True. However, Intel's new chips are more powerful, run cooler, use less
power, do more work per cycle, than AMD's line.
More work per clock cycle, yes. They are more powerful at the
high-end too. However they don't really run cooler/use less power
(same thing), and on a price/performance basis it's pretty much a
wash. Currently Intel's cheapest Core 2 Duo chip, the E6300, is
supposed to cost somewhat more than an AMD Athlon64 X2 4200 and less
than an X2 4600. The performance of the chip? Somewhat more than an
X2 4200 and less than an X2 4600. Also, I say it's "supposed to cost"
that much because the chips are damned near impossible to find unless
you buy a Dell.
Where Intel has the upper hand is in the high-end. AMD's top chips,
the X2 5000+, slots in somewhere ahead of an Intel E6400 but behind
the E6600, and it's priced as such. However beyond that point AMD
doesn't really have anything to compete. Intel's E6600, E6700 and
X6800 all beat out the fastest AMD has to offer and their FX-62 is
rather stupidly priced. However at this stage we're really reaching
the outside edge. Profits might be high here, but the volumes are
very slim.
AMD has nothing new planned
as far as I know (in the short term). As far as I can see, Intel will
clobber AMD in the coming quarters. This should make INTC a good buy. Any
thoughts??
Intel just announced their worst quarter in years and they don't
expect any big improvements for the next quarter either. Unit
shipments of Core 2 Duo chips are going to be sufficiently low this
quarter that they won't have much affect. The 4P server version of
the chip is still not available and AMD seems to still being doing
fine in this area.
Long story short, don't look for anything too grandiose from Intel
before the end of the year. Now next year could be tough for AMD. By
that time Intel will have their 4P server chips available, they'll
have their 4-core processors (dual-dual core? they aren't really
quad-core) out and, most importantly, they'll finally be shipping
decent quantities of their Core 2 Duo chips for desktops and laptops.
However through to the end of this year AMD has a bit of breathing
room.
In any case, as far as stock prices are concerned, I'm not expert
there. However I certainly wouldn't bet my fortunes (slim though they
may be) on INTC (or AMD for that matter!). When it comes to PC
processors, this year things look good for consumers and bad for
investors.