'Historic' AMD Pact Shows Intel's New Reality

　　Intel and AMD — bitter rivals for decades — have partnered on product that integrates an Intel Core processor, a semi-custom Radeon graphics chip and second-generation High Bandwidth Memory into a single processor package.

　　The move, rumored for more than a year, is seen by analysts as a win for AMD and an indication that Intel is willing to go to new lengths to partner even with competitors in search of new avenues for growth. It's also a challenge to graphics chip maker Nvidia, a common foe of both AMD and Intel.

　　Jon Peddie, principal of Jon Peddie Research, said in an interview with EE Times that Intel's willingness to partner with AMD rather than insist on using home grown technology is indicative of a new attitude by the biggest U.S. chip maker. "Intel has demonstrated extraordinary enlightenment and shed the 'not invented here' attitude that has crippled so many companies," Peddie said.

　　"The growing threat from Nvidia in both graphics and AI acceleration has turned the long-running battle between Intel and AMD into a situation of strange bedfellows," said Rob Lineback, a senior research analyst at IC Insights.

　　In a blog posting on Intel's website, Christopher Walker, a vice president in Intel's Client Computing Group and general manager of its mobility client platform, said the partnership is the result of identifying an opportunity to enable thinner, lighter and more powerful laptops with the high-end graphics demand by PC enthusiasts for applications like gaming. Most current  enthusiast mobile PCs have Intel Core H-series processors plus higher-powered discrete graphics, resulting in systems that average 26 mm in height, a stark contrast to the trend toward thinner, lighter laptops that are 16mm thick of less, Walker said.

　　Both Intel and AMD have processors that include embedded memory that utilize shared memory. But, according to Peddie, real high-performance graphics require dedicated memory with a wide a memory bus as possible. Intel does not have its own discrete graphics chips, not does it plan to, Peddie said.

　　"The fact is, Intel just can't produce a competitive GPU, especially as it struggles with its process technology," said Jim McGregor, principal analyst at Tirias Research. "Intel has tried entering the discrete GPU several times without success."

　　Peddie called Intel's Embedded Multi-die Interconnect Bridge (EMIB) technology the "secret sauce" that makes it possible to package three heterogeneous devices in a small package and make them work together while also managing power consumption. Intel describes EMIB as an intelligent bridge that allows heterogeneous silicon to quickly pass information in extremely close proximity.

　　"It's like something out of science fiction," Peddie said.

　　Is Apple Pulling the Strings?

　　Calling it "a historic collaboration," Kevin Krewell, a principal analyst at Tirias, speculated that the collaboration might have been brokered by Apple, which may want to use it in a slim MacBook. "Intel graphics have never been as premium as AMD Radeon or Nvidia GeForce," Krewell said. "As AMD is Apple's favorite graphics supplier, putting Intel's CPU and AMD's GPU together in one package is a win for the company."

　　Though AMD is about it launch a new Ryzen Mobile processor to compete with Intel, the Intel multi-chip solution with HBM2 memory and a discrete graphics chip will be more powerful, Krewell said. "It will not come cheap, but the Intel Core with Radeon Graphics module will offer premium graphics performance in a thinner laptop," he said. "And even if AMD's new Ryzen Mobile chip is wildly successful, Intel will still have the largest market share and this new module is an opportunity for AMD to address more of the ultra-premium segment."

　　"We still need to see more details of the system in package to know where it will positioned. We don't have the speeds and feeds yet. But this is a historic collaboration," Krewell said.

　　Lineback of IC Insights also wondered if AMD would threaten the market potential of Ryzen Mobile by collaborating with Intel on the multi-chip solution.

　　"The lines between different notebook PC segments are a little blurry, and I think a future Intel Core mobile processor offering with a semi-custom GPU from AMD could end up competing with next-generation Ryzen Mobile MPUs," he said. "We'll have to take a wait-and-see stance to see how this works for both companies that have been going at each other in x86 processors for so long."

　　Why AMD?

　　McGregor speculated that Intel chose to partner with AMD over Nvidia because AMD has "tried to play nice," even separating the graphics group into a separate entity — Radeon Technology Group —  likely to satisfy any Intel concerns.

　　"However, as we have seen in the past, the wind can always blow things the other way," McGregor said.

　　"In fact, Intel may be best served to work with both companies, but that is not always easy."

　　Intel's Walker said the product is the first consumer product to use EMIB and the first mobile PC product to use HBM2, which consumes much less power and takes up less space compared to traditional discrete graphics-based designs using dedicated graphics memory, like GDDR5 memory.