Slashdot Mirror


China Begins Production Of x86 Processors Based On AMD's IP (tomshardware.com)

Chinese-designed "Dhyana" x86 processors based on AMD's Zen microarchitecture are beginning to surface from Chinese chip producer Hygon. From a report: The processors come as the fruit of AMD's x86 IP licensing agreements with its China-based partners and break the decades-long stranglehold on x86 held by the triumvirate of Intel, AMD and VIA Technologies. Details are also emerging that outline how AMD has managed to stay within the boundaries of the x86 licensing agreements but still allow Chinese-controlled interests to design and sell processors based on the Zen design.

AMD's official statements indicate the company does not sell its final chip designs to its China-based partners. Instead, AMD allows them to design their own processors tailored for the Chinese server market. But the China-produced Hygon "Dhyana" processors are so similar to AMD's EPYC processors that Linux kernel developers have listed vendor IDs and family series numbers as the only difference. In fact, Linux maintainers have simply ported over the EPYC support codes to the Dhyana processor and note that they have successfully run the same patches on AMD's EPYC processors, implying there is little to no differentiation between the chips.

118 of 189 comments (clear)

  1. Re:China Finds Begins Production... by Revek · · Score: 1, Funny

    We forgive you.

  2. Triumvirate?! by aaarrrgggh · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Does Via Technologies still exist?

    I guess the bigger question is really if x86 should be the basis for a new processor initiative from China.

    1. Re:Triumvirate?! by unixisc · · Score: 1

      I'm guessing that they still need PCs, which they then preload w/ whichever pirated version of Windows is popular w/ their base. As for Via, no idea, but that would beg the question of who inherited the Cyrix/Centaur IP

    2. Re:Triumvirate?! by TeknoHog · · Score: 3, Informative

      As for Via, no idea, but that would raise the question of who inherited the Cyrix/Centaur IP

      FTFY. It seems they continue to sell their CPUs, though these designs and processes don't look exactly new. https://www.viatech.com/en/sil...

      --
      Escher was the first MC and Giger invented the HR department.
    3. Re:Triumvirate?! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      The latest iteration is part of a joint venture between the Shanghai government in mainland China and the Taiwanese VIA: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhaoxin

      They still come out with interesting new chips, but are rarely seen in the west.

    4. Re: Triumvirate?! by technosaurus · · Score: 1

      As for x86, there is also DMP. No x86_64 from them though. I kinda liked the surfboard computer that had everything in a standard keyboard and the gecko edubook that ran on regular AA batteries (rechargeable ones typically). They're kinda slow, but that's on an older process. I've often wondered how efficient/fast an old school 2/3/4-86 could be if it were redesigned for current fab processes. I think I still have a Debian Woody CD around somewhere.

    5. Re:Triumvirate?! by Tablizer · · Score: 3, Insightful

      bigger question is really if x86 should be the basis for a new processor initiative

      China may be hedging its bets by investing in both kinds of CPUs: x86 and ARM.

      Some argue x86 is dying, but x86 has more server-centric features than ARM, and is thus is still popular for server farms. (At least the x86 server features are more mature.)

      I wonder if GPU's will overtake both of these, or at least push x86 and ARM into being mostly coordinators. Perhaps the market will shift to specialized chip-sets for AI, databases, graphics, etc., and x86 or ARM will mostly function as process coordinators which dish out specific tasks to specialized CPUs.

    6. Re:Triumvirate?! by Mr.Radar · · Score: 2

      Yes, and they're partnering with Chinese firm Zhaoxin to design a new x86 CPU microarchitecture.

      --
      What if this signature were clever?
    7. Re:Triumvirate?! by AmiMoJo · · Score: 5, Interesting

      x86 turned out to be good even though it's crap, at least for high performance applications.

      People thought that RISC was the way forward for performance, because you could make simpler hardware that would allow higher clock frequencies and more parallelism. But it turned out that you could use CISC instruction sets like x86 as an intermediate language that you recompiled on the fly, optimizing for each specific CPU and even the other threads executing in parallel in a way that no compiler ever could.

      So for performance x86 is great, even if it's not really what x86 CPUs actually execute internally. For power consumption RISC is much better, as we have seen with ARM.

      Of course all this is talking generally, for specific applications the answer might differ.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    8. Re: Triumvirate?! by ChrisMaple · · Score: 1

      Although an 80486 on a modern process could have a blazing fast clock, it wouldn't be effective speed competition for a modern processor due to small cache and poor instructions-per-clock. For most programs, memory bandwidth would be a limiting factor.

      Optimized for efficiency at a moderate clock speed, it would be an interesting product, but probably not competitive against a system-on-chip.

      --
      Contribute to civilization: ari.aynrand.org/donate
    9. Re:Triumvirate?! by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

      Performance and efficiency are irrelevant. Which one hast the best code of conduct?

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
    10. Re:Triumvirate?! by Tablizer · · Score: 1

      But as long as we need flexibility in our processing environment, we will need general processing CPU architectures

      Couldn't a general CPU be a fall-back option if specialized processors are not available at a given time or environment?

      I'm no "chip expert", but I can envision at least 2 ways this could be done: one is by emulation. If the specialized CPU is not available, then the general CPU processes the task in emulation mode.

      Another approach is to use the same machine language on the specialized chips, but optimize specific kinds of processing and/or instructions. For example, if AI uses a lot of the A and B instructions, but D and C are rarer in AI, then the "AI chip" would run instructions A and B really fast, but slack on D and C to save resources for the first two. If by chance the AI chip is not available, the general CPU can still process the AI-centric task, just not as fast.

    11. Re:Triumvirate?! by AlwinBarni · · Score: 1

      Maybe not for long. HPE announced work on ARM based supercomputer: https://www.zdnet.com/article/...

    12. Re:Triumvirate?! by iggymanz · · Score: 1

      haha, "there are three (and growing) number of companies making this thing" .

      "oh goody, I get to use the word triumvirate!"

      Pfff, the truth is that other companies can make x86-64 compatible chips. Soon five at least will be making them.

    13. Re:Triumvirate?! by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      Well x86 assembly is defined by the UNCHR as a form of torture, so...

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    14. Re:Triumvirate?! by Wdomburg · · Score: 1

      Yes. They're producing processors with the Chinese government.

