CPU Guru Jim Keller leaves AMD

#5161974

Noisiv

2015-09-21 16:57

Noisiv, from what i´ve read in other sites, Zen is going to be "sampled" in the first months of 2016, so it can be released in mid 2016 while in 2017 it´s going to be the first year when Zen is going to be sold for a complete year, leading to a full year of revenue selling Zen´s cpus. I think they´ve used the word "sampling" wrongly or something but i can be wrong about this.

They've used "sampling" before in public press (Buldozer). Meaning first working samples which are sent to clients. 07/16/2010 Advanced Micro Devices, the world's second largest supplier of microprocessors, said that it had taped out the first central processing units (CPUs) based on the code-named Bulldozer core. The company hopes to begin sampling of the chips with customers shortly and initiate mass production sometimes in 2011. It ended up like this: Tape out Q3'10, sampling begun Q4'10, and final product was released Q4'11 I.e. 12 months between sampling and release. So far they have NOT made any statement about Zen being taped out. They did mention few FinFET designs tape out. But if that had been Zen tape out, they would have said so. No reason not to. And if Zen did tape out in July 2015, why announce sampling as late as sometime in 2016.

#5161979

Noisiv

2015-09-21 17:07

Noisiv, from what i´ve read in other sites, Zen is going to be "sampled" in the first months of 2016, so it can be released in mid 2016 while in 2017 it´s going to be the first year when Zen is going to be sold for a complete year, leading to a full year of revenue selling Zen´s cpus.

With titles like Q4 2016 at the earliest and similar floating around... just forget about 2016. From AMDJoe's link: Now AMD finds itself in another difficult place — and company leaders think they know the name of the potential escape hatch. It is called Zen — a microprocessor design project whose results are expected to start showing up in a family of new products starting in 2017.

#5162000

H83

2015-09-21 17:30

With titles like Q4 2016 at the earliest and similar floating around... just forget about 2016. From AMDJoe's link: Now AMD finds itself in another difficult place — and company leaders think they know the name of the potential escape hatch. It is called Zen — a microprocessor design project whose results are expected to start showing up in a family of new products starting in 2017.

If this is true, then it´s very bad for AMD because they don´t have any competitive cpus right now with the exception of some APUs... And i was thinking of holding on building a new rig until Zen was released to see if Zen was good enough for me to buy it but i´m realising there´s no point in waiting for it :\ ...

#5162222

PhazeDelta1

2015-09-22 05:52

This guy is so flip floppy when it comes to which place has his employment that its not really surprising nor do i really care.

I'm actually surprised he stayed with AMD as long as he did.

#5162237

Aura89

2015-09-22 07:36

I might be confused but hasn't he only been at 3 companies in the 20 odd years?

Last 20 years he has gone from: Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) AMD SiByte Broadcom(albeit from a buyout of SiByte) P.A. Semi Apple(again albeit from a buyout of P.A. Semi) AMD ?

#5162303

d_mouse

2015-09-22 11:01

Last 20 years he has gone from: Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) AMD SiByte Broadcom(albeit from a buyout of SiByte) P.A. Semi Apple(again albeit from a buyout of P.A. Semi) AMD ?

Well, don't know where I got that idea from. I knew he left DEC around the time Compaq bought them out, and I knew he was at AMD, Apple & Broadcom, but oh well. For AMD's sake, hopefully he's done as much as he can with Zen before he left and it'll be somewhat competitive when it launches.

#5162332

Andrew LB

2015-09-22 12:29

The interesting question is obviously "why". Did this guy see that "we are done" and leaves before inevitable failure, or did someone buy him off? Or some other issue like health?

You can't just "buy off" employees from a competing company. Contracts are signed and obligations must be met. Most contracts have a required amount of time that must pass before you can work for a competitor.

#5162459

Andrew LB

2015-09-22 17:38

AMD is like a chess player who thinks only about its own moves. And then they ***up even that.

It's actually worse than that. They're like a Chess player who tells their opponent where they plan on moving a piece prior to moving it. AMD has had this really bad habit of releasing a product and less than a month later they're already talking about it's replacement which arrives a year in the future. They can't seem to keep their mouths shut and focus on selling what's currently available.

#5163041

Fox2232

2015-09-23 18:13

Unless ppl here think Jim Keller as incompetent, we should agree that his 3 years at AMD are enough to put his micro and macro ideas for Zen architecture into product. As for release time, I am sure people here can read. And I am sure that those who misinterpret following have actually damn low intelligence or much bigger problem (shrink required?): "...we remain on track for “Zen” sampling in 2016 with first full year of revenue in 2017.” states AMD."