Alienware Doesn’t Want You to Buy an AMD Ryzen PC

The realist in me says that AMD has had major supply issues delivering the 7nm Zen3 chips in any appreciable quantity while Intel literally prints 14nm chips like it's going out of style.

Given that you can spec a comparable Ryzen vs. Intel system on Dell's site I'm thinking Dell is just prioritizing their marketing focus on the systems where they can move the most volume. Else they'd be shooting themselves in the foot with "SOLD OUT" notices and backlogs.

I had to buy an Intel-based Razer with 4k@120 and 3080 because there is no similar AMD model provided by anyone. Like nobody in the whole world has a comparable AMD system.

"Despite losing considerable market share to AMD, Intel held on to a commanding lead by exerting its influence on computer manufacturers. Most famous was the “Intel Inside” co-branding program, in which Intel gave “market-development funds” to computer manufacturers if they highlighted the Intel brand on their products. But “Intel Inside” was not nearly as controversial as Intel’s practice of paying “loyalty rebates” to computer manufacturers for not using AMD chips. On the surface, Intel’s loyalty rebate programs appeared to be innocent volume or bundled discounts. Courts had struggled to apply section 2 of the Sherman Antitrust Act to the issue of bundled discounts, as it was hard to distinguish harmless discounts from loyalty rebates provided for the sole purpose of acquiring or maintaining monopoly power. But by taking into consideration the market conditions at the time and the nature of Intel’s relationship with the computer manufacturers, the monopolistic intent underlying Intel’s actions is noticeable. The commoditization of the PC market had severely impacted the profit margins of computer manufacturers, leaving their hopes of meeting quarterly earnings targets at the mercy of Intel’s loyalty rebates. In internal emails at major computer manufacturers, company executives were clearly distressed by the risk of losing such rebates, and most importantly, profitability, if they adopted AMD chips—or, as one Dell executive poignantly put it, Intel was “prepared for ‘jihad’ if Dell joins the AMD exodus.” Indeed, AMD’s biggest barrier in breaking 25% in overall x86 market share was its failure to court Dell, the biggest U.S. computer manufacturer. Dell was for a long time an exclusive Intel customer, but actually had been quite eager to use AMD’s chips. In an e-mail to Intel’s CEO in 2005, Michael Dell wrote, “None of the current benchmarks and reviews say that Intel based systems are better than AMD. We are losing the hearts, minds and wallets of our best customers.” Intel was quick to address Dell’s concerns. Intel’s CEO, Paul Otellini, replied, “[W]e are transferring over $1B per year to Dell for meet comp efforts. This [should be] more than sufficient to compensate for the competitive issues.” Soon after, Dell’s CEO Kevin Rollins announced that Dell had “made no plans to begin using” AMD chips, which Otellini described as “the best friend money can buy.” "(1)

(1) [See Subheading: Intel Gets Sneaky]

"Intel and the x86 Architecture: A Legal Perspective Written by Greg Tang January 04, 2011"

http://jolt.law.harvard.edu/digest/intel-and-the-x86-archite...

Go into any Staples regular brick and mortar Retail location and look at the Laptops on the showroom Floor and see if they have any AMD laptops on display there! And If they do not then ask the sales associate why. And I've asked and been told that they have AMD options but the AMD laptop has to be ordered online! So do that at Staples and other Office Stores that have brick and mortar retail locations!

The actual hardware Dell uses is a bit annoying. It seems even the GPU I got was a Dell specific version. The motherboard is also their custom chipset. I am fine with what I have but it is perplexing that Dell positions Alienware to be upgradable and makes it pretty difficult to do so (e.g. I made the mistake of not getting the system watercooled .. the steps required seem out of my hardware skill level). I'd also be keen to swap the Ryzen 3700 for the newer series chip .. but have no clue whether that is possible on that motherboard. Also, can I say AMDs numbering makes no sense to me personally.

I used to work for an x86/x86-64 system manufacturer (primarily servers, but also high end workstations) some 15+ years ago. This is truly inexcusable and a sad reflection on how the consumer facing side of the industry really hasn't changed in the past 15-20 years. I saw competitors doing exactly the same sort of thing, selling things to end users who had more money than technical acumen or common sense.

And people wonder why the serious enthusiast crowd still prefers to build their own PCs in the year 2021...

Either Intel has a fully new architecture ready and is just waiting for the best time to unveil the beast in the making, or they're starting to be part of history.

Reminds me a bit of Boeing in the face of SpaceX and Airbus. Maybe a bit unfair, since Intel is innovating, just apparently without much luck until today.

Right now it seems that most OEMs are hesitant to commit to the product line given supply issues.

I am looking for a laptop with the new Ryzen and it is very difficult. It seems like companies do their best to make it hard to find any of their product with AMD inside and Intel is all over the place.

I am not sure if they realise how this damages their image? Why a consumer would buy a machine with reheated vintage Intel CPU that is already obsolete when it leaves the store new?

It proudly shows two desktops, one at the left, another at the right. The left one is Intel, the right one is AMD. Sure, some of the fine prints may suggest Intel is better (like saying "Up to RTX 3090" instead of 3080), but other fine prints suggest AMD is better (16 vs 8 cores).

If Dell actually doesn't want me to buy AMD, they sure have a really roundabout way of saying it.

Time to throw Alienware in the dumpster.

However if they haven't redesigned the motherboard it would mean that they couldn't take advantage of PCIe 4.0 on the AMD which would be a problem in itself of course.

I wonder if it's really pressure from intel that makes this bias happen by the way. Intel can hardy keep up with demand and performance right now, and many OEMs have already started AMD offerings, especially in the crucial business market. Additionally, regulators are more aware of these practices now.