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

    15. Re:Triumvirate?! by tehcyder · · Score: 1

      As for Via, no idea, but that would raise the question of who inherited the Cyrix/Centaur IP

      FTFY. It seems they continue to sell their CPUs, though these designs and processes don't look exactly new. https://www.viatech.com/en/sil...

      fuck off. does it make your pecker a little longer and wider if you correct someone's mistakes in a slashdot post? i bet your wife and/or husband wishes it did.

      The basis of rational discourse is for people to (calmly) correct mistakes where they find them.

      Otherwise, you descend into a mess where any non-factual statement is as valid as any other.

      --
      To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
    16. Re:Triumvirate?! by Agripa · · Score: 1

      I wonder if GPU's will overtake both of these, or at least push x86 and ARM into being mostly coordinators.

      GPUs will not necessarily do this but specialized function units in some form will. This fits with the whole dark silicon thing.

      Perhaps the market will shift to specialized chip-sets for AI, databases, graphics, etc., and x86 or ARM will mostly function as process coordinators which dish out specific tasks to specialized CPUs.

      This has already happened where dedicated hardware offers a performance advantage however Amdahl's law means that high single thread performance does not become less important.

  3. Re:China Finds Begins Production... by avandesande · · Score: 1

    Engrish silly...

    --
    love is just extroverted narcissism
  4. Re:China Finds Begins Production... by ArchieBunker · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Just business as usual at Slashdot. Incoherent summaries and easily spotted typos. On a side note does that mean I can buy these knockoff processors from Alibaba for a fraction of AMD's prices?

    --
    Only the State obtains its revenue by coercion. - Murray Rothbard
  5. Re:China Finds Begins Production... by 93+Escort+Wagon · · Score: 1

    We forgive you.

    No, no we don’t. What a horrible “sentence”.

    --
    #DeleteChrome
  6. Intel is fucked as they not even ok for china copy by Joe_Dragon · · Score: 1

    Intel is fucked as they not even ok for china to copy them.

  7. China can catch up with the USA by AHuxley · · Score: 1

    One consumer cpu can do math.
    Time for the 1980's NSA and its consumer chip super computer contractor adventures.
    Buy 100000's more consumer CPU from contractors and enjoy doing more maths. With many more low cost consumer CPU's. They are for consumers so the cost is low.
    Buy more CPU's from the contractor and the maths is faster again.

    --
    Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
  8. "tailored for the Chinese server market"? by magarity · · Score: 1

    translation: fabs owned by fairly high ranked party officials' brothers-in-law and making timely deposits to Panamanian accounts.

  9. x86-64? by reanjr · · Score: 1, Interesting

    I assume they're talking about x86-64, which is modern AMD technology, and not actually the x86, which is decades old Intel technology. I can't imagine anyone would want to build x86s for anything but legacy devices.

    1. Re:x86-64? by arth1 · · Score: 1

      x86-64 will likely never drop its 32/16 bit real mode compatibility.

      And today we still start our Teslas with a hand crank because they must remain compatible with the Model T

      More like a Tesla is still vehicle with a width accommodating most normal roads. If Tesla came out with a car that was twice the width, it would be more analogous. They don't, for a similar reason - to maintain compatibility with older resources, in Tesla's case roads.

    2. Re: x86-64? by reanjr · · Score: 1

      Apple relies on x86-64, which is backwards compatible with x86, but Mac throws up a warning when you actually try to run old x86 code.

    3. Re:x86-64? by Bert64 · · Score: 1

      Apple are moving fully towards x86-64, the latest versions of OSX warn you when running 32bit x86 code and future versions are planning to eliminate support for it altogether.

      --
      http://spamdecoy.net - free throwaway anonymous email - avoid spam!
  10. Do they need Intel? by unixisc · · Score: 2

    Two questions arise: if they have licensed AMD's Zen architecture, does that allow them to support Intel's x32, which is the cross licensing exclusive that Intel and AMD have (or at least had), which allowed Intel to use AMD64 and AMD to use IA32? Or have we come to the point where it's no longer necessary to support 32-bit in x64?

    As for AMD, this is the only way they can gain any significant marketshare anywhere - by taking their China partners and selling into China. In fact, those Chinese partners might as well acquire AMD directly, and make it all their own.

    1. Re:Do they need Intel? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      AMD holds a 51 percent stake in HMC... HMC owns the x86 IP and ends up producing the chips, which satisfies the AMD and Intel x86 cross-licensing agreements because the IP remains with a company owned primarily by AMD. ... To stay within the legal boundaries, HMC licenses the IP to Hygon, which designs the x86 chips and then sells the design back to HMC. HMC then employs a foundry to fab the end product (likely China Foundries or TSMC). Confusingly, HMC then transfers the chips back to Hygon (the same company that designed them), which then sells the Dhyana processors. ... According to the agreement, the final products can only be sold within China's borders.

    2. Re: Do they need Intel? by technosaurus · · Score: 1

      Those patents are long dead and SSE(2) that make up the basis of X86_64 will be by the time the chips get to market if they aren't already.

    3. Re:Do they need Intel? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Patents for x32 have expired, if you have your own cpu design then copyright doesn't matter (hence microsoft can emulate x32 on arm for windows 10), X86-64 patents still apply (microsoft cannot emulate x86-64 on arm)

    4. Re:Do they need Intel? by DMJC · · Score: 2

      IA-32 Patents have all expired, shouldn't be anything holding back using it.

  11. Re:Sorry, learn me some English, please by AHuxley · · Score: 1

    1. Find a CPU design and consider software and math that will work.
    2. Begin making CPU so production line works.
    3. Make a lot of the CPU and connect them together. Keep adding CPU until sure most powerful super computer.
    3.5 Code software for impressive math question that works for CPU design.
    4. Name and show super computer.
    5. Ensure it gets to be number 1 most powerful super computer.
    6. Find next new CPU design and math problem.

    --
    Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
  12. More likely AMD is f'd by drnb · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Intel is fucked as they not even ok for china to copy them.

    More likely AMD is f'd if they felt desperate enough to engage in this short term benefit deal with long term negative consequences.

