AMD and Nvidia Gonna launch new pro-grade GPUs & APUs

Pro-graphics fans have received some good news this week, as both Nvidia and AMD have outed their latest-generation high-end products for the workstation market - including the first workstation-class accelerated processing units (APUs.)

First, Nvidia's announcement: the Quadro K5000. Based on the latest Kepler GPU, the Quadro K5000 includes 1,536 CUDA cores and 4GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit memory bus. The result, Nvidia claims, is a card capable of pushing 2,150 gigaflops in single-precision mode or 90 gigaflops in double-precision mode. Coupled with support for DVI-I, DVI-D and DisplayPort monitors - with the option to drive up to four independent displays from a single board - the company is clearly hoping to win over pro-graphics types with the two-slot 122W TDP design.

As befits a Kepler board, the Quadro K5000 also includes bindless texture support for referencing over a million in-memory textures with reduced CPU overhead and TXAA anti-aliasing - both features missing from prior Quadro products.

If you were thinking about adding a Quadro board to your next build, however, the price may be something of a stumbling block: while UK pricing has yet to be confirmed, Nvidia has given the Quadro K5000 a US recommended retail price of $2,249 (around £1,440 excluding taxes) ahead of its planned release in October. For those who prefer pre-builds, Nvidia has announced that Maximums systems - combining a Tesla K20 processor with the Quadro K5000 - will be available from the likes of Dell, Fujitsu, HP, Lenovo and Supermicro by the end of the year.

AMD's offerings start with a quartet of FirePro boards based on the Graphics Core Next (GCN) architecture. The entry point for the new boards is the FirePro W500, a Pitcairn-based system which packs 2GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit memory bus with a claimed performance of 1,270 gigaflops single-precision or 80 gigaflops double-precision. A single-slit design, the board includes two DisplayPort outputs and a single dual-link DVI port, and boasts a fairly sedate TDP of just 75W.

For those who demand more, the FirePro W7000 doubles the memory to 4GB of GDDR5, boosts performance to 2,430 gigaflops single-precision and 150 gigaflops double-precision, includes four DisplayPort outputs and has a 150W TDP in - again - a single-slot design.

Moving from the Pitcairn boards to the Tahiti boards, things get bulkier: the FirePro W8000 has a 189W TDP and a hefty dual-slot design, but manages 3,230 gigaflops single-precision and 810 gigaflops double-precision. If that's not enough, the top-end FirePro W9000 includes 6GB of GDDR5 memory on a 384-bit memory bus, packs six mini-DisplayPorts and boasts 3,990 gigaflops single-precision and 1,000 gigaflops double-precision performance - but has a massive 274W TDP.

Pricing for AMD's standalone FirePro range starts fairly low, but rapidly ramps up: US RRPs for the range have been given as $599 for the FirePro W5000, $899 for the FirePro W7000, $1,599 for the FirePro W8000 and a whopping $3,999 for the FirePro W9000.

Alongside the standalone FirePro boards came AMD's announcement of two FirePro APU chips. The first, the AMD FirePro A300, boasts a 3.4GHz base clock speed peaking at 4GHz in single-core turbo mode and a 65W TDP, while the AMD FirePro A320 speeds things up with a 3.8GHz base clock and 4.2GHz peak turbo clock in a 100W TDP. Both models include 384 stream processors, running at 760MHz on the A300 and 800MHz on the A320.

AMD is hoping that its FirePro-certified APUs will help end the stigma of on-board graphics for professional purposes, promising full compatibility with even high-end software packages. Better still, the company claims that a FirePro A300 will outperform Nvidia's Quadro 600 entry-level dedicated graphics board.

What AMD isn't currently sharing is the price, stating only that off-the-shelf systems based on the two new FirePro APUs will be appearing some time later this month.

Source: bittech.net

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AMD FM2 socket Athlon II X4 processors

Although the exact details on AMD's upcoming generation of 32 nm A-series 'Trinity' APUs are unclear, several plans regarding budget models for the FM2 platform have already been unveiled. At least three Athlon chips will be released, which can be combined with the A85X chipset.

