Enter the Green Athlon XP
You have to admit, the semiconductor, and indeed the technology industry is a lot like
show business. Looks do matter in the general perception of products, and their
performance. In the case of consumer electronics especially, if the product looks like it
has been built with little regard for quality, chances are high that it won't
last very long - at least that's our general impression.
When AMD introduced the Athlon XP on the
OPGA (organic pin grid array) substrate they alleviated the problems seen by some Athlon and Duron owners where overzealous
heatsink application cracked the processor in two. The move
to fiberglass packaging made allowances for some flexing during heatsink installation and also improved processor
performance by lowering impedance. The only downside was the rather
ugly brown colour of the
chips...
While this brown colour has nothing to do with the quality of manufacturing,
or even how the Athlon XP performs, you couldn't help wonder who had chosen such
a dull colour. The older Althons and Durons were placed on a purple ceramic
substrate which, while brittle, at least looked like a processor. Thus AMD
has recently switched over to a green substrate colour, appearing more like
their Intel rivals, and ultimately affecting the impression of first time buyers
even if they don't realize it.
With colour now entering into the motherboard industry as a marketable and
identifiable feature, you have to wonder if AMD will take the change in AthlonXP
substrate colour one step further and bring out a blue, red, or even black
AthlonXP?
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