piledriver | KitGuru https://www.kitguru.net KitGuru.net - Tech News | Hardware News | Hardware Reviews | IOS | Mobile | Gaming | Graphics Cards Fri, 18 Oct 2019 09:59:29 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.3 https://www.kitguru.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/cropped-KITGURU-Light-Background-SQUARE2-32x32.png piledriver | KitGuru https://www.kitguru.net 32 32 AMD is paying up to $300 to customers who bought ‘8-core’ FX CPUs https://www.kitguru.net/components/cpu/joao-silva/amd-is-paying-up-to-300-to-customers-who-bought-8-core-fx-cpus/ https://www.kitguru.net/components/cpu/joao-silva/amd-is-paying-up-to-300-to-customers-who-bought-8-core-fx-cpus/#respond Fri, 18 Oct 2019 09:58:39 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=430534 As previously reported, AMD has settled its $12.1 million Bulldozer/Piledriver class-action lawsuit. Customers are now eligible to claim a piece of the settlement money, but only if you live in California or bought a processor from AMD's website. In 2011, when AMD released the Bulldozer CPUs, and later the Piledriver CPUs, both were announced as 8-core models. …

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As previously reported, AMD has settled its $12.1 million Bulldozer/Piledriver class-action lawsuit. Customers are now eligible to claim a piece of the settlement money, but only if you live in California or bought a processor from AMD's website.

In 2011, when AMD released the Bulldozer CPUs, and later the Piledriver CPUs, both were announced as 8-core models. This wasn't entirely true, as the class-action lawsuit presented in 2015 had claimed, and the view was upheld that AMD falsely advertised these CPUs by overstating the number of cores they had. The customers who bought one of the CPUs listed in the settlement will receive “a pro-rata portion of the Settlement Fund, up to $300 per CPU purchased”, according to the official website to submit the claim.

The CPUs eligible for the claim are:

  • AMD FX-8120
  • AMD FX-8150
  • AMD FX-8320
  • AMD FX-8350
  • AMD FX-8370
  • AMD FX-9370
  • AMD FX-9590

The $12.1 million pool is for everyone that files a claim, but it will cover the admin costs, lawyers, and plaintiffs too. So the more people who sign up for it, the less each customer will get.

The deadline to submit the claim will be on 3rd January 2020. Proof of purchase is not needed unless you're claiming for more than five CPUs, as reported by Techradar.

KitGuru says: The customers who bought any of the listed CPU models that don't live in California or didn't purchase through AMD's website, were just as affected as the ones who didn't. Is it fair that only a portion of the customers are able to submit a claim? What do you think?

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MSI unveils world’s first USB 3.1-supporting platforms for AMD processors https://www.kitguru.net/components/motherboard/anton-shilov/msi-unveils-worlds-first-usb-3-1-supporting-platforms-for-amd-processors/ https://www.kitguru.net/components/motherboard/anton-shilov/msi-unveils-worlds-first-usb-3-1-supporting-platforms-for-amd-processors/#comments Fri, 13 Mar 2015 23:20:03 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=239920 Nearly all leading manufacturers of mainboards have introduced motherboards supporting USB 3.1 technology. Since at present the new interconnection tech is positioned as a high-end feature for enthusiasts, mainboards featuring USB 3.1 are all designed for various processors from Intel Corp. However, MicroStar International (MSI) decided to add the new technology to platforms for AMD …

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Nearly all leading manufacturers of mainboards have introduced motherboards supporting USB 3.1 technology. Since at present the new interconnection tech is positioned as a high-end feature for enthusiasts, mainboards featuring USB 3.1 are all designed for various processors from Intel Corp. However, MicroStar International (MSI) decided to add the new technology to platforms for AMD chips as well.

Shortly from now MSI’s partners around the world will begin to sell new revisions of MSI 990FXA Gaming and MSI 970A SLI Krait Edition motherboards for AMD FX-series microprocessors in AM3+ form-factor with 10Gb/s USB 3.1 ports. The mainboards are designed for enthusiasts who prefer multi-core FX processors from AMD and support advanced overclocking capabilities as well as multi-GPU technologies from AMD and Nvidia.

msi_990fxa_amd_am3_socket_am3_usb_mainboard

Just like the rest USB 3.1-supporting platforms from MSI, the 990FXA Gaming and the 970A SLI Krait Edition use the Asmedia ASM1352R controller, which utilizes two PCI Express 2.0 lanes with up to 10Gb/s transfer rate, to enable USB 3.1 ports.

At present the new revisions of MSI’s 990FXA Gaming and 970A SLI Krait Edition are the only USB 3.1-supporting platforms for AMD FX processors in the world. Unfortunately, the motherboards only feature USB 3.1 type-A receptacles, not reversible USB 3.1 type-C ports. Google recently revealed that many smartphones and even netbooks with USB type-C receptacles would hit the market in the near future. Their launch will encourage manufacturers of various gear, such as memory sticks and other peripherals, to release loads of products with the new connectors.

USB-3_1-Image

Prices of MSI’s USB 3.1-supporting mainboards for AMD central processing units are unknown, but do not expect them to be considerably higher than those of existing revisions of the same motherboards.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: Low popularity of AMD processors among enthusiasts and performance-demanding users is the reason why the latest technologies reach AMD platforms with a massive delay. In fact, AMD FX platform still does not support PCI Express 3.0 bus. It will take quite a while before AMD-based PCs will get USB 3.1 since at present such computers are positioned as affordable solutions, whereas adding the new interconnection tech requires an addition chip that costs money.

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AMD to boost energy efficiency of APUs by 25 times by 2020 https://www.kitguru.net/components/cpu/anton-shilov/amd-boost-energy-efficiency-of-apus-by-25-times-by-2020/ https://www.kitguru.net/components/cpu/anton-shilov/amd-boost-energy-efficiency-of-apus-by-25-times-by-2020/#comments Sat, 29 Nov 2014 15:35:28 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=224135 Advanced Micro Devices recently set a goal to improve energy efficiency of its accelerated processing units by 25 times by 2020. To achieve this goal, AMD will have to outpace historical energy efficiency trend by over 70 per cent, but the company claims it knows what to do and even outlined a roadmap about features …

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Advanced Micro Devices recently set a goal to improve energy efficiency of its accelerated processing units by 25 times by 2020. To achieve this goal, AMD will have to outpace historical energy efficiency trend by over 70 per cent, but the company claims it knows what to do and even outlined a roadmap about features it needs to implement.

There are several trends in the personal computing industry (note that PCs today are largely mobile PCs in different form-factors). First, devices need to get thinner, slimmer and lighter. Second, devices need to gain battery life. Third, user interfaces need to get more intuitive and user friendly. Fourth, overall performance and feature-set of devices need to improve. While the first two trends require consistent decrease of power consumption by PC components, another two require increase of compute performance. Unfortunately, it is impossible to improve processing speed at a rapid pace and lower power consumption significantly at the same time, which is why developers of devices and their components have to balance between the two.

amd_energy_efficiency

When it comes to compute units, the balance between the amount of processing work they can do and their power consumption is called energy efficiency. The general term itself is very broad, abstract and does not exactly consider use cases. For example, if a 35W notebook processor offers two times higher performance than a 35W processor released a year ago, one could say that its energy efficiency improved by two times, but the problem is that 35W processors no longer fit into modern notebooks. As a result, in the real world one has to find ways to reduce power consumption slowly while gradually improving compute performance. In many cases, chip designers take step-by-step approach and focus on either performance or power consumption.

amd_energy_efficiency_1

Historically power consumption and performance (and the balance between the two, energy efficiency) were determined by manufacturing technologies, micro architectural peculiarities as well as various hardware tweaks. For a number of years now AMD has been saying that in order to improve energy efficiency going forward, software needs to use the right hardware for particular tasks. Paralleled tasks need to be computed on highly parallel GPU cores (since it takes them less time to get the work done, they also consume lower amount of energy than genera-purpose cores), whereas serial tasks have to be performed on general-purpose CPU cores. AMD believes that as software starts to use heterogeneous processing capabilities of modern processing units through OpenCL application programming interface, energy efficiency of PCs will improve over time.

amd_energy_efficiency_6

But while AMD pins a lot of hopes on its accelerated processing units and future software, it does not plan to give up improvements on the hardware level. Among the things AMD intends to implement in its next-generation APUs and CPUs are integrated voltage regulation, ability to scale voltage per every part of a chip, inter-frame power gating, voltage adaptive operation and so on, according to a presentation by the company. Among other things, AMD proposes to dynamically boost performance in certain applications to get the job done quicker and save power on the system level. At the same time, AMD plans to implement an intelligent technology that does prevents dynamic increase of clock-rates for apps that do not benefit significantly from higher frequencies. In general, AMD intends to enable its chips to fine-tune their performance based on workload and environment contexts.

amd_energy_efficiency_5

It should be noted that reduced power consumption is only a part of the equation in the energy efficiency metrics. Performance is an important thing since low-performance chips will not able to compute next-generation workloads. Therefore, it is tremendously important that AMD's microprocessors based on the code-named “Xen” (x86) and “K12” (ARMv8) micro-architectures deliver higher performance compared to today's general-purpose cores; it is equally important that AMD's future graphics processing units also deliver significantly better performance than today's GPUs. Regrettably, AMD said no word about how it plans to increase performance of its central processing and graphics processing units or, at least, what kind of increases should we expect.

Traditionally, AMD sets goals, but does not reveal exact plans. It is unknown which technologies will be incorporated into next-generation Carrizo processor and which will be integrated into its successors. The only thing we do know is that AMD has a technology roadmap for many years to come and that plan will be gradually executed.

amd_energy_efficiency_4 amd_energy_efficiency_3 amd_energy_efficiency_2

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KitGuru Says: While AMD sets pretty ambitious goals in terms of improving energy efficiency of its platforms, one should keep in mind that a lot of things depend on third-party PC components, software, workloads and use scenarios. As a result, expect AMD (and others’) compute platforms to gain energy efficiency going forward, it is just a natural process. Still, when it comes to commercial products, they need to hit actual performance and power consumption targets to be successful, not just feature abstract energy efficiency.