All three models will be based on the Piledriver architecture and are quad-core models with 4 MB of L2 cache. The reference clock frequency ranges from 2.8 Ghz to 3.4 GHz, although it's likely that a Turbo mode will also be available. The Athlon II X4 730 and 740 have TDPs of 65 watts, while the unlocked 750K chip has a TPD of 100 W.

For now, it's not clear whether the integrated GPU will be enabled or not. It's likely that this is not the case, as the 'Llano' Athlon chips for the FM1 socket also had their video chips disabled. Given the lack of an integrated graphics card on the A85X chipset, if that were the case, the cheap 'Piledriver' Athlon chips would always have to be combined with a relatively expensive discrete graphics card.

Processor	Cores	Clock frequency	L2-cache	TDP
Athlon II X4 730	4	2,8 GHz	4 MB	65 watts
Athlon II X4 740	4	3,2 GHz	4 MB	65 watts
Athlon II X4 750K	4	3,4 GHz	4 MB	100 watts

Source: Hardware.info

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AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition

Radeon series GPU holds a slight edge in multi-monitor gaming

The latest round of the graphics war is over. Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD) came storming out first [1][2][3], but in the end it was NVIDIA Corp (NVDA) who seized the peformance crown with its GeForce GTX 680 Kepler GPU. And that's where the story might have ended, had AMD not said "not so fast."

AMD countered with a specially binned Radeon HD 7970 "Gigahertz Edition" (GE). The new card is essentially the exact same as the original Radeon HD 7970, which shipped at the end of January. But it does bump the core clock from 925 MHz up to 1000 MHz (hence the GHZ part) and the memory clock from 5.5 GHz to 6 GHz.

But the majority of the gains come from a new set of drivers that in some ways mirror NVIDIA's Kepler drivers, by providing a "Boost" mode. Unlike the Kepler drivers, AMD locks the cards into a solid maximum clock -- 1050 GHz -- which is sort of nice, given that you know what you're getting. This contrasts with NVIDIA which guarantees a minimum boost clock, but whose maximum boost clock is somewhat random depending on chip quality -- essentially luck of the draw.

That's all fine and good, but the compelling question is whether the Gigahertz Edition was worth alerting the press and claiming to steal NVIDIA's thunder. Well it turns out it does provide a significant boost over the base model, enough to put it in contention once more for the graphics crown.

The card trades blows with the Geforce GTX 680 in AnandTech's testing, with neither card managing a convincing victory. The only area where one card clearly wins is in the multi-monitor tests, where AMD's card is the clear winner.

The most important issue thus becomes price. Both the GTX 680 and new HD 7970 GE are $500 USD. Thus the graphics races is essentially a dead heat.

Moving down the ladder AMD offers the base HD 7970 for $430 USD. For $30 USD less NVIDIA offers the $400 USD GTX 670 -- which predictably has a bit less performance than HD 7970. Then there's AMD's HD 7950 at $360, which is in turn a bit lower performance than the GTX 670.

In other words, smart pricing from both companies means that the best card for you in this round of the graphics war depends on which price point you're looking at. At the points occupied by AMD, AMD wins, at the points occupied by NVIDIA, NVIDIA wins. But at the top there's now no longer a clear winner.Click To See AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition Review

Source: Dailytech.com

Tags: AMD, Graphic Cards, AMD Radeon HD 7970

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AMD Trinity In Samsung Series 5 Notebooks

Good news for the AMD faithful who are attracted to Samsung's Series 5 thin and light notebooks. It appears Samsung has decided to play both sides of the processor ball field, including not only Intel Ivy Bridge configurations, but also a couple of models that boast AMD's Trinity-based accelerated processing units (APUs) inside.

The Samsung Series 5 535 13.3-inch (1366x768 resolution) laptop sports an AMD quad-core A6-4455M APU clocked at 2.1GHz, Radeon HD 7500G graphics, 4GB of DDR3-1333 memory (supports up to 8GB), 500GB 5400 RPM hard drive, 1.3MP webcam, 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, GbE LAN, HDMI output, a pair of USB 2.0 ports, a single USB 3.0 port, 4-in-1 memory card reader, and Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit. As configured, pricing starts at $700.

