AMD poaches Alienware co-founder Frank Azor to be new head architect of gaming

[Cal Jeffrey]

What just happened? It's official. Frank Azor, who left Dell on July 3, began his new job yesterday as AMD's "Chief Architect of Gaming Solutions." The career move comes after spending 21 years of his life at Alienware.

In June, Alienware co-founder and frontman Frank Azor announced that he would be leaving Dell on July 3 “to take on a new challenge.” He had kept tight-lipped about what that new challenge would be, but rumors via Wccftech claimed that he had been poached by AMD to be its “Chief Gaming Officer.”

On Monday, AMD CEO Lisa Su officially confirmed via Twitter that Azor began his first day as the company’s chief architect of gaming solutions— a title just shy of being an officer. Azor will be reporting to AMD’s Executive Vice President of Computing and Graphics Business Group Sandeep Chennakeshu.

Extremely happy to welcome @AzorFrank on his very first day @AMD. Frank is a powerhouse in the industry and we are thrilled to have him as our new chief architect of gaming solutions. Welcome Frank!! pic.twitter.com/kykLFQ7aTu

— Lisa Su (@LisaSu) July 15, 2019

Azor started Alienware with co-founders Alex Aguila and Nelson Gonzalez in 1996. Dell acquired the brand in 2006 and made Azor the head of its XPS and gaming divisions. Thanks to Azor and the Alienware brand, Dell’s gaming division is reportedly worth over $3 billion now.

Azor’s precise duties at AMD were not revealed, but his close work over the years with both Radeon and Nvidia hardware should leave his well-qualified for anything they throw at him. Judging from his title, he will at least be creatively involved with AMD's Radeon cards for PCs. He may also be tapped for input on semi-custom GPUs for gaming consoles or other projects.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/80965-amd-poaches-alienware-co-founder-frank-azor-new.html

 

[texasrattler]

Some of the original Alienware team didn't go with him when he went to Dell or some left Dell and they made Origin PC. I doubt Dell cares much as Alienware, like them or not is a built brand that many today still like and use. It's funny though as Azor didn't seem to do much at Dell, nothing revolutionary like he did with Alienware which at one point was the best gaming pc you could get.

 

[Squid Surprise]

Some of the original Alienware team didn't go with him when he went to Dell or some left Dell and they made Origin PC. I doubt Dell cares much as Alienware, like them or not is a built brand that many today still like and use. It's funny though as Azor didn't seem to do much at Dell, nothing revolutionary like he did with Alienware which at one point was the best gaming pc you could get.

So what exactly is he going to be doing at AMD? AMD doesn't actually sell computers (gaming or otherwise)... unless they intend on doing so?

 

[texasrattler]

Thats really the big question, why did they get him to begin with? He isn’t Jony Ivy of phones so why get a guy who hasn’t done much in like 15yrs. I guarantee Azor isn’t the reason Dells gaming division is at 3 billion, otherwise Dell sure as hell wouldn’t have let him go or let any poach him.

 

[Bubbajim]

Lol at his new boss tweeting out a picture of him where he is clearly stoned.

 

[Cal Jeffrey]

Lol at his new boss tweeting out a picture of him where he is clearly stoned.

It's a pic from his Welcome Aboard party.