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AMD hires former exec from Dell to head enterprise, embedded, semi-custom businesses https://www.kitguru.net/components/cpu/anton-shilov/dell-hires-former-exec-from-dell-to-head-enterprise-embedded-semi-custom-businesses/ https://www.kitguru.net/components/cpu/anton-shilov/dell-hires-former-exec-from-dell-to-head-enterprise-embedded-semi-custom-businesses/#comments Tue, 28 Oct 2014 02:23:49 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=218777 Advanced Micro Devices on Monday announced that Forrest Norrod, a former vice president and general manager of Dell’s server business, has joined the company as senior vice president and general manager of AMD’s enterprise, embedded and semi-custom (EESC) business group. “Forrest is an industry veteran whose strong track record of establishing and growing businesses strengthens …

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Advanced Micro Devices on Monday announced that Forrest Norrod, a former vice president and general manager of Dell’s server business, has joined the company as senior vice president and general manager of AMD’s enterprise, embedded and semi-custom (EESC) business group.

“Forrest is an industry veteran whose strong track record of establishing and growing businesses strengthens our leadership team,” said Lisa Su, chief executive officer of AMD. “Forrest’s unique combination of engineering, business management and technical expertise at both the chip and system level make him ideally suited to lead AMD into an expanded set of markets where our differentiated technology assets provide a competitive advantage.”

Mr. Norrod will be responsible for managing all aspects of strategy, business management, engineering, and sales for AMD’s EESC business. Keeping in mind that at present AMD does not have competitive solutions for high-performance enterprise servers, the new executive will have, among other things, promote solutions for low-power servers, including Opteron processors based on ARM architecture.

amd_opteron_6300_g34

It is interesting to note that earlier this year Forrest Norrod was not exactly a fan of micro-servers. In an interview he said that he was not sure about the future of ARM-based servers because software vendors and data-center owners had not made decisions to support and use low-power server chips. As it appears, among other things, Mr. Norrod will have to convince server software developers to support ARM.

“The book's not written yet,” said Mr. Norrod in an interview. “It is not clear. If end-user demand is there, we can certainly fill it. […] It's always going to come down to software. […] There is still a brutal, brutal competition among those guys for what will be a small market at the onset. The battle will be to demonstrate the value of ARM. Is it large enough against x86 [to convince organizations] to support that second instruction set in the data center? We'll have a pretty good idea how it settles out by the middle of 2016.”

It is noteworthy that Forrest Norrod is not the first server executive from Dell hired by AMD to oversee its servers business. Back in 2003 AMD hired Patrick Patla, a former server executive from Dell and DEC. Mr. Patla helped to make Opteron popular among server makers. He left AMD for Samsung in 2012.

Prior to Dell, Mr. Norrod ran the integrated x86 CPU business at Cyrix and National Semiconductor.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: While it is definitely nice to see a new leader at AMD, it should be kept in mind that he will have to sell hardware that is significantly behind competition or products that have not become popular on the market yet. As a result, do not expect AMD’s server business to thrive because of Mr. Norrod till 2016, when AMD is expected to roll-out all-new Opteron chips based on the new micro-architecture known as Zen (or Xen?) and ARM servers finally take off (or not).

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AMD’s lowest-cost eight-core FX processor costs just $125/£79/€99 https://www.kitguru.net/components/cpu/anton-shilov/amds-lowest-cost-eight-core-fx-processor-costs-just-12579e99/ https://www.kitguru.net/components/cpu/anton-shilov/amds-lowest-cost-eight-core-fx-processor-costs-just-12579e99/#comments Fri, 03 Oct 2014 22:58:28 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=215108 About a month ago Advanced Micro Devices unveiled several new FX-series eight-core microprocessors that featured either increased performance, or lower power consumption compared to previously released chips. Apparently, since then the company has also quietly rolled-out a new affordable eight-core chip that costs $125 now in the U.S. The AMD FX-8310 microprocessor (which was discovered …

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About a month ago Advanced Micro Devices unveiled several new FX-series eight-core microprocessors that featured either increased performance, or lower power consumption compared to previously released chips. Apparently, since then the company has also quietly rolled-out a new affordable eight-core chip that costs $125 now in the U.S.

The AMD FX-8310 microprocessor (which was discovered in AMD’s database by CPU-World) features four dual-core Piledriver modules (eight cores in total), 3.40 frequency (no dynamic acceleration technology, according to AMD’s database), 8MB L2 cache, 8MB L3 cache, dual-channel DDR3 memory controller and 95W thermal design power. The new chip features unlocked multiplier (which means, it can be easily overclocked) and is compatible with all AM3+ mainboards.

amd_fx_artwork

The new CPU costs $125 (£79/€99) in the U.S. at TigerDirect and is naturally positioned as the world's most affordable eight-core solution for those, who plan to overclock it eventually. Since the chip has emerged on the U.S. market, it is likely that it will eventually show up in Europe and the U.K.

amd_fx_specs_8310

AMD did not comment on the news-story.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: Affordable chips with good overclocking potential were bestsellers back in the days. Nowadays overclocking requires rather advanced mainboards and cooling systems, which, in many cases, reduces viability of overclocking in general. As a result, low-cost chips for overclocking today are not as popular as back in the early 2000s.

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AMD announces three new FX microprocessors, slashes prices https://www.kitguru.net/components/cpu/anton-shilov/amd-announces-three-new-fx-microprocessors-slashes-prices/ https://www.kitguru.net/components/cpu/anton-shilov/amd-announces-three-new-fx-microprocessors-slashes-prices/#comments Tue, 02 Sep 2014 13:03:37 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=209920 Advanced Micro Devices on Tuesday introduced three new AMD FX microprocessors for enthusiasts and slashed prices of existing high-end products. The move will make the FX-series chips slightly more competitive than they are today, but will hardly radically improve AMD’s positions on the market of central processing units. Three new AMD FX chips are the …

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Advanced Micro Devices on Tuesday introduced three new AMD FX microprocessors for enthusiasts and slashed prices of existing high-end products. The move will make the FX-series chips slightly more competitive than they are today, but will hardly radically improve AMD’s positions on the market of central processing units.

Three new AMD FX chips are the FX-8320e (eight-cores, 3.20GHz/4GHz frequency, 16MB cache, 95W TDP), the FX-8370e (eight-cores, 3.30GHz/4.30GHz frequency, 16MB cache, 95W TDP) and the FX-8370 (eight-cores, 3.30GHz/4.30GHz frequency, 16MB cache, 125W TDP). The new processors are not as fast as the code-named “Centurion” FX-9590 or FX-9370, but they are compatible with regular AM3+ mainboards. Moreover, the new AMD FX E-series processors feature 95W thermal design power, which makes them useful for systems in smaller form-factors.

amd_fx_models_prices

All new AMD FX microprocessors are based on the code-named “Vishera” design and the Piledriver micro-architecture. The chips are made using 32nm SOI process technology at GlobalFoundries do not differ significantly from CPUs launched almost two years ago. Still, keeping in mind that GlobalFoundries’ 32nm process technology might get a little bit better than it was in 2012, it is imaginable that new chips offer better overclocking potential.

Separately, AMD also slashed prices on virtually all FX processors. The most expensive model – the FX-9590 – now costs $229 in retail and $199 in mass quantities. The most advanced mainstream model – FX-8370/FX8370e –  is priced at $199 in retail and at $189 in mass quantities. AMD positions its FX-series chips as competitors for Intel’s Core i5 and Core i3 processors. The company does not plan to fight Intel’s Core i7 offerings with its FX-series products.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: Keeping in mind that AMD does not want to compete against Intel’s “Devil’s Canyon” offerings, it is pretty obvious that the new models and prices will hardly improve popularity of the FX line up among enthusiasts who always want higher performance. Those, who want to have truly high performance will probably stick to Intel’s Core i7 “Devil’s Canyon” or even “Haswell-E” chips. Those, who want to have PCs with decent performance, but do not want to use expensive mainboards and cooling systems will not get the FX-9000 “Centurion” products. Meanwhile, the regular FX-8300-series chips are not popular among customers or system makers in general because of moderate performance and and two years of availability (those, who wanted an FX-8300-series chip have probably got one already). Perhaps, only 95W models will pose interest to those, who want to have a low-power AMD-based systems with maximum performance that AMD has to offer… Anyway, stay tunes for a fully-fledged review of the new AMD FX chips.

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AMD FX-8370 nearly breaks world’s clock-rate record at 8.7GHz https://www.kitguru.net/components/cpu/anton-shilov/unannounced-amd-fx-8370-nearly-breaks-worlds-clock-rate-record-at-8-7ghz/ https://www.kitguru.net/components/cpu/anton-shilov/unannounced-amd-fx-8370-nearly-breaks-worlds-clock-rate-record-at-8-7ghz/#comments Fri, 29 Aug 2014 22:53:54 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=209650 The Stilt, a famous Finnish overclocker, has managed to boost clock-rate of the yet-unreleased AMD FX-8370 microprocessor to whopping 8722MHz, which is just 72MHz lower than the world’s record CPU frequency. To overclock his eight-core FX-8370 chip to 8.72GHz, The Stilt had to increase the core voltage to 2.064V and used a system featuring Asus …

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The Stilt, a famous Finnish overclocker, has managed to boost clock-rate of the yet-unreleased AMD FX-8370 microprocessor to whopping 8722MHz, which is just 72MHz lower than the world’s record CPU frequency.

