Interview with AMD's Senior Vice President and Chief Software Officer Andrej Zdravkovic: UDNA, ROCm for Radeon, AI Everywhere, and Much More!

[Makaveli]

The same can’t be said of AMD’s AI/compute products.

It sounds way worse when you put it like this without even a slight breakdown.

There problem isn't hardware its the software stack.

If it was both hardware and software then yes I would agree. They just need to put in a huge amount of money and resources into that software stack which they have committed to doing.

 

[Dr. Dro]

It sounds way worse when you put it like this without even a slight breakdown.

There problem isn't hardware its the software stack.

If it was both hardware and software then yes I would agree. They just need to put in a huge amount of money and resources into that software stack which they have committed to doing.

It's probably way worse than you were even thinking to begin with. Even if the technical hurdle is overcome, regulatory compliance and enterprise trust factor are something Nvidia currently monopolizes in this regard. AMD will have to deliver, and it can't be half-hearted like the Radeon Adrenalin driver.

 

[Makaveli]

It's probably way worse than you were even thinking to begin with. Even if the technical hurdle is overcome, regulatory compliance and enterprise trust factor are something Nvidia currently monopolizes in this regard. AMD will have to deliver, and it can't be half-hearted like the Radeon Adrenalin driver.

Enterprise trust will come in time. Why do they need to be worried about regulatory compliance is AMD known for doing things that are out of compliance?

 

[Wirko]

But if you have similar hardware at lower price and available AND tools to pass the CUDA trap, then you will have an option to your AI needs.

So situation like this wont be repeated:

Elon Musk and Larry Ellison begged Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang for AI GPUs at dinner

Shut up and take my money.

www.tomshardware.com

These two companies, and a handful of others, can be considered a special case. They have the funds to build or buy the tools to pass the CUDA trap, as you put it nicely. Others don't.

 

[Dr. Dro]

Enterprise trust will come in time. Why do they need to be worried about regulatory compliance is AMD known for doing things that are out of compliance?

You misunderstand. It's as simple as the suits giving the ok. It's not a technical problem, it's bias.

 

[Makaveli]

You misunderstand. It's as simple as the suits giving the ok. It's not a technical problem, it's bias.

maybe I do misunderstand because either you are compliant or not i'm not sure where there is a pick and choose option.

 

[Dr. Dro]

may I do misunderstand because either you are compliant or not i'm not sure where there is a pick and choose option.

Yeah. But ever heard of "risk management"? I mean even though there is little to no risk. Some people just need a job.

The corporate world has many hurdles that make no sense to people like you and I

 

[Neo_Morpheus]

You misunderstand. It's as simple as the suits giving the ok. It's not a technical problem, it's bias.

Story time:
During the Spectre vulnerability “crisis”, management was very scared of the consequences and that affected us because we were all Dell so all Intel, so 100% exposed userbase.

I suggested that we should have more options and suggested to have at least 40% of those systems replaced with AMD powered Lenovo devices.

You have to see their looks when they heard that.

Wont mention the rest, but no, they didnt do it mostly because the dell sales rep was a friend of someone high up there and the rest belonged to the mantra “nobody got fired by buying intel”

I wonder how they are doing with the current melting intel cpus….

 

[Dr. Dro]

Story time:
During the Spectre vulnerability “crisis”, management was very scared of the consequences and that affected us because we were all Dell so all Intel, so 100% exposed userbase.

I suggested that we should have more options and suggested to have at least 40% of those systems replaced with AMD powered Lenovo devices.

You have to see their looks when they heard that.

Wont mention the rest, but no, they didnt do it mostly because the dell sales rep was a friend of someone high up there and the rest belonged to the mantra “nobody got fired by buying intel”

I wonder how they are doing with the current melting intel cpus….

That's exactly what I mean

 

[Visible Noise]

maybe I do misunderstand because either you are compliant or not i'm not sure where there is a pick and choose option.