For those who need something a bit bigger, the Samsung Series 5 535 14-inch model features a similar configuration, but comes with an A10-4655M APU, 750GB hard drive, and an optical drive. Pricing starts at $850.

Source: Hothardware

Tags: AMD, AMD Trinity, Processor, Notebook, Laptop

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AMD Bulldozer FX-8150 Overclocked Upto 9GHz

Records were meant to be broken. Earlier in the week we told you about the impressive overclocking achievement for an AMD FX-8150 hitting over 8.8 GHz. Now be prepared for even more.

The very same ksin was able to push his setup even further, hitting a new high mark of over 9 GHz. The Asus Crosshair V Formula motherboard with only two cores enabled on the AMD FX-8150 was able to reach a clock speed of 9062.43 MHz (287.7 * 31.5).

It may not be an entirely practical implementation of the processor, but it's sure a very nice clock speed.

Source: Tomshardware

Tags: AMD, AMD Bulldozer, Tech News, Processor

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AMD's Trinity Processor vs Intel's Ivy Bridge, Ivy Bridge Tops Trinity

The "risk-off" trade, combined with what seems to be broader acceptance that we are unlikely to see a sharp semiconductor cyclical revenue snapback, will likely continue to weigh on the group despite gradually improving fundamentals.

We are in no rush to catch a falling knife, and we would ideally like to see wider recognition that semis are closer to our model of U.S. GDP plus 100 basis-points growth, but with the PHLX Semiconductor Sector (SOX) already 17% off its recent peak and valuations appearing to be more reasonable than they were even a month ago (pure cyclicals in our coverage now under 15 times our below-consensus 2013 earnings-per-share estimates), improving visibility into even a seasonal third quarter/fourth quarter (which would put second-half 202 up 10% year-over-year and drive full-year 2012 flattish over 2011) would make us more constructive on the group as a whole.

A relatively quiet week from a fundamental perspective -- management commentary from a large competitor conference remains comparatively optimistic, with several mentions of a potential inventory cycle despite macro concerns. Our own field work suggests that, while de-stocking is complete, there is no impetus from customers to build inventory, leaving semis at the mercy of end demand.

Offset reporter Analog Devices (ticker: ADI) (Tuesday) will help gauge broad-based semi trends -- our model is essentially in line with consensus for both the April and July quarters, though below for October and fiscal 2013. Results from Dell (DELL) (Tuesday) and Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) (Wednesday) will be important for the PC chain, and BBY (Tuesday) should provide a read-through into demand for consumer electronics. A variety of semi names will present at a competitor conference in New York, and, hot on the heels of its recent April quarter results, Nvidia (NVDA) will hold its analyst day Thursday.

Advance Micro Devices' (AMD) Trinity seems unlikely to gain share, and will likely compete on price rather than performance against Intel's (INTC) Ivy Bridge. Earlier this week, AMD announced the rollout of its long-awaited Trinity APU (next generation advanced processing unit, which combines a 32nm Piledriver CPU and Northern Islands GPU on a single die).

Bulls have focused on the potential for Trinity to gain market share in PC client -- our view, based on field work, an analysis of available performance data, and a collection of product reviews, is that Trinity will compete primarily on price rather than performance. Launch timing has also been disappointing to many, with Ivy Bridge generally available ahead of comparable Trinity products.

This disappointment, combined with AMD's lagging position in high-average selling price (ASP)/high-margin server CPU -- our due diligence suggests that AMD is essentially not part of the discussion when it comes to data-center builds -- suggests that many remain overly optimistic on AMD's earnings potential for 2012-2013.

Source: Onlinebarrons

Tags: Intel, Ivy Bridge, AMD, AMD Trinity, Processor

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Intel Ivy Bridge's New Rival Is AMD Trinity

AMD challenges Intel's upcoming Ivy Bridge processors, with an eye to powerful graphics and long battery life for ultrabook-like machines and laptops.


AMD released its Trinity chips Tuesday, its second generation A-series APU (accelerated processing units.) These low-power chips are intended for ultrabook-like laptops, traditional laptops, and some all-in-one desktops. Trinity offers better performance and lower power utilization than the previous AMD Llano family of chips. 