To overclock his eight-core FX-8370 chip to 8.72GHz, The Stilt had to increase the core voltage to 2.064V and used a system featuring Asus Crosshair V Formula-Z mainboard, 8GB of memory operating in dual-channel mode at 2218MHz, Asus Radeon R9 290X Direct CU II graphics card as well as liquid nitrogen cooling. The overclocker managed to boost default clock-rate of the FX-8370 processor (4.10GHz) by more than two times, an extraordinary result.

amd_fx_8370_overclock_1

What is especially important is that The Stilt managed to overclock his FX-8370 central processing unit with all eight cores (four dual-core Piledriver modules) active. By contrast, the record 8794.33MHz frequency was achieved by an FX-8350 chip with only two active cores (one dual-core Piledriver module).

amd_fx_8370_overclock

While AMD’s FX chips are based on the two years old code-named “Vishera” design, stepping 0, revision OR-C0, it should be noted that GlobalFoundries’ 32nm process technology might get a little bit better than it was in 2012. As a result, it is possible that over time chips like the FX-8370 will actually beat the world's record of 8794MHz.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: The overclocking potential of the new AMD FX processors may be an interesting thing to investigate. If newer chips can actually work at higher frequencies without any problems, it may mean that eventually AMD could offer faster FX products even based on the current architecture.

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AMD to deliver microprocessors in ‘six-packs’ https://www.kitguru.net/components/cpu/anton-shilov/amd-to-deliver-microprocessors-in-six-packs/ https://www.kitguru.net/components/cpu/anton-shilov/amd-to-deliver-microprocessors-in-six-packs/#respond Sun, 24 Aug 2014 13:01:02 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=208716 Advanced Micro Devices on Monday announced a new way to sell its microprocessors to local PC makers. The company plans to ship its chips in packs containing six CPUs/APUs with a discount. The deal will start with the AMD A8-6600K and the Athlon X4 760K processors. AMD claims that the chips were chosen because of their popularity …

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Advanced Micro Devices on Monday announced a new way to sell its microprocessors to local PC makers. The company plans to ship its chips in packs containing six CPUs/APUs with a discount.

The deal will start with the AMD A8-6600K and the Athlon X4 760K processors. AMD claims that the chips were chosen because of their popularity in the channel market as they feature unlocked multiplier and thus allow hassle-free overclocking. The microprocessors are compatible with the FM2/FM2+ mainboards.

The new Power Packs of six chips have a financial meaning as we well. Each A8-6600K chip in the six-unit “Power Pack” package costs $83, whereas separately it costs $89.

amd_fusion_kaveri_steamroller_piledriver_excavator

According to AMD, orders are already being fulfilled and the company’s partners are “excited about the opportunities” that the AMD Power Pack brings. AMD Power Packs should arrive in EMEA by late August or early September, the company asserts.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: While any discount is good for the market, the particular “AMD Power Pack” initiative is something that does not look that bright. The A8-6600K is an outdated chip based on the 2012’s Piledriver micro-architecture, which is why demand for it will deplete eventually no matter how low the price is.

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AMD to please overclockers with new FX, Athlon X4 chips next month https://www.kitguru.net/components/cpu/anton-shilov/amd-to-please-overclockers-with-new-fx-athlon-x4-chips-next-month/ https://www.kitguru.net/components/cpu/anton-shilov/amd-to-please-overclockers-with-new-fx-athlon-x4-chips-next-month/#comments Thu, 21 Aug 2014 22:49:44 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=208356 Advanced Micro Devices plans to introduce four new microprocessors designed for enthusiasts and overclockers on the first of September. Three new AMD FX and one new Athlon X4 central processing units will address PC enthusiasts with different budgets, but will not necessarily offer unbeatable performance. Next month AMD plans to introduce two all-new AMD FX …

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Advanced Micro Devices plans to introduce four new microprocessors designed for enthusiasts and overclockers on the first of September. Three new AMD FX and one new Athlon X4 central processing units will address PC enthusiasts with different budgets, but will not necessarily offer unbeatable performance.

Next month AMD plans to introduce two all-new AMD FX chips: the FX-8370 and the FX-8370E. The novelties sport four dual-core Piledriver modules (eight cores in total), 4.10GHz/4.30GHz frequencies, 8MB L2 cache, 8MB L3 cache as well as dual-channel DDR3 memory controllers. The FX-8370 features 125W thermal design power, while the FX-8370E’s TDP will be 95W. Additionally, AMD plans to introduce a more energy-efficient version of the FX-8320 (eight cores, 3.50GHz/4.0GHz), the FX-8320E, with TDP reduced to 95W. The new chips will cost from $140 to $190 in mass quantities.

amd_fx_chips_specs

The new FX products are aimed at “mainstream” AMD AM3+ platforms as well as new breed of energy-efficient performance systems that require microprocessors with lowered power consumption. The FX-8370 will not break performance records since there are code-named “Centurion” FX-9590 and FX-9370 chips with even higher clock-rates, but those products are not compatible with a lot of AM3+ mainboards.

In addition to the new FX models, AMD will also unveil its first Athlon X4 chip based on the code-named “Steamroller” micro-architecture (“Kaveri” design with disabled graphics core and some other capabilities) and compatible with the FM2+ platforms. The AMD Athlon X4 860K will feature two dual-core Steamroller modules (four x86 cores in total), 3.70GHz/4.0GHz frequencies with unlocked multiplier, 4MB L2 cache and 95W thermal design power. The new chip will cost around $80 in mass quantities.

The Athlon X4 860K is designed for enthusiasts in budget with FM2+ mainboards. AMD probably wants the chip to compete against Intel Corp.’s Pentium G3258 anniversary edition processor, but it remains to be seen how successful will the Athlon X4 860K be against its dual-core rival based on the Haswell micro-architecture.

The Athlon X4 860K is made using general-purpose 28nm process technology at GlobalFoundries. That technology was not designed to reach extreme clock-rates, but to provide maximum transistor density. Therefore, it will be interesting to see how good will the chip overclock even with its graphics core and some other blocks disabled.

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KitGuru Says: Although microprocessors from Advanced Micro Devices are not exactly what mainstream performance enthusiasts choose these days, it is nice to see that AMD is not giving up.

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AMD plans to slash prices of FX microprocessors next month https://www.kitguru.net/components/cpu/anton-shilov/amd-plans-to-slash-prices-of-fx-microprocessors-next-month/ https://www.kitguru.net/components/cpu/anton-shilov/amd-plans-to-slash-prices-of-fx-microprocessors-next-month/#comments Mon, 18 Aug 2014 22:59:39 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=207829 Although Advanced Micro Devices pins most of its hopes on hybrid accelerated processing units (APUs) these days, it continues to supply traditional central processing units for performance enthusiasts. In a bid to make its FX-series line a little bit more competitive, the company plans to cut-down their prices in the coming weeks. On the first …

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Although Advanced Micro Devices pins most of its hopes on hybrid accelerated processing units (APUs) these days, it continues to supply traditional central processing units for performance enthusiasts. In a bid to make its FX-series line a little bit more competitive, the company plans to cut-down their prices in the coming weeks.

On the first of September, 2014, AMD intends to introduce three new FX 8-series central processing units and slash the price of the FX-9590 and the FX-6300 microprocessors, reports Hexus web-site. The move is designed to make the FX-series more competitive against Intel Core i3 and Intel Core i5 products based on the Haswell Refresh and the Devil’s Canyon designs.

The price of the AMD FX-9590, which currently retails for £225, will be dropped to £175, a rather significant price-cut. The price of AMD FX-6300 with six cores will be reduced to around £70.

amd_fx_chip

AMD did not comment on the news-story.

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KitGuru Says: Keeping in mind that AMD’s FX processors are not particularly popular among enthusiasts, it is hard to say whether their price-cut will make them more appealing to performance-demanding customers. At the end of the day, price is only one factor that affects competitive positions of PC platforms.

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AMD readies new FX processor with bundled liquid-cooling https://www.kitguru.net/components/cpu/anton-shilov/amd-readies-new-fx-microprocessor-with-bundled-liquid-cooling/ https://www.kitguru.net/components/cpu/anton-shilov/amd-readies-new-fx-microprocessor-with-bundled-liquid-cooling/#comments Sat, 21 Jun 2014 21:45:45 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=199556 Advanced Micro Devices plans to release another FX-series desktop microprocessor that will come bundled with closed-loop liquid cooling system, the firm said this week. The company did not unveil any details about the upcoming chip, but demonstrated its packaging and said that it will be available soon. Roy Taylor, vice president of global channel sales …

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Advanced Micro Devices plans to release another FX-series desktop microprocessor that will come bundled with closed-loop liquid cooling system, the firm said this week. The company did not unveil any details about the upcoming chip, but demonstrated its packaging and said that it will be available soon.

Roy Taylor, vice president of global channel sales at AMD, on Friday published a photo of an FX processor packaging on Twitter saying that “something new is coming.” The box, which says it contains an “FX-series processor with liquid cooling technology,” is vastly different from packages of currently available AMD FX products.

Since the package says “processor,” then it is highly-likely that AMD plans to release [at least] another high-performance multi-core chip without integrated graphics designed specifically for enthusiasts (update: confirmed by a source close to AMD). If AMD planned to release a high-end Kaveri-based FX-series offering, it would call the product an “accelerated processing unit.” As there are no “Steamroller” micro-architecture-based multi-core CPUs for servers/high-end desktops scheduled to arrive in mid-2014 anywhere in AMD’s roadmaps, it is highly likely that the company plans to further increase frequencies of the existing Vishera design that features the Piledriver micro-architecture x86 cores.

amd_fx_roy

In a bid to respond to the launch of the code-named Haswell microprocessors last year, AMD introduced two “extreme” FX-series products: the FX-9370 (eight cores, 4.40/4.70GHz, 8MB L2 cache, 8MB L3 cache, 200W thermal design power) and the FX-9590 (eight cores, 4.70/5.0GHz, 8MB L2 cache, 8MB L3 cache, 220W thermal design power). The chips require high-end AM3+ platforms and sophisticated cooling solutions. While in many cases such central processing units offer pretty high-performance compared to Intel’s Core i7-4770K or Core i5-4670K processors, in general they are behind their rivals. Learn more in KitGuru's review of AMD's FX-9590 CPU.

