Hauser: ARM will 'obliterate' Intel

[DeltZ]

The frightening and saddening thing about this is that it's not as 'off base' as it sounds.

Systems integration IS the next big thing, and the iPhone and iPad are the first 'real' signs of that, with more to come. As the world becomes smaller and the toys follow suit, the PC towers may see their day come and go. That means Intel, AMD and any other chip maker unable to get into that market will be left by the wayside.

I'm guilty of it myself, having switched to a laptop years ago. If something like an iPad could do what I wanted, I'd use that and my Laptop would collect dust.

One day, a fully integrated PC WILL be able to do that, without discrete processors. If there were an iPad available that would play Crysis (etc.) there would be no need for a tower, meaning no need for buying GPUs, CPUs, etc.

How far are we from that day? It's undeniable that eventually systems integration will obliterate everything else. Whether that means ARM will kill Intel or any other manufacturer, well I doubt that. The guys running both AMD and Intel see it coming too, and are likely working R&D in that direction.

For me, though, the part that I'll miss is the 'Xtreme' part of it. I find it hard to imagine an LN2 stack or a Cascade cooler strapped to an iPad. I think I'd miss that more than anything else.


Gray

crysis on a touch screen 11 inch screen or whatever lols.

Maybe with a built in projector and holographic interface yeah. But I guess in principle you're right, more people watch videos on the PC's/laptops/tablets these days. But that doesn't mean that cinema is dead either.

It's more just that people want something small, with good battery life, with random apps that can social network and play farmville. Some of us still need to work. Spending 15 minutes typing this out with a couple of fingers isn't my ideal for sure.

So i think for now, high performance computing is still safe.

[Calmatory]

Intel got big because at the right time they were in the right place and IBM choose 8086 for PC. The same thing ignited Microsoft at the same time because of the rising market.

I would claim that Apple plays a huge role here. If someone, it will be Apple to introduce ARM devices to areas under x86 reign. It will be Nokia to introduce x86 devices to areas under ARM reign. Apple+ARM vs. Nokia+Intel. ARM vs. x86.

[Solus Corvus]

If anyone has a chance of taking on Wintel it's ARM. The introduction of 64 bit ARM doesn't mean much to mobile devices. But it could be quite significant for servers/HPC built with ARM clusters. As for desktops ARM is probably projecting the same trend that has been happening for years - mobile/embedded/thin devices slowly eating it all up.

[tajoh111]

ARM, has way more potential for growth and revenue than Intel, or atleast arm products. Computers to do the tasks they are doing for most things related to productivity are fast enough. People don't upgrade their computers as much as their phones, camera's, tv, etc. And basically every electronic out there has some form of a arm processor inside. Intel is a market leader in desktops and laptops and are very competitive in the supercomputing market. Since they are the market leader, unless demand goes up which is difficult at this point, the only direction they can go in is down.

I wouldn't say they will obliterate Intel, but they might substantially erode intels earnings. E.g Bestbuy CEO said after the release of the ipad, netbook sales have been chopped in half.

[Calmatory]

Thin clients definitely. ARM as a ISA is superior to x86 in many ways, thanks to it's RISC design.

It's more efficient in power/mm² and performance/mm². The ability for ARM to license it's designs and thus outsource the production is a huge plus in case things like Nvidia's Tegra really start getting wind under their wings.

[Williambra]

ARM is bigger than Intel, and Intel stepped into ARM's market. Like I said before, both Intel and AMD should be careful. ARM is probably the only company that is capable of taking them both on.

You're talking about a company that has billions and is almost entirely R&D, this isn't VIA and they won't bankrupt themselves. If they decide they want to beat the i7 they'll only do it if they make a market to sell it to. And so far they are making a decent inroads into creating that market.

I think this is a great post. One thing that I find the most helpful is number five. Sometimes when I write, I just let the flow of the words and information come out so much that I loose the purpose. It’s only after editing when I realize what I’ve done.

[stuffme]

I wonder how fast would the best ARM prosessor be if it had the same TDS, let say 95W?

What is the main design reason compared to x86, to make it so much better?

[turbox997]

The frightening and saddening thing about this is that it's not as 'off base' as it sounds.

Systems integration IS the next big thing, and the iPhone and iPad are the first 'real' signs of that, with more to come. As the world becomes smaller and the toys follow suit, the PC towers may see their day come and go. That means Intel, AMD and any other chip maker unable to get into that market will be left by the wayside.