The new chip designs call for about 10% more transistors on a slightly larger die, using the same 32 nm manufacturing process as the previous family of chips known as Llano. However the new chip uses AMD's latest CPU core design, called Piledriver, which succeeds Bulldozer.


The chip also offers more and better graphics power (using AMD's Radeon technology.) In other words, Trinity is designed for speed and tuned for very high resolution displays. The added transistors and higher performance all on the same process might lead you to believe the chip will be power hungry, but AMD says it has tuned power management so that a 17 watt version of Trinity will outperform the 17 watt version of Llano by a 2:1 factor. AMD also showed charts showing that Trinity chips offer about the same or superior battery life versus Intel's existing i5 chips, which have been shipping since first quarter 2011.


Using various popular applications, AMD shows itself neck and neck with Intel in battery efficiency; however the comparison is with Intel Sandy Bridge chips rather than Intel's upcoming Ivy Bridge chips for ultrabooks, which are said by Intel to be a good bit more power efficient than Sandy Bridge. Whichever company's chip you choose, battery life is likely to be in the six to nine hour range for most laptop designs, which is a healthy improvement over what most of us are used to now. Much of what's new with Trinity has to do with better graphics support. While the gamers and movie watchers will have an obvious attraction to the better video, there are business applications too, including high definition video chats, and some applications for traders where multiscreen support and high-speed rendering are important. AMD says its new video technologies are already supported by IE, Firefox, Chrome, and Windows media player among others.


If you're a gamer, AMD says you'll notice 20 to 50% improvement over Intel's Ivy Bridge chips in performance, depending on the game and the resolution and quality.


The higher you have the game's video quality settings cranked up, the better AMD will perform, AMD says. (AMD is citing third party results for Ivy Bridge performance, so the tests are not precisely apples to apples.)


Along with improvements in video and core CPU, AMD's big add is to support ultrathin device form factors.


Can a mobile device be an Ultrabook if it doesn't have an Intel chip? Probably not, but it can sure look like one.


Source: informationweek

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HP Laptop Launch Includes AMD 'Sleekbook'

Along with remodeling its consumer laptop line, HP has answered the curiosity of onlookers who wondered what a vendor might call an ultra-thin portable with an AMD processor that disqualified it from Intel's ultrabook trademark: Meet the Sleekbook.


 Actually, the AMD APU-equipped, 15.6-inch HP Envy Sleekbook (shipping June 20 for $599.99) is accompanied by an Intel-powered 14-inch model (shipping May 9 for $699.99) with optional discrete graphics, as opposed to the "discrete-class" graphics of the AMD laptop. Each starts at 4 pounds, measures just 20mm thick, and features HP's Beats Audio with two speakers and a subwoofer. 


The 14-inch Envy Sleekbook offers a 500GB hard drive and, HP claims, up to eight hours of battery life; the 15.6-inch model comes with a 320GB drive and up to nine hours of battery life. For consumers who crave the Intel trademark, May 9 will also see the debut of 14- and 15.6-inch HP Envy Ultrabooks (starting at $749.99 and $799.99, respectively). They, too, slide under the 20mm limbo stick and offer 2.1 Beats Audio.


Each comes with 4GB of RAM and a 500GB hard drive plus 32GB mSATA SSD cache, as well as Intel ultrabook features including Rapid Start, Identity Protection, and Smart Connect Technologies; HP promises up to eight and nine hours of unplugged operation for the 14- and 15.6-inch models, respectively. Another new Envy model, the Envy Spectre XT, is a premium 13.3-inch ultrabook positioned above the HP Folio 13. A fraction lighter than the Folio at 3.1 pounds, the $999.99 system has similar hardware specs—4GB of memory, a 128GB solid-state drive, a backlit keyboard—with the exception of being available with an Intel third-generation "Ivy Bridge" processor. Its software bundle includes full versions of Adobe Premiere Elements 10 and Photoshop Elements 10 and a two-year subscription to Norton Internet Security. Featuring Beats Audio with quad speakers, the Spectre XT will ship June 8.


