Sunnyvale (CA) – Dave Orton, who guided ATI through the company’s merger with AMD, announced that he is resigning from his position at AMD at the end of this month.

Orton’s departure is no surprise a follows a common pattern in which key executives often leave a company after the completion of a acquisition. Orton, who took over the leadership of the graphics and chipset company from founder K Y Ho in June 2004, was the weaker link in the AMD-ATI environment and according to AMD’s president Dirk Meyer, it was time for him to go : “With his integration work complete and the successful launch of key graphics and chipset products earlier this year, the time was right for Dave to take his personal and professional life in a different direction.”

While AMD’s official statement on the Orton resignation reads like the departure of the executive was long planned, his own statement strangely could be interpreted in a way that he would have liked to spend more time with AMD : “It is with mixed feelings that I am leavening AMD,” Orton was quoted in the prepared statement. “I am very optimistic about AMD’s future. I believe strongly in the strategies that brought AMD and ATI together and the talented employees of the ‘new AMD’ who are committed to winning in the market by delivering the best possible solutions for customers.”

Adrian Hartog, senior vice president and general manager of AMD’s consumer electronics group and Rick Bergman, senior vice president and general manager of graphics products group will take over Orton’s responsibilities and now report directly to Hector Ruiz, CEO of AMD.