I agree about the Core2... it is better. But as pointed out, they've been having this competition for 10+ years now, and it's always by turns, where one CPU is faster/better til the other comes out with their next generation.
However, AMD always had the lower price, and for the student and lower end market, that's a huge advantage. Walmart proved that lower prices can produce large profits so long as you have volume. AMD never approached Intel's value however, which I always found odd. Now, AMD owns ATI. That's the key difference, because while Nvidia has the better graphics, the price savings in production will allow both AMD and ATI to be even more competitive pricewise, and possibly productionwise.
It's a lot more of an advantage than #2 pairing up with #2, ie, Pepsi plus Burger King. It's #2 OWNING #2. Video cards and CPU's always had some issues with timing and clock speeds. With 1 company producing both, the opportunity for perfect sync, and thus even faster speeds, is a great possibility. Chipmakers have always been somewhat proprietary about their methods, when one owns the other, there are no secrets, possibly some shared facilities and costs, and a united objective.
The only way Intel can beat that combo in future development would be to buy Nvidia, which right now doesn't seem remotely possible.
It boils down to management and how they deal with the merger, but if AMD handles it right, it's a potentially staggering future for computers, and of course AMD.
Anyway, as giddy as their own management is over this, you know something amazing is happening. When not much interesting is happening except the same old competition with Intel (athlon period), AMD has risen past $70 POST split (I sold my original shares at $70+, and still have a few hundred shares that I got for free from the split).
It's in the low 20s right now, $3 off it's 52 week low, and 1/2 of it's 52 week high. AMD just bought ATI, and I hope everyone knows who ATI is, because perhaps 40% or so of US computers have ATI graphic chips. That's some combined future earning power. All computers sold have either Intel or AMD chips, all computers sold have either Nvidia or ATI graphic chips... just as Wii and the new Xbox are shipping with ATI chipsets.
Just how can anyone be dumb enough to short this? HOW could it get lower than $3 from a 52 week low when it just merged with the 2nd most sold video chip on the planet? Even considering it makes me scratch my head.
