AMD Releases 12 Core CPU (sort of)

[MR.B]

I say sort of because it's two 6 core CPU's on one die (it's a Opteron for the server market btw).

It's roughly equal to a 980X/Xeon X5670 for mutilthreaded performance even though it has twice the cores, because of the lower clock speed, and lower performance per-core compared to 980X/X5670.

Review @ Anandtech

Bit sad that AMD have to have twice as many cores to even compete, but it's actually 20% cheaper than the 6 core Xeon to buy.

 

[theforce]

Interesting review. At the end of the day, it is amazing that AMD manages to compete with Intel at this point. Yes, it uses double the cores than Intel solution but it performs roughly the same and it is cheaper than the competition.

All in all such solutions are the only way AMD can stay close to Intel until the new architecture is out in 2011.

 

[Alex h]

made a good read thanks mate

 

[MR.B]

All in all such solutions are the only way AMD can stay close to Intel until the new architecture is out in 2011.

If Intel wanted though, they could just do what AMD have and stick two 6 core Xeons on one die. Which would crush AMD's 12 core. It's certainly possible as the Xeon X5670 (980X for Desktop) has a smaller die and lower power consumption than the Opteron 6 core chips on AMD's 12 core die, because of the 32nm process they're manufactured on. A 12 core Xeon would also have 24 threads because of HT.

Hopefully AMD's bulldozer in 2011 will actually compete. But at the same time Intel will also have a new achitecture by then (Sandy Bridge).

 

[samir_ansari]

If Intel wanted though, they could just do what AMD have and stick two 6 core Xeons on one die. Which would crush AMD's 12 core. It's certainly possible as the Xeon X5670 (980X for Desktop) has a smaller die and lower power consumption than the Opteron 6 core chips on AMD's 12 core die, because of the 32nm process they're manufactured on. A 12 core Xeon would also have 24 threads because of HT.

Hopefully AMD's bulldozer in 2011 will actually compete. But at the same time Intel will also have a new achitecture by then (Sandy Bridge).

But you are forgetting ofcourse one key factor -cost to the consumer. Ofcourse intel can stick as many processors as they want on one die but they will charge you inappropriately for it whereas AMD have a product that will perform the same but for 20% less money

 

[MR.B]

But you are forgetting ofcourse one key factor -cost to the consumer. Ofcourse intel can stick as many processors as they want on one die but they will charge you inappropriately for it whereas AMD have a product that will perform the same but for 20% less money

These are not really for typical consumers though plus it's worth paying extra for a smaller and cooler product, that will also perform a lot better in things that are not well multithreaded because of the higher clocks and better performance of the architechture. It will also use less power, and considering you ofter get 2 - 4 socket server boards the power needs quickly add up in a server farm.
Anyway like i said, theres nothing stopping Intel from releasing a 12 core and lowering the price of there 6 core Xeon. But cant see it happening anytime soon, they're under not enough pressure.

 

[Corasik]

Intel just arnt under pressure enough to lower the prices, they have a fantastic product at a pretty reasonable price. AMD's product is good, and their price reflects AMD's wishes to increase market share.

When Intel's product was poor (Pentium 4 v Athlon 64), intel may have used some pretty underhand methods to maintain market share, but then again, AMD were quite content to push out some seriously overpriced black box editions too. Both companies are only after 1 thing... your cash, and they will both do whatever is neccessary to get it.

Hopefully Intel have learned the lesson that marketting a poor performing processor at premium prices isnt great for customer relationships , But I have no doubt in my mind that IF bulldozer outperforms the next intel architecture (sandy bridge,or whatever)... they will increase the prices.

Case in point.. ATi (AMD!)... Released the 5850 and 5870, and when Nvidia were unable to offer strong competition... up went the prices. High demand, average supply levels, and customers prepared to pay inflated prices for great technology.

Both AMD, and Intel have some nice products.. But in this case, I would stick with the 6 core intel, its definatly got the performance/watt on its side, and thats whats most interesting in the majority of server farms.

 

[drunkenmaster]

If Intel wanted though, they could just do what AMD have and stick two 6 core Xeons on one die. Which would crush AMD's 12 core. It's certainly possible as the Xeon X5670 (980X for Desktop) has a smaller die and lower power consumption than the Opteron 6 core chips on AMD's 12 core die, because of the 32nm process they're manufactured on. A 12 core Xeon would also have 24 threads because of HT.

Hopefully AMD's bulldozer in 2011 will actually compete. But at the same time Intel will also have a new achitecture by then (Sandy Bridge).

You're forgetting that sticking two 6 cores on one die, would DOUBLE the TDP, meaning they would have to drop the speed down to around 2/3rds(because power doesn't go down equally to speed, so you wouldn't need to go half speed to half the power usage) so Intel to stick 12 cores on one die, would have to massively reduce speed, so it wouldn't come close to half the speed.

You're also forgetting AMD managed to get 12 cores onto a single cpu at a TDP thats a ridiculous achievement on a higher process size. Thats incredibly impressive and a huge feat for the process size.

Intel are ahead on 32nm because up till recent AMD have been heavily limited by money for R&D, time and manufacturing constraints so upgrading to a new process takes longer in general. GloFo will pretty much bring it inline with Intel process innovations however it will take some time before they catch up.

if you factor in 32nm and the increased speed they could use with a reduced TDP at the same speed, and factor in the speed reduction o a 12 core xeon, they wouldn't be far off each other.

AS someone said, AMD being in the game AT ALL, on an old process, is basically incredible. Bulldozer will be an immense leap forward next year and the next few years could be ALL AMD. Because of there FPU/GPU producing advantage and specialisation, they can dedicate more of a CPU die to interger and still have unbelievable FPU performance. Bulldozer(probably second incarnation) will be scarily powerful.

80W at 2.2Ghz would be very impressive for a 6 core at 45nm, let alone 12 cores, its mindblowing in terms of manufacturing. THeres a reason why most people think GloFo are the single most advanced manufacturing brand out there. Intel have huge capacity, but I sincerely doubt they could make a 12 core Nehalem on 45nm at 80W

 

[JediFragger]

Very well put DM, AMD have done themselves proud considering the size of their resources (which will hopefully change now).

Really looking forward to Bulldozer too, and GloFo are gonna be kicking some ass in a few Quarters time