    1. Re:More likely AMD is f'd by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      They get 50% of the revenue from these chips, and they have the potential to get close to 100% marketshare in China once the Chinese government forces Chinese companies to use Chinese made processors.

    2. Re:More likely AMD is f'd by Tsolias · · Score: 1

      That's some A grade bullshit.
      AMD's contract allows them manipulate the prices

      http://m.guancha.cn/tieliu/201...
      From this Article
      "The core intellectual property, technology and pricing are still firmly in the hands of AMD."

      I wonder what kind of idiots modded you up.
      Your comment has zero arguments, zero sources and zero reasoning.
      It's just "Hurrr Durrr AMD might be fine now, but they gonna pay in the future"

      And no, Purch media's shill sites do not count as "sources" in deals where they don't want to make their customer, Intel, to look so bad.
      also
      https://tech.slashdot.org/stor...
      and
      https://news.slashdot.org/stor...

    3. Re:More likely AMD is f'd by Kjella · · Score: 5, Insightful

      They get 50% of the revenue from these chips, and they have the potential to get close to 100% marketshare in China once the Chinese government forces Chinese companies to use Chinese made processors.

      Not how China rolls. Their typical pattern is:
      1. Buy the full service product, the Chinese learn to use it.
      2. Buy the product, the Chinese learn to operate/maintain it.
      3. License the product, the Chinese learn to manufacture it.
      4. Watch a Chinese clone take over your market.

      Though the latter seems plausible though, anyone care to guess if those Chinese "special needs" are backdoors for the government? Then it would make sense that there's no user-visible changes...

      --
      Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
    4. Re:More likely AMD is f'd by drnb · · Score: 4, Informative

      They get 50% of the revenue from these chips, and they have the potential to get close to 100% marketshare in China once the Chinese government forces Chinese companies to use Chinese made processors.

      AMD owns 51% of HMC, a "front" company that exists to work around Intel/AMD IP agreements.
      AMD owns 30% of Hygon, the "real" company in this deal, well sort of "real", more below.

      AMD will likely see very little profit from HMC as HMC will likely sell the finished chips to Hygon at or near cost.

      OK, so AMD still has 30% of Hygon? Yes in theory, but Hygon will likely not be designed to capture much of the revenue of the domestic x86 trade. Hygon will likely subcontract to 100% Chinese owned companies where some of the real profits will be realized, and will likely sell the CPUs to 100% Chinese owned companies at a low price and these companies will capture much of the remaining profits. Maybe not in year 1 but by year 5 the preceding eco system will likely be complete.

      In short the accounting will be engineered to avoid having to pay AMD very much, as we see with US companies engineering the accounting to avoid paying US taxes.

      And the sad part is that AMD is smart enough to see it coming. But desperation leads them to maybe a few years of some revenue, hoping that it will be the bridge they need to return to full health.

    5. Re:More likely AMD is f'd by drnb · · Score: 1

      That's some A grade bullshit. AMD's contract allows them manipulate the prices

      http://m.guancha.cn/tieliu/201... From this Article "The core intellectual property, technology and pricing are still firmly in the hands of AMD."

      In theory, via HMC, which is a facade to meet the requirements of the Intel/AMD agreement. Keep reading the article and note that the "real" company in this deal is Hygon, which HMC strangely sells finished CPUs too indicating HMC is unlikely to be where profits are realized. And within 5 years an ecosystem is likely to be built around Hygon where it does not realize much profits itself. The 100% Chinese owned companies that Hygon will sell finished CPUs too and/or subcontract out production to will be where the profits are realized. AMD will see few profits from it 51% HMC venture and it 30% Hygon venture. The accounting will be engineered to prevent that.

      AMD was desparate in 2016 when it started down this path. Desperation will keep AMD participating for the next few years.

    6. Re:More likely AMD is f'd by Fly+Swatter · · Score: 2

      Yea they get of 50% of the 'reported' revenue. Slowly more and more will be made off hours and sold on the grey market. Eventually you will find chinese parts being passed as genuine AMD on ebay, etc. In the end this won't work, and AMD will suffer.

    7. Re: More likely AMD is f'd by Type44Q · · Score: 2

      Though the latter seems plausible though, anyone care to guess if those Chinese "special needs" are

      The diameter of the backdoor was reduced for maximum pleasure.

    8. Re:More likely AMD is f'd by AvitarX · · Score: 1

      You're making the assumption that they had slack capacity in production.

      --
      Wow, sent an e-mail as suggested when clicking on "use classic" banner, and got a fast response that addressed my msg
    9. Re:More likely AMD is f'd by drnb · · Score: 1

      No, slack capacity is irrelevant. Licensing core IP to China is doom. A Chinese controlled company is doing design work on the CPU. AMD has lost control of this IP.

    10. Re:More likely AMD is f'd by hackingbear · · Score: 2

      1. the Chinese companies will still be paying royalties / patent fees as long the contract applies
      2. if the Chinese partner violating the contract, the foreign partner can sue them in Chinese court and the Chinese court system has shown favorable ruling to foreign IP/patent holders
      3. if the Chinese company clone the interface design, then it is all legal and ethical since interface design is not copyrightable/patentable, just like Linux and BSD cloned the Unix API
      4. western companies are doing the same all the time to each other, with and without licensing

      Why is this not legal or ethical when done by Chinese? And that why do western companies file so many garbage patents and troll everybody including the Chinese?

      Answer: Hypocrisy

    11. Re:More likely AMD is f'd by AvitarX · · Score: 1

      If they aren't going to be able to have significant penetration in China anyway, I don't see how it spells doom.

      The company isn't allowed to sell outside of China, and this lets them get some money, while putting some competition to Intel, while not affecting their overall sales (this is again on the assumption they didn't have capacity to be a real player in China anyway).

      They probably won't even need to spend money to enforce the no selling outside of China thing, since Intel would likely be all over that.

      Some money is better than no money, especially since AMD lacks a cash reserve.

