One of my favorite tech adages is "transistors are free." This is a relatively recent saying: adding transistors to a microprocessor die used to incur considerable cost. Today, unless you really go hogwild, the cost of the chip design and... One of my favorite tech adages is “transistors are free.” This is a relatively recent saying: adding transistors to a microprocessor die used to incur considerable cost. Today, unless you really go hogwild, the cost of the chip design and mask dwarfs everything else. What’s 10 or 20 million transistors here or there when quad-core processors now approach one billion? So chip architects are free to add all kinds of functionality, regardless of whether or not software developers ever get around to utilizing it.Perhaps that liberating notion went to AMD’s head last year, when it played a little too fast and loose with its Barcelona and Phenom chips. The translation lookaside buffer flaw in Barcelona was particularly worrisome; although rare, it was most likely to lock up a system during virtualization. That’s not exactly future-proof.As InfoWorld’s Tom Yager notes, AMD finally released a fix for that particular flaw last week. At the same time, the company launched four new Phenom processors: three new quad-cores and its first triple-core desktop chip. AMD is ready to rumble with Intel again. That’s a good thing because Intel needs competition. But as InfoWorld’s Bill Snyder notes, the result of all this new horsepower is that hardware has pulled further ahead of software than ever before — particularly when it comes to multicore chips running desktop applications. You’ll find one example of an overpowered behemoth in Andrew Binstock’s review of Dell’s Precision M6300 laptop this week. As Andrew notes, the ideal user for this “portable workstation” would be a “scientist or engineer who needs the full 3D graphics capabilities.” And the Core 2 Duo processor (model T7700) isn’t even at the top of Intel’s mobile line. Of course, Andrew likes having all that power at his disposal. I would too if I didn’t have to pay for it. Unfortunately, although transistors may be free, new chip designs plus the other hardware that define a high-end system together cost real money. So how about an excuse to plunk down that kind of cash, software developers? Step up to the plate and gimme an irresistible desktop business app one of these monsters can really sink its teeth into. Technology Industry