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An unusually unfavourable article, even by the standards of semiaccurate.com. Can this new processor family be interpreted as something less terrible than "pal

An unusually unfavourable article, even by the standards of semiaccurate.com. Can this new processor family be interpreted as something less terrible than "palpable desperation" and effectively giving up on the 10nm process? For example, prices might be aggressively low.

pizza234 6y ago
> For example, prices might be aggressively low. Although this is possible, it would be a huge hit to Intel's image. I think one can state that Zen 3 is higher performing than any Intel's architecture/model across the board. What happens when they'll release Rocket Lake? They'll introduce a new(er), slower architecture, to tackle... the budget segment? I think that, from an engineering point of view, Intel is going to be in deep for a few years, with the hope that they'll manage to pull a new architecture in 3/4 years. On the other hand, I've specifically written "engineering", because Intel still has copious amounts of "green persuasion", which shouldn't be underestimated.
eropple 6y ago
This is one of the more oddly axe-grindy articles I've seen in a while. Poorly edited English and writing what feels like angrily about some pieces of silicon--is this just the house style for this site? Maybe somebody can provide some context.
- bnt 6y ago
  Why does “poorly edited English” matter when the content seems to be on point? Not everyone on the Internet is a “native” English speaker. Content matters, not who and how they wrote it.
  - phaedryx 6y ago
    I tend to associate "poorly edited" with "on a passionate rant" and "edited" with "slow and thoughtful". It might not be fair, but I do like to know the mindset the article is written from.
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
  - eropple 6y ago
    Doesn't matter how good somebody's points are when they metaphorically walk up to you half-dressed and screaming.
  - Tepix 6y ago
    For me the overly agressive tone was detrimental while reading the article. I kept thinking: "Is this really necessary?" It reminds me of the rethoric that we've seen in politics in the last four years.
    - rasz 6y ago
      Your reaction reminds me of what Aamer Rahman describes at 2 minute mark in this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKICKcMU3MU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKICKcMU3MU Just a reminder. Intel bribed, intimidated and blackmailed hardware manufacturers to alienate AMD while AMD was offering better product. Intel was fined record 1 Billion Euro. Intel hasnt paid a single cent of that fine to this day. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-eu-intel-antitrust/intel-says-flawed-eu-antitrust-decision-underpins-1-2-billion-fine-idUSKBN20X1FV https://www.reuters.com/article/us-eu-intel-antitrust/intel-...
      - Tepix 6y ago
        Funny video. However, the point stands: Just because some is insulting others it seems unwise to do the same.
- justin66 6y ago
  This is typical of semiaccurate. It is awful.
- exmadscientist 6y ago
  Yes, this is Charlie's house style and has been for ages. He's always hyperbolic and his tone always favors some companies over others. Everything's either the best or the worst (usually the worst), and so on. It's pretty much exactly like reading a tabloid. The counterbalance is that he's got one of the absolute best networks of moles in Silicon Valley and always seems to know things, often big things, before anyone else. Sometimes even before it's on anyone else's radar. So if you're familiar enough with him to back out his style to see the underlying (likely) facts, which isn't too hard, you can learn a lot about the big chip industry. And that's not just interesting to people like us, but very very valuable to a lot of people. (Disclaimer: I haven't read SemiAccurate much since he paywalled it ~10 years ago, a move that I don't like at all but completely understand from the perspective of his business.)
  - dragontamer 6y ago
    I was curious and peaked behind the paywall years ago, when the PS4 / XBox One stuff was leaking. Charlie did good: he knew details of those systems a year in advance. He's ranty and very aggressive with his writing. His best stuff is kept behind the paywall. It wasn't really worth the money to me (and I only subscribed once as a curiosity). But those "moles" he talks about are clearly the real deal.
- rwmj 6y ago
  S|A is known for these ranty opinion articles - and dislike of Intel. On the other hand they do seem to have access to a lot of industry insiders and break important stories all the time.
  - sounds 6y ago
    I believe S|A's dislike of Intel and access to industry insiders are correlated. Specifically I know a lot of industry insiders have a dislike of some of Intel's practices. When S|A talks about them, S|A knows to take the "ranty" tone, as a means of signalling up front to readers, "Hey, this isn't going to be a bland slide presentation..."
- guardiangod 6y ago
  Back in early 2000s Charlie was a beat reporter for The Inquirer. The Inquirer was written like a British tabloid (in fact they were split from The Register.) As for his grudge, it probably stem from Intel's underhanded tactics. AMD had the Athlon XP that buried Intel's Pentium 4 in every measure. Intel made some very backhanded and immoral moves- * Bribed Dell to not use AMD * Threatened Taiwanese mobo manufacturers to not build Athlon mobo by withholding North bridge chips * Blackmailed the said manufacturers to not even show up for product conventions held by AMD * Forced RAMBUS down everyone's throat until Athlon forced them to release the i815 chipset (finally supports DDR1!) As a result AMD never managed to grow their revenue to a level that can sustain their R&D. When the Intel's Core arch arrived 4 years later it was over for AMD. The Inquirer had a lot of contacts that suffered greatly, and it must have left quite an impression on Charlie. I remember that one of his reports was that during a trade show, a Taiwanese mobo rep had to meet Charlie in secret in a hotel room to talk about AMD, in fear of Intel catching wind and retaliate. BTW Charlie also has a grudge against Nvidia for similar reasons, but Nvidia has been competent enough for the last decade that Charlie couldn't find anything to complain about.
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]

pizza234 6y ago

> For example, prices might be aggressively low. Although this is possible, it would be a huge hit to Intel's image. I think one can state that Zen 3 is higher performing than any Intel's architecture/model across the board. What happens when they'll release Rocket Lake? They'll introduce a new(er), slower architecture, to tackle... the budget segment? I think that, from an engineering point of view, Intel is going to be in deep for a few years, with the hope that they'll manage to pull a new architecture in 3/4 years. On the other hand, I've specifically written "engineering", because Intel still has copious amounts of "green persuasion", which shouldn't be underestimated.