It looks like (at least, based on the current information) AMD decided to release a microprocessor that will be a respond to Intel’s code-named “Devil’s Canyon” chips. AMD yet has to release actual specifications of the novelty, but if the company actually plans to speed-up the Vishera design one more time, then it looks like we are probably going to see an eight-core chip with default clock-speed of 5GHz or higher.

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KitGuru Says: It is very nice to see that AMD wants to compete for the high-end market. Unfortunately, we have no idea whether the company’s new FX chip will actually be competitive against Intel’s Core i7-4790K processor with 4GHz default clock-rate.

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AMD to increase energy efficiency of APUs by 25 times by 2020 https://www.kitguru.net/components/apu-components/anton-shilov/amd-to-increase-energy-efficiency-of-apus-by-25-times-by-2020/ https://www.kitguru.net/components/apu-components/anton-shilov/amd-to-increase-energy-efficiency-of-apus-by-25-times-by-2020/#respond Fri, 20 Jun 2014 05:11:28 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=199160 Advanced Micro Devices on Thursday unveiled a rather bold strategy called 25X20 under which it intends to dramatically increase energy efficiency of its accelerated processing units by the year 2020. In the next six years AMD plans to further optimize power consumption of its chips and also increase their performance, which is projected to result …

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Advanced Micro Devices on Thursday unveiled a rather bold strategy called 25X20 under which it intends to dramatically increase energy efficiency of its accelerated processing units by the year 2020. In the next six years AMD plans to further optimize power consumption of its chips and also increase their performance, which is projected to result in 25 times higher energy efficiency by 2020.

“Through APU architectural enhancements and intelligent power efficient techniques, our customers can expect to see us dramatically improve the energy efficiency of our processors during the next several years,” said Mark Papermaster, chief technology officer at AMD, during a keynote at the China International Software and Information Service Fair (CISIS) conference in Dalian, China. “Setting a goal to improve the energy efficiency of our processors 25 times by 2020 is a measure of our commitment and confidence in our approach.”

Moore’s Law states that the number of transistors capable of being built in a given area doubles roughly every two years. According to a research by Jonathan Koomey from Stanford University, energy efficiency of processors has closely tracked the rate of improvement predicted by Moore’s Law, which is logical since newer processors usually deliver higher performance while reducing power consumption compared to predecessors. AMD hopes that four fundamental things will help it to outpace the historical efficiency trend predicted by Moore’s Law (by Dr. Koomey’s derivative from the law, to be precise) by at least 70 per cent between 2014 and 2020.

amd_fusion_artwork

The four important elements of AMD 25X20 plan are:

  • Intelligent power management – various methods of power management have been implemented into chips over the years, so AMD will just continue to refine them in the future. AMD says that going forward, many differentiating capabilities such as inter-frame power gating, per-part adaptive voltage, voltage islands, further integration of system components, and other techniques still in the development stage should yield accelerated gains.
  • Architectural advances – the less time it takes to get the job done, the more time a chip spends in in idle mode. Therefore, the better AMD’s x86, ARM and graphics architectures are, the more power-efficient they get thanks to the fact that they can do more job while consuming less amount of power than their predecessors.
  • Popularization of the heterogeneous computing – graphics processing units and special-purpose accelerators can perform many tasks better and more efficiently than general-purpose x86 or ARM cores. Therefore, the more programs take advantage of the heterogeneous computing technologies, the more energy efficient the PC becomes.
  • New process technologies – a traditional way to reduce power consumption of a circuit is to make using thinner process technologies. AMD expects that 14nm/16nm, 10nm and 7nm process technologies will help it to further decrease power consumption of its products by 2020.

Industry analyst firm Tirias Research recently studied AMD’s methodology for evaluating its energy efficiency and the plans to achieve a 25x improvement by 2020 and produced a publicly-available white paper detailing their analysis.

“The goal of an energy-efficient processor is to deliver more performance than the prior generation at the same or less power,” said Kevin Krewell, analyst at Tirias Research. “AMD’s plan to accelerate the energy-efficiency gains for its mobile-computing processors is impressive. We believe that AMD will achieve its energy efficiency goal, partially through process improvement but mostly by combining the savings from reducing idle power, the performance boost of heterogeneous system architecture, and through more intelligent power management. With this undertaking, AMD demonstrates leadership in the computing industry, driving innovations for a more energy-efficient future.”

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KitGuru Says: With its new 25X20 message to the world AMD wants to say that going forward it would accelerate improvements of its products faster than it has done before. Since in order to increase power efficiency it is necessary to boost performance in addition to implementation of various other methods, expect the chip designer to actually focus on performance in the future. Let’s just hope that AMD will succeed with its plan.

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AMD reorgs further: sets up two business groups, shuffles execs https://www.kitguru.net/components/graphic-cards/anton-shilov/amd-reorgs-further-sets-up-two-business-groups-shuffles-executives/ https://www.kitguru.net/components/graphic-cards/anton-shilov/amd-reorgs-further-sets-up-two-business-groups-shuffles-executives/#respond Thu, 12 Jun 2014 22:55:18 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=198130 Advanced Micro Devices on Thursday announced “the latest” step in its strategic transformations. Starting from the 1st of July, AMD will consist of two large business groups led by Lisa Su and John Byrne, two executives who have been very efficient in their current roles. In a bid to further increase efficiency of AMD, the …

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Advanced Micro Devices on Thursday announced “the latest” step in its strategic transformations. Starting from the 1st of July, AMD will consist of two large business groups led by Lisa Su and John Byrne, two executives who have been very efficient in their current roles.

In a bid to further increase efficiency of AMD, the company will form two large market-focused business units responsible for all aspects of product strategy, product execution, sales and operations. Since the amount of groups within AMD will dramatically decrease, Lisa Su, who is currently responsible for all business units, will become the chief operating officer.

amd_headquarters

The new groups are:

  • The Computing and Graphics Business Group (CGBG). The unit will absorb AMD’s client, consumer graphics and professional graphics businesses, as well as their related product engineering and sales functions. AMD chief sales officer John Byrne has been appointed senior vice president and general manager responsible for leading the computing and graphics business group.
  • The Enterprise, Embedded and Semi-Custom Business Group (EESCBG). The business unit will combine AMD’s server, embedded, dense server and semi-custom businesses, as well as their related product engineering and sales functions. Dr. Su will be the acting lead until the new head is appointed.

“During the past two years, we have been successfully executing our three-step strategy to reset, accelerate and ultimately transform AMD,” said Rory Read, chief executive officer of AMD. “Today’s announcement represents the next step in our long-term strategic plan to help ensure AMD’s operating structure and culture are better aligned to drive consistent growth and profitability by leveraging our leadership IP to create differentiated products that help our customers win across a diversified set of high-growth markets.”

While the new transformation at AMD looks rather logical from many points of view (e.g., sales organizations will be tailored for particular markets), it brings a number of things that may not be particularly good for the company.

amd_lone_star_campus

The new CGBG looks to be very consumer oriented as a business unit. The group will ultimately sell products to the end-user (either through the channel or through various OEMs), yet, it will likely be responsible for engineering the core graphics and general-purpose processing technologies for the whole AMD (i.e. for itself and for the EESCBG) as there are no separate research & development or architecture groups. While the CGBG is clearly interested in developing the best products possible, it remains to be seen whether the unit will invest enough into technologies required strictly for servers, enterprises or custom system-on-chips.

The EESCBG will work with large customers, such as server makers, producers of embedded devices as well as big companies looking for semi-custom silicon. The unit will design Opteron products, develop various embedded chips (such as the project Skybridge SoCs based on ARM or x86 cores), create custom SoCs for various devices (such as video game consoles) and will resell highly-integrated Fusion processors developed by the CGBG under its moniker.

While AMD’s ambidextrous strategy should allow the CGBG and the EESCBG to fetch technologies from each other, it should be noted that those technologies will be developed with certain applications in mind and may not deliver the right performance or feature-set for all types of devices. For example, while both CGBG and EESCBG need high-performance x86 cores for their chips, the latter needs microprocessor cores with integrated RAS [reliability, availability, serviceability] capabilities to address future-generation high-end servers.

In general, the reorganization of AMD looks good since the company will be able to better address particular needs of its customers. However, at present it is impossible to say how this all will work out in the long-term future.

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KitGuru Says: An interesting side effect of the reorganization is that starting from now it will be impossible to compare financial result of AMD with its results from the previous years. For example, we do know that sales of AMD microprocessors have been decreasing for a number of years now. However, since there will be no division responsible solely for central processing units (CPUs), it will be impossible to say where AMD’s CPUs are going based on the company’s financial results.

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AMD licenses SATA Express technology for 2015 chipsets https://www.kitguru.net/components/hard-drives/anton-shilov/amd-licenses-sata-express-technology-for-2015-chipsets/ https://www.kitguru.net/components/hard-drives/anton-shilov/amd-licenses-sata-express-technology-for-2015-chipsets/#respond Tue, 20 May 2014 20:05:27 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=194046 Perhaps, the first-generation SATA Express (SATAe) implementation that relies on the PCI Express 2.0 technology is not truly revolutionary and does not bring a dramatic performance boost compared to Serial ATA-6Gb/s. Nonetheless, SATAe is a part of the future, which is why companies like AMD need to support it in their upcoming platforms. According to …

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Perhaps, the first-generation SATA Express (SATAe) implementation that relies on the PCI Express 2.0 technology is not truly revolutionary and does not bring a dramatic performance boost compared to Serial ATA-6Gb/s. Nonetheless, SATAe is a part of the future, which is why companies like AMD need to support it in their upcoming platforms. According to a report, AMD has already licensed SATAe-related intellectual property (IP).

