AMD Doesn't Have Enough Six-Core CPUs

Intel was, for a while, the only company with a consumer-oriented six-core central processing unit on sale. After that, Advanced Micro Devices finally managed to complete it own such CPUs, dubbed Thuban. These chips did not exactly intend to overthrow the Gulftown in terms of performance, but they did have a significant advantage in the way of pricing. Nevertheless, they were still the first products of their type that AMD had ever brought out, which is why the Sunnyvale, California-based player did not take any chances with it.

To be more precise, Advanced Micro Devices chose not to place too many orders for Phenom II X6 parts, no doubt to avoid oversupply. At least, this is what a recent report made by Digitimes claims.

Ironically, this caution proved less than fortuitous when retail channels were faced with a demand that was quite a bit higher than originally anticipated. The same can be said for the new motherboards powered by the 800 chipset series.

Demand was significant during the second quarter. On the one hand, this led to strong sales of both chips and platforms. On the other hand, the shortage of six-core processors also means that shipments of such parts, and motherboards, did not reach the amounts they otherwise could have. Not only that, but even the supply schedule of quad-core Phenom II 960T chips was affected.

Moving forward, in order to resolve this issue and, hopefully, avoid it in the future, AMD has adjusted its planned Southbridge chips. The maker intended to pair the 890FX, 880G and 870 Northbridge chips with SB850/SB810 Southbridges. Plans have changed, however, in the way that the SB850 will have to handle the entire market on its own for a while, as the SB810 has been delayed. There is no word on when, exactly, the latter will debut.