AMD demonstrates native quad-core x86 server processor
Yesterday, at the annual AMD Industry Analyst Forum in California, a server powered by four upcoming Quad-Core AMD Opteron processors (codenamed Barcelona), manufactured on 65nm silicon-on-insulator process technology, was shown utilising all 16 cores.
By delivering a consistent thermal envelope while adding two more processing cores, along with micro-architectural enhancements, AMD says that it expects to significantly advance the performance-per-watt capabilities of AMD Opteron processors.
“AMD is guided by an overarching strategy to reduce data centre complexity and to deliver performance increases without forcing customers to endure disruptive platform transitions,” says Gaith Kadir, AMD’s regional vice-president, Middle East and Africa.
“We discussed quad-core requirements with our customers and their end-users, and determined that, as we did with the introduction of dual-core x86 processors in 2005, only a native quad-core x86 server processor would excel in the broad set of dimensions that matter to our customers.”
Upgradeability from dual- to quad-core processors is expected to be as straightforward as it was from single- to dual-core with AMD, with unchanged thermal and electrical envelopes, Kadir adds. The demonstration yesterday was an example of this. The reference server platform was seamlessly upgraded to quad-core by replacing the server’s existing DDR2-based AMD Opteron processors with the Quad-Core AMD Opteron processors and updating the BIOS.
The upcoming AMD Opteron processors are based on AMD’s Direct Connect Architecture, which aims to reduce bottlenecks found in legacy front-side bus x86 architectures and includes AMD’s Integrated Memory Controller.
These processors are designed to enhance I/O throughput and CPU-to-CPU communication, and to deliver increased performance with low power consumption and low memory latency.
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