K8, K8L. Whats the difference?

MetalStorm · 5 Sep 2006 at 09:59

The title says it all...

Boogle · 5 Sep 2006 at 10:06

K8 - Athlon64
K8L - Next gen, also known as K9/K10.

lucifersam · 5 Sep 2006 at 10:33

K10 is something completely different, specualtion says it will be available late 2009 but i dont know for sure. K8L will be AMDs next gen microarchitecture update, although not a complete revamp of the K8 it will be native quad core, thats all I know about it really. oh and it will be released mid 2007

dark_hag666 · 5 Sep 2006 at 11:37

K8=K9

however K9 sounds to pet related for a micro architecture....

FrankJH · 5 Sep 2006 at 13:28

first time I have ever heard of K9 in reference to AMD ( but I do remember Dr Who's pal from years ago - sad huh)

locutus12 · 5 Sep 2006 at 15:24

dark_hag666 said:
K8=K9

however K9 sounds to pet related for a micro architecture....

dont you mean K8L=K9 ?

K8 is the current generation of AMD cpu`s, basically its a refference to the underpinning design of the chips.

the next line is being called K8L as AMD wanted to avoid any linking of their chips to dogs for some reason...(according to Wiki and AMD.com) personally i think it might be a good piece of marketing for them.

K8L has a new CPU architecture and is based on 65nm, that should at the very least enable AMD users to keep up with Core2 systems if not beat them again in graphics intensive areas.

It will also be able to take full advantage of the new Hypertransport and bus systems AMD are introducing next year.

Lan · 5 Sep 2006 at 16:55

lol i think K9 would have been a good codename for the next chips, they could nickname them canine's lol

locutus12 · 5 Sep 2006 at 16:58

Lan said:
lol i think K9 would have been a good codename for the next chips, they could nickname them canine's lol

this is what i said, i think it would have been a good marketing tool... maybe even a free stuffed dog toy in every AMD CPU box...

FrankJH · 5 Sep 2006 at 19:13

locutus12 said:
dont you mean K8L=K9 ?

K8 is the current generation of AMD cpu`s, basically its a refference to the underpinning design of the chips.

the next line is being called K8L as AMD wanted to avoid any linking of their chips to dogs for some reason...(according to Wiki and AMD.com) personally i think it might be a good piece of marketing for them.

K8L has a new CPU architecture and is based on 65nm, that should at the very least enable AMD users to keep up with Core2 systems if not beat them again in graphics intensive areas.

It will also be able to take full advantage of the new Hypertransport and bus systems AMD are introducing next year.

Also that K8L is only a re-engineering of the present process/ architechture rather than a completely new step (like K6>>>K7 >>>K8) so they are playing it safe also (imho)

Kamakazie! · 5 Sep 2006 at 19:42

FrankJH said:
Also that K8L is only a re-engineering of the present process/ architechture rather than a completely new step (like K6>>>K7 >>>K8) so they are playing it safe also (imho)

yep and it will feature many of the changes we have seen Intel make when going from the Core Duo to the Core2Duo.

NathanE · 5 Sep 2006 at 19:47

The contention point though is that Intel has 45nm Conroe chips planned for next year

and these too will have core logic tweaks...

Kamakazie! · 5 Sep 2006 at 22:38

NathanE said:
The contention point though is that Intel has 45nm Conroe chips planned for next year and these too will have core logic tweaks...

still won't have native quad core till the end of 07 though i thought?
as much as people might downplay it, that should bring about a fairly large performance boost in memory intensive tasks and the like. Non-native to native should see a much bigger performance increase from Intel than from AMD too, being that non-native (Kentsfield) will rely on the already stretched FSB to communicate between the 2 conroe dies.

to be honest, no one really knows how the performance of any of these are gonna shape up until we actually see the benchies.
For most of us on here, for now and till atleast 2H 07 (bar AMD bringing forward 65nm & K8L), Intel has the performance crown. Though value for money wise if you are not much of an overclocker, things are very competitive.

Angilion · 5 Sep 2006 at 23:43

locutus12 said:
this is what i said, i think it would have been a good marketing tool... maybe even a free stuffed dog toy in every AMD CPU box...

