Intel is licensing AMD's Graphics

[Valentyn]

According to Fudzilla, and Kyle Bennet the rumors of Intel ditching NVIDIA for graphics is true, and Intel has "written a cheque" for AMD.

This isn't the first time these rumors have been around,and Kyle Bennet has certainly written about it several times.

If true, this could mark a new day in APU's and Intel's upcoming mainstream CPUs; whether this is for Polaris, or Vega technologies is unknown, but it most certianly will be GCN based. Meaning that AMD will control not only the major console's graphics, but also soon all future mainstream CPUs a well.

As we all know Intel currently holds the majority of graphics marketshare, which means AMD could be taking a big chunk out of that.

Although there's also the chance this is entirely focussed on Patents being licensed from AMD, in which case instead of direct GCN tech being used, and supplied by AMD; they'll instead collect some lovely Fees from Intel.

Either way certainly a plus for AMD, and more money and recognition for their technology.

AMD's Financial Analyst Day is also today; and if true, there might be some information there.

 

 

Quote

Done deal

We can now confirm the rumours that Intel has given up on Nvidia because it has written a cheque to license AMD's graphics.

It looks like veteran GPU editor Kyle Bennet was right when he first reported the rumor, however wild it sounded. We didn't contemplate it but wrote about it  several times. Intel needs a GPU licence and the Nvidia – Intel licensing agreement ended on March 17 2017, so Intel doesn’t have a licensc. It is more likely that Intel has a licencee from AMD but neither company has officially announced it.  

 If you are in Intel’s shoes,there are two options, Nvidia or AMD. We know that Nvidia sued Intel and forced it into a settlement and now that the shotgun wedding is over, Intel wants out. Nvidia and Intel had many  disagreements over the Nforce chipset and the licensing, that resulted with $1.5 Billion settlement that Intel agreed to pay for five years.

 Raja Koduri, Senior Vice President and Chief Architect, Radeon Technologies Group worked at Apple and worked closely with Intel too. He probably played an important role in these negotiations.

It remains to be seen when it will be formally announced and when it will start affecting AMD’s bottom line. The cooperation and agreement will allow Intel to access AMD’s graphics Intellectual Properties and most things Radeonish.

AMD will  weaken its position to fight Intel on in the integrated solutions, but licensing money should help overcome that issue. Despite that fact that these companies  compete, they are close when it comes to graphics.  

 

 

Sources:
http://www.fudzilla.com/news/graphics/43663-intel-is-licensing-amd-graphics

https://hardforum.com/threads/from-ati-to-amd-back-to-ati-a-journey-in-futility-h.1900681/page-61#post-1042685022

 

AMD Financial Analyst Day Webcast.
http://webcastevents.com/events/amd/analystday/webcast.htm

[79wjd]

Wasn't this announced a year ago? 

[Valentyn]

4 minutes ago, djdwosk97 said:

Wasn't this announced a year ago? 

Unconfirmed until just recently it seems; as the only one really talking about it was Kyle Bennet from HardOCP.

 

Back then the rumor was kaby lake would be using AMD IGP.

[nerdv2]

Anything to make AMD profitable, I'll support it.

[SCHISCHKA]

this does not mean you will see controlling anything.

these two have been licensing ip for years off each other.

this is just amd getting a return off the ati purchase.

[Natsoup]

Sounds good to me, but it's a strange feeling seeing both an Intel and AMD logo without a "vs." in between  

[KenjiUmino]

3 minutes ago, Valentyn said:

Intel ditching NVIDIA for graphics 

what did intel have to do with nvidia? did i miss the memo ?

 

5 minutes ago, Valentyn said:

As we all know Intel currently holds the majority of graphics marketshare, which means AMD could be taking a big chunk out of that.

it't not like intel makes any PCIe graphics card AFAIK - so that "graphics market share" is only existent if you count in iGPUs. and since every consumer CPU sold over the last decade or so had some form of iGPU and intel has like the biggest market share on the consumer CPU market - thats where it might come from. 

 

now when AMD decides to "outsource" their radeon department and turn it back into a seperate company again (ati reloaded?) they can sell their GPUs to whoever they want - even intel. 

 

i would be happy to see a mobile core i7/i5 with baked in radeon graphics instead of an intel HD because, let's face it: AMDs iGPU solutions were superior to intels, regardless of how much the CPU part of AMDs APUs was dragging behind

[PlayStation 2]

3 minutes ago, huilun02 said:

Put Freesync capability on the new iGPU's and bury Gsync for good

I believe Intel had already planned to support Freesync for a while (or at least the VESA adaptive sync standard) in their iGPUs.

