Driver Heaven: Both AMD and ATI have been a key figure within the enthusiast community for many years, how do you feel the merger will benefit the consumer?

Dave Orton: We are excited by the possibilities that can be realized by merging with AMD. The current PC ecosystem has consistently pushed the envelope of performance and experience and we are confident that tighter integration of chipset, GPU and CPU can move the bar even higher.

We see opportunities to innovate at the system level, with the end result being customer-specific platforms with strengths and form factors that speak directly to user needs. We will soon optimize systems based on whether they will be used for gaming, entertainment or productivity, maximizing the user experience.

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Driver Heaven: What is the plan as far as corporate image is concerned in a post-merger company? Will ATI still have relative independence within the AMD umbrella?

Dave Orton: ATI will become one of two key business units within AMD. The entire company will be called AMD, however both companies recognize the value of the ATI brand. Decisions are still being made with respect to the combined companies’ brand assets, and we’ll let everyone know the outcome in the not-too-distant future.

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Driver Heaven: Many loyal ATI enthusiasts are concerned that their favourite graphics card company will lose their "direction" and resources which would normally have been directed into graphics research and development will be pushed into other areas. Will this be the case?

Dave Orton: If by direction you mean innovation, and our passion to lead the GPU market in performance, features, and that ATI kind of excitement, then enthusiasts should see the merger as an opportunity for even more innovation in graphics cards. AMD sees the graphics processor as a tremendous opportunity for the company. A few people have commented that AMD is focused on ATI’s chipsets. If that was the case, AMD would most likely have pursued one of the smaller chipset companies. The truth is that AMD sees a great deal of value in every part of our business, from GPUs through to our incredibly successful cell phone media processors and DTV processors.

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Driver Heaven: Intel have always worked closely with ATI, do you feel this merger will damage that relationship?

Dave Orton: Intel is a smart company, and will do what is best for their customers. If we continue to provide compelling graphics solutions, I am sure we will continue to have a very good relationship with Intel. We have no intention of closing the door on our customers or to Intel. We have developed a 20-year relationship with Intel and we want to continue to support Intel and the market with our GPUs.

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Driver Heaven: How do you feel OEMs will react, namely those that have in the past avoided AMD but still gone with ATi [namely Dell]? Will the merger affect the status of such relationships at all?

Dave Orton: We have discussed the merger with our OEMs and the reception has been very positive. Almost any industry does better when there are two or more strong choices available to customers. For OEMs that have not traditionally worked with ATI and/or AMD, this merger provides a very compelling alternative. For OEMs that have worked with us, they are looking forward to greater opportunity and choice.

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Driver Heaven: With this merger, and the amalgamation of engineering finesse what are the benefits to both GPU and CPU core design? Obviously you cant go into detail regarding forthcoming products, but can you even explain the possible benefits?

Dave Orton: Sure. Even when companies share parts of the PC ecosystem and work together to ensure compatibility, for competitive reasons core architecture and intellectual property are not shared. This sets up the ongoing scenario of only being able to optimize our performance based on what has been shared.
One of the most exciting aspects of this merger is the removal of all barriers, meaning that we will be able to fully optimize ATI’s chipsets and GPUs with AMD’s CPUs, and AMD will be able to architect the CPUs with a new insight into the graphics needs. Computer users will immediately see performance boosts, better power management, and fewer if any compatibility issues.

Down the road, the combined might of our engineering teams will integrate the CPU and GPU. That has the potential to completely redefine segments of our computer industry.

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Driver Heaven: Terry Makedon and the guys have done great work over the last 2 years with Catalyst, and ATi are known to have great windows drivers. However I think it is safe to say that Linux support is still sadly lacking. With the merger allow ATI the resources to put more people onto improving Linux support?

Dave Orton: Thanks, we have worked very hard on our drivers and the response from customers has been overwhelmingly positive. They appreciate the quality and the ease-of-use of every driver release. With respect to the Linux community, we are committed to supporting our customers and we have grown our Linux driver support to keep pace with customer requests, and there have been some recent technical reviews of our latest linux driver that show marked improvements and support for an expanded set of features.

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Driver Heaven: Can you see any emerging technologies that would benefit the joint knowledge of ATI and AMD resources and manpower?

Dave Orton: Absolutely. At the core of this merger is the ability to innovate in new ways through the combined forces. One area is the platform opportunity, whereby we can immediately bring to market optimized combinations of CPU, GPU and chipset. We will be able to innovate in platforms, bringing together everything from high-end graphics and CPUs for the enthusiast, through to platforms designed to maximize battery life.

At the specific technologies we can see some immediate opportunities in sharing our silicon design methodologies to drive new levels of low-power chips. We see opportunities to reduce die sizes, improve yields, and get faster ramps in production through sharing experiences and methodologies. The internal IP that both companies have developed will no doubt improve our CPU, GPU, chipset, and media processors.

Down the road, we will be integrating CPU and GPU technologies, effectively creating a PC on a chip. That will open the door to new form factors, especially in the space between the notebook and the handheld, an area currently targeted by the ultra-mobile PC.

Beyond that, we see opportunities to link our strengths in digital television and cell phone with our PC technologies. I think all the readers of Driver Heaven will like what they see.

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Driver Heaven: How excited are you about the merger?

Dave Orton: Very! AMD has always been a good partner and we’ve noted in the past the similarities between the two companies in terms of cultures and customer-centric styles and great engineering talent. To me, this makes a lot of sense. It makes us even more competitive and gives us a chance to solidify our lead in several markets.

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Driver Heaven: Thanks for your time Dave, We at Driver Heaven wish AMD and ATI every success in the future.

Dave Orton: Thanks Allan. Always a pleasure.