In a bid to support SATA Express interconnection technology with its next-generation core-logic sets that are due in 2015, Advanced Micro Devices has reportedly licensed intellectual property from Asmedia, a company co-owned by Asustek Computer, reports DigiTimes web-site. Asmedia has already incorporated SATA Express into some of its chips which will be used by Asus, Asrock and possibly other mainboard makers this year. The proven physical implementation of the SATAe technology licensed from Asmedia will help AMD to save money on research and development, whereas Asmedia will capitalize on its IP.

Z87-Deluxe-SATA-Express-1

An Asustek's implementation of SATA Express ports

Since Asmedia's president is also in charge of Asustek's component purchasing as well as research and development, the collaboration between AMD and Asmedia may also tighten the relationship between the microprocessor designer and Asustek.

The SATA Express is the next-generation interface for storage devices that is based on PCI Express 2.0 (5GT/s) or PCI Express 3.0 (8GT/s) protocols and which can increase maximum bandwidth to 1GB/s (PCIe 2.0) or 2GB/s (in case of PCIe 3.0). Since modern chipsets only support PCI Express 2.0 (PCIe 3.0 is only supported by microprocessors), at present it is only possible to design a SATAe interconnection with 1GB/s peak bandwidth (in case of consumer motherboards).

Thanks to the licensing deal between AMD and Asmedia, platforms of the former will support SATA Express already next year. This will make the company’s accelerated processing units and central processing units more competitive.

sata_express_cable

According to unofficial information, this is not the first time when AMD licenses chipset-related technologies from third-party companies.

AMD and Asmedia did not comment on the news-story. Terms and conditions of the licensing deal are not clear.

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KitGuru Says: Unlike Intel Corp.’s Z97 and H97 core-logic sets, AMD’s current platforms do not support solid-state drives in M.2 form-factor with 1GB/s bandwidth, which significantly reduces their competitive positions on the market of personal computers for enthusiasts. Assuming that next year AMD’s platforms will support SATAe with PCIe 3.0 protocol, the status quo with Intel (at least when it comes to storage performance) will be restored.

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AMD to roll-out all-new high-performance x86 micro-architecture in 2015 https://www.kitguru.net/components/cpu/anton-shilov/amd-to-roll-out-all-new-high-performance-x86-micro-architecture-in-2015/ https://www.kitguru.net/components/cpu/anton-shilov/amd-to-roll-out-all-new-high-performance-x86-micro-architecture-in-2015/#comments Tue, 06 May 2014 11:37:42 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=191369 Advanced Micro Devices is reportedly developing a brand-new next-generation high-performance x86 micro-architecture that it plans to unveil sometimes in late 2015. The new architecture will not be derived from the Bulldozer technology that powers AMD processing units today and may change AMD’s competitive positions on the market. Two the key reasons of relatively low performance …

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Advanced Micro Devices is reportedly developing a brand-new next-generation high-performance x86 micro-architecture that it plans to unveil sometimes in late 2015. The new architecture will not be derived from the Bulldozer technology that powers AMD processing units today and may change AMD’s competitive positions on the market.

Two the key reasons of relatively low performance of AMD’s current-generation microprocessors and accelerated processing units are believed to be their CMT (clustered multi-thread) design (which involves so-called “modules”) as well as relatively low performance in single-threaded operations. Each CMT module inside AMD APUs/CPUs is identical to a dual-core processor in its integer power, and to a single-core processor with simultaneous multi-threading (SMT) capability in its floating-point power; besides, each module shares certain resources between two “cores”. As a result, in many cases AMD’s eight-core microprocessors cannot outperform Intel’s quad-core chips that have the same number of floating point units (FPUs) which are more efficient compared to AMD’s FPUs.

The next-generation high-performance x86 micro-architecture from AMD will scrap the CMT approach in favour of more traditional SMT, reports Expreview web-site citing its own sources. Jim Keller, the man behind AMD’s successful K7 as well as K8 (AMD64) micro-architectures as well as numerous Apple system-on-chips, is reportedly leading the development of the new high-performance x86 micro-architecture.

amd_road

The new AMD micro-architecture is projected to be unveiled in late 2015. Theoretically this may mean that at the time the Sunnyvale, California-based chip designer will also reveal all-new FX-series chip and/or Opteron microprocessors. Early next year AMD is expected to release code-named Carrizo APUs powered by Excavator cores, the highest-performing Bulldozer-based offerings.

Earlier this year it transpired that AMD could create 16-core central processing units based on existing Bulldozer-derived micro-architectures. In case AMD decides to execute this plan and release such a chip in 2015, then the all-new micro-architecture will show up only in 2016 or even 2017.

AMD did not comment on the news-story.

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KitGuru Says: Unfortunately, no actual details about the new high-performance x86 micro-architecture from AMD are known, except of the fact that it will be more “traditional” than Bulldozer and will probably support new instruction-set extensions (e.g., AVX 3.2 512-bit extensions, etc.). Theoretically, with the new micro-architecture AMD should be able to better compete against Intel in terms of performance. In addition, development of the new micro-architecture points to the fact that AMD is not giving up high-performance CPUs.

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AMD unveils new roadmap, plans to offer pin-compatible x86 and ARM chips https://www.kitguru.net/components/cpu/anton-shilov/amd-unveils-new-roadmap-plans-to-offer-pin-compatible-x86-and-arm-chips/ https://www.kitguru.net/components/cpu/anton-shilov/amd-unveils-new-roadmap-plans-to-offer-pin-compatible-x86-and-arm-chips/#respond Mon, 05 May 2014 21:22:27 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=191259 Advanced Micro Devices on Monday announced details concerning its longer-term roadmap. The firm disclosed plans to develop its own ARMv8 core implementations as well as pin-compatible microprocessors and accelerated processing units based on ARM and x86 architecture. But while the company unveiled a clear and logical strategy regarding low-power and ARM-based offerings, it provided no …

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Advanced Micro Devices on Monday announced details concerning its longer-term roadmap. The firm disclosed plans to develop its own ARMv8 core implementations as well as pin-compatible microprocessors and accelerated processing units based on ARM and x86 architecture. But while the company unveiled a clear and logical strategy regarding low-power and ARM-based offerings, it provided no updates regarding high-performance x86 architectures.

AMD said that next year it will release chips for client computers under its project SkyBridge initiative. The “SkyBridge” family will feature AMD Radeon graphics engine based on the GCN architecture, heterogeneous system architecture, AMD’s platform security processor (PSP) based on ARM technology as well as DDR3/DDR4 memory controller and various input/output functions. The ARM version of the chip will be powered by ARM Cortex-A57 cores, whereas the x86 flavour will feature Puma+ cores. The ARM-based SkyBridge will support Google Android operating system and will target mainstream media tablets. The SkyBridge family will be made using 20nm process technology and will emerge on the market in 2015.

amd_skybridge

Sometimes in 2016 AMD plans to introduce code-named K12 core-based offerings. The K12 is a new high-performance, low-power ARM-based core that takes deep advantage of AMD’s ARM architectural license, 64-bit chip design expertise, and a core development team led by chief CPU architect Jim Keller.

“Before today, AMD was the only company in the world to deliver high performance and low-power x86 with leadership graphics. AMD now takes a bold step forward and has become the only company that can provide high-performance 64-bit ARM and x86 CPU cores paired with world-class graphics,” said Rory Read, AMD president and chief executive officer. “Our innovative ambidextrous design capability, combined with our portfolio of IP and expertise with high-performance SoCs, means that AMD is set to deliver ambidextrous solutions that enable our customers to change the world in more efficient and powerful ways.”

Thanks to the announcement, we now know that AMD plans to continue with its ambidextrous strategy that calls for maximum unification of building blocks across AMD product lines. Starting from next year the company will offer chips with either x86 or ARM cores for low-power client solutions. It is logical to expect that going forward AMD will also introduce high-performance client and low-power server chips that feature either ARM or x86 general-purpose cores.

amd_roadmap_2015_2016

What AMD did not unveil is the future of its high-performance x86 cores as well as high-performance x86 microprocessors for client and server platforms. While we do know that next year the company intends to release accelerated processing units for PCs (Carrizo) and servers (Toronto) featuring code-named Excavator cores, we have no idea whether AMD also plans to introduce multi-core Opteron/FX series chips based on the new micro-architecture. The current-gen Opteron and FX processors are rather outdated and cannot compete against Intel Xeon and Core i7 processors in many market segments. For some reason AMD provides no updates regarding the future of its advanced chips.

It is also interesting to note that next year AMD will continue to use this year’s Puma micro-architecture, which means that the company will barely improve performance of its low-power offerings, but will rather trim their power consumption.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: The decision to design own implementations of ARMv8 cores has pros and cons. On the one hand, such cores should be faster than default ARM-designed Cortex cores. On the other hand, it means that AMD will have to invest into development of such cores and will have lower amount of money to advance its x86 architectures. The latter means that over time the gap between performance offered by Intel and AMD chips will only get bigger…

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AMD’s x86 processor market share rises, thanks to game consoles https://www.kitguru.net/desktop-pc/anton-shilov/amds-x86-processor-market-share-rises-thanks-to-game-consoles/ https://www.kitguru.net/desktop-pc/anton-shilov/amds-x86-processor-market-share-rises-thanks-to-game-consoles/#comments Fri, 25 Apr 2014 21:55:05 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=189258 New-generation video game consoles from Microsoft Corp. and Sony Corp. not only help AMD to offset declines of PC chips sales, but actually drive the company’s share on the market of x86 microprocessors. In the first quarter of 2014 AMD managed to gain share, whereas Intel Corp. lost some ground. Intel maintained the lead on …

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New-generation video game consoles from Microsoft Corp. and Sony Corp. not only help AMD to offset declines of PC chips sales, but actually drive the company’s share on the market of x86 microprocessors. In the first quarter of 2014 AMD managed to gain share, whereas Intel Corp. lost some ground.

Intel maintained the lead on the market of x86 central processing units in Q1 2014 with 82.8% share, but lost about 3% compared to the same quarter a year ago, according to Mercury Research. AMD managed to increase its share to 16.9% from 14.3% in the Q1 2014. Via Technologies, the third supplier of processors based on the x86 architecture, commanded 0.2% of the x86 chip market.