I don't think it would have worked well for AMD in the professional market, where there's more profit to be made. Good for a laugh with enthusiasts, but it could have backfired and made AMD look too lightweight and jokey for the formal dresscode business world.

It could also have been a problem in the rest of the market. Unless it spanked Intel's offerings at the time (and that doesn't seem likely), there would be plenty of comments about it being a real dog, a dog's breakfast, etc.

Although your stuffed dog toy idea might have worked to give AMD a sort of mascot, like the Linux penguin or the Dulux sheepdog.

The stakes are rather high to take the risk, though.

locutus12 · 6 Sep 2006 at 01:43

Angilion said:
I don't think it would have worked well for AMD in the professional market, where there's more profit to be made. Good for a laugh with enthusiasts, but it could have backfired and made AMD look too lightweight and jokey for the formal dresscode business world.

It could also have been a problem in the rest of the market. Unless it spanked Intel's offerings at the time (and that doesn't seem likely), there would be plenty of comments about it being a real dog, a dog's breakfast, etc.

Although your stuffed dog toy idea might have worked to give AMD a sort of mascot, like the Linux penguin or the Dulux sheepdog.

The stakes are rather high to take the risk, though.

NathanE · 6 Sep 2006 at 08:00

Kamakazie! said:
still won't have native quad core till the end of 07 though i thought?
as much as people might downplay it, that should bring about a fairly large performance boost in memory intensive tasks and the like. Non-native to native should see a much bigger performance increase from Intel than from AMD too, being that non-native (Kentsfield) will rely on the already stretched FSB to communicate between the 2 conroe dies.

to be honest, no one really knows how the performance of any of these are gonna shape up until we actually see the benchies.
For most of us on here, for now and till atleast 2H 07 (bar AMD bringing forward 65nm & K8L), Intel has the performance crown. Though value for money wise if you are not much of an overclocker, things are very competitive.

You're right quad core will be fast but in the mid-2007 timeframe it's not really a concern for desktop users. AMD will almost certainly savour its low yield quad core chips for high end Opteron parts. Once yields increase (which will probably take till '08) to sufficient levels to supply higher demand markets then they will release quad core to the masses. That said, they'll also be keeping an eye on what Intel is doing and plan their product releases accordingly. Make no mistake, AMD isn't going to instantly release cheap quad core chips on the K8L's launch day. They will wring out the K8L product lineup for as long as possible.

That said, K8L is still going to cause Intel some pretty big headaches in the server space right on launch day.

Kamakazie! · 6 Sep 2006 at 14:13

NathanE said:
You're right quad core will be fast but in the mid-2007 timeframe it's not really a concern for desktop users. AMD will almost certainly savour its low yield quad core chips for high end Opteron parts. Once yields increase (which will probably take till '08) to sufficient levels to supply higher demand markets then they will release quad core to the masses. That said, they'll also be keeping an eye on what Intel is doing and plan their product releases accordingly. Make no mistake, AMD isn't going to instantly release cheap quad core chips on the K8L's launch day. They will wring out the K8L product lineup for as long as possible.

That said, K8L is still going to cause Intel some pretty big headaches in the server space right on launch day.

Whilst i agree that Quad-core won't be a concern for most desktop users (where almost all the sales are at), for us enthusiasts it will be. That is just the way it is.
AMD have previously stated that they will ramp 65nm with good yields at the end of this year, this means by the time K8L is launchued, the 65nm process should be sorted. Bar any major problems with manufacturing the K8L, i can't see the yields being all that low. However, if it is as good as people expect, the server market is likely to eat up just about everything AMD can produce. Lets just hope for us that some of those AM2 Opterons get in to the channel

lucifersam · 6 Sep 2006 at 14:45

In an ideal world I would like to see one of these quad cores priced at around £400-500 then that would spark my interrest, I wouldnt normally pay that much but for quad core I think I might stretch, having never owned an AMD it would also be a jump to the otherside!

MetalStorm · 7 Sep 2006 at 08:26

So what is the actual difference between the K8 and K8L architecturally?

lucifersam · 7 Sep 2006 at 08:55

i dont think AMD have actually released any details on the K8L architecture but we know that it will be a native quad core CPU, where as the current K8 is native dual core

ots3go · 7 Sep 2006 at 11:40

http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=31761

For the ever so popular Inquirer's POV