Intel and AMD – The rivals unite

If you’re a computer enthusiast, then you would know about the long time rivalry between AMD and Intel. For those of you who only see these branding when you’re buying a PC you probably wouldn’t have thought too much about it. AMD has always been seen as the “cheaper alternative” and have long been affiliated with ATI, whereas Intel with NVIDIA.

However many gamers had favored AMD over Intel. The graphics processing (GPU) became integrated onto the processor (CPU) giving an edge over Intel at the time. AMD has always had great technology; however their manufacturing was not up to par with Intel. Intel created an in-house solution similar to AMD which is currently in their manufacturing process however is seen as a step down from AMD’s superior integrated GPU technology.

Intel has recently announced that in order to build better chips for its enthusiasts and consumers, their 8^th generation processors will feature integrated AMD GPU (graphics processors). What a GPU is essentially doing is geometrical and mathematical calculations. So there you have it, two rivals are now a team working towards releasing Intel’s new “Kaby Lake G” processors. This new feature will be released in the Intel Core i5-8305G and Intel Core i5-8305G and for desktops the Intel Core i7-8706G, i7-8709G and i7-8809G CPUs. All will feature on board Radeon GPUs. Laptops will feature the RX Vega M GL chip, whereas desktops will be running the Radeon RX Vega M GH graphics onboard which is more powerful. AMD will be producing its own custom silicon needed for processor manufacturing, and Intel will be writing the drivers.

At CES 2018 (Consumer Electronics Show) which was in Las Vegas, some of the powerhouses showed off their new machines running these new chips. Dell and HP both had machines on display. The updated version of the HP Spectre x360 with an optional 4K display is running on this new CPU. Dell’s XPS 15 2-in-1 also features this new processor along with a maglev keyboard and a gore fabric chassis to help with heat dissipation. Both of these machines are set to be available in the US from March. Australia should see these in the coming months after, however global availability is yet to be confirmed.

With new machines like these being released, we may need to rethink the traditional gaming rig. Both of these laptops will offer high-end performance when it comes to graphics processing. However these are not gaming laptops. Since the future of virtual reality VR and augmented reality is bright, there aren’t many machines other than “gaming” classified that have the grunt to give us the performance AR and VR demands. The 8^th gen processors may be the answer.