Some folks have wondered why the HyperTransport interconnect technology, originally invented by AMD (Advanced Micro Devices) and includes companies such as Apple in its list of partners, apparently conceded to Intel technology as the way to overhaul the innards of personal computers and overcome the PCI (Peripheral Components Interconnect) bottleneck.
As we reported Monday, Intel’s Arapahoe — sometimes called 3GIO, and will most likely be known as PCI 3.0 — has gotten the approval of key industry officials to replace traditional PCI technology. However, an AMD spokesperson told MacCentral that HyperTransport and 3GIO are not, and were never intended to be competitors.
“AMD has never positioned HyperTransport as a PCI slot,” AMD spokesperson Todd Burch said. “It has always been shown as the link between PCI and PCI-X slots. Thus, in theory, HyperTransport should be able to complement 3GIO.”
As far as 3GIO being a threat to HyperTransport, it’s difficult to say without the specification, he added. The reason it’s not detailed is because 3GIO really currently doesn’t exist, except on paper.
“In fact, AMD voted for 3GIO because we felt it was suitable for the next PCI technology,” Burch told MacCentral.