      --
      Wow, sent an e-mail as suggested when clicking on "use classic" banner, and got a fast response that addressed my msg
    12. Re:More likely AMD is f'd by drnb · · Score: 1

      AMD won't get much money. They own 51% of the "front" company HMC that exists only to comply with the AMD/Intel agreement. HMC licenses the IP and sells the CPUs to the "real" company Hygon. Hygon has AMD's core IP and it is designing newer CPUs from it and its is presumably the company that will sell the CPUs to the market. In theory AMD has 30% of Hygon but within 5 years the manufacturing/sales ecosystem and accounting will be engineered so that neither HMC nor Hygon recognize much of the revenue, transfers/sales between HMC and Hygon at/near cost so profits can be booked elsewhere. 100% Chinese subcontractors and buyers of the CPUs will reap most of the profits. Basically the system will be engineered so that the knowledge is dispersed to various 100% companies and the revenue is recognized/booked at 100% companies. Not unlike how US companies engineer their accounting to avoid US taxes, so will things be engineered to keep the money in China. For AMD to get much out of the deal they would have to "invest" their revenue in a Chinese based R&D facility, in other words further train their future competitors.

      Good luck Intel enforcing things in the developing world when these Chinese CPUs start showing up there for their domestic consumption. Ex, servers in India. HMC granted Hygon a license to AMD IP. The IP is beyond even AMDs superficial 51% ownership control. As if that mattered, the local CEO could sign a contract AMD disapproves of and their screwed, unable to claw it back, the contract perfectly legal locally, their 51% allowing them to do nothing beyond fire the CEO.

      "Some money is better than no money", the logic of many companies that went to China and got played and royally screwed over. The fact that AMD is even playing such a dangerous game is a clear sign of their economic desperation.

    13. Re:More likely AMD is f'd by Tsolias · · Score: 1

      I bet Intel wished they could do such "desperate" moves and get profit off of old and obsolete generations of CPU.
      First gen zen will give the last dollars to AMD by the end of 2018.
      Instead of reaching EOL, it will be re-purposed into new products in China, on top of serving its purpose of giving all the revenue it could to AMD in its normal lifespan.
      Even if the Chinese keep manufacturing with that IP CPUs for 5 years, this means that almost by 2024. AMD will have income from the first gen Zen.
      And that's how far it goes with ASICs in terms of taking advantage of such IPs.
      AMD would require a new agreement to trade IPs, ASIC libraries and ofc the know-how to produce wafers with newer versions of Zen.... and don't forget the packaging.

      Even if AMD makes $1 off of each chinese Zen sold, that's one dollar that they would never have seen.

    14. Re:More likely AMD is f'd by Tim12s · · Score: 1

      Yup. This is very very sad indeed. Market forces as a result of intel marketing and a couple of bad runs from AMD push AMD to sell their goose to china.

      Even worse... Intel short changing customers with poor security within their chips sacrifice chip integrity for quick wins over AMD.

      USA wins the short game, loose the war.

    15. Re:More likely AMD is f'd by drnb · · Score: 1

      Even if all AMD is doing is getting some upfront money and preventing Intel from getting a foothold in China and India, that is good for AMD.

      AMD is also preventing themselves from getting a foothold in China and India.

    16. Re:More likely AMD is f'd by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I doubt AMD's lawyers are so dumb that they wouldn't license the product in such a way, that they get paid per each chip manufactured and sold. Therefore it doesn't matter what profit Hygon makes on the product. There may be issues with Hygon falsifying ledgers on the quantity of chips made, but so long as AMD actually has access to the factories, they should be able to figure out if they are getting cheated, and take their partners to court.

      AMD also if they had a good lawyer would have made sure that only certain foundries could produce the chips. As much as people say that IP laws don't work in China, they are clearly wrong. If you have a good contract, a Chinese court will find for the plaintiff. Most of the people who got screwed had crappy contracts, and didn't even get a Chinese lawyer to look over the contract and do due diligence.

    17. Re:More likely AMD is f'd by drnb · · Score: 1

      You presume a negotiation between equals. It was not. AMD may have smart lawyers but AMD was in a position of weakness and desperation when they embarked down this path in 2016.

    18. Re:More likely AMD is f'd by drnb · · Score: 1

      Were the US companies successful against a mom-and-pop operation, or where they successful against a state owned enterprise? That makes quite a bit of difference.

    19. Re:More likely AMD is f'd by aybiss · · Score: 1

      AMD will still be making chips long after x86 is forgotten. Just like they were long before it was invented.

      --
      It's OK Bender, there's no such thing as 2.
    20. Re:More likely AMD is f'd by sabbede · · Score: 1

      Yeah, how long before their Chinese "partner" drops the deal, claims the patents as their own, and sues AMD for infringing?

    21. Re:More likely AMD is f'd by AvitarX · · Score: 1

      If they're years away from the capacity to do so, it's better to prevent both themself AND Intel from getting that foothold.

      --
      Wow, sent an e-mail as suggested when clicking on "use classic" banner, and got a fast response that addressed my msg
    22. Re:More likely AMD is f'd by drnb · · Score: 1

      AMD will still be making chips long after x86 is forgotten. Just like they were long before it was invented.

      Yes, and AMD will be a small fraction of its current size.

  13. Re:Sorry, learn me some English, please by Daetrin · · Score: 4, Informative

    Congratulations! Your English is great! Better than the headline in fact!

    It looks like they copied the headline from the source article but bizarrely omitted one word and a piece of punctuation making the whole thing unintelligible. The actual title should be:

    "China Finds Zen: Begins Production Of x86 Processors Based On AMD's IP"

    Which is kind of a dumb pun based on the fact that they're copying AMD's Zen microarchitecture.

    --
    This Space Intentionally Left Blank
  14. I for one welcome our competition overlords by Tablizer · · Score: 1

    Good! AMD and Intel need competition in x86 chips. Duopolies usually provide narrow choices, and consumers can't do squat about it (big telecoms cough cough).

    1. Re:I for one welcome our competition overlords by Tablizer · · Score: 1

      Sometimes choice is better than progress, or at least feels that way to humans.

      Does universal logic dictate that progress is more important than choice? I'd like to see something close to a formal proof if you claim so. You know, pedantic debate fun.

    2. Re:I for one welcome our competition overlords by Khyber · · Score: 1

      Did your old ass forget about VIA? Competition exists, it's just utterly weak.

      --
      Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
  15. Re:Lie down with dogs, wake up with fleas by drnb · · Score: 1

    It wasn't a bad plan per se that Nixon and Kissinger came up with in the 1970s. However at the time of the Tiananmen Square massacre of 1989 the plan was obviously a failure and we should have adjusted trade relations appropriately.

