver unbeatable performance per dollar, square centimeter and watt when software is codesigned with the hardware.
AMD and Intel are going in this direction with dual-core, but IBM is already way ahead. For instance, BlueGene is based on a special chip that has two PowerPC cores with an incoherent cache (tricky to program but cheap and fast) and adds an enhanced vector processing unit. IBM is a leader in higher-end SoC solutions (really, anything that gets power from the wallplug instead of a battery.) Lower-power applications are using MIPS and ARM cores instead...
Re:Power PC's strength is system-on-chip (Score:2)
Re:Power PC's strength is system-on-chip (Score:1)
Codesign isn't as bad as you might thing -- you don't need to design the hardware at the gate level, but you can snap together pre-existing modules. Simulation tools let you check out the design space before you burn any silicon.
Gaming (slightly OT) (Score:1, Redundant)
Is this marketing hype? User hype? Any truth or unsubstantiated personal anecdotes to confirm or deny?
Athlon 64 wins performance prize (Score:3, Informative)
http://www.tomshardware.com/cpu/20050627/athlon_fx 57-06.html#opengl [tomshardware.com]
The Opteron, high-end cousin of the Athlon 64, is a great chip for servers. We have a Sun V40z, and the guys I work with are always amazed at how fast it is, and we've only got single core processors -- with dual cores, it'll smoke just about anything:
http://www.sun.com/servers/entry/v40z/index.jsp [sun.com]
Re:Athlon 64 wins performance prize (Score:2)
Re:Athlon 64 wins performance prize (Score:1)
And on the low end... (Score:2)
Re:Gaming (slightly OT) (Score:1)
Of course, this is dependant on a per machine basis. If you buy a crappy video card (or worse, use on board) and not enough ram, and an old HDD, you're system will not be as fast.
But basically every review I ever read put AMD way ahead of the Pentium in similarly equipped hardware. The main reason is speculative execution... when a Pentium misses and has to step back, it's got r
In other news... (Score:4, Funny)
Local Ice Cream Shop Scores Big Hiring Scoop
Rita's Water Ice yesterday announced it had hired Mary Lopez, 15-year old former ice-cream scooper at Little Shop of Ice Cream. Lopez's career at LSIC consisted of serving drinks, hot dogs and various frozen ice cream and custard products. She will now be responsible for Rita's [...]
Lead chip design? (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Lead chip design? (Score:1)
Pah... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Pah... (Score:1)
Re:Pah... (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Pah... (Score:2)
Re:Pah... (Score:2)
Re:Pah... Have you not heard of Pringles? (Score:1)
Liquid metal (Score:2)
Really why would anyone give a monkey's behind... (Score:1)
SMT (Score:4, Interesting)
The article mentions the POWER5 chip and it's implementation of SMT and how it behaves with multi-core chips (i.e. how it can devote all threads on one core to a single task, with the other core(s) sharing the workload via SMT) and how it's rather more impressive that the HyperThreading[TM] on Intel P4's, although I'm not a microprocesor guru.
Whilst I can understand AMD's decision not to put SMT in their current processors, with the recent focus on multi-core and multi-threading I think they'd be foolish not to think about it soon, and (as someone not very up on non-x86 chips) it seems IBM's POWER5 is a good base to emulate. Does anyone have any information on SMT implementations in POWER other chips like Sparc and Itanium?
Re:SMT in Sparc (Score:2)
Re:SMT (Score:1)
Re:SMT (Score:2)
AFAIK, all modern x86 chips alredy use register renaming, but would the additional overhead of SMT make that slower?
Re: the cache issues, it seems to be something that Intel have (maybe) tried to solve by dumping ever-increasing amount of cache on their chips (although of course they need generous cache alread because of their relatively high memory latency). Obviously I'm thinking that the AMD64's co
Need to keep the pressure on (Score:3, Informative)
Intel's 90nm process was a disaster, due to leakage problems.
According to here http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=25512 [theinquirer.net] Intels 65nm process solves some of the leakage problems and is due to be released very soon.
I get the impression that this will make it on par with AMD's current 90nm process as regards power consumption.
When the 45nm process comes out the leakage problem will be completly fixed completely.
Leakage problems with next-gen processes (Score:3, Informative)
Yeah, and they'll get the Nobel Prize for that, since the power consumption due to leakage increases with the descrease in process size. In fact, it's getting so high in chips being currently designed that the static power consumption is becoming higher than the dynamic power consumption due to the signal switching.
But, Intel will fix it completely with their next process. It'll be easy.
Re:Leakage problems with next-gen processes (Score:1)
Presumably they will use something like fully depleted SOI
his most recent "post" (Score:2)
I read the first half of this and thought, "wow, this guy has had a weblog for 25 years!"
Re:his most recent "post" (Score:1)
AMD vs IBM (Score:1)
Cool! (Score:2, Funny)
Ok here he comes. (Score:1)
Change the letters on the sign and put on your ties. Hurry.
His office has no windows (Score:1)
It has no windows
Re:His office has no windows (Score:3, Funny)
Not the company but the people (Score:2)
Silicon roadmaps? (Score:2)
Can someone tell me where I might find silicon roadmaps? My roadmaps are all made of paper, and get ruined when I spill coffee on them. Silicon roadmaps would surely solve this problem...
Re:25 years? (Score:3, Informative)
Looks like a valid use of the word to me.
Re:25 years? (Score:1)
Re:25 years? (Score:1)
while we are on the subject, I found out wikipedia has a nice page about all these made-up words:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cromulent [wikipedia.org]
Re:25 years? (Score:1)