The rest of HP's new consumer laptops wear the Pavilion brand, led by the Pavilion m6—a 15.6-inch model in a slim chassis about a pound lighter than the 6-pound Pavilion dv6. Available with Intel or AMD processors and an optional backlit keyboard, the brushed aluminum m6 boasts 2.1 Beats Audio and will start at $699.99 when it reaches Best Buy and HP Direct in June.


The 15.6-inch Pavilion dv6 ($549.99) and 17.3-inch Pavilion dv7 ($799.99) have been redesigned with a metal finish in midnight black, a soft-touch panel at the base of the display cover for an easy-to-hold profile, quad speakers, and optional Nvidia GeForce graphics. HP's best-selling economy models, the Pavilion g6 and g7 (starting at $479.99 and $549.99, respectively), offer a new island-style keyboard with bowl-shaped keyboard deck, as well as Dolby enhanced audio with an exposed speaker bar for better sound projection. They'll be available July 25 in red, white, black, blue, and purple.


Source: Pcmag

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AMD Snags x86 Market Share from Intel Ahead of Ivy Bridge Launch

Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) managed to lessen the gap between it and Intel in the x86 space, even if just by a smidgen. According to Mercury Research's latest data, AMD's x86 market share jumped nearly a full percentage point from 18.2 percent to 19.1 percent in the first quarter of 2012, compared to Intel, which dropped from 81 percent to 80.2 percent, nearly the same margin as AMD's gain.

These figures represent x86 market share prior to Intel's Ivy Bridge launch, which became official earlier this week. Ivy Bridge is Intel's newest processor line built on a 22nm manufacturing process using 3D transistors, a combination that adds up to higher performing parts with a lower power consumption than that of previous generation Core processors (Sandy Bridge).

"One of the things that is clear is that the market is adopting new technology faster than it used to. I would expect Ivy Bridge to ramp aggressively," said Dean McCarron, principal analyst at Mercury Research, according to NetworkWorld.

That's bad news for AMD, though the Sunnyvale chip maker is attempting to counter Intel's Ivy Bridge launch with a series of price cuts to its A-Series APU and FX Series processors. Also helping AMD is the fact that buyers are trending towards lower cost notebooks, many of which have AMD inside, McCarron said.

Source: Hothardware

Tags: AMD, AMD Bulldozer

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AMD cuts Radeon HD 7900,7700 series prices, bundles three free games

As expected, AMD has finally cut the prices of the HD 7970, HD 7950 and HD 7770 series graphics cards after the release of the GeForce GTX 680.

With the successful launch of the GeForce GTX 680, it was only a matter of time before AMD would counter with a price drop of their new HD 7000 series cards. Initially, AMD didn't react to the GTX 680 hitting the market because of the very limited availability of it. If users wanted a high-end card, the HD 7900 series was your best available option. Now with the GTX 680 becoming more available, AMD needed to drop the price of the HD 7900 series to remain a viable option for price to performance against the GTX 680. As part of an AMD Gaming Evolved announcement, AMD announced it would be closely partnering up with THQ and Codemasters on some AMD optimized titles, as well as dropping some graphics card prices.

The promotion between THQ and Codemasters is known as the "Three for Free" promotion. The three titles are Deus Ex: Human Revolution, DiRT Showdown and Nexuiz. AMD stated that it will be bundling these games with their graphics cards starting April 16th. In a statement, AMD said, "Rolling through select etailer and retailer partners shortly, we will be launching the Three for Free promotion, bundling a free copy of Dirt Showdown and Nexuiz with each AMD Radeon HD 7900 Series graphics card. We will also be including a full copy of one of the top titles of 2011; Deus Ex: Human Revolution, as well as its DLC expansion The Missing Link." Adding three bundled games to the Radeon HD 7900 series is a nice value-added bonus to end-users.

The prices of the HD 7970 are dropping from $549 to $479, with the HD 7950 dropping from $449 to $399. AMD looks to be banking on the "Three for Free" bundle, the price drop and the fact of ready availability of the HD 7900 series to continue to spark sales against the GTX 680. In addition, AMD cutting the price of the HD 7770 to below the $150 price point at $139.