  16. Re:China Finds Begins Production... by vlad30 · · Score: 1

    Chinglish like in most manuals

    --
    Your'e all thinking it, I just said it for you
  17. Re:China Finds Begins Production... by Tablizer · · Score: 1

    The titel is cuased by a Pentuim flaoting piont erorr. Its why we nead competion.

    (Slahsdot just fixed the erorr, by the way.)

  18. Re:China Finds Begins Production... by ichthus · · Score: 1

    Shouldn't that be "Engrish Siri"?

    --
    sig: sauer
  19. Methinks this is not a good idea by TimMD909 · · Score: 2

    Once China gets good enough on their own to fab the chips without AMDs help, I don't see good things for AMD. Maybe they'll get sued, or attacked politically, or simply stop receiving payments for their IP use. China has always been #1 in the world at stealing others' hard work.

    1. Re:Methinks this is not a good idea by BrookHarty · · Score: 1

      AMD is in control, they are doing the design, they are just having another company they partly own do the FAB work, thus they stay contractural with Intel.
        Just like Apple uses Samsung FAB for its SOCs. The article even says the security updates for the eypc cpus are almost exact for the Chinese version of the chips.

      This is actually good, it means the technology flows from the USA into China, and they keep buying and using our technology. We want them dependant on our designs and not clone our chips and go off on their own designs.

      The only downside I can see, if Chinese knockoffs appear in the US, but not sure the 3rd party FAB's could even produce anything of that quality for a modern cpu.

      If its the Chinese government, if they want to steal tech, they will. I'd rather them pay in the open and be on the stock market, above aboard. More entrenched into the global trade process is better, imho.

    2. Re:Methinks this is not a good idea by drnb · · Score: 1

      AMD is in control, they are doing the design, they are just having another company they partly own do the FAB work, thus they stay contractural with Intel.

      No. There is a front company, HMC, which owns the IP and satisfies the Intel/AMD IP agreement. However there is another company, Hygon, which AMD is not in control of. HMC has licensed the IP to Hygon, Hygon does the design. HMC even sells the manufactured CPUs to Hygon. HMC is a facade, it will not be where profits are realized. HMC is not really in control of the IP since it has licensed it to Hygon, and again, Hygon is doing the design not HMC.

      Within 5 years an ecosystem will be developed around Hygon so that it will also realize little in profits. 100% Chinese owned subcontractors and 100% Chinese owned buyers for CPUs from Hygon will realize most of the profits. AMDs 51% of HMC and 30% of Hygon is a fiction, the accounting will be engineered so that little is paid to AMD. Much like US companies engineering the accounting to avoid US taxes.

      AMD is in a position to do nothing about this. The IP was legally licensed to Hygon who has done additional design work. Chinese courts will maintain Hygon's rights to this IP, Hygon being partly state owned. AMD can not pull back its IP. It won't even be counterfeit/stolen, it will all be perfectly legal licensing within Chinese borders.

    3. Re:Methinks this is not a good idea by Khyber · · Score: 1

      "This is actually good, it means the technology flows from the USA into China, and they keep buying and using our technology. We want them dependant on our designs and not clone our chips and go off on their own designs."

      I can tell you've never done any real business with China. They're going to steal this ASAP.

      --
      Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
    4. Re:Methinks this is not a good idea by darkmeridian · · Score: 1

      Foreign companies are required to form joint ventures if they want to do business in China and there's usually "forced" transfer of IP. More often than not, the IP ends up getting stolen.

      --
      A NYC lawyer blogs. http://www.chuangblog.com/
  20. Re:China Finds Begins Production... by zifn4b · · Score: 1
    --
    We'll make great pets
  21. Re:China Finds Begins Production... by ArhcAngel · · Score: 1

    Sorry...I don't know Engrish

    --
    "A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it." - K
  22. Nope, AMD *was* f'd by Freedom+Bug · · Score: 1

    AMD was f'd, so they mortgaged the future with this deal. They got $250M from this deal, which let them ship Ryzen in a timely manner. They may regret it later, but without the cash infusion they wouldn't have had a future to regret.

  23. Until they don't by raymorris · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Many US companies have partnered with Chinese companies and it works great for a couple of years, until the Chinese company no longer needs anything from the US company. Once they get all the information they need, they have no reason to send any payments, or anything else, to the US company.

    1. Re:Until they don't by drew_kime · · Score: 2

      Are they going to spin off and begin creating x86 compatible processors, completely neglecting patents?

      Yes, and what are you going to do to stop them?

      A single change and your x86 software becomes a buggy mess, I'd like to see them try to copy it.

      China made 90.6% of all PCs produced in 2011. (Most recent number I could find in a quick search.) If your software doesn't work on them, who has more incentive to "fix" it?

      --
      Nope, no sig
    2. Re:Until they don't by Luthair · · Score: 2

      China made 90.6% of all PCs produced in 2011 [theatlantic.com]. (Most recent number I could find in a quick search.) If your software doesn't work on them, who has more incentive to "fix" it?

      Largely for non-Chinese companies exported. While Chinese companies may be able to get away domestically with using stolen IP they won't be able to export infringing products to the west.

    3. Re:Until they don't by willy_me · · Score: 2

      For IP that is not changing, you are correct. But so long as AMD continues to design new processors, any partners in China will continue to abide by whatever contract they have negotiated. To violate the contract would put the company at risk of losing access to future designs. This is a "goose that laid the golden egg" type scenario. If anything, the fact that they never bothered to make any changes to the CPU design is a good sign for AMD.

      It was a good move by AMD because it will guarantee them a much larger market share in China. Most notably, it will help them win government / military contracts which require proof / verification that all components are secure and free of backdoors. Local Chinese companies have a huge advantage in this respect.

    4. Re:Until they don't by drnb · · Score: 2

      Are they going to spin off and begin creating x86 compatible processors, completely neglecting patents?

      The AMD controlled company has already licensed the IP to the non-AMD controlled company. The non-AMD controlled company is also doing all the CPU design work. The AMD controlled company is just a front for compliance with the Intel/AMD agreement. It designs nothing, it sells nothing to the market, all that is done by the non-AMD controlled company. Again, a non-AMD controlled company that has a valid IP license according to Chinese law.

