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AMD First with 8-Core and 12-Core Server Processors
The race for the fastest processor on the market
has long been focused on increments of the processor core count, rather
than enhancement of the processor speed. On that note, today, Sunnyvale
California-based Advanced Micro Devices launched its latest series of
Opteron processors, codenamed Magny Cours. The introduction of the
much-anticipated platform has put AMD in the position to provide its
costumers with a choice for 8 core and 12-core CPUs, designed to
increase performance in both memory and compute intensive workloads.
"As AMD has done before, we are again redefining the server market
based on current customer requirements,” said Patrick Patla, vice
president and general manager, Server and Embedded Divisions, AMD. "The
AMD Opteron 6000 Series platform signals a new era of server value,
significantly disrupts today’s server economics and provides the
performance-per-watt, value and consistency customers demand for their
real-world data center workloads.”
In addition to the release
of the new processors, AMD also announced the introduction of its 5600
Series chipset, featuring I/O virtualization. The new platform offers a
number of benefits, including more memory, thanks to the 12 memory DIMMs
per processors, an enhanced memory controller with support for 4
channels of DDR3 memory. The chipset will also provide Quad 16-bit
HyperTransport 3 technology links with up to 6.4 GT/s per link and PCIe
2.0 support.
The new processors are designed to accommodate the
2- and 4-socket enterprise servers, providing a choice for the
industry's first 12 core and 8-core processors, featuring L2 of
512K/core and 12MB of shared L3 cache. There's also AMD's CoolCore,
PowerNow, CoolSpeed, APML technologies, Enhanced C1 State and more.
With the release, AMD revealed that the platform would be compatible
with the company's upcoming server processors, based on the anticipated
"Bulldozer” core. Thanks to its overall specifications and pricing, the
new platform is expected to be adopted by Acer, Cray, Dell, SGI and HP.