Alienware is the only OEM Allowed to Sell Threadripper PCs this Year
Click here to post a comment for Alienware is the only OEM Allowed to Sell Threadripper PCs this Year on our message forum
Loophole35
So only AW no dell? Seems odd.
vbetts
Moderator
People are probably going to see this as a bad thing but think of it like this.
This is the first time AMD has had this much interest in their product, to the point where they are only allowing one OEM to sell it.
Fox2232
I have seen many OEMs through years who did screw AMD's desktops/notebooks to point I would not touch them or recommend them.
Alienware came with that lovely notebook with Ryzen, it is already listed on few shops here. Variety of configurations look amazing, including 120Hz Freesync screens a lot of memory and RX-580, ...
AMD simply can't allow their awesome product to be considered as inferior because many of those OEMs would cheap out on other important things.
I said it before, AMD should have send all those OEMs to hell and make AMD branded notebooks, tablets. Many of their prototypes were consumer grade products I would buy on the spot.
Does anyone remember that tablet prototype with add-on gamepad case? Those things are now popular and AMD made no money from it.
Does someone remember how many top APUs from each generations ended up in notebooks with dual channel memory? No? That's because there are not many, for some generations none.
So yes, if Alienware delivers high quality, high performance builds, they deserve this deal.
Embra
Yup, they way it is worded I think it will be good too.
Yogi
That was my exact same thought.
Are they really marketing these at gamers only (or mega taskers as Intel seems to be trying to call it)
Unless they know something about upcoming game developments regarding cpu usage, I would have classed both ThreadRipper and skylake x high core models as purely workstation cpus.
When was the last time you saw an alienware workstation?
PrMinisterGR
It's like the last time we saw a quad-channel Ryzen. That's what Threadripper really is, and it will be very interesting to see what kind of results it gets.
H83
That would be the death of AMD! AMD like Intel and Nvidia rely on their partners to sell their hardware and telling them to get lost and make and sell their own products would be nearly impossible to a company with the resources of AMD. The proof of this is what happened to Windows Mobile when MS decided to buy Nokia and started to make their own phones...
What AMD needs is to work closely to OEMs to ensure they deliver quality products with AMD parts. Then penalize OEMS who failed to deliver by prioritizing the ones who can make good products.
As for this exclusive deal, i don´t think it´s positive for AMD...
Fox2232
Not really. Interest in Windows Mobile went down and MS thought that they can turn it around. They could not.
I was interested in Windows mobile as long as it would have x86 compatible CPU, therefore capability to run desktop applications/games/coding/SDKs/...
That did not happen. MS simply bought nokia without making any revolutionary changes.
AMD Can and does make their devices and with proper configurations, people would go crazy for them.
+ pricing, remove middle man and you are much more competitive.
And this Alienware deal is Quality Control. It is easier to ensure that one manufacturer who is interested in not harming own brand delivers great products, than to persuade that dozen of manufacturers who made worst possible devices into their tradition, to actually produce decent device with AMD chip inside.
schmidtbag
I find this situation very suspicious... it almost seems like Dell is blackmailing AMD, because why wouldn't AMD encourage other OEMs to support TR? I understand Dell is worth more than AMD (really kind of weird to think about) but they shouldn't have that much power over AMD. If Dell had some ultimatum like "we don't sell any PCs with your CPUs if you offer TR to our competitors", not only does that sound like a lawsuit but AMD could likely make more money from all the other competitors combined.
EDIT:
In another perspective, perhaps TR is just really bad and nobody else wants it. Alienware is kind of the brand for "wannabee enthusiasts" but most legitimate enthusiasts seem to steer clear. If TR ends up underwhelming, I could see why Dell wouldn't want it in any of their high-end workstations, but would gladly stick it in their product lineup full of overpriced products that are mostly marketing gimmicks. To a typical wealthy teen who wants to get into PC gaming, they'll hear "o kewl 16 corez! So many jigahurts!" and Dell will still return a profit.
The only reason I thought of this situation was because of the leaks about TR earlier this week. I don't think TR will be that crappy, but, we don't yet know what it's like.
Aura89
Huh?
It's more like
"You want us to buy X amount of your processors, and we are interested in that deal, but for us to feel comfortable with that, not knowing how well these systems will sell, we need to be the exclusive OEM for threadripper for 1 year"
H83
I think you´re overthinking things. For me Dell offered a nice amount of money for the timed exclusivity and AMD took them because they really need the money. That´s my idea...
schmidtbag
http://www.guru3d.com/news-story/computex-2017-rog-strix-gl702zc-houses-the-latest-ryzen-processors-with-radeon-rx-580-graphics.html
Not an Alienware but same general idea.
I suppose that makes more sense, but again, what's stopping AMD from denying that deal and just going with all the other OEMs instead? Sure, there's a possibility the others may say the same thing (in which case maybe Dell is the best choice) but I'm not sure each other OEM would so easily give up this kind of market. This market may be small, but, Intel's X299 ought to give AMD proportionately better sales than their Ryzens, especially if advertised properly.
But that's exactly why I find this suspicious - AMD would want to take the route that gets them the widest audience and most sales. I could totally be wrong, but I don't think going with strictly Dell is the best way to go about that.
Embra
The deal is not for a year, just until the end of this year. It is only excluding Dell's major competitors HP(Omen) and Lenovo.
chronek
F*** you exclusivity and monopoly...
jbmcmillan
What you're planning on buying an oem? System builders and boutique shops can still buy them so this only excludes a couple of oems till the end of the year.Calm down.
MrAMD
It's just a really really over priced Dell. So who cares?
kevnb
bs, they are actually competitively priced among pre builds. Often times you cant even build for the same price as alienware, don't get caught up in what was true over a decade ago.
Lane
Welll i will said, for cpu and since a long time, not the first time, it is not like AMD was not doing cpus before...
This said if we look back to time on the Athlon/Barton and A64 period, att the same time they have been largely screwed by non official exlusivity contract from Intel for get thoses same OEM not willing to do AMD based system.
i think what he was mean is just, that it willl not been seen on other Dell system... ( this said, outside AW and workstations, does Dell still do high end PC ?)
Loophole35
I'm thinking more workplace not gaming when I mention Dell. Seeing as Dell own AW it is weird to me that Dell can't build workstations out of TR.
Lane
Workstation will use them, I dont see any reason we dont see workstation with them.. ( or the professionall version... 16 to 32 cores )... Probably workstation CPUs will be called a bit differently anyway and the "eco system" willl be slighty different. (along that motherboard ).
Outside DELL Alienware, is HP and Lenovo still have high end "gaming" desktop PC ? ( meaning outside workstation for HP, not "standard on gaming pc", mostly done for office and internet )
i admit that i have never buy a pre build desktop PC so i have not much follow them ..