AMD has been losing market share to Intel for years since its chips could not offer similar performance in mainstream applications. Looks like with the arrival of the new game console AMD will be able to boost its share of the overall processor market.

amd_r_series_apus_cpus_embedded

An AMD accelerated processing unit with x86 general-purpose cores and AMD Radeon graphics. Similar chips are used inside Microsoft Xbox One and Sony PlayStation 4.

“The ratio of PC chips is declining in x86 processor shipments, helping AMD gain on Intel, which is relying heavily on tablet chips for growth,” said Dean McCarron, principal analyst at Mercury Research, reports PCWorld.

Personal computer CPU shipments were flat year-over-year: sales of microprocessors for desktops grew 1%, whereas shipments of notebook chips dropped 2%. Sales of x86 central processing units for servers also declined year-over-year, according to Mercury.

intel_atom_avoton_chip

An Intel Atom processor

Intel believes that going forward its x86 system-on-chips will gain noticeable presence inside media tablets, which will help it to maintain sales. In addition, the company continues to design various x86 chips specifically for servers, desktops, notebooks, storage solutions and other applications.

By contrast, AMD believes in hybrid microprocessors (which it calls accelerated processing units) that feature not only general-purpose cores, but also highly-parallel graphics processing cores that can be used for general-purposes as well. At present AMD is not solely focused on x86 architecture, but is actively designing microprocessors based on ARM architecture as well.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: It is nice to see that AMD is gaining share since it means that the company will remain on the market. However, it will be even nicer to see AMD gaining PC market share since that would mean that the company’s chips are becoming more competitive than they are today.

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GlobalFoundries to make semi-custom APUs, CPUs, GPUs for AMD https://www.kitguru.net/components/graphic-cards/anton-shilov/globalfoundries-to-make-semi-custom-apus-cpus-gpus-for-amd/ https://www.kitguru.net/components/graphic-cards/anton-shilov/globalfoundries-to-make-semi-custom-apus-cpus-gpus-for-amd/#comments Wed, 02 Apr 2014 10:23:04 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=185481 Advanced Micro Devices on Wednesday announced plans to slightly boost its purchase commitment from GlobalFoundries by around $50 million this year compared to last year. As part of the agreement, the contract maker of chips will manufacture not only its traditional central processing units (CPUs) and accelerated processing units (APUs) for AMD, but also graphics …

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Advanced Micro Devices on Wednesday announced plans to slightly boost its purchase commitment from GlobalFoundries by around $50 million this year compared to last year. As part of the agreement, the contract maker of chips will manufacture not only its traditional central processing units (CPUs) and accelerated processing units (APUs) for AMD, but also graphics chips and semi-custom chips for video game consoles.

AMD and GlobalFoundries agreed on purchase commitments for 2014 and established fixed pricing and other terms of the wafer supply agreement which apply to products AMD will purchase from GlobalFoundries. Under this amendment AMD expects to pay GlobalFoundries approximately $1.2 billion in 2014. In 2013 AMD planned to purchase $1.15 billion worth semiconductor wafers from GlobalFoundries. However, actual purchase was $960 million.

globalfoundries_cleanroom_fab8

Cleanroom at GlobalFoundries fab 8 in New York

What is interesting is that AMD is boosting its purchase commitments to GlobalFoundries by about $50 million this year (de-facto increase is $240 million). But at the same time it significantly expands product portfolio that GF will manufacture for AMD. Traditionally, GlobalFoundries has made only CPUs and APUs for its partner. Starting this year, the company will also produce certain graphics processing units as well as semi-custom APUs for video game consoles, such as Microsoft Xbox One and Sony PlayStation 4.

Chips for popular video game consoles are made in rather high quantities and require similar specifications. For example, in the previous calendar year AMD ordered over ten million of chips for Microsoft Xbox One and Sony PlayStation 4 to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Given that sales of the two consoles are only going to increase, AMD’s chip orders will raise as well. Therefore, it is not surprising that it had asked GlobalFoundries to become the second source for the semi-custom APUs.

globalfoundries_fab8_2

GlobalFoundries' fab 8 in New York

Analysts estimate that every system-on-chip that powers the latest game consoles cost platform holders from $100 to $110. Assuming that AMD sells them at corporate average margin of 35 per cent, it should buy them for $60 – $65. AMD increased its purchase commitment to GF by $240 million compared to last year, which means that it could order up to four million of console SoCs. Given current sales numbers of the PS4 and Xbox One, four million of chips from the second sources sounds reasonable. Note that $240 million number includes not only semi-custom APUs for consoles, but also certain GPUs.

In case the amount of ordered console chips is correct (keep in mind that the number could not be verified), this may mean that AMD expects sales of its microprocessors and accelerated processing units for PCs to either remain on the last year's levels or decline. As a result, AMD’s financial results will depend less on PC shipments and more on console sales.

“The successful close of our amended wafer supply agreement with GlobalFoundries demonstrates the continued commitment from our two companies to strengthen our business relationship as long-term strategic partners, and Globalfoundries’ ability to execute in alignment with our product roadmap,” said Rory Read, president and chief executive officer, AMD. “This latest step in AMD’s continued transformation plays a critical role in our goals for 2014.”

KitGuru Says: According to market analysts from International Data Corp., shipments of personal computers this year will decline by 6 per cent compared to 2013. It looks like AMD expects sales of its PC chips to also drop, which means that one should expect AMD’s CPU/APU market share to either stagnate of  decrease this year. When it comes to GPUs, AMD may has a little bit more freedom and probably expects GPU sales to grow in 2014.

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AMD and HP quietly debut FX-670K microprocessor https://www.kitguru.net/components/cpu/anton-shilov/amd-and-hp-quietly-debut-fx-670k-microprocessor/ https://www.kitguru.net/components/cpu/anton-shilov/amd-and-hp-quietly-debut-fx-670k-microprocessor/#comments Wed, 26 Mar 2014 18:09:15 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=184428 From time to time large PC makers unveil hardware that chip companies like Advanced Micro Devices would rather not discuss with the general public. Recently it turned out that some of the desktops sold by Hewlett-Packard carry a strange microprocessor called AMD FX-670K, which does not seem to be exactly an FX-series offering. Hewlett-Packard recently …

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From time to time large PC makers unveil hardware that chip companies like Advanced Micro Devices would rather not discuss with the general public. Recently it turned out that some of the desktops sold by Hewlett-Packard carry a strange microprocessor called AMD FX-670K, which does not seem to be exactly an FX-series offering.

Hewlett-Packard recently started to offer HP Pavilion 500-266ea PCs with AMD FX-670K accelerated processing unit with four code-named Piledriver x86 cores as well as Radeon HD 8670D graphics engine (according to HP’s documents). The chip has clock-rate of 3.70GHz, though it is unclear whether this is the maximum Turbo Boost frequency or default clock-rate, 4MB L2 cache and dual-channel DDR3 memory controller. However, unlike other FX processors, this one does not have 8MB third-level cache (a logical thing since it is based on Richland core), which affects performance in single-thread applications. Since the chip’s model number includes K-letter, the central processor should have unlocked multiplier to allow easy overclocking, which is a feature of all “unlocked” AMD FX chips.

amd_fx_670k_apu_cpu_z

It is interested to note that a member of Hardware Canucks forums got the processor and found out that while it uses FM2 packaging (just like all the other APUs based on Trinity or Richland designs), it does not feature integrated graphics. In case the graphics is truly not there (which may be a result of the fact that the chip is not fully supported by the BIOS of the mainboard it is installed into), then FX-670K should be considered as a product similar to FX-4300-series, but in FM2 packaging, without L3 cache and a number of other things.

Companies like AMD usually ship oddly named microprocessors and graphics cards to OEM partners due to requests of the latter. In fact, AMD widely offers Athlon X4 760K processor based on Richland core without graphics and with specs that are similar to the FX-670K chip.

amd_fx_chip

It is not a secret that the future of high-performance FX-series multi-core microprocessors is rather gloomy as Advanced Micro Devices’ roadmaps simply do not include any updates to them. Many believe that going forward AMD will offer cherry-picked FX-series chips with integrated graphics powered by the same cores as their mainstream accelerated processing units. In case the FX-670K is a processor that actually carries integrated graphics engine (which is not recognized by some mainboards), it looks like the company has already started to do so. In case AMD began to re-brand Athlons into FXes for HP, then it looks like the value of the FX brand is about to start getting lower.

KitGuru Says: Since Athlon and Sempron will now be used to market chips based on low-cost/low-power micro-architectures, to avoid confusion AMD might quietly discontinue various Athlons and Semprons in FM2/FM2+ packaging based on high-performance architectures, but without integrated graphics engines. However, adding essentially cut-down chips into the premium FX line seems to be a rather cynical decision.

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AMD officially announces Opteron ‘Warsaw’ microprocessors https://www.kitguru.net/components/cpu/anton-shilov/amd-officially-announces-opteron-warsaw-microprocessors/ https://www.kitguru.net/components/cpu/anton-shilov/amd-officially-announces-opteron-warsaw-microprocessors/#respond Wed, 22 Jan 2014 12:49:06 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=173461 Advanced Micro Devices on Wednesday introduced two new server-class Opteron central processing units (CPUs) based on the code-named “Warsaw” design. The new chips boast slightly better power efficiency compared to predecessors, but feature similar performance and a set of technologies compared to existing code-named “Abu Dhabi” multi-core processors. Initially, there will be only two Opteron …

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Advanced Micro Devices on Wednesday introduced two new server-class Opteron central processing units (CPUs) based on the code-named “Warsaw” design. The new chips boast slightly better power efficiency compared to predecessors, but feature similar performance and a set of technologies compared to existing code-named “Abu Dhabi” multi-core processors. Initially, there will be only two Opteron “Warsaw” models available.

