Intel to Drop Low-end Chipsets

SimilarityEngine writes "Intel is planning to terminate production of its 910GL, 915GL and 915PL chipsets by the end of August, as part of a shift in focus towards higher-spec products, possibly with support for new FSB architectures, multi-core processors and a host of other much-requested features relating to virtualisation and security."

Comments

Re:When for a general purpose mainboard and chipse

[aztracker1]

Also with things like the memory controller going into the cpu (athlon-64) for performance, things that further separate the cpu from the motherboard, won't have a decent upgrade path, in addition to memory architectures changing nearly as rapidly as cpu architectures, you are just as well off upgrading mb+cpu+ram at the same time, replacing subsets of those, only when one or the other fails, and upgrading the three when upgrading your system.

Doesn't make sense to upgrade your cpu to the new Uber-Pro5 when you are stuck with crappy DOA-533 ram, and the older PCIxtreme-2048 bus for your video.

Reminds me of GM/Ford/Chrysler

[putko]

In the 90s the American carmakers got out of the low-marign car business, and moved with all their gusto to the high margin trucks and SUVs.

This was a disaster, and only now are the chickens coming home to roost. Already Chrysler is history, and we are all just wondering whether Ford or GM will be next to go. And now the Germans, Japanese and Koreans compete with them in the high end -- there is nowhere else to go. I guess cars like the Maybach are even higher margin, but the Americans can't economically build it (nor something like a Lamborghini).

So Intel better be makign some new, super-breakthrough stuff, that the other guys just don't have at all -- or the current high-margin business will become medium and then low-margin; at which point VIA will eat them alive.

Japanese companies understand that you need to keep on making stuff, even low margin stuff, if only to stop the other folks from entering your citatdel and killing you one day. A bit like Cisco making cheapo stuff (Linksys) to keep the wolves at bay. You've got to get through Linksys before you can attack Cisco.

Re:Now when you say "security"

[Tackhead]

> Do you mean "security for the end user" or "security for Microsoft, to keep the end user from doing things which Microsoft does not want them to"?

The latter. You are not the customer, and neither Intel nor AMD are the vendors.

Microsoft is the vendor. Intel and AMD are the customers. The guy who actually sits behind the keyboard is the product.

Could be a good thing,

[ratatask]

This might turn out good, as it hopefully will allow the "high" end chips to be manufactured and sold in bigger quantities.
Which ought to lead to cheaper prices.
More bang for the buck for /us/.

Re:Its all about the Benjies

[mpapet]

It does seem sensible, -today-.

For tomorrow, are they abandoning the price point?

If they are abandoning the price point because it's not rich enough for them, I think they've planted the seeds for yet another american powerhouse company to fail in 20 years or less.

Unfettered and unwatched competition in the low-end will clobber them one day soon. I don't care how many uptainiums and Pentium M's they've got and how big their lead may be.

A different way of saying it is that Intel needs to know how to make low-cost chips and effectively compete in these low margin high-volume segments. To be lean-and-mean like their competitors in this space is mandatory. Plus, the volume helps their more expensive product remain profitable.