    5. Re:Until they don't by drnb · · Score: 1

      The current CPU is still basically Zen because it is the very first thing made. It will not stay this way for long. A company AMD does not control has already been licensed the IP and is enhancing it, do not be fooled by their 1.0.0 product. Also do not be foolish enough to think AMD will reap any great rewards. Profits will be realized/booked so that through financial engineering AMD's 51% majority and 30% minority shares will produce little. An ecosystem will evolve in the next few years where 100% Chinese owned subcontractors and buyers of finished CPUs will acquire nearly all the profit from these domestically manufactured CPUs.

      AMD is doing nothing more than upgrading their future competition's current capabilities by many years and training them. In a few years they won't need AMD and the financial engineering will begin.

    6. Re:Until they don't by HiThere · · Score: 1

      I think you are misremembering the prior argument. And I'm rather certain you are misunderstanding the current one.

      The argument that Intel and AMD will both regret this action isn't talking about legalities, or proprietaries. It's talking about expectable consequences. Unless you're a stockholder in AMD or Intel, this particular action will have no direct influence on you. Indirect, yes, but no more than many other such "deals". As a programmer, I would expect no observable change in using a Chinese sourced processor. Perhaps it would have fewer bugs exploitable by the NSA, and more exploitable by the equivalent Chinese agency...but I suspect that they have "cross-licensing agreements".

      --

      I think we've pushed this "anyone can grow up to be president" thing too far.
  24. Re:Lie down with dogs, wake up with fleas by butchersong · · Score: 1
    Yeah, it definitely seems like the west was a little naive in the 80s - very early 2000s. We had this notion that Western/European culture was universal once prosperity and democracy were granted a population. This ties into this notion still popular among many that the west really doesn't have a culture... it's like people are so close to their own culture that they cannot see it.

    ..

    The reality is that culture and ethnicity are interdependent and there is absolutely no reason to assume that Chinese people, once lifted out of poverty will choose the same path as Europeans.

  25. Re:too far gone by MightyMartian · · Score: 1

    Not counting iOS (which is ARM) or the old Apple 8 bits (all 650x machines), Apple has changed Mac architecture three times; 68000-family to start, then PowerPC, and now Intel. That's three times in thirty years. Yes, more than Microsoft, which has largely stuck with x86, despite a few ventures with NT. There's ARM now, and I expect that one will ultimately stick a bit better than the defunct Alpha and PowerPC ports.

    --
    The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
  26. China IP laws make it so they don't need intel / t by Joe_Dragon · · Score: 1

    China IP laws make it so they don't need intel to say it's ok.

  27. What "server-centric features"? Mfg elsewhere? by Futurepower(R) · · Score: 1

    Interesting considerations. What "server-centric features"?

    Other thoughts: What will happen in the future? If most manufacturing is done in China, will the U.S. become a poorer country?

    1. Re: What "server-centric features"? Mfg elsewhere? by saloomy · · Score: 2

      When it comes to Xeon, the various cache levels are higher per core.

      Also you can expand the system to dual, 4x or 8x processor packages, allocate way more memory, have more PCIe lanes to drive high volume IO, etc etc.... Though those aren't all x86, just the server side, which is why they dominate there.

  28. Find out! by sjbe · · Score: 1

    Does Via Technologies still exist?

    Does the google search engine still exist?

    I guess the bigger question is really if x86 should be the basis for a new processor initiative from China.

    Why not? They copy pretty much everything else so why stop now?

  29. How good are they? by ChrisMaple · · Score: 1

    What features do these chips have? What's the clock rate? What are some benchmark scores?

    Financially, it makes a lot of difference if these Chinese CPUs are actually competitive.

    --
    Contribute to civilization: ari.aynrand.org/donate
  30. Re:China Finds Begins Production... by sudden.zero · · Score: 1

    Only if you want built in Malware, and other pestilences.

  31. PSP "security" co-processor? by SigmundFloyd · · Score: 1

    Do they come with the original American backdoors, or do they have their own Chinese version?

    --
    Knowledge is power; knowledge shared is power lost.
    1. Re:PSP "security" co-processor? by Tablizer · · Score: 1

      Do they come with the original American backdoors, or do they have their own Chinese version?

      What if both end up in there and the chip gets stuck in a loop trying to eavesdrop on each other? Reminds me of the Space Balls scene when the baffled Commander accidentally spies on himself.

  32. Re:China Finds Begins Production... by Gabest · · Score: 1

    Give it to me! I trust my language barrier.

  33. Re:China Finds Begins Production... by dgatwood · · Score: 1

    I felt sure I was about to see a Lethal Weapon clip.

    --

    Check out my sci-fi/humor trilogy at PatriotsBooks.

  34. IP by themusicgod1 · · Score: 1

    "China Begins Production Of x86 Processors Based On AMD's" electronic circuit board/integrated circuit designs? Their...copyrighted designs? Their...architecture?

    I think what this article means is the latter, but there's some sense of expected ownership expressed that is simply not valid to posit. /. of all places should not confuse these types of things. This does not appear to be even be reverse engineered - it appears to just be a compatible, licensed-through-contract law clone similar to the early PC clones only without the cleanroom reverse engineering work.

    --
    GENERATION 26: The first time you see this, copy it into your sig on any forum and add 1 to the generation.
  35. x32 =/= ia32 dumbass. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

    x32 is a 32bit ABI for x86_64 using 32 bit pointers. IA32 is intel's name for the x86 processor, later complemented with the incompatible IA64(Itanium) and then their respin of AMD's amd64 as EM64T, the two of which are collectively known as x86_64 since the userspace side of them is effectively the same.

    IA32 code runs with only the 8ish GP registers of 32 bit x86 processors, whereas x86_64 has 16, providing a performance boost for a lot of code compared to IA32, a similar memory footprint, but no software compatibility with legacy x86/IA32 processors.

  36. Re:Lie down with dogs, wake up with fleas by djinn6 · · Score: 1

    The reality is that culture and ethnicity are interdependent and there is absolutely no reason to assume that Chinese people, once lifted out of poverty will choose the same path as Europeans.

    The educated young people are still opposed to the central government. The only thing keeping them in power is continued economic growth. I doubt that will work out in the long term.

