3 ms·

Google Said to Endorse Qualcomm's Fledgling Server-Chip Efforts

27 points by roymurdock 11y ago

fishnchips 11y ago
Can't really blame them for trying to diversify their suppliers.
- ksec 11y ago
  So why not help AMD with ZEN in this regards?
  - hga 11y ago
    Helping to create a viable ARM server market, if that's possible, is an entirely different and potentially much more rewarding thing than making another bet on a perennial long term loser like AMD (sometime before their most recent peak and decline in the x86_64 domain it was noted that they'd never made their shareholders money if they'd bought and held their stock). Intel is kind of the opposite, they're usually very good (and have almost always been a fab line powerhouse (the major exception would be when they exited the DRAM market)), and only occasionally get really wedged. At this point, I wouldn't expect support for AMD to do more than drop Intel's prices a bit, and maybe not at all given how the server, desktop, laptop and mobile markets are moving. It's also an indirect bet on TSMC vs. GlobalFoundries and/or Samsung.
mikecb 11y ago
This is a significant turnaround, because top infrastructure people including Urs had been saying that arm cores would never be sufficient for single-threaded performance[1] and most recently we thought they were supporting OpenPower as competition to intel.[2] > Google, which purchases as many as 300,000 processors every quarter for servers it manufactures, has greater buying power than most. Good lord! [1] http://www.computer.org/csdl/mags/mi/2010/04/mmi2010040020-abs.html http://www.computer.org/csdl/mags/mi/2010/04/mmi2010040020-a... [2] http://www.nextplatform.com/2015/03/18/google-looks-ahead-to-openpower-systems/ http://www.nextplatform.com/2015/03/18/google-looks-ahead-to... Background, great book "The Datacenter as a Computer": http://www.morganclaypool.com/doi/abs/10.2200/S00516ED2V01Y201306CAC024 http://www.morganclaypool.com/doi/abs/10.2200/S00516ED2V01Y2...

3 ms·

Google Said to Endorse Qualcomm's Fledgling Server-Chip Efforts

27 points by roymurdock 11y ago

fishnchips 11y ago
Can't really blame them for trying to diversify their suppliers.
- ksec 11y ago
  So why not help AMD with ZEN in this regards?
  - hga 11y ago
    Helping to create a viable ARM server market, if that's possible, is an entirely different and potentially much more rewarding thing than making another bet on a perennial long term loser like AMD (sometime before their most recent peak and decline in the x86_64 domain it was noted that they'd never made their shareholders money if they'd bought and held their stock). Intel is kind of the opposite, they're usually very good (and have almost always been a fab line powerhouse (the major exception would be when they exited the DRAM market)), and only occasionally get really wedged. At this point, I wouldn't expect support for AMD to do more than drop Intel's prices a bit, and maybe not at all given how the server, desktop, laptop and mobile markets are moving. It's also an indirect bet on TSMC vs. GlobalFoundries and/or Samsung.
mikecb 11y ago
This is a significant turnaround, because top infrastructure people including Urs had been saying that arm cores would never be sufficient for single-threaded performance[1] and most recently we thought they were supporting OpenPower as competition to intel.[2] > Google, which purchases as many as 300,000 processors every quarter for servers it manufactures, has greater buying power than most. Good lord! [1] http://www.computer.org/csdl/mags/mi/2010/04/mmi2010040020-abs.html http://www.computer.org/csdl/mags/mi/2010/04/mmi2010040020-a... [2] http://www.nextplatform.com/2015/03/18/google-looks-ahead-to-openpower-systems/ http://www.nextplatform.com/2015/03/18/google-looks-ahead-to... Background, great book "The Datacenter as a Computer": http://www.morganclaypool.com/doi/abs/10.2200/S00516ED2V01Y201306CAC024 http://www.morganclaypool.com/doi/abs/10.2200/S00516ED2V01Y2...