Two silicon acquisitions have highlighted the continued tumult in the semiconductor industry, this week, at opposite ends of the scale. MaxLinear has made a CPE play, buying Silicon Motion and its SSD expertise for some $3.8 billion, while Intel has bought a mobile-focused GPU specialist to help it brace against AMD and Nvidia in both the data center and new video experiences. For MaxLinear, this is about being able to tick another box when it replies to equipment RFPs. To some extent, it is not an exciting deal. Meanwhile, Intel’s recent run hints at two possible readings – depending on how much faith you place in the new regime. Either it is continuing to flail, throwing cash at its myriad…