PM Forum - Q3/2003: Part 2

5. How far off is HyperThreading to the mainstream market? When will the average PC user need this type of computing?

PM #1: Don’t think the general publics were educated enough about the true benefits which HT is offering...

PM #2: I guess it would be around the end of 2003 ~ 1H 2004, depend on what CPU price can offer then.

PM #3: HyperThreading ready processors will likely be transitioned into mainstream starting early next year. HyperThreading for single processor machines will experience mixed results though, as the technology only applies to specific applications designed to handle such capabilities.

PM #4: Actually, it is not so important, but Intel’s strong recommend to the end user will force the market to take it as a must.

PM #5: Theoretically, every user will benefit from HT since multi-tasking is quite common in current PC usage models. For HT to actually make it into mainstream market, it will highly depend on its price premium.

PM #6: According the Intel’s plan, the shipment of FSB 800 CPU is going to account for 50 percent till Q4/03’, so at that time the CPU with FSB 800 and Hyper-threading will be the mainstream product.

PM #7: In our view, end-users are already enjoying the benefit of HyperThreading, especially for background virus scanning. Why does AnandTech think Hyper Threading is not available to the user today?

PM #8: Intel will push all their P4 CPU to incorporate the HT. I feel this is a common feature that will not be emphasized at the end of this year.

PM #9: As everybody knew, Hyper-Treading technology became a standard feature with all of new Intel FSB800 P4 CPUs. The technology was pioneered on Intel's advanced server processors, helps your PC work more efficiently by maximizing processor resources and enabling a single processor to run two separate threads of software simultaneously. Even though, only some of users enjoy the benefit by using particular software\environments at this moment, but we believe the population are significantly growing.

PM #10: Hard to say based on the motherboard supply; HT is basically more a market gimmick than a real performance boost for me.

PM #11: You might see the Hyper-Threading technology occupy the mainstream market by the year’s end. In the PC industry, sometimes the product spec and feature aren’t driven by consumer side, but drive by producer side. Consumers may not need this spec, but when most producers produce this kind of product and offer reasonable prices, I don’t see any reason why a customer won’t want to buy it.

PM #12: At this moment, we haven’t seen great success for HT yet. But don’t get me wrong, the HT will be a trend in the future especially more and more programs run simultaneously and use multi-tasking. The user who has HT will enjoy the benefits for sure.

Overall, the feedback is that HyperThreading is going to really get its full steam in the last half of 2003. Q3 ends in September, and so it looks like some is discussed by the product managers will be left for Q4. As one of the product managers wrote, “According the Intel’s plan, the shipment of FSB 800 CPU is going to account for 50 percent till Q4/03.” As a result of 50% shipment now, it reinforces our thoughts of Q4, due to timing issues. The adoption of HyperThreading (HT) in the mainstream market will be effected by the outcome of Athlon64, but since HT will because a standard for Intel, it cannot be avoided, only delayed.

It should be made clear that AnandTech does believe HT is available for the everyday consumer, and will be a good feature for those that take advantage of it. However, we still do feel that the average consumer walking into a consumer electronics outlet will not need the level of computing that HT brings for applications of this day. While the need will not fully be addressed till software catches up, we will likely see full adoption of HT for the average consumer in Q4 and Q1/2004.