So really the chances of them going the VESA/Freesync route were higher than them going the G-Sync route.

[Humbug]

win win situation.

Good for both companies.

AMD needs money.

Intel needs graphics tech.

[WillyW]

Apparently to no ones surprise, investor analysts do not understand the difference between a CPU and a GPU.

 

https://cnafinance.com/advanced-micro-devices-amd-stock-climbs-on-intel-intc-interest-in-license/15358

 

" As mentioned above, Advanced Micro Devices is having a strong start to the trading session today as reports surface surrounding interest in a license by Intel. According to the reports, INTC is interested in licensing the AMD Ryzen product. "

[Valentyn]

10 minutes ago, KenjiUmino said:

what did intel have to do with nvidia? did i miss the memo ?

 

it't not like intel makes any PCIe graphics card AFAIK - so that "graphics market share" is only existent if you count in iGPUs. and since every consumer CPU sold over the last decade or so had some form of iGPU and intel has like the biggest market share on the consumer CPU market - thats where it might come from. 

 

They lincense the technology needed to make Intel IGPs from NVIDIA.

Without it they cannot continue to make their current line of integrated graphics.

 

Them moving over to AMD, means more money to AMD, which is only good for them, and us.

 

It's worth noting that their graphics department is RTG (Radeon Technologies Group), and Raja is Senior Vice President and Chief Architect. 

They're already slowly moving towards having it separate from main AMD.

[Valentyn]

Just now, WillyW said:

Apparently to no ones surprise, investor analysts do not understand the difference between a CPU and a GPU.

 

https://cnafinance.com/advanced-micro-devices-amd-stock-climbs-on-intel-intc-interest-in-license/15358

 

" As mentioned above, Advanced Micro Devices is having a strong start to the trading session today as reports surface surrounding interest in a license by Intel. According to the reports, INTC is interested in licensing the AMD Ryzen product. "

 

Aye, not long ago many were talking about Polaris and Vega as new AMD CPUs set to compete against Intel.

[KenjiUmino]

4 minutes ago, Valentyn said:

They lincense the technology needed to make Intel IGPs from NVIDIA.

oh, that makes sense.

 

was this the reason why the iGPUs on their 2nd gen core processors performed sooooo much better compared to 1st gen ?

[crzyces]

18 minutes ago, Natsoup said:

Sounds good to me, but it's a strange feeling seeing both an Intel and AMD logo without a "vs." in between  

When it was announced they referred to the switch as AMD. About 6 months ago they said it will be marketed as graphics powered by Radeon Technologies.

[Valentyn]

7 minutes ago, KenjiUmino said:

oh, that makes sense.

 

was this the reason why the iGPUs on their 2nd gen core processors performed sooooo much better compared to 1st gen ?

Mostly yes, remember the horrible GMA Intel graphics? 

Everything changed with Sandy Bridge and their new HD line of IGPs; and back then Intel also tried to enter the consumer graphics space with their Larrabee graphics card.

Although that failed, and instead Larrabee become the Xeon Phi which is essentially a mass core accelerator cards.

 

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2009/12/intels-larrabee-gpu-put-on-ice-more-news-to-come-in-2010/?comments=1&post=23571

[tsk]

This is only Intel licensing patents from AMD, not like there's gonna be a Vega igpu on Intel cpus. 

[Silentprototipe]

Finally, Something competitive because my old AF APU still holds foot with the HD 4000. Some AMD in that Intel will be quite nice if I do say so myself 

[leadeater]

If it's anything like the previous Nvidia license agreement there will be nothing AMD related at all in Intel's iGPUs.

[Taf the Ghost]

25 minutes ago, Valentyn said:

 

Aye, not long ago many were talking about Polaris and Vega as new AMD CPUs set to compete against Intel.

I have a hunch that the Ryzen PRO designations that showed up are actually for a project with Apple (some new desktops, maybe). If it's true, I'm waiting for the horri-bad news releases.  "Apple licenses AMD tech to put in new iPhones" when it's a new desktop line.  

[yian88]

AMD is retarded, they license Radeon IP so intel will have strong APU offerings while AMD hasnt released their new APU's yet, a Ryzen 4 core with a rx 460 onboard is a fucking killer deal, now intel will have a clear advantage over amd, what they gain from licensing IP, they lose in sales from competition.

