It's a significant launch. Not only AMD now matches Intel where they were strong at i.e. in the chipset, and where AMD did not have a part, but also they hit Intel where they were weak, which is on graphics. So with the 690 chipset, AMD came out with something that is arguably better than anything Intel has in the market

Intel has been sending signals that they might be working on a discrete chip. But at this point, AMD is driving Intel, not the other way around. And it's unusual that the smaller player actually drive the market this consistently.