roadmap server chip AMD

The new version roadmap server chip AMD is fundamentally different from previous versions. Provided editorial indicates the company plans to extend the life cycle of the current generation of processor cores, while the production of chips based on newer kernels postponed beyond 2010.

AMD completely abandoned plans to release soon 4 - nuclear and 8 - Nuclear chips, code-named Montreal, but they took place 6 - nuclear and 12 - Nuclear Sao Paolo and Magny-Cours, respectively. The emergence of these chips are expected in the first half of 2010, and they will be based on the same technology processor cores that and Barcelona. Several earlier, in the second half of 2009, should go 6 - Nuclear chip Istanbul. Thus, the emergence of commercial chips nucleus Bulldozer, first submitted by the company in July 2007, is postponed for another few years.

Prior to exit the presence of AMD Opteron server market has not been any significant, but the processor has enabled us to win quite a significant share in this segment. Unsuccessful start Barcelona significantly to spoil slightly situation. And almost annual delay his exit, and technical problems discovered in the first samples, many customers were forced to review its policy on the use of AMD processors for building server systems.

Although significant changes in roadmap are often rather negative sign, in the case of AMD situation shows rather of sound policy triumph of pragmatism, which must adhere to the strongest suffers financial difficulties the company. Instead of “recapture crane” in the form of chips based on the new nuclei, which refinement to a state commercial product could easily take years and require substantial financial resources, the company chose to “tits in the hands” - that is, try to earn his release chips built with the use of mostly already more or less established technologies.

Sao Paolo and Magny-Cours will be made on 45 - nm standards and require the use of new chipsets designed to support more productive memory DDR3. Istanbul, primarily, will be a solution for installation in the server platform, originally built by processors Barcelona or Shanghai (last - 45 - nm version of Barcelona, scheduled for release during 2008 g). Istanbul is also a direct response to 6 - Nuclear server processor Intel Dunnington, but the AMD chip will appear much later than would begin deliveries of the family of processors Intel Nehalem. Exit chips AMD Montreal is now expected no earlier than in 2010