AMD Opteron “Warsaw” 6300-series central processing units will feature two six-core or eight-core dies to provide a total of 12 or 16 x86 cores based on the “Piledriver” micro-architecture. The new microprocessors pack 12MB or 16MB L2 cache, 16MB of L3 cache, quad-channel DDR3 memory controller (with support for up to 1866MHz clock-rate), four HyperTransport 6.4GT/s links and so on. The chips are compatible with socket G34 (LGA1944) infrastructure and can work in 2P or 4P configurations.

The code-named “Warsaw” chips feature a number of chip design optimizations implemented to improve their power efficiency compared to the “Abu Dhabi” multi-core CPUs that make them more competitive in certain segments of the server market. The new processors are made using 32nm SOI process technology by GlobalFoundries, just like their predecessors.

Opteron_6300_Series_hand_white_background

According to AMD, the new Opteron 6300-series “Warsaw” central processing units are optimized to handle the heavily virtualized workloads found in enterprise environments, including the more complex compute needs of data analysis, xSQL and traditional databases, at optimal performance per-watt, per-dollar.

“With the continued move to virtualized environments for more efficient server utilization, more and more workloads are limited by memory capacity and I/O bandwidth,” said Suresh Gopalakrishnan, corporate vice president and general manager of server business unit at AMD. “The Opteron 6338P and 6370P processors are server CPUs optimized to deliver improved performance per-watt for virtualized private cloud deployments with less power and at lower cost points.”

Initially, AMD will offer two products based on the “Warsaw” architecture: 12-core Opteron 6338P (2.30GHz default clock-speed, 2.50GHz P1 frequency, 2.80GHz P0 frequency, 28MB total cache, 99W thermal design power) and 16-core Opteron 6370P (2.0GHz default clock-speed, 2.20GHz P1 frequency, 2.50GHz P0 frequency, 32MB total cache, 99W thermal design power). Eventually, the lineup will likely be extended with new offerings.

amd_opteron_6300_warsaw_specs

The first two processors from the “Warsaw” family look like specially-configured chips for particular customers and systems. It is expected that eventually the family will be expanded and then it will be interesting to see by how much AMD will be able to cut power consumption of its high-performance Opteron 6300-series and microprocessors that currently sport 115W – 140W thermal design power. Alternatively, AMD will be able to boost clock-rates of chips aimed at the higher-end of the server market.

The new AMD Opteron 6338P and 6370P processors are available today through Penguin and Avnet system integrators and have been qualified for servers from Sugon and Supermicro at a starting price of $377 and $598, respectively.

KitGuru Says: While AMD can win new server designs with the Opteron “Warsaw” microprocessors, it is hardly unlikely that the chips which are essentially over a year old can help the company to regain any significant part of the server market in general.

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New game consoles help AMD to boost revenues https://www.kitguru.net/components/cpu/anton-shilov/new-game-consoles-help-amd-to-boost-revenues/ https://www.kitguru.net/components/cpu/anton-shilov/new-game-consoles-help-amd-to-boost-revenues/#respond Tue, 21 Jan 2014 23:49:13 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=173310 Advanced Micro Devices on Tuesday reported its financial results for the fourth quarter as well as for the while fiscal year 2013. Thanks to sales of chips for video game consoles, such as Microsoft Xbox One and Sony PlayStation 4, the company managed to return to profitability and boost its earnings. Unfortunately, sales of AMD’s …

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Advanced Micro Devices on Tuesday reported its financial results for the fourth quarter as well as for the while fiscal year 2013. Thanks to sales of chips for video game consoles, such as Microsoft Xbox One and Sony PlayStation 4, the company managed to return to profitability and boost its earnings. Unfortunately, sales of AMD’s microprocessors shrank in Q4, which is a rather alarming sign.

For the fourth quarter of 2013, AMD reported revenue of $1.59 billion, up 9 per cent sequentially and 38 per cent year-over-year. The company also announced operating income of $135 million and net income of $89 million, or $0.12 per share. Gross margin was 35 per cent.

During the Q4 FY2013 computing solutions segment revenue was $722 million, down 9 per cent sequentially, primarily due to decreased chipset and notebook unit shipments. Sales of microprocessors and supporting chipsets were also down 13 per cent year-over-year. Computing Solutions operating loss was $7 million, as compared to an operating income of $22 million in Q3 2013, primarily due to lower revenue and higher expenses for marketing and employee related performance plans.

Graphics and visual solutions (GVS) segment revenue was $865 million, up 29 per cent compared to the prior quarter, driven by increased shipments of AMD’s semi-custom system-on-chips for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One as well as Radeon R7 and R9 series of GPU products. GVS segment operating income was $121 million, up from $79 million in the prior quarter due to higher revenue from the semi-custom SoCs.

amd_headquarters

For the year ended December 28, 2013, AMD reported revenue of $5.3 billion, operating income of $103 million and a net loss of $83 million, or $0.11 per share. Gross margin for the year was 37 per cent.

The company said that in 2013, it completed the first two phases of its strategic transformation plan it outlined in October 2012, achieving key milestones in its corporate and financial transformation. The company reduced its expenses and returned to profitability. Besides, it diversified its business and earned more than 30% of revenues from semi-custom and embedded products.

AMD’s total wafer purchases from GlobalFoundries in 2013 were approximately $960 million, lower than the previously estimated $1.15 billion, due to lower fourth quarter purchases. There were no penalties associated with the reduction. The two companies are working on AMD’s 2014 wafer supply agreement with GlobalFoundries, based on 2014 full year demand expectations, with the goal to manage inventory flat to down year-over-year. In Q1 2014, AMD made the final $200 million payment related to the reduction of the take or pay wafer obligation commitments in 2012.

For Q1 2014 the Sunnyvale, California-based chip designed expects revenue to decrease 16% sequentially, +/-3%. AMD projects computing solutions and graphics and visual solutions business units’ revenue to be down, in line with seasonality. AMD expects wafer purchases (from GlobalFoundries) of approximately $250 million in Q1 2014, non-GAAP gross margin to be approximately 35 per cent and non-GAAP operating expenses to be approximately $420 million

KitGuru Says: While AMD has clearly managed to improve its business in general and going forward sales of custom SoCs for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One are only going to increase, it is alarming to see that sales of microprocessors and accelerated processing units are dropping. Competitive processors and graphics chips ensure that going forward AMD will be able to offer attractive system-on-chips and embedded designs. Meanwhile, it looks like AMD’s central processing units are losing popularity…

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AMD 16-core Opteron ‘Warsaw’ already available for $663 https://www.kitguru.net/components/cpu/anton-shilov/amd-16-core-opteron-warsaw-already-available-for-663/ https://www.kitguru.net/components/cpu/anton-shilov/amd-16-core-opteron-warsaw-already-available-for-663/#respond Mon, 20 Jan 2014 22:18:54 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=173107 Although AMD’s new Opteron microprocessors code-named “Warsaw” have not been announced yet, select online stores are already taking pre-orders on the new chips. As it appears, the new multi-core central processing units s for high-end servers will not be too expensive, despite their improvements over existing products. AMD Opteron 6300-series “Warsaw” processors designed for 2-way …

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Although AMD’s new Opteron microprocessors code-named “Warsaw” have not been announced yet, select online stores are already taking pre-orders on the new chips. As it appears, the new multi-core central processing units s for high-end servers will not be too expensive, despite their improvements over existing products.

AMD Opteron 6300-series “Warsaw” processors designed for 2-way and 4-way servers with socket G34 are based on the “Piledriver” micro-architecture and in many ways resemble existing code-named “Abu Dhabi” chips. Just like current Opteron 6300-series, the new “Warsaw” chips carry 12-16 cores, 16MB of L3 cache, quad-channel DDR3 memory controller and so on. However, the new chips are expected to feature considerably improved performance-per-watt over today’s AMD Opteron 6300 family.

amd_opteron_6300_g34

AMD is projected to officially launch the new “Warsaw” processors later in the first quarter of 2014, but already today ShopBLT online store is offering to pre-order 12-core Opteron 6338 HE (99W TDP) for $421 and 16-core Opteron 6370 HE (99W TDP) for $663. At present the microprocessors are not in stock, but will likely become available shortly.

Exact specifications of the new processors are unknown, but since they belong to HE [high efficiency] family of Opteron processors, it is likely that the feature moderate clock-speeds in a bid to reduce power consumption, notes CPU-World.

AMD did not comment on the news-story.

KitGuru Says: The new Opteron 6300-series “Warsaw” processors will hardly bring any breakthroughs, therefore, will not help AMD to boost its server market share. Still there is a good news too: since “Warsaw” closely resembles “Abu Dhabi” and is even made using the same 32nm SOI process technology at Globalfoundries, transition to the new design will likely happen quickly.

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AMD readies ‘native’ 16-core chips based on ‘Steamroller’ https://www.kitguru.net/components/cpu/anton-shilov/amd-readies-native-16-core-chips-based-on-steamroller/ https://www.kitguru.net/components/cpu/anton-shilov/amd-readies-native-16-core-chips-based-on-steamroller/#comments Sun, 19 Jan 2014 13:58:09 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=172919 Contemporary multi-core AMD Opteron microprocessors for high-end servers utilize multi-chip-module (MCM) technology that places two six-/eight-core dies onto the same piece of substrate to create 12-core or 16-core solutions. However, a new document from AMD suggests that the chip designer is working on “native” 16-core processors with all cores on the same die. In a …

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Contemporary multi-core AMD Opteron microprocessors for high-end servers utilize multi-chip-module (MCM) technology that places two six-/eight-core dies onto the same piece of substrate to create 12-core or 16-core solutions. However, a new document from AMD suggests that the chip designer is working on “native” 16-core processors with all cores on the same die.

In a bid to ensure support of its latest A-series “Kaveri” accelerated processing units by software developers, AMD released a new “Software Optimization Guide for AMD Family 15h Processors” document this month. The paper contains recommendations how to optimize apps for various central processing units that belong to 15h family (15h stands for the Bulldozer micro-architecture and derivatives) as well as references to various CPUs, including existing and upcoming ones.