eropple 6y ago

This is one of the more oddly axe-grindy articles I've seen in a while. Poorly edited English and writing what feels like angrily about some pieces of silicon--is this just the house style for this site? Maybe somebody can provide some context.

bnt 6y ago
Why does “poorly edited English” matter when the content seems to be on point? Not everyone on the Internet is a “native” English speaker. Content matters, not who and how they wrote it.
- phaedryx 6y ago
  I tend to associate "poorly edited" with "on a passionate rant" and "edited" with "slow and thoughtful". It might not be fair, but I do like to know the mindset the article is written from.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- eropple 6y ago
  Doesn't matter how good somebody's points are when they metaphorically walk up to you half-dressed and screaming.
- Tepix 6y ago
  For me the overly agressive tone was detrimental while reading the article. I kept thinking: "Is this really necessary?" It reminds me of the rethoric that we've seen in politics in the last four years.
  - rasz 6y ago
    Your reaction reminds me of what Aamer Rahman describes at 2 minute mark in this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKICKcMU3MU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKICKcMU3MU Just a reminder. Intel bribed, intimidated and blackmailed hardware manufacturers to alienate AMD while AMD was offering better product. Intel was fined record 1 Billion Euro. Intel hasnt paid a single cent of that fine to this day. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-eu-intel-antitrust/intel-says-flawed-eu-antitrust-decision-underpins-1-2-billion-fine-idUSKBN20X1FV https://www.reuters.com/article/us-eu-intel-antitrust/intel-...
    - Tepix 6y ago
      Funny video. However, the point stands: Just because some is insulting others it seems unwise to do the same.
justin66 6y ago
This is typical of semiaccurate. It is awful.
exmadscientist 6y ago
Yes, this is Charlie's house style and has been for ages. He's always hyperbolic and his tone always favors some companies over others. Everything's either the best or the worst (usually the worst), and so on. It's pretty much exactly like reading a tabloid. The counterbalance is that he's got one of the absolute best networks of moles in Silicon Valley and always seems to know things, often big things, before anyone else. Sometimes even before it's on anyone else's radar. So if you're familiar enough with him to back out his style to see the underlying (likely) facts, which isn't too hard, you can learn a lot about the big chip industry. And that's not just interesting to people like us, but very very valuable to a lot of people. (Disclaimer: I haven't read SemiAccurate much since he paywalled it ~10 years ago, a move that I don't like at all but completely understand from the perspective of his business.)
- dragontamer 6y ago
  I was curious and peaked behind the paywall years ago, when the PS4 / XBox One stuff was leaking. Charlie did good: he knew details of those systems a year in advance. He's ranty and very aggressive with his writing. His best stuff is kept behind the paywall. It wasn't really worth the money to me (and I only subscribed once as a curiosity). But those "moles" he talks about are clearly the real deal.
rwmj 6y ago
S|A is known for these ranty opinion articles - and dislike of Intel. On the other hand they do seem to have access to a lot of industry insiders and break important stories all the time.
- sounds 6y ago
  I believe S|A's dislike of Intel and access to industry insiders are correlated. Specifically I know a lot of industry insiders have a dislike of some of Intel's practices. When S|A talks about them, S|A knows to take the "ranty" tone, as a means of signalling up front to readers, "Hey, this isn't going to be a bland slide presentation..."
guardiangod 6y ago
Back in early 2000s Charlie was a beat reporter for The Inquirer. The Inquirer was written like a British tabloid (in fact they were split from The Register.) As for his grudge, it probably stem from Intel's underhanded tactics. AMD had the Athlon XP that buried Intel's Pentium 4 in every measure. Intel made some very backhanded and immoral moves- * Bribed Dell to not use AMD * Threatened Taiwanese mobo manufacturers to not build Athlon mobo by withholding North bridge chips * Blackmailed the said manufacturers to not even show up for product conventions held by AMD * Forced RAMBUS down everyone's throat until Athlon forced them to release the i815 chipset (finally supports DDR1!) As a result AMD never managed to grow their revenue to a level that can sustain their R&D. When the Intel's Core arch arrived 4 years later it was over for AMD. The Inquirer had a lot of contacts that suffered greatly, and it must have left quite an impression on Charlie. I remember that one of his reports was that during a trade show, a Taiwanese mobo rep had to meet Charlie in secret in a hotel room to talk about AMD, in fear of Intel catching wind and retaliate. BTW Charlie also has a grudge against Nvidia for similar reasons, but Nvidia has been competent enough for the last decade that Charlie couldn't find anything to complain about.

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]