AMD Announces GAME!: Raising the Bar for Mainstream Gaming PCs
by Anand Lal Shimpi on May 19, 2008 12:00 AM EST- Posted in
- CPUs
I've been meeting with AMD a lot these days; in fact, one day last week I actually had to reschedule two separate AMD meetings because I was playing host to a few reps from, uh, AMD. With all of the negativity surrounding Phenom and a relatively quiet graphics division, it's tough to remember that I was actually excited about the ATI acquisition back when it happened. These days AMD is beginning to take shape as a total platform provider, thus when I talk to them it can be about everything from CPUs and chipsets to graphics - hence the plethora of meetings.
AMD has all of the ingredients to be a major player in the PC business. It arguably produces the best integrated graphics chipset around, is at least competitive on the discrete graphics front and, well, produces x86 CPUs. And today AMD is attempting something very industry leader-like.
AMD views the PC gaming market as consisting of three segments: casual gamers, mainstream gamers and the enthusiasts. Casual gamers are the largest portion of the market and generally play things like Solitaire or online Flash games. The Enthusiast market is dominated by those who are already investing in good gaming PCs and have some of the highest requirements for performance/visual quality. The mainstream gaming market, however, is composed of those users who want to play more demanding games on their PCs but aren't always aware of what they need to do so.
In order to help address the needs of this mainstream gaming market, AMD has established a new logo program called AMD GAME!. The idea behind AMD GAME! is to guarantee that anyone buying a PC with this logo will have a good overall gaming experience with it.
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BPB - Monday, May 19, 2008 - link
I'd like that too. But like politicians and what they tell us, could we really rely on what they told us if they were to say what AMD did for them? This whole thing is ridiculous, it really is, mainly for what has already been posted, but for other reasons as well. The Ultra is already NOT an ultra platform, so what will they call a platform with the newest chipsets and 4000 series graphic cards? Mega Ultra? And next year, Mega Ultra 09?HOOfan 1 - Monday, May 19, 2008 - link
or most likely many future games.They should have at least made the minimum requirement for Game an HD3850.
Game Ultra should be a 790 board and an upcoming R770
strikeback03 - Monday, May 19, 2008 - link
then again, a casual gamer might not be interested in Crysis, and a 3850 is overkill for WoW at lower resolutions. And from their charts, it seems they realize there is a class above what would be looking at the GAME! Ultra spec, who know enough to actually pick their components (labeled CrossfireX).Too bad they can't just throw a sticker on the case that tells the consumer to do some homework on what they can do before buying a certain system. That will never happen though.
MamiyaOtaru - Monday, May 19, 2008 - link
The thing I don't like abou this labelling is how it will (or won't) handle progress. In 6 months/a year, specs will be higher. Yet the upper level will still be called "Game Ultra" and the midlevel "Game". There won't be version numbers or years tacked on to that, so one will find today's Game Ultra being outperformed by regular old Game in a year or so. I'm not sure how that's supposed to reduce confusion.krwilsonn - Wednesday, May 21, 2008 - link
Well there is one thing that people might be overlooking. I have seen many PC's from Best Buy or another big box retailer that look great and have fast performance but guess what, they will never be able to game. Why? Because not only do they have integrated graphics, but they also didn't include an AGP or PCI-E slot for graphics cards. Presumably because adding a discrete graphics card would exceed the wattage of the PSU, as well as the thermal and space requirements of the chassis that is designed for looks and a small footprint rather than performance or upgrade ability. Obviously SonyVAIO or HP would rather sell you a brand spankin' new PC rather than you upgrade your old one. So if you are an average Joe that buys a pc with one of these stickers, guess what? It WILL handle progress. It will have a PSU sufficiently able to handle the higher amperage requirements and maybe if you're lucky it will be of a standard form factor. It will have a PCI-E x 16 slot so you have a chance of upgrading when it comes necessary. I'd say that is pretty good for consumers. Personally I think its a good idea.
Brucmack - Monday, May 19, 2008 - link
A hooker should be discreet - not a graphics card.Normally I try to ignore these kinds of issues... but AMD's marketing department doesn't know the difference between discrete and discreet?
npp - Monday, May 19, 2008 - link
I don't know how the others may feel about that but every time I see the next sticker coming I simply feel sick... This reminds me of nVidia's extreme architecture thing or Microsoft's stupid Vista ready/not ready initiative... It's plainly stupid and I hate TAGS. It's just the next ingenious PR decision that's supposed to sell more crappy products, but I guess it's always better for some people to have the right sticker on it. (Remember THX certificates? The majority of high-end audio vendors don't even care about that, although their equipment by far surpasses the requirements for a... sticker.)crimson117 - Monday, May 19, 2008 - link
It's not just a tag, look at centrino. Yes it was marketing-based, but centrino provided a laptop with guaranteed wireless and performance specs, and it worked very well, and it basically drove the at-home wifi laptop revolution.So if AMD manages to really offer a platform that gives a reliable sub-enthusiast gaming experience to buyers, then that's great! Marketing meets functionality and everyone wins.
Comdrpopnfresh - Monday, May 19, 2008 - link
I thought having an Intel cpu was a cornerstone of a very good gaming experience. lolBut they can't add that to the credentials.
Too bad AMD is in the budget cpu market, and only has a small handful of competitive gfx cards.
Bet they wouldn't be in this boat if they had just bought nvidia instead of ati- I bet ati didn't bring all that much to the fusion project as was hoped. And the acquisition doesn't seem to be balancing the choice to release processors aimed at the enterprise segment...
tough boat indeed... hopefully they don't do something stupid like try to drink all the water surrounding them.
I own a system with an amd processor btw... not a fanboy, but seeing as I'm not directing the company, I am entitled to look in the rear-view and poke at what became unsavory decisions.
just4U - Monday, May 19, 2008 - link
Out of curiousity, I built a secondary system based around the Phenom X3.. Just because. People really shouldnt be giving it a bad rap especially if they haven't used one. It's not far off my Q6600 in terms of performance at stock speeds. Infact there is very little difference at all. Atleast I can't notice any just booting around on the computer and playing games.Granted, once you start overclocking the core2's pull away but most people don't overclock at all so I mean it's a moot point for anyone but enthusiasts who make up a very small percentage of computer users out there. You know?