The page 197 from the document reveals that AMD is developing a Family 15h processor (Bulldozer and derivatives) model 30h – 3Fh (Steamroller micro-architecture) with eight compute nodes (which is how AMD calls its dual-core Bulldozer/Piledriver/Steamroller/Excavator modules), interconnected using system request interface (SRI) with one crossbar (XBAR) that handles communication between the SRI, memory controller (MCT) and HyperTransport (HT) links. The topology of the microprocessor unmistakably points to a single-die multi-core chip with up to sixteen cores/eight modules.

amd_family15_mod30_cpu

“Newer models of Family 15h processors offer five links for connections to I/O and other processors. Of the five links, one link supports PCIe 3.0, two support coherent HyperTransport, and two are capable of either coherent HyperTransport or PCIe 3.0. These processors have 8 compute units (16 cores),” the document from AMD, which was found by Planet3DNow.de, reads. Keeping the amount of links in mind, it looks like the chip is aimed primarily at servers.

amd_roadmap_server_2014

Later this year AMD plans to release Opteron code-named “Warsaw” microprocessor with 12 or 16 cores based on the Piledriver micro-architecture, which will be on the market till late 2015, at least. Therefore, it is likely that the “native” 16-core chip will emerge in 2015 – 2016 timeframe. Theoretically, AMD could easily create a 32-core multi-chip module for use in high-end servers by swapping two 16-core dies onto a piece of substrate.

AMD did not comment on the news-story.

KitGuru Says: Since AMD’s server and high-end desktop design resemble each other, but the company never uses MCMs for FX-series microprocessors, it is logical to assume that the FX chips due in 2015 – 2016 will rely on the Steamroller micro-architecture as well as on eight-module/sixteen-core die. The chip should be rather powerful, especially if its clock-rate is high enough.

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Cyberpower Gaming Battalion 502 Windows 8 PC Review (FX 4170 / Radeon 7770) https://www.kitguru.net/desktop-pc/gaming-rig/luke-hill/cyberpower-gaming-battalion-502-windows-8-pc-review-fx-4170-radeon-7770/ https://www.kitguru.net/desktop-pc/gaming-rig/luke-hill/cyberpower-gaming-battalion-502-windows-8-pc-review-fx-4170-radeon-7770/#comments Wed, 26 Dec 2012 09:57:01 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=119749 Cyberpower has always tended to the needs of every gamer with its pre-configured systems. Targeting mid-range gamers with a tighter budget, does the Cyberpower Gaming Battalion 502 PC have what it takes to become a competitor in today's ever-growing system market? Cyberpower has chosen the Gaming Battalion 502 PC's hardware to offer good gaming performance …

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Cyberpower has always tended to the needs of every gamer with its pre-configured systems. Targeting mid-range gamers with a tighter budget, does the Cyberpower Gaming Battalion 502 PC have what it takes to become a competitor in today's ever-growing system market?

Cyberpower has chosen the Gaming Battalion 502 PC's hardware to offer good gaming performance at a modest price. Coupling the 4.2GHz, quad core AMD FX 4170 CPU with an MSI Radeon HD 7770 1GB graphics card has allowed Cyberpower to create the foundations for a competitively-priced mid-range gaming system.

Add a 2TB HDD, Gigabyte USB 3.0 motherboard, 8GB of Kingston RAM and Cooler Master's Elite 310 into the mix and the Gaming Battalion 502 starts to look even more appealing to gamers on a budget.

Specifications:

  • Processor: AMD FX 4170 4.2GHz
  • Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-78LMT-USB3
  • Memory: 8GB Kingston DDR3 1333MHz
  • Graphics Card: MSI Radeon HD 7770 1GB (R7770-PMD1GD5)
  • Hard Disk Drive: 2TB Seagate 7200.14 ST2000DM001
  • CPU Cooler: Reference AMD FX 4170 heatsink
  • Case: Cooler Master Elite 310 w/ Side Panel Window
  • Power Supply: Artic MPS550 550W
  • Optical Drive: 24x Optiarc AD-7280S
  • Operating System: Windows 8 64-bit
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Arctic Cooling Alpine 64 Plus Cooler Review https://www.kitguru.net/components/cooling/henry-butt/arctic-cooling-alpine-64-plus-cooler-review/ https://www.kitguru.net/components/cooling/henry-butt/arctic-cooling-alpine-64-plus-cooler-review/#comments Mon, 26 Nov 2012 08:31:25 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=112419 Today we are going to look at one of Arctic's low profile CPU coolers … the Alpine 64 Plus, which is designed to be used exclusively with AMD processors.  This makes it ideal for use in small form factor systems or HTPCs.  We imagine many users will purchase this cooler to use in combination with …

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Today we are going to look at one of Arctic's low profile CPU coolers … the Alpine 64 Plus, which is designed to be used exclusively with AMD processors.  This makes it ideal for use in small form factor systems or HTPCs.  We imagine many users will purchase this cooler to use in combination with one of AMDs Vision A8 APUs in a media system where acoustics and performance are both important considerations.

Arctic produce a wide range of cooling products for various different applications.  In the past we have been quite impressed by their CPU coolers which offer great performance at an affordable price.  These allow users to achieve a significant overclock on their system without great expense.


Specifications

  • Max cooling capacity: 100 Watts
  • Heatsink material: Aluminium
  • Fan: 92 mm, 600 – 2000 RPM (PWM Controlled)
  • Bearing: Fluid Dynamic Bearing
  • Noise Level: 0.4 Sone
  • Current / Voltage (per fan): 0.22 A / 12 V
  • Power Consumption: 2.64 Watts
  • Dimensions: 115 x 98 x 70 mm (LxWxH)
  • Weight: 430 g
  • Warranty: 6 Years
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AMD scrambles to bring Piledriver to market https://www.kitguru.net/components/cpu/jules/amd-scrambles-to-bring-piledriver-to-market/ https://www.kitguru.net/components/cpu/jules/amd-scrambles-to-bring-piledriver-to-market/#respond Sun, 06 Nov 2011 11:07:37 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=66104 While the challenges for AMD's ambitious 8 core Bulldozer product have been well documented, there is an improvement waiting in the wings. So what can we expect in 2012? KitGuru pulls an electron scanning microscope out of its pocket and heads for the local chip shop. In a simple head-to-head, Intel Looks to have the …

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While the challenges for AMD's ambitious 8 core Bulldozer product have been well documented, there is an improvement waiting in the wings. So what can we expect in 2012? KitGuru pulls an electron scanning microscope out of its pocket and heads for the local chip shop.

In a simple head-to-head, Intel Looks to have the advantage with its Sandybridge cores. They just seem to be able to process more data per cycle. So when Intel's old Senior VP, Pat Gelsinger, gave a TV interview and said “More cores are always better”, that might not be the case.

Another thing Pat was famous for saying was that software is always several years behind the hardware. That much is true.

Historically, AMD's rhetoric has focused a lot on performance per watt. Roll the clock back around 5 or 6 years and you'll find the market was getting a liberal peppering of statements about the importance of efficiency in design and the need to reduce power demand.

While AMD's Fusion team has managed to nail this and the Radeon team is a market leader – the CPU teams, working around projects like Bulldozer, seem to be struggling. For software with an intensive (and specific) level of parallelism, Bulldozer can shine, but the vast majority of apps do not fall into that category yet. We're left with the overclocking results that show Bulldozer's desktop performance figures coming in at the >400w watt mark.

It's not what AMD would have expected – and the Bulldozer team's game needs to be raised.

So what can we expect?

Well, the news from AMD in 2012 centres on an update to the present Bulldozer cores, called Piledriver.

The expected advantages comes from :-

  • Increase in core capacity by up to 25%, making more cores available more of the time
  • Reduced power requirement, making the chip more efficient
  • Real world performance boost (clock led?) by something like 10%, making each core do more

But will it be enough?

The answer to that lies in 3 areas:-

  1. Can AMD bring this new technology to market in time to challenge Ivy Bridge?
  2. Can they do it in a cost effective way – allowing for competitive pricing ?

If Ivy Bridge is given 6 months of clear air, then it will be hard for the Piledriver cores to hit back, as Intel will have refined its process and be able to engage in (a) clock bumps and (b) price adjustments.

The cost efficiency of the AMD parts in 2012 will be crucial. Every chip can have a market, as long as the price is right. Charge more, and you risk being compared in the wrong market segment. For example, the 8150 Bulldozer + mainboard is around £300 and the 2600k + mainboard is around £30 more. That's probably a little close for comfort. The fact that the 2500k + mainboard is around £30 cheaper makes the world an even tougher place.

AMD is a ‘for profit' organisation, with shareholders to satisfy, so it's not possible to simply slash and burn pricing. Things need to be measured, considered and carefully executed to maintain gross profit margins.

Simply put, the pressure for a lot of AMD's success in the mainstream/enthusiast CPU sectors in 2012, will come from Global Foundries' ability to deliver.

Congratulations to Ajit Manocha on picking up the Global Foundries CEO position and the promise of billion of dollars of investment from Abu Dhabi. Even so, it promises to be a challenging decade ahead. Intel is a scary competitor. It's as simple as that.

KitGuru says: The market needs two CPU companies. It's vital for innovation and value. If AMD's production partner, Global Foundries, can kick its production programmes into gear, then the world looks good for the mass-market/value segments. But if the Piledriver products do not arrive until well after Ivy Bridge, then AMD won't be playing catch-up as much as being ketchup. Fingers crossed they can pull out a rabbit and keep Intel under pressure ahead of Haswell. Sources close to Intel have told KitGuru that the chip giant will be smiling, a lot, if all AMD can offer in the first half of 2012 is a 10% performance bump. The last big question remaining is, “Will AMD move some or all of its high-end CPU production to trusted partner TSMC?”.

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