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| Admiring the cutting-edge power under the hood of an AMD Advantage Desktop. (Source: JPR) |
During AMD’s “together we advance_gaming” event held in Las Vegas, we were briefed on their AMD Advantage Desktop program. AMD has previously partnered with PC makers on certified notebook configurations but have now expanded to desktop computers.
They are aiming for the highest end of the market, mostly gamers, and the requirements for certification ensure the customer will have a no-compromise rig capable of running videophile resolutions at smooth frame rates in tomorrow’s games.
In order to achieve certification for the program, system integrators must meet the following current requirements for the build:
- AMD Ryzen 9 7950X CPU
- AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX GPU
- AMD Adrenaline Edition software
- Premium chassis with tool-less entry
- Liquid cooling for CPU
- 2TB+ NVMe SSD storage
- 32GB+ AMD Expo DDR5 memory
- 80 Plus Gold-certified power supply
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| The initial participants for AMD Advantage Desktop builds. (Source: AMD) |
The companies that signed up are primarily boutique PC enthusiast and gaming system integrators, but Frank Azor, Chief Architect of Gaming Solutions and Gaming Marketing at AMD, mentioned that large-scale PC companies are also able to participate in the certification process.
AMD works directly with the system integrators and requires participants to send in a unit for personal inspection to ensure the parameters are met.
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| The AMD Advantage systems are designed to run games at 4K and 8K resolutions. (Source: JPR) |
What do we think?
Frank Azor gave analysts a deeper dive into this program and talked a lot about how software has become the most important channel to the consumer and is critical to protect and expand a brand. He also noted that companies which undervalue this often are relegated to being viewed as a parts maker or a commodity company. Consequently, we think that the requirement to install and prominently display the Adrenaline Edition software is a key element of AMD’s effort and a brand marketing strategy to exert some control on the high-end consumer.