I'm guilty of it myself, having switched to a laptop years ago. If something like an iPad could do what I wanted, I'd use that and my Laptop would collect dust.

One day, a fully integrated PC WILL be able to do that, without discrete processors. If there were an iPad available that would play Crysis (etc.) there would be no need for a tower, meaning no need for buying GPUs, CPUs, etc.

How far are we from that day? It's undeniable that eventually systems integration will obliterate everything else. Whether that means ARM will kill Intel or any other manufacturer, well I doubt that. The guys running both AMD and Intel see it coming too, and are likely working R&D in that direction.

For me, though, the part that I'll miss is the 'Xtreme' part of it. I find it hard to imagine an LN2 stack or a Cascade cooler strapped to an iPad. I think I'd miss that more than anything else.


Gray

I agree with you, and also with the ARM CEO, however I dread it as well. There is less need for the mass consumer to purchase a "more powerful" computer these days. With the exception of servers and the few individuals that do some hardcore rendering or number crunching, the vast majority use their computers to web browse(read up the latest news/gossip, check email, go on social networks, and maybe run some basic productivity software), most of this can be done on the go with a less powerful machine(smartphones, tablets, etc.) While gaming is probably dominated by consoles(most people I know don't want to bother with building their own monster rigs and update drivers, etc. they just want to press the power button and go).


For me, I totally agree with you, I will miss the "xtreme" aspect of the cpu. The feeling of having a mini "super-computer" in your possession to do whatever you choose to do with it(crunching, gaming, or serving).

Hopefully... the cpu wars will continue on for longer than it should...

[nn_step]

Arm isn't big itself but a lot of of their partners,licencee's are. Texas instruments and Qualcomm are just two of ARM's many partners and use their chips exclusively and their combined value is about the same as Intel's. Considering samsung designs(not simply buys) ARM chips, Apple too. The amount of research arms partners do is likely pretty staggering.

In 2007, 3 billion processors ARM based processors were used, a number that is likely even bigger today.

so what you're saying is; ARM + its mates will take on intel?

the problem with that logic is that ARM's partners are NOT working together; they are actively working against each other.

Nice thought but unfortunately unrealistic.

Well if it comes to that, Samsung and Intel are on pretty good terms aren't they?

Intel also have Micron on-side

so...thats 3 of the Global top 10....

Is a monumental ****ing war in anyones interest? From my little understanding, for ARM to enter the conventional desktop space, they need an x86 license... they don't have that, do they? Will they get it? To take on the desktop marketshare with non-x86 they'll need their own OS that'll take on Windows and... good luck with that! There WON'T be a split of X86 and non x86... product support would be seven levels of Hell wrapped up in a room 101 bun

If i'm miles off here... shoot me down

A monumental war will be in the customer's best interest in the short term but once enough blood has been shed and the war ends. We will all pay for the loses absorbed during the war.

[EnJoY]

im reminded of total annihilation for some reason

Haha..me too!

[Computurd]

im reminded of total annihilation for some reason

god i love that game!

<----------Core Commander

[DeltZ]

god i love that game!

<----------Core Commander

gotta love playing easy mode and just going in with your command and rofl pwning everything with the D-gun. such an awesome gun.

[saaya]

But lets see how long will take to ARM to match core-i7 performance.

all they need is to slap 4 quadcore 1.5ghz arm processors on one board to beat an intel and amd quadcore server cpu, no? and those 4 quadcore cpus from arm would still consume a lot less... the only problem they have is memory and ecc and that should go away with 64bit...

i think arm sounds a bit c0cky as well...
and if they really believe what they say they have no idear whats going on... intel doent do what it does cause they think its what their customers want, they do what they WANT because they can make more money that way...

they could have created a tweaked 32nm quadcore atom as well and theyd be close to competing with arm in a server space then perf/w wise, but they didnt do it cause it would result in them making less money overall...

just like nvidia COULD sell their 580 cards for 300$ but they would make a lot less money that way...

[Kanabanoid]

Please ARM, hit, hit, PASS!

It's Puff, Puff Pass : )

[ericware]

Arm isn't big itself but a lot of of their partners,licencee's are. Texas instruments and Qualcomm are just two of ARM's many partners and use their chips exclusively and their combined value is about the same as Intel's. Considering samsung designs(not simply buys) ARM chips, Apple too. The amount of research arms partners do is likely pretty staggering.

In 2007, 3 billion processors ARM based processors were used, a number that is likely even bigger today.

I thought Qualcomm was acquired by Micron already and Micron is on Intel's side