Steal the enemy's base at the start and build a technological empire.

Chapter 158 New Achievements of Extraterrestrials

2 PM, Santa Clara Alien Company Laboratory.

The air conditioning was on full blast, but the room still smelled of a mixture of electronic components and coffee. Twelve monitors were lit, their screens displaying scrolling code and test data.

Alex stood in front of a black computer, his finger hovering over the power button.

"Ready?" he asked.

The assistant nodded and pressed the button.

The computer starts up with a slight fan noise, and the screen displays the iconic alien head, followed by a startup progress bar.

three seconds.

Once the progress bar is complete, you will enter the Star System interface.

"It starts up in three seconds," Alex said. "That's 40% faster than before."

"Let's run a test," Lingyun said.

Alex opened the test program.

"This is the SPEC CPU2000 test kit. We compared two machines with essentially the same configuration: one with an Intel P2-266 processor and an Intel 440BX motherboard, and the other with our AMD K6-2 300 and an optimized motherboard."

Two windows pop up on the screen, running the test simultaneously.

In the left window, on the Intel platform, the test progress is slow.

In the right window, the AMD platform is progressing significantly faster in the test.

Three minutes later, the results came out.

Intel platform total score: 112.

AMD platform total score: 138.

"A 23% improvement," Alex said. "And that's achieved with AMD processors having only a 13% higher clock speed."

"How did you do that?" Ling Yun asked.

"It's mainly in three aspects," Alex said, pulling up the architecture diagram. "First, memory controller optimization. We redesigned the memory access timings to allow the floating-point units of AMD processors to work more efficiently."

"Secondly, the cache prefetching algorithm. It was customized for the task scheduling characteristics of the Starry Sky system to reduce cache invalidation."

"Third, power management. We allow the processor to throttle under light load, but the response time is twice as fast as the Windows platform."

He opened another window.

"This is a game test. Quake at 1024x768 resolution, the average frame rate is 56 on the Intel platform and 72 on the AMD platform."

"Warcraft II?"

"The average frame rate on the Intel platform is 85, and the average frame rate on the AMD platform is 102."

Ling Yun looked at the data.

"What about stability?"

"It ran for 72 hours straight without any problems," Alex said. "The temperature is 5 degrees Celsius lower than the Intel platform, and the power consumption is 8 watts lower."

"Okay." Ling Yun stood up. "Call everyone to the conference room."

Ling Yun patted Alex on the shoulder. "Very good. Although it interrupted my vacation, I've still decided to reward you."

Five minutes later, twenty-three employees of Alienware Corporation crammed into the conference room. Programmers, hardware engineers, and testers alike had red eyes, but their faces were filled with anticipation.

Ling Yun stood in front.

"I just looked at the test data," he said. "A 23% performance increase, a 5-degree temperature reduction, and an 8-watt reduction in power consumption. Three-second startup. What do these numbers mean?"

He paused for a moment.

"This means we've created the best AMD platform PC on the market, it means our optimization technology is superior to Intel's original design, and it means Alienware PCs are truly competitive."

Applause erupted in the conference room.

"These achievements are the result of your tireless work, adjusting each parameter one by one and optimizing each line of code line by line," Ling Yun continued. "I said there would be a big reward if you did well. Now, it's being delivered."

He looked at Alex.

"Alex, as the project leader, will receive a bonus of $100,000."

Alex was stunned.

"Ten...one hundred thousand?"

"Not enough?"

"No, no, no, that's too much..."

"You're worth the price." Ling Yun turned to the others. "Five main engineers, $50,000 each. Other involved personnel, $20,000 each. Administration and testing, $10,000 each."

The meeting room was silent for a few seconds, then erupted in cheers.

"Long live President Ling!"

"Thank you, boss!"

"We can buy a new car now!"

Ling Yun raised his hand to signal for quiet.

"The bonus will be deposited into your account next week, but I have one request."

Everyone was looking at him.

"This optimization solution needs to be applied to all Alienware computer models as soon as possible. Mass production will begin next month. The goal is to sell 10,000 Alienware computers on the AMD platform within three months."

"No problem!" one engineer shouted. "We can do it!"

