Re: Interesting
Yes, thats right. No two chips will run quite the same. This is a very clever idea by AMD. That's better than the previous approach used by AMD (and Intel) where no chip ever ran at its full potential; every die was graded at fixed speed bins and labelled at the one where it worked. That bin would always be at (rarely) or below the speed a die can reach.
You're dead right about how AMD is marketed by retailers. Here's always been a sort of Intel snobbery; they must be best, they invented it. But I've had loads of problems with Intel kit, and never once has an AMD based system given me trouble.
In laptops the historical reason why was always because Intel's datasheets gave you proper thermal guidelines and information which made design a whole lot easier. AMD datasheets were more sparse, meaning that design was more hit and miss to achieve adequate cooling. 'Miss' means a redesign, which is expensive.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