“Nobody ever got fired for buying IBM”

In other words, Nvidia has a proven solution deployed across many enterprises. Why should I as a buyer take the risk to buy an AMD solution? What is my reward?

 

[Dr. Dro]

“Nobody ever got fired for buying IBM”

In other words, Nvidia has a proven solution deployed across many enterprises. Why should I as a buyer take the risk to buy an AMD solution? What is my reward?

Especially when you are using other people's money

 

[AusWolf]

Especially when you are using other people's money

That's a good thing to point out. This is why I've been recommending Nvidia to colleagues who approached me with wanting to build a gaming PC, even though personally, I have no intention to get Nvidia for myself anytime soon. I can't be asked to pay extra for features that I don't need. For example, I'd rather choose the 7900 XTX over a 4080 because it's cheaper here, but I recommended a 4080 to someone recently anyway. I don't give a damn about a 5% better RT performance as long as it still runs like crap on a x60 or x70 level GPU, but I don't want to be hearing comments like "why does my new £2000 PC that you built for me stutter when I enable RT".

Edit: My personal choice has been AMD recently because I'm more into cost efficiency, and I don't like the idea of supporting proprietary tech, but if I'm building a PC for someone else, I put my attitude and opinion aside, as I want to get them the best that fits their budget.

 

[Makaveli]

“Nobody ever got fired for buying IBM”

In other words, Nvidia has a proven solution deployed across many enterprises. Why should I as a buyer take the risk to buy an AMD solution? What is my reward?

In 2024 the reward would be better pricing and availability. However you are correct they don't have the years of a proven solution with support so those large enterprise customers would not be your initial target. So SMB is where they would have to start.

 

[Neo_Morpheus]

“Nobody ever got fired for buying IBM”

In other words, Nvidia has a proven solution deployed across many enterprises. Why should I as a buyer take the risk to buy an AMD solution? What is my reward?

Assuming that going with Ngreedia means waiting a long time for delivery, your possible reward for going with AMD is having some working hardware at hand.

Especially when you are using other people's money

Sometimes, there is a limit to the budget and the “options?” Question will arise.
I have seen that.

That's a good thing to point out. This is why I've been recommending Nvidia to colleagues who approached me with wanting to build a gaming PC, even though personally, I have no intention to get Nvidia for myself anytime soon. I can't be asked to pay extra for features that I don't need. For example, I'd rather choose the 7900 XTX over a 4080 because it's cheaper here, but I recommended a 4080 to someone recently anyway. I don't give a damn about a 5% better RT performance as long as it still runs like crap on a x60 or x70 level GPU, but I don't want to be hearing comments like "why does my new £2000 PC that you built for me stutter when I enable RT".

Edit: My personal choice has been AMD recently because I'm more into cost efficiency, and I don't like the idea of supporting proprietary tech, but if I'm building a PC for someone else, I put my attitude and opinion aside, as I want to get them the best that fits their budget.

I agree on all that but I will speak on behalf of purchasing AMD because I think they deserve to see the other side of the coin.

sadly, the influencers, formerly known as YouTube tech reviewers words carry more weight than mines, hence the near monopoly we currently have in pc gaming.

Just check how many games are permanently infected with PhysX and now DLSS.

 

[Visible Noise]

In 2024 the reward would be better pricing and availability. However you are correct they don't have the years of a proven solution with support so those large enterprise customers would not be your initial target. So SMB is where they would have to start.

Would you really be willing to risk your SMB to save a few dollars? Although I don’t know of any SMBs that are running AI workloads using capital to do it. That’s what cloud services are for.

 

[AusWolf]

I agree on all that but I will speak on behalf of purchasing AMD because I think they deserve to see the other side of the coin.

sadly, the influencers, formerly known as YouTube tech reviewers words carry more weight than mines, hence the near monopoly we currently have in pc gaming.

Just check how many games are permanently infected with PhysX and now DLSS.

I am all for buying AMD personally (like I said, I don't care about DLSS and a 5% better RT), but I acknowledge that it's not necessarily the best option for everyone.