0 sum game? or rather intel wins twice.

 

Or i might be wrong, i dont understand at all why companies like intel need graphics license, why cant anyone develop their own graphics? is there something i dont know? is this the reason there are only 2 graphics companies to begin wth? same for CPU's ? they need licenses from competitors to be able to produce cpu/gpu?

[Trixanity]

Intel isn't getting any AMD designs, architectures, chips - nothing. They're licensing GPU patents essential to making a GPU. You didn't see Intel with Pascal and CUDA cores either. It will be much the same story but instead of paying Nvidia, they'll be paying AMD and that's a good thing. Why? AMD needs the money more than Nvidia does so hopefully it'll boost competition. Although I suspect the payout isn't as big as you'd expect.

 

So expect more of the same from Intel. Whether that's good or bad is up to you.

 

Note: there is a tiny chance Intel has changed their strategy and want to outright buy (which would cost significantly more I'd wager) access to AMD designs but I doubt AMD would sell as having superior GPUs is paramount for their strategy and future survival.

[Valentyn]

22 minutes ago, yian88 said:

AMD is retarded, they license Radeon IP so intel will have strong APU offerings while AMD hasnt released their new APU's yet, a Ryzen 4 core with a rx 460 onboard is a fucking killer deal, now intel will have a clear advantage over amd, what they gain from licensing IP, they lose in sales from competition.

0 sum game? or rather intel wins twice.

Intel licensing the patents from AMD doesn't mean Intel will be able to produce and launch a new IGP within months though. 

 

By the time we see the fruits of this AMDs APUs will be long out. 

 

Intel already tried to develop their own graphics cards and tech. Lookup Larrabee. Few posts up. 

 

Intel failed, and couldn't develop something decent without infringing on either NVIDIA or AMDs patents. 

They ended being suited by NVIDIA and had to settle and pay 1.5 billion for a licensing deal to use their IP to create their current line of IGPs

[Valentyn]

16 minutes ago, Trixanity said:

Intel isn't getting any AMD designs, architectures, chips - nothing. They're licensing GPU patents essential to making a GPU. You didn't see Intel with Pascal and CUDA cores either. It will be much the same story but instead of paying Nvidia, they'll be paying AMD and that's a good thing. Why? AMD needs the money more than Nvidia does so hopefully it'll boost competition. Although I suspect the payout isn't as big as you'd expect.

 

Both scenarios are covered in the OP. also the payout for NVIDIA was substantial at a 1.5 Billion payout to NVIDIA. 

 

Something like that would be of great value to AMD given their current debt, even if it's negotiated at a lower amount. 

[Trixanity]

1 minute ago, Valentyn said:

Both scenarios are covered in the OP. also the payout for NVIDIA was substantial at a 1.5 Billion payout to NVIDIA. 

 

Something like that would be of great value to AMD given their current debt. 

Yeah, that's true but the first scenario is very unlikely yet people seem to gravitate towards it in particular. That's why I felt the need to state that very clearly. That's also why I emphasized that Intel previously had an agreement with Nvidia but did not employ any proprietary tech of Nvidia's or design GPUs that came close to what Nvidia produced indicating it was merely a licensing of general GPU patents which are essential to designing a modern GPU. Everything points to Intel continuing with their in-house designs. The only thing that changes is whom they pay to do that.

 

It's basically AMD's ace. You don't give that up. You see other companies clutching their own ace with a death grip. For example Qualcomm holding on tight to their modem patents which coincidentally happens to be their main advantage against their competitors. The value of keeping that ace is bigger (almost priceless) than whatever Intel would be willing to pay.

[Humbug]

30 minutes ago, yian88 said:

AMD is retarded, they license Radeon IP so intel will have strong APU offerings while AMD hasnt released their new APU's yet, a Ryzen 4 core with a rx 460 onboard is a fucking killer deal, now intel will have a clear advantage over amd, what they gain from licensing IP, they lose in sales from competition.

0 sum game? or rather intel wins twice.

let's say I pay Ferrari and get to use some patented design they own for the workings of a transmission system. It doesn't mean I can suddenly make a prize winning formula 1 car. It's one in a million pieces.

 

AMD are not retards, they will not allow Intel to start selling GCN GPUs. But look at how many CPUs with IGPs intel sells per year. AMD is thinking what if we can earn a small licensing fee from all those chips sold?