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Microsoft and Intel strike a $15gn custome chip deal

Three

Member
@HeisenbergFX4 Is this for their cloud compute/surface or Xbox?
why-not-both-why-not.gif
 

Holammer

Member
MS wants to emulate Apple by creating their own hardware/software.
Also a "legit" way of closing the walled garden on users.
 

Ozriel

M$FT
I hope you’re right, but it will still be a couple of years. We need a lot more competition in the space.

Snapdragon X is coming H2 2024 and apparently benchmarks better than the M2, with similar efficiency levels.

 

UltimaKilo

Gold Member
Snapdragon X is coming H2 2024 and apparently benchmarks better than the M2, with similar efficiency levels.


That’s an issue for Qualcomm, if they’re struggling to beat the M2 with a product that will release around the same time as the M4.

I’m sure they’ll catch up, but it’s not anytime soon.
 
This sounds like it means nothing for gaming. My bet is on custom AI Chip production which is becoming the norm. They would never switch from AMD for gaming, it doesn't make sense. The quote in the OP literally mentions Microsoft has been wanting to make their own Processors and AI Accelerators.

Since AI is relatively new, AI being a $15bn industry makes total sense.
 
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This sounds like it means nothing for gaming. My bet is on custom AI Chip production which is becoming the norm. They would never switch from AMD for gaming, it doesn't make sense. The quote in the OP literally mentions Microsoft has been wanting to make their own Processors and AI Accelerators.

Since AI is relatively new, AI being a $15bn industry makes total sense.
This deal is huge, so it's going to be a multi-year deal and probably will cover multiple chip designs as well. One of those designs might be the next gen Xbox chip.
 

Kdad

Member
On this foundry topic I have been reading Chip War… very very interesting and well done book:

Chip War: The Fight for the World's Most Critical Technology https://amzn.eu/d/4ae8pWx

I see how strategic it is to bring back big foundries in the U.S. and finally they are doing something about it, but I still think that pure foundries like TSMC have more and more of an edge as they truly do not compete with their clients this limited the appeal of Samsung as a foundry too.

This is a good chip deal though and should help. Probably both companies are charging part of the bill to the government through some rebates / incentive of some sort too.
Intel will spin off the foundry into its own pure play...
 
It probably won’t be as that decision would affect all of the BC titles all the way up to Xbox Series.
What do you mean? The x86 -> ARM change? That might happen, sure. Also, Intel x86 cores would be a good choice as well. Panther Lake is to be built on the 18A process.

Current x86 Xboxes can run 360 PowerPC binaries, and Windows 11 for ARM can already run x86 binaries. It's not optimal, but beefy enough ARM core in 2026 can surely run current gen Xbox Series apps at required performance level.
 
What do you mean? The x86 -> ARM change? That might happen, sure. Also, Intel x86 cores would be a good choice as well. Panther Lake is to be built on the 18A process.

Current x86 Xboxes can run 360 PowerPC binaries, and Windows 11 for ARM can already run x86 binaries. It's not optimal, but beefy enough ARM core in 2026 can surely run current gen Xbox Series apps at required performance level.
That sounds awful.
 

Bry0

Member
It probably won’t be as that decision would affect all of the BC titles all the way up to Xbox Series.
The way the Xbox OS is architected, they are not reliant on hardware BC the way Sony is, so I wouldn’t say using intel is an automatic disqualifier for BC. But still yeah, switching to intel at this point seems unlikely.
 


They need to bring back Windows Phones. This time they can put the full Windows on ARM OS, because the ARM chips are powerful enough to do so. I really loved my Windows phone back in the day, and I dont like Apple or Android.

A Windows Phone/Mobile device like galaxy Pro series, Z-Fold series, and Flip series with S-Pen with 5G/Wifi6E-Wifi7 with a Carl Zeiss Camera from Nokia in front and back, I would buy on day 1.

Imagine a Windows Phone with powerful ARM CPU/GPU/NPU made by Intel, NVIDIA, AMD, Qualcomm and MS themselves (Custome built SOC and part of its surface series). Back in the day the main issue was native hardware app support for windows, but I think those days are gone since apps are now "PWA'S" or progressive Web Apps which does not require native hardware to run.
 
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