"The AMD Radeon HD 7970 is now priced at an incredible $479 and continues to be the only enthusiast card available in volume, while the AMD Radeon HD 7950 is now an impulse buy away, at $399, and on both of these you will see our Three For Free offer which includes Dirt Showdown, Nexuiz and Deus Ex: Human Revolution with The Missing Link DLC. And one more thing, for those looking for access to a cutting-edge graphics experience at a very wallet-friendly price, AMD Radeon HD 7770 GHz edition graphics cards will now be available at the sub-$150 sweet spot, as low as $139(US) SEP."

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Intel, AMD Next-Gen Chip Release Dates Leaked

Intel and Advanced Micro Devices appear to be having some trouble keeping their next-generation product release dates under wraps. Over the past week, rumored details have leaked about Intel's launch plans for processors code named Ivy Bridge and on Tuesday, sources revealed what they claimed was a definitive date for AMD's introduction of its new "Trinity" accelerated processing units (APUs).

AMD's Trinity chips, which succeed the Llano generation of APUs, feature the company's new Piledriver central processing core and an improved graphics processing architecture. The chip maker's latest addition to its line of hybrid CPU-GPU units is rumored to be launching on May 15, according to CPU World, citing a report from SWEClockers.

The Trinity launch will include desktop and notebook APUs, CPU World reported. Some more low-power APUs for "thin-and-light" laptops (essentially, what AMD's archival Intel has dubbed ultrabooks) are reportedly set for a June release.

Intel, meanwhile, had originally planned to launch Ivy Bridge this month but production issues caused the chip giant to push the launch of the bulk of chips in its next-generation, 22-nanometer product line to June, Intel executive Sean Maloney said back in February.

Now it looks like a whole bunch of Ivy Bridge processors could show up on the original schedule, after all. Last week, CPU World pointed to reports from SWEclockers and Donanimhaber pointing to an April 29 release date for Ivy Bridge desktop and notebook CPUs.

The processors that are supposed to arrive on that date include several new Core i5 and Core i7 chips for the desktop market, and three Core i7 mobile processors as well (list below). All of the Ivy Bridge parts rumored for an April 29 arrival are quad-core CPUs, with some additional dual-core mobile chips (plus another handful of quad-core desktop chips) supposedly coming on June 3, according to CPU World.

Adding to the intrigue was a CNET report on Wednesday that suggests that Hewlett-Packard will be launching a bunch of Ivy Bridge-based laptops as early as next week.

CPU News wasn't initially sure about when Intel would announce that Ivy Bridge was arriving sooner than expected, but noted on Tuesday that the Chinese-language VR-Zone now claims that the company will announce its new products on April 23. That date doesn't seem to jibe with CNET's report on HP's plans, however, so we'll have to wait and see how all of this plays out.

In the meantime, here's the breakdown of specs and prices for Intel Ivy Bridge CPUs that are supposedly going to arrive before the month is out:

Ivy Bridge Quad-Core, Eight-Thread Desktop CPUs

Core i7-3770K (3.5GHz, 3.9 GHz w/Turbo Boost, 8MB L3 Cache, 77W): $332

Core i7-3770 (3.4GHz, 3.9GHz w/Turbo Boost, 8MB L3 Cache, 77W): $294

Core i7-3770S (3.1GHz, 3.9 GHz w/Turbo Boost, 8MB L3 Cache, 65W): $294

Core i7-3770T (2.5GHz, 3.7GHz w/Turbo Boost, 8MB L3 Cache, 45W): $294

Ivy Bridge Quad-Core, Four-Thread Desktop CPUs

Core i5-3570K (3.4GHz, 3.8GHz w/Turbo Boost, 6MB L3 Cache, 77W): $225

Core i5-3570T (2.3GHz, 3.3 GHz w/Turbo Boost, 6MB L3 Cache, 45W): $205

Core i5-3550 (3.3GHz, 3.7GHz w/Turbo Boost, 6MB L3 Cache, 77W): $205

Core i5-3550S (3.0GHz, 3.7GHz w/Turbo Boost, 6MB L3 Cache, 65W): $205

Core i5-3450 (3.1GHz, 3.5GHz w/Turbo Boost, 6MB L3 Cache, 77W): $184

Ivy Bridge Quad-Core, Eight-Thread Mo bile CPUs

Core i7-3920XM (2.9GHz, 3.8GHz w/Turbo Boost, 8MB L3 Cache, 55W): $1096

Core i7-3820QM (2.7GHz, 3.7GHz w/Turbo Boost, 8MB L3 Cache, 45W): $568

Core i7-3720QM (2.6GHz, 3.6GHz w/Turbo Boost, 6MB L3 Cache, 45W): $378

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AMD Plans 10-Core Processor for 2012 Launch

Even though there is still some time left until AMD launches its first desktop processors based on the Bulldozer architecture, the company already has ambitious plans for the following year, as 2012 will mark the introduction of its first 10-core processor.