    But then if it does work, maybe it wouldn't be such a bad idea to adopt their system. No one said democracy was perfect.

  37. Re:Sorry, learn me some English, please by nitehawk214 · · Score: 2

    Don't worry, English isn't the native language of msmash, either.

    --
    I'm a good cook. I'm a fantastic eater. - Steven Brust
  38. Re:China Finds Begins Production... by ArchieBunker · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I don't care what intelligence the Chinese government collects on me. Uncle Sam is a different story.

    --
    Only the State obtains its revenue by coercion. - Murray Rothbard
  39. Name Game No Blame [Re:x86-64?] by Tablizer · · Score: 1

    "x86" is kind of a generic name of a "line of" processors, similar to the System/360 "architecture" even though current machines go beyond the original System/360.

    English is almost inherently lossy anyhow such that it's probably not worth debating. One can use "the x86 line" to hopefully indicate a more generic implication.

  40. Re:too far gone by khandom08 · · Score: 1

    That's three times in thirty years.

    So the AC was probably correct in telling his parent AC:

    Apple has changed its internal architecture more times than you've changed your underwear

  41. Re:too far gone by Khyber · · Score: 1

    "Yes, more than Microsoft"

    You say right before you go on to list two extra architectures which puts Microsoft EVEN with Apple (DEC and PPC.)

    --
    Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
  42. Re:can we all laugh now? by Khyber · · Score: 1

    "clocks"

    The sexagecimal system which we use in modern times came from the Sumerians, about two millennia earlier.

    "paper"

    Papyrus is actual paper, to hell with the pedantic fuckwits that have never made any on their own. Take your sorry ass to Egypt.

    "porcelain"

    Hey, you actually got one right for once!

    "iron smelting"

    Wrong - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

    "gunpowder"

    Hey, you got another one right! Just about as good as randomly throwing rocks!

    "compass"

    Those random throws are getting better, but you're still wrong on half of your shit, sonny boy.

    --
    Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
  43. Re:China Finds Begins Production... by avandesande · · Score: 1

    If China aggregates good information on US citizens you don't think US intelligence agencies would pay for it? Privacy is privacy.

    --
    love is just extroverted narcissism
  44. Re:China Finds Begins Production... by Dogtanian · · Score: 1

    Better hope you've got nothing you could *ever* be blackmailed with, then. And- of course- that includes things you might not want Uncle Sam to know.

    And he need never know if you do whatever's required. Perhaps just pass on that useful trade secret that might be of benefit to their companies, it's not a big thing...

    Or whatever else they might want.

    --
    "Slashdot - News and Chat Sites Deviant". (Click "homepage" link above for details).
  45. A copy but understanding? by foxalopex · · Score: 1

    I'm sure it isn't that difficult to copy a chip once you have the mask of it but the question is do they understand how that chip supposedly works? A lot of actual chip design is computer based and learning how that works can take years? It means they can make copies but not necessarily advance the design.

  46. Re: whoosh by reanjr · · Score: 1

    It's super useful for enabling long mode (64bit).

  47. Re:can we all laugh now? by dodged · · Score: 1

    China has always been #1 in the world at stealing others' hard work.

    Remind us all again:

    Where were: clocks, paper, porcelain, iron smelting, gunpowder, the compass

    invented? come on, now, tell us, little idiot

    Well, the earliest evidence of iron smelting comes from Anatolia, Mesopotamia and Egypt. So the answer to that one would be: not China. Or are you trying to steal ip again?

  48. Re:can we all laugh now? by dodged · · Score: 1

    Similarly, the earliest evidences of the invention of the clock come from Babylon and Egypt, with time keeping instruments appearing independently in various parts of the world such as india and china and others at similar timeframes. So again, China did not 'invent' the clock. You know, it does make me think, your comment, that in a lot of authoritarian regimes, education is skewed to prop the regime by playing fast and loose with the facts. Rewriting history to aggrandize your own country and culture. So AC here could just be a product of this.

  49. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 1

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  50. China will not sit idly on Zen architecture by drnb · · Score: 1

    Hygon will not be content with Zen, Zen is just the starting point for them. AMD will lose more due to lost sales of AMD CPUs than they will gain from Hygon CPUs. The Hygon CPUs will not be complementary products, they will be substitute products. You are delusional if you think this is just a way to get another 5 years of sales out of Zen. Plus its delusional to think that AMD will be getting much of those Hygon CPU sales despite the ownership stakes. Profits will be diminished through financial engineering.

    China does not just take foreign technology and sit idly by with it. They take foreign technology and use it to move their current capabilities ahead many years if not decades. Getting Zen is a similar effort. A professor of mine got to tour a manufacturer in China who had a contract to make motorcycle engines for a Japanese company, of course they were trained for Japan's tech and quality standards. Next door to the motorcycle engine factory was a construction project. The professor asked what was going up there. He was told that's our new automobile engine factory being built.

    1. Re:China will not sit idly on Zen architecture by Tsolias · · Score: 2

      That's not what happens with digital design.
      When you get IPs, you almost never get the source code to build the circuits.
      Everyone who has at least worked on FPGAs can confirm that there are vendor locked IP cores, that are just a ciphertext that gets decrypted on the fly when the design is synthesized.

      Even if you could have the source code of zen, it's nearly impossible to build the asic because there's a shitload of proprietary IPs after you've obtained the code and custom AMD programs that do place and route on the design.

      If CPU manufacturing was easy, the Chinese could have been building Arm CPUs en masse without and licenses, but they couldn't because 1st you need the know how from the company from start to finish to build the CPU, and 2nd no fab will ever accept your design in any respectable amount of wafers, without AMD or Arm or anyone else jumps in and stops the procedure.

      You can't copy and build CPUs so easily.

    2. Re:China will not sit idly on Zen architecture by drnb · · Score: 1

      The original article specifically states that AMD has licensed IP, x86 and SoC, for "chip development". AMD specifically says they expect them to "design" new products.

      You argue that China doesn't currently have the technology to make a somewhat modern CPU. However you ignore that they are being trained and assisted by AMD to move down that path. China will not sit idly.