Meeting adjourned.

The crowd dispersed, leaving Alex behind.

"Mr. Ling, 100,000 is too much..."

"Not much," Ling Yun said. "If you do a good job with this platform, its value will be far more than 100,000. And this is just the beginning."

"start?"

"That's right." Ling Yun walked to the whiteboard. "Alienware is transforming. It's no longer just about the high-end niche market; it's about becoming the performance benchmark. The AMD platform is the first step, followed by graphics card optimization, cooling system optimization, and exterior design upgrades."

"But our production capacity..."

"That's the second thing I want to talk about." Ling Yun picked up the phone and dialed Jinan.

"Weiguo, it's me. When will the new Xinghuo Electronics factory be able to start production?"

Zhao Weiguo's voice came through.

"The equipment has been installed and is currently being tested. Production will begin early next month."

What is the production capacity?

"If we operate at full capacity, producing 5,000 complete machines per month is no problem."

"Okay," Ling Yun said. "Get ready to take orders. All the Alienware computer manufacturing work will be transferred to Xinghuo Electronics Factory."

"all?"

"All of that. The old factory will continue producing mice and keyboards, while the new factory will specialize in computers. I will send you the design drawings, bill of materials, and testing standards. You need to establish a complete production line and quality control system."

"clear."

After hanging up the phone, Lingyun said to Alex.

"By outsourcing production to China, we can reduce costs by 30%. You can focus on design and optimization. From now on, the aliens will only do two things: product definition and technology research and development. Production, assembly, and logistics will all be outsourced."

"What about our people..."

"We need to expand our R&D team," Ling Yun said. "We'll hire twenty more engineers, focusing on graphics, heat dissipation, and power supply. The budget is five million US dollars. You'll be in charge of the planning."

Alex nodded.

"One more thing," Ling Yun said, "can this optimization solution be licensed to other manufacturers?"

"Technically possible, but..."

"We license our products," Ling Yun said. "We charge a licensing fee, but it's not high. The goal is to get more manufacturers to adopt the AMD platform and break Intel's monopoly. Once the ecosystem is established, our computers will sell better."

"Understood," Alex said. "I'll go prepare the licensing agreement."

"Go."

After Alex left, Ling Yun sat alone in the conference room.

He looked out the window at Silicon Valley.

As the sun sets, the glass curtain walls of the buildings reflect golden light.

Alienware computers have finally made a breakthrough.

This is not only a technological breakthrough, but also a strategic breakthrough.

We use the AMD platform to offer high cost-performance, optimization technology to enhance performance, and domestic manufacturing to reduce costs.

Only by forming a unified force can they have a chance to break through the encirclement of Dell, HP, and Compaq.

But not enough.

It also requires branding, marketing, and distribution channels.

These things must be done step by step.

He picked up his phone and sent a text message to Li Ziyu.

"I've prepared around ten million US dollars. I want to invest in AMD."

The reply came quickly: "AMD's stock price is very low right now, is it worth investing in?"

"It's worth it. Their K6-2 processor is competitive; what they lack is the ecosystem. We'll help them build that ecosystem."

"clear."

By the time all this was arranged, it was already dark.

Lingyun walked out of the company building.

The street lights are starting to come on.

Zhao Hu drove over.

"Mr. Ling, shall we return to the hotel?"

"No," Ling Yun said, "to AMD headquarters."

"Now?"

"Now, I've arranged to meet their CEO at eight o'clock."

On the bus, Lingyun watched the street scenes rushing past the window.

In 1997, Silicon Valley was on the eve of the dot-com bubble.

Everyone was focused on software, on the internet, and on star companies like Yahoo and Netscape.

The hardware seems outdated.

But he knew that the hardware was the foundation.

Operating systems need hardware to run, games need hardware to support them, and the Internet also needs hardware to connect.

The hardware industry is facing a transformation.

Intel has had a monopoly for too long; it's time for someone to challenge it.

What he needs to do is sharpen the knife even faster, and then send it to AMD.

The car arrived at AMD headquarters.

An unremarkable five-story building.

Ling Yun got out of the car, straightened his suit, and went inside.