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Depends on whether it was sold out due to manufacturing capacity or just a local logistical issue. If manufacturing capacity, then it should've been priced hig

Depends on whether it was sold out due to manufacturing capacity or just a local logistical issue. If manufacturing capacity, then it should've been priced higher. If local logistics, then this data point has no bearing on whether it's priced correctly or not.

ajross 7y ago
What if it's actually priced below cost and supply is deliberately restricted? Making the top bins of a part "marketing only" products has been done in the past, and fits the evidence here...
- throwaway2048 7y ago
  The binning on 3950x chips is nothing extraordinary, thats why the chiplet model is so powerful, because you don't need to have 16 perfect cores on one die to sell the CPU.
  - ajross 7y ago
    Then why are there so few of them? You can't buy these things anywhere, despite being priced at a volume level. Something doesn't add up.
    - kllrnohj 7y ago
      Well, the 3950X just launched, so there's a demand spike that's going to follow from that. But that aside these are sharing parts with the Epyc series. If AMD is getting volume orders for Epyc that is definitely going to take priority. The allocation order is going to go enterprise first, system builders second, retail boxes a distant 3rd.
      - ajross 7y ago
        The Epyc devices are lower binnings though! That's exactly my point. They don't seem to have the 3.5+ GHz parts available in a reasonable quantity. When Intel was doing this with "1 GHz" Pentium 3's way back when, they got crucified for a paper launch.
        reitzensteinm 7y ago
        Are you sure they're lower binnings, or just equally good chips being run more slowly for reduced power consumption? The power budget per core on Epyc is quite a bit lower.
        kllrnohj 7y ago
        The 3700X and 3800X, both of which have higher base frequencies than the 3950X and also use 8-core chiplets, have been in stock near continuously since launch.
- reitzensteinm 7y ago
  That's not how binning works. If you don't have enough of your top bin to supply the demand at your price point, you're not selling it at a loss, merely leaving money on the table. Supply isn't deliberately restricted, it's just you can't ramp up production of your top bins without also making more of everything else. If it were a different die entirely this might make more sense. But it's not.
  - labawi 7y ago
    I'd guess the top line products will be more available later, as they tune their process to increase yields.

ajross 7y ago

What if it's actually priced below cost and supply is deliberately restricted? Making the top bins of a part "marketing only" products has been done in the past, and fits the evidence here...

throwaway2048 7y ago
The binning on 3950x chips is nothing extraordinary, thats why the chiplet model is so powerful, because you don't need to have 16 perfect cores on one die to sell the CPU.
- ajross 7y ago
  Then why are there so few of them? You can't buy these things anywhere, despite being priced at a volume level. Something doesn't add up.
  - kllrnohj 7y ago
    Well, the 3950X just launched, so there's a demand spike that's going to follow from that. But that aside these are sharing parts with the Epyc series. If AMD is getting volume orders for Epyc that is definitely going to take priority. The allocation order is going to go enterprise first, system builders second, retail boxes a distant 3rd.
    - ajross 7y ago
      The Epyc devices are lower binnings though! That's exactly my point. They don't seem to have the 3.5+ GHz parts available in a reasonable quantity. When Intel was doing this with "1 GHz" Pentium 3's way back when, they got crucified for a paper launch.
      - reitzensteinm 7y ago
        Are you sure they're lower binnings, or just equally good chips being run more slowly for reduced power consumption? The power budget per core on Epyc is quite a bit lower.
      - kllrnohj 7y ago
        The 3700X and 3800X, both of which have higher base frequencies than the 3950X and also use 8-core chiplets, have been in stock near continuously since launch.
reitzensteinm 7y ago
That's not how binning works. If you don't have enough of your top bin to supply the demand at your price point, you're not selling it at a loss, merely leaving money on the table. Supply isn't deliberately restricted, it's just you can't ramp up production of your top bins without also making more of everything else. If it were a different die entirely this might make more sense. But it's not.
- labawi 7y ago
  I'd guess the top line products will be more available later, as they tune their process to increase yields.