    3. Re:China will not sit idly on Zen architecture by Tsolias · · Score: 1

      This is what I am saying.
      They get older designs, e.g. they are starting now to roll out new chips based on 1st gen of Zen, while 1st gen of Zen will be EOL because it will superseded by zen2 in less than a year.
      By the time they will get Zen2, it will be again by the EOL for that product line, so they are just getting revenue off of a dead product.
      The IPs that they get are most probably black boxes, it's just what I described above. Encrypted source code.

      They cannot make the CPU even if they are trained.
      They have to use the fab that is compatible with the asic libraries they used, and that's mostly GF fabs.
      Also they have to use 2 or 3 of the available packaging facilities that are spin offs from AMD(they sold them when they had financial issues) and they are the only ones that know how to build a multi-chip CPU like EPYC/TR.
      Even if they could find a way to build the 2CCX chips, it's nearly impossible to build a packaging facility in order to combine them in one CPU.
      Then there's μcode issues, motherboard f/w compatibility and so one.
      I'll say it again, if the CPU copying or manufacturing procedure was easy the Chinese would've just licensed Arm IPs for a month or a year and then build Arm chips forever.
      Heck, they could just use the openSparc source code,
      BUT just because the whole ecosystem around building and manufacturing a CPU is terrible proprietary mess of nowhere to be found tools and skills, it's impossible to move to the silicon so easily.

    4. Re:China will not sit idly on Zen architecture by drnb · · Score: 1

      I do not expect China to wait for AMD to provide the next generation design. I expect them to do their own design work too. They may use "partnerships" and industrial espionage to jump their capabilities ahead by many years but they also do their own independent research from that point as well. And they have engineering manpower to toss at the project too. Look at how Intel beat PowerPC, it wasn't that PowerPC itself failed to progress at a reasonable pace, it was more that Intel was able to take x86 farther than anyone imagined.

      Regarding IP secured by encryption, consider we are speaking of the nation most adept and most practiced at industrial espionage.

      Fab and packaging may be incredibly difficult to replicate but given industrial espionage and their internal engineering development talent I would not rule out progress. I expect them to make progress.

    5. Re:China will not sit idly on Zen architecture by Tsolias · · Score: 1

      Intel didn't beat PPC because x86 was good. It was shit, that's why everyone until the end of the 90s ran on either proprietary ISAs or some Alpha and what not.
      What helped Intel take off was AMD64.
      There wasn't any place where you could go far with a mere x86 or a failed IA64 using vliw.

      And for the last time I am saying it again.
      You can't just copy some HDL files and get away with a new product or a copied product.
      Even the most simple circuits, like 555 counters, are totally shit when it comes to chinese knock offs.
      Same thing happens with Zen.
      If the Chinese want to build a Zen derivative, they have to copy also AMD's ASIC libraries and all their tools, they have to copy the exact same methodology used by TSMC or GF (I am not sure if TSMC is capable of producing Zen chips, because I don't remember if Zen products have been ported to their process) and then be able to produce one chip.
      That's how you can't steal designs and make CPUs.
      Those HDL files are more valuable to, say, Intel, than anyone else. Intel can probe the modules and find out the secrets of zen.
      Everyone else needs a lot of billions and bleeding edge equipment, that is very easy to track if someone buys it.
      Do you know how many build masks for EUV? Last time I checked there was only 1 company. That's how this kind of market behaves, everyone knows each other and it's nearly impossible to advance to that level either by making it yourself, or just buying "secretly" equipment and intelligence.

    6. Re:China will not sit idly on Zen architecture by drnb · · Score: 1

      Intel didn't beat PPC because x86 was good. It was shit, that's why everyone until the end of the 90s ran on either proprietary ISAs or some Alpha and what not.

      It was thought that x86 (cisc) was hitting a dead end, and that a shift to risc was necessary. PowerPC expected to outperform x86, "twice the performance at half the price". In reality, in general, PowerPC at the same clock rate of Intel was 20% faster. But Intel was able to crank up the clock rate to continually outperform PowerPC overall. This was totally unexpected. This was friggin miracle working. It may have taken an insane amount of work to pull this off, far more than what PowerPC was receiving, but Intel had such abundant resources and money. And yes, I know Intel is using a risc core to execute the micro-ops that x86 is translated into.

      What helped Intel take off was AMD64.

      That occurred (64-bit in the hands of consumers in non-trivial numbers) long after PowerPC's demise, even after its demise on Apple Macs. PowerPC had a brief chance but Apple killed it by not delivering CHRP. That magic box that would run both Windows and MacOS natively. We had the precursors to that, PREP, and there were commercially available WinNT4 PowerPC boxes, but no one cared. People who wanted performance went Alpha, people who wanted price stayed with Intel, there was no one left for PowerPC. Dual booting Windows and Mac OS might have worked. When Apple switch to Intel their sales basically doubled. That ancient barrier, having to choose PC or Mac, went away. People could have both in the same box.

      If the Chinese want to build a Zen derivative, they have to copy also AMD's ASIC libraries and all their tools, they have to copy the exact same methodology used by TSMC or GF

      And those cannot be stolen by a rogue employee? Look at a more recent slashdot story. An Apple employee downloaded circuit board designs for a driverless car onto a personal laptop and then immediately ran for the airport and a flight to China.

      Everyone else needs a lot of billions and bleeding edge equipment, that is very easy to track if someone buys it.

      And why is that a problem for a state owned entity?

      A state where advanced US aircraft/weaponry designs get stolen and somehow find their way into their aircraft/weaponry.

      Again, you have to keep in mind that catching up and surpassing the US is not some rouge CEO's fantasy, it is a goal of a power government. A government that AMD is partnering with.

  51. Re:"little to no differentiation between the chips by zlives · · Score: 1

    I agree thats why intel must have competition.

  52. Re:China Finds Begins Production... by lsatenstein · · Score: 1

    Just business as usual at Slashdot. Incoherent summaries and easily spotted typos. On a side note does that mean I can buy these knockoff processors from Alibaba for a fraction of AMD's prices?

    Licensing restricions apply -- chips are exclusively for Chinese Domestic and military market.

    --
    Leslie Satenstein Montreal Quebec Canada
  53. China is closer to World Domination by NewYork · · Score: 1

    China + CPU + ML+ AI + Robotics+ Inexpensive + Products + Exports = World Domination