This will be part of the Corona platform, which is supposed to replace Scorpius as the company's high-end solution in the enthusiast desktop space.

From the information that is available at this point in time, Komodo will be built using the Piledriver CPU core, which should come as an upgraded version of Bulldozer, and will feature a similar feature set with that of its predecessors.

This includes an on-board DDR3 memory controller as well as support for the Turbo Core technology, which will get to the 3.0 version.

AMD's next-generation Bulldozer processors will also arrive with a new socket design, that goes by the name of FM2 and that will also be used by the 2012 Trinity APUs.

Together with the new processor, AMD pals to introduce a new family of motherboard chipsets, which will update the specifications of the company's current controllers.

According to the leaked slide, the biggest change to be introduced with these new chipsets, will be the move to an FCH (Fusion controller hub) design, which means that the PCI Express controller will be integrated inside the Komodo processors.

In addition, the Hydson D4 chipset will also bring native support for USB 3.0 (up to four such ports), eight SATA 6Gbps ports, RAID 0/1/5/10 support as well as 10 USB 2.0 ports.

The leaked AMD slide also goes on to detail the company's Virgo and Deccan platforms, which are expected to replace the current Lynx and Brazos solutions.

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WHD 2012 – New AMD Opteron 3200 Chip Targets Dedicated Hosting Providers

John Fruehe of AMD announces the company's new Opteron 3200 series chips for dedicated hosting, at World Hosting Days 2012

Processor maker AMD announced on Tuesday, at World Hosting Days in Germany, that its new AMD Opteron 3200 series processors are the latest solutions in its web and cloud initiative, designed with the needs of dedicated hosting providers in mind.

In the press release announcing the Opteron 3200 series, AMD says its new processor offers hosting providers improvements of 38 percent in price performance and 68 percent better performance per dollar, along with reductions of up to 19 percent in power per core.

In a Tuesday afternoon presentation at Word Hosting Days in Germany, John Fruehe director of product marketing and business development at AMD said the new chip was developed using input specifically collected from the hosting provider community. Designed to be used in a single-socket environment, the chip is aimed at the dedicated hosting market with a low cost and low power configuration.

Hosts can recover the cost of the gear via hosting fees in as little as seven months, says Fruehe, getting hosting providers to the point of making money off a given server up to 14 percent faster than “the competition” (referring to a specific Intel chip, no doubt).

The AMD Opteron 3200 is available in three models, designed around low cost, high speed threads and multithreaded loads, respectively.

He says the company is delivering a product in a desktop-class price range, with all the server-class features you could want. A range of providers, including several present at World Hosting Days, are already producing server systems using the Opteron 3200 series chips, for hosting environments.

In his presentation Fruehe says AMD’s recent acquisition of server card maker SeaMicro has compelling applications for dedicated hosting environments. Using SeaMicro’s server cards with AMD chip components and third-party rack hardware, hosts can build ultra-dense server racks.

More details, he says, will be available when the acquisition is completed. But the ultra-dense raking concept sounds similar to Dell’s micro-server hardware – a fitting comparison since Dell is one of the hardware partners mentioned earlier in the presentation, introducing new gear based on the Opteron 3200 series chips.

“AMD is a great partner, and we’re excited about the new AMD Opteron 3200 Series CPU. It allows us to create a custom design for our DCS customers, and deliver a compelling combination of performance and energy efficiency,” says Dell Data Center Solutions’ Steve Cumings, quoted in the AMD press release announcing the new chips. “As the leader in the Density-Optimized market segment, we require focused partner technology within industry standards — and this is a good fit for our customers.”

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