- Saturday, 21 November 2009
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We don't want a war in the Middle East, if we can avoid it - Dick Cheney
AMD announces 16-core chips
AMD IS MASSIVELY updating its roadmap again, but instead of the rip and replace that has been the norm of late, it is a planned evolutionary change. There are new cores, new sockets, and new marketing terms, hang tight and we will bring it all to you.
The most interesting thing is that there will be not one but two DDR3 sockets in Q1 of 2010. You know about Socket G34, the general outline of the roadmap, and on the desktop side, things are pretty explicit too. AMD is going to split sockets in the server market, 2S and 4S will be G34, a four-channel DDR3 beast with three DIMMs per channel, 12 per socket. Not bad.
Not one but two new sockets
The new socket is called C32, and it is basically for non-MCM CPUs. It serves the 1S and 2S markets as well, but this bifurcation is a real shift in how the server market is differentiated.
On the CPU front Magny-Cours is the 45nm version for G34, and the 32nm shrink is called Interlagos, listed as 12-16 cores. The C32 variants are four-six core Lisbons at 45nm, and six-eight core Valencias at 32nm. They are set for Q1 2010 and 2011 respectively, but we hear Magny-Cours will be Q4 2009.
The G34 chips are called the 6000 series, C32 are 4000 series, and each has nine SKUs across three power ranges. Additionally, the 4000 series will have higher clock speeds, 6000s will have more cores but at a lower clock to maintain the power envelope.
The biggest news are the 2012 and 2013 platforms, cunningly called "Next Gen Platform". These are also split between 2/4S and 1/2S. We are not sure which country the 'Next Gen' track is in, but the F1 season isn't half over yet, we may see it yet.
The core the C32/G34 chips are based on is Shanghai, and the upcoming Istanbul. We told you a bit about them in February, and it has been pulled in from Q4 to Q2, the sharper among you will note that we are in Q2. Istanbul will ship in June, six months early. That also bodes well for Magny-Cours arriving this year, but AMD isn't saying that yet.
In addition, there are updates to AMD-V along with a new code name, AMD-P. AMD-V 2.0 brings you AMD-Vi, basically an IOMMU. This hit with the 'serverised' version of the ATI 870 series chipset along with Socket G34/C32. It may sound like small, but this should crack the door open for peripheral virtualisation, something long, long overdue.
AMD-P 2.0 adds APML (Advanced Power Management somethingthatbeginswithL), basically remote management for the hardware. If you remember vPro, it is much the same but more 'standards' based. If you are in a large enterprise, this kind of thing makes you weak-kneed, but it is kind of a yawner for the rest of us. Either way, AMD is pushing forward in the power management space.
One other buzzword to toss into the ring, DCA 2.0, Direct Connect Architecture 2.0, and AMD lists this as Socket G34. There is nothing hugely new here, the official slides have it as 12 cores, four-channel memory controller and four HT links, but nothing new-new.
So, the core counts go up, HT bandwidth goes up, and there is more of everything. Toss in HT Assist, aka a snoop filter, and things will likely work a lot better than the last time they tried to go to large socket and core counts. This roadmap looks quite doable, and with all the pull-ins on the current roadmap, things are looking up as well. µ
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Actually, Interlagos and indeed all of the the 2011 parts are based on the new architecture, Bulldozer. The graph shown at the webcast showed a projected 35% increase in performance per core.
Obama needs to replace the CEO with an eco frienly CEO that will force everyone to only use low power low performance CPUs. Obama should be able to shut off your computer if you use it more than an hour per day.
AMD Server is lower Cost solution Targeted for systems that Seldom need demands of higher cost/Frequency items. even fairly large systems NOT Burdened by extreme Continuous dataFlow, Warrent look into AMD Server Solutions.
Hey, These 8 cores won't be Same as 6 cores plus memory core plus Gpu core eight cores in system on chip. So Eight is Eght, Unless Your Late. Real MultiCore implies various functions, once In/Out or W/ PAL Larrabee, those are more likely BEGINNINGS of "True" MULTI CORE PROCESSING.
Made to handle demands of Software in new paradigm, by having needed apparaatie inside for those new instructions incoming. Yes these 8 cores today work on desktop & KaBoom. Yet Next IndustryWide SOCGENs' Might Be SoftWare Paradise.ati mil+. STeWie Drashek
Looks like we'll see competition for Gulftown and Beckton…
Incredible! A good article, with loads of information, without the severerly slanted BS attitude and non-productive rants!
Did Charlie finally get laid?
Another fine group of comments. Drashek is off his meds again, and Alarmist Nut is just someone who needs to hit with and inflated pigs bladder. Just another day at the Inq.
Thanks, Charlie. You do bring out the best of comments.
Thank you Charlie, for an informative article on AMD, for providing us a your insight on the situation, and all of this with nary a single mention of the "I" word.
Did I say thank you, Charlie?
Thank you, Charlie.
What?!? No NVIDIA cracks? Are you feeling all right, Charlie? DID you finally get laid?
Thanks for the information, sounds very promising for the AMD team, now all we have to hope is that they stay in business long enough to execute.
You ain't see nothin' yet. With more MCP cores on the chip, they could be well on their way for some ODD ones. let's not forget tri cores on Phenoms.
A letter, and then 3+4 = 7. Trying to market associate with the Core i7? :p
Every day ... was a day devoted to... not doing ...
We didn’t do ..., we sold one's ...
... always said, "give at sixes and sevens, for you'll never know whence your one over eight shall come."
We all went down to the Fillmores... who'd of known?
Very nice article, Charlie!
What bothers me about AMD's roadmap a bit is the separation into two developments, namely performance vs. power efficiency. Of course, performance requires power, but with so many cores in one CPU, why don't they add a lower-power core and put the other cores into idle mode when much less CPU performance is needed?
Two other interesting CPUs, both extreme and not from the PC area:
"12-MIPS 8-bit MCU costs just $0.35"
That's right, 35 cents! It also comes with its own memory, A/D converter etc.. And look at its size.
http://www2.electronicproducts.com/12-MIPS_8-bit_MCU_costs_just_$035-article-ICDJH10_Jun2009-html.aspx
http://tinyurl.com/cuq2q3
"2nd-generation Internet application processor has up to 32 cores"
This CPU comes with 32 cores plus 75 application acceleration engines (specialized components), available now. A few years ago I noticed a product announcement for a 128 core CPU for network applications (sorry, lost the link).
http://www2.electronicproducts.com/2nd-generation_Internet_application_processor_has_up_to_32_cores-article-hljh04_jun2009-html.aspx
http://tinyurl.com/cyke9b
A couple dozen of these in rack mount servers would be very nice to farm out my 3D renders.
If AMD really wants to get the performance crown back for 2S and 4S servers, they need to come out with some sort of SMT to combat hyper-threading.
Advanced Power Management Link