We can hate on the evil eMpire all we want but I think this would be fantastic for AMD if it did happen. An immediate infusion of cash into R&D is what they desperately need. Microsoft may benefit by being able to produce/design it's own hardware in house.
I think this would actually be a good thing for everyone. I have a friend who works for Microsoft, but I don't think he's high enough up the food chain to confirm this.....
As far as PC gaming goes this is a good Idea. On the Console Front I can't see this ending good if you are Sony and maybe Nintendo with Code Name NX because of finding a different manufactures for CPU and GPU and costing more money to make the Consoles because of going to Nvidia and Intel for their parts however this could play into their favor because of making a far superior product considering how far ahead Intel is in the CPU department. Also with the original Xbox and how much trouble MS had with Nvidia and vice versa.
Wouldn't this invalidate the x86 license and kinda make it pointless aside from the graphics card division? I know i have heard some people say there might be loopholes on the x86 license....
Yeah I also remember this being mentioned as well. I think that it would void the x86 license that AMD has.
I see no benefit for MS to do this. They already get what they want from AMD (AMD GPUs in Xbox 1)...and AMD's in the red, so what's the point... MS is focusing on phones/Surface/Xbox 1 to a lesser extent, and buying AMD won't help on any of these, unless they think APUs will make the next Surface revolutionary lol.
The x86 license is non-transferable. If microsoft bought AMD, they'd have to get their own license from Intel.
The x86 licensing is most likely why no one else has bought AMD. I think MS could hurdle that stumbling block though as they are, well, Microsoft.
If they did start using Intel it wouldn't be an i7-6700K they'd use. It would be something along the lines of a cut down Intel Celeron Processor G1840. It's possible they'd also go Intel Atom route. The implication of that is a little more complex I believe. If the agreement if non-transferrable for x86-32, then it could also be the scenario that the agreement of x86-64 changes, since x86-64 (x64) is owned by AMD. In other words, if Intel says AMD could no longer use x86, AMD could come around and say Intel could no longer use x64 for future processors. Obviously neither is a good scenario, but AMD would be the one less hurting from this. Currently a great advantage with x64 is that you can run 32-bit programs natively even under a 64-bit OS. If Intel pulls the 32-bit side of the agreement, you can still run 32-bit applicants under a VM. Remember that Microsoft would be owning AMD or part thereof, so the VM could be incorporated in to the OS. It would mean a slight disadvantage in 32-bit applications, but that is now becoming less of an issue. The greatest loser if the agreement of the x86/x64 licence agreement falls through is therefore Intel, not AMD.
true but they have AMD64 wich is compatible with x64 (despite the vice versa is only 99% compatible). also M$ have it own x86 licence for phone. at least GPU driver will work fine if it happen it will be a great improvement... *edit* there is rumor with Intel and NVidia too despite their "little" issue of industrial inteligence.
Do they need the X86 license for GPUs? Isn't it more likely that AMD would just sell off the GPU portion of the company to MS?
If the x86 license is any type of problem, MS could just invest to 49% in AMD, and have the agreement that they would put one of their own at the head of AMD from that point on. AMD would still technically be its own entity, and MS would have a guaranteed HW partner for the next Xbox, which would be in Dev by now for the next UHD/QUHD XBox. MS doen't want AMD to go under, it would leave them only with Nvidia on the GPU front, and no competition for pricing. MS could also pay for R&D on the next UHD/QUHD XBox, and share the desktop GPU/CPU revenues derived from the tech. MS has the money, thats for sure. Would Apple allow it? Would MS allow Apple to continue to buy AMD GPU's if they became a major partner ?
MS buy Intel chips for their phones. AMD could technically do an AMD64-only CPU. That wouldn't be a problem in the Console world. That would be interesting, as it could have implications on the Desktop arena afterwards.
They could also design their own Chips and make a console Sony just couldn't, for the same expense. It could even be a console thats faster than PC's, on release. We're due a return to custom hardware, console wise next gen i'd hope
Yeah, I agree. Intel couldn't do anything about it either. I don't think Nvidia could do anything. MS surely has the cash just lying around.
