Nintenboy01
Posts: 309 +215
probably just meant a performance lead, which will last until late 2022 if they're luckyWith Alder Lake requiring new everything? Not in his wildest dreams.
Xbox creator apologizes to AMD over last-minute switch to Intel CPUs 20 years ago
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kiwigraeme
Posts: 1,999 +1,409
Without checking - and from vague memories it was all about DOS and IBM stuffing up.
The Gates going all serious on open source - and demanding that the mold up to then on hackers, and getting free phone calls etc was over and it was now BAD and everyone should pay & pay .
TBF if he didn't monetise the wild west someone else would of
hahahanoobs
Posts: 5,221 +3,075
Intel probably made an offer they couldn't refuse. It might not seem fair looking in from the outside, but these are big greedy companies so every dollar and marketing opportunity is technically fair game.
Not all incentives are nefarious.
I get that the dude is sorry, but I still want to know if the switch would have changed anything.
ZedRM
Posts: 1,804 +1,207
After reading this article, can anyone be surprised by the back-stabbing displayed by Bill? I'm not. PAR for the course with that guy. Sneaky, slimy, lowlife behaviour. And he's still doing it as evidenced by his recent divorce. He stabbed Melinda in the back? Who could have seen THAT coming...
The Intel modified Coppermine cost Microsoft so much. And because of the last minute contract negotiations, Microsoft was stuck in CPU pricing for the entire lifespan of the OG Xbox. Normally, parts go down over time as manufacturing costs go down. But Microsoft basically bought the CPUs and hard drives at off-the-shelf pricing. As Intel marched forward with newer processors that were faster and cheaper, the Xbox processor was stuck in time both in performance and pricing. Microsoft hauled a$$ in discontinuing the Xbox. Not because it wasn't an amazing selling device (it sold quite well). It's because the more consoles they sold, the more money they lost (because every machine was a loss). If they had gone AMD (it would've been an AMD/Nvidia machine; back then, AMD didn't own ATI), it would've been about the same performance but much cheaper.
Rock Dirty
Posts: 78 +165
Hmmm, uuugh, hmmm, I'll just say "no", but cannot give any other information really without leaving breadcrumbs to myself.
We were just pissed. And I have other personal (direct) stories of Intel's hijinks keeping us out of the market during that time. Wish I could say more...
Best...
Sausagemeat
Posts: 1,597 +1,423
So in other words Intel played the corporate game better than AMD and the people who lost out the most were AMDs engineers. Consumers were fine and they were fine, the OG Xbox was outstanding!
Sure I’m glad he’s sorry, but seriously who cares? AMD are now partners with MS and feature in all their product line ups. But that isn’t out of pity. AMD earned that. Who knows maybe even via scummy tactics. It wouldn’t surprise me, Intel and AMD are just as scummy as each other. I pity anyone who feels otherwise.
Sure I’m glad he’s sorry, but seriously who cares? AMD are now partners with MS and feature in all their product line ups. But that isn’t out of pity. AMD earned that. Who knows maybe even via scummy tactics. It wouldn’t surprise me, Intel and AMD are just as scummy as each other. I pity anyone who feels otherwise.
passwordistaco
Posts: 572 +1,240
I ran a couple nForce 2 Socket A boards for years because of Dolby Digital Live - to the point of ordering new BIOS chips to revive after a bad flash, cross flashing on one board to revive another. Got some benefit from AMD's work.
Actually BASIC was created at Dartmouth. Gates just made a version for micros.
Lmfao let's not forget the dreaded red ring of death that plaqued the original xbox
Intel played better? On my town it's called played dirty, but the worse was not Intel but BG which accepted it. Again, in my town when you work with someone and at the end someone else offers more, you just stick with the person who worked with you. It's called "having principles".
You say nowadays AMD is on all MS product line?! Show me the Surface Pro, Go, Studio, etc with the AMD chip, I would love to have an SP8 with a Zen 2/3 CPU with integrated RDNA2 graphics....If MS would be so neutral, we would have an SP8 with an AMD Van Gogh line chip. And we would have much much more official AMD CPUs compatible with W11.
Conclusion: I am no fan from the company A or B but I'll try to stay away from Intel and MS. I use now a Mac Mini M1 and the speed, optimization, low consumption are fabulous; I hope Linux, Steam/Steam OS and Crossover really succeed in bringing all games to Linux/Mac OS. I want to abandon low principles' companies.
noXLar
Posts: 10 +6
the orginal xbox didn't have that failure or any red ring in hardware, that was xbox 360
Vulcanproject
Posts: 1,698 +3,210
I wonder which setup offered better performance. The Intel Coppermine in the Xbox was basically Intel disposing of their left over Pentium 3 waste. The clocks were decent though and the rest of the hardware quite good for a console box in 2001. It certainly demolished the PS2 which was no slouch albeit 18 months older. The totally playable Half Life 2 port was and still is mind boggling to me.
I kind of suspect AMD had a better setup. Be interesting to know the exact intended specs of the AMD machine. Probably was a Thunderbird core.
I kind of suspect AMD had a better setup. Be interesting to know the exact intended specs of the AMD machine. Probably was a Thunderbird core.
Sausagemeat
Posts: 1,597 +1,423
Neither AMD nor Intel have "principles". Or MS for that matter.
And yes there are Zen parts in the surface line. Not every model. Maybe you can write a strongly worded letter to MS to persuade them to change all remaining Intel models to AMD if this is something that actually matters to you?
Bluescreendeath
Posts: 397 +620
The designer of the original Xbox isn't responsible for creating Windows 11. This is just one man apologizing, not the entire company as a whole.
I have zero products from AMD, all are Intel or Apple M1. Nevertheless I recognize how important and good is AMD and I would definitely buy an Surface Go or Pro with a "Van Gogh " chip if there was one.
Sausagemeat
Posts: 1,597 +1,423
Over the years the vast majority of my tech had been Intel based (and Apple). But I have had AMD products, typically their GPUs although I’m did have an Athlon XP back in the day and the FX8350, which was the worst CPU I have ever owned by a long way. When it comes to CPUs I’d buy AMD if the price was right, it’s a commodity and it doesn’t rely on heavy software support like a GPU does. I actually have a Ryzen based ultra book atm and it’s fine. Im never touching Radeon again though as it really has dreadful drivers and always has. But Ryzen is fine if the price is right. I need a new CPU now but I’m waiting to see if Alder lake delivers on the hype.
The same that Nintendo did to SONY when they were collaborating on the CD reader and 3D expansion for SNES. I imagine that deal with them for the Xbox360 hardware wasn't one too much favorable for Microsoft later. And really, the Xbox was powerful, but would have been another kind of monster with a AMD CPU then.
The sad part is that Gates was just lucky. IBM went to Gates for a 16 bit o/s because, and only because, the guy in charge of DEC, which owned CP/M, hid from IBM when they came to him first.
If DEC wasn't led by a tin foil hat loon, we'd be running CP/M 86, and Gates would be on the outside.
I agree with you, Radeon are still a few levels under RTX on the hardware and software side, as they always were; on the CPU side as you need a new one, I would wait until Intel & AMD both release the new generations. Intel relies a lot on paid reviews, optimized software and very high tdp. I would wait until dust settles
Dimitriid
Posts: 2,447 +4,919
You're right it's not a bad thing to clarify so in case it wasn't clear: my beef isn't with a single person at Microsoft but with their policies as a whole, just thought of the irony as a jumping off point for what's going on right now that's all.
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