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If I gave you $100k could you build me a kick-ass multicore processor that beats Intel+AMD? Seems like its not a good space to be a startup in. But I don't know that much about it...

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Not $100k, of course. But I think $5 or $6 million dollars could do it. For that, you'd get a scalable, self-balancing 16 or 32-core processor compatible with existing motherboards and chip sets, visual dev tools using multi-touch screens, and a fully built computer with an extensible parallel OS including a good set of device drivers.

The whole engineering/design phase would take about two years. After that, you enter the marketing and production phase which will require several busloads of dough but that's not my department.

Intel/AMD aren't exactly resting on their laurels, friend.

In my opinion, that's exactly what they are doing. They have adopted a paralllel computing model (multithreading) that is known to be a pain in the ass to program. So far, they have no plans to change the model. They either don't know how or they are stuck in a rut because they need to maintain compatibility with legacy systems. They are in a state of panic right now, spending money left and right trying to find a solution that does not exist for their chosen model. This is a great opportunity for some other company (or a startup) to come on the scene and make a killing.

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