AMD rolls out dual-core processors
By Jeff Berman, News Editor -- EDN, April 21, 2005
AMD will announce today that it has launched dual-core, 64-bit Opteron Server processors for both desktops and servers. The company confirmed the long-awaited release during a quarterly earnings conference call last Wednesday.
The news comes on the heels of Intel's announcement earlier this week that it has begun shipping its own dual-core processors. AMD believes its dual-core chips will make it the dominant player in the server, workstation, and desktop markets. The company didn't hesitate to remind the industry that it was the first company to reach tapeout with an x86-based, dual-core processor (last June) and demo such a processor (last August).
"We have been talking about and preparing for this [release] for some time," said Gina Longoria, AMD's product manager for the workstation and server segments. "We are the first to tape-out and demonstrate backward compatibility with [existing] 940-pin sockets with the same infrastructure and thermal envelope."
AMD's 800 Opteron processors, which are now available, target four- to eight-way servers and include the 865 (1.8 GHz), 870 (2.0 GHz), and the 875 (2.2 GHz). In late May, the company plans to release the 200 series, which targets two-way servers and workstations and includes the 265 (1.8 GHz), 270 (2.0 GHz), and 275 (2.2 GHz).
Pricing for the 200 series is expected to range from $851 to $1299, while the 800 series will range from $1514 to $2649, depending on volume. The processors are competitively priced to gain market penetration and bring dual-core products to the masses this year, Longoria said.
AMD also introduced Athlon 64 X2 dual-core processors, which are designed to create "richer computing experiences" for desktop PC users and are slated to hit the market by June.
"These processors offer 64-bit computing with 64- and 32-bit functionality on the same processor," Longoria said. "And with dual-core, we are offering the next level of productivity within the same thermal envelope as [our] single core [offerings]."
An increase in computing power without an attendant increase in power requirements makes the announcement worth noting, according to Vernon Turner, group vice president and general manager of market-research firm IDC's enterprise computing service.
"[Other] benefits are increased memory bandwidth and higher overall system performance, which could reduce latency for applications where this is critical," Turner said in an e-mail.
AMD claims to have an edge over Intel with its Direct Connect Architecture, which connects the two cores on the die, along with memory, I/O, and dedicated caches. The company says the architecture eliminates bottlenecks caused by the front-side-bus architecture. AMD also bests Intel because the new processors do not require a new infrastructure and thermal environment, Longoria said.
"We have designed for dual-core from the beginning, where Intel has bottlenecks in multiple areas of system design, resulting in fewer performance benefits when moving to dual-core," Longoria said.
