AMD Demos 8-core Agena FX system

[shocky123]

TomsHardware:
http://www.tgdaily.com/content/view/31977/135/




Monterey (CA) – AMD is getting more aggressive in discussing technologies that are cooking in the company’s labs. What we learned today is that Agena, the firm’s upcoming desktop quad-core processor in fact is alive and kicking and stream processing may very well reach beyond the enterprise application market and finally enable high-powered consumer applications the IT industry promised ten years ago.

AMD is sailing through rough seas these days and there wasn’t much positive news we were able to report about the company lately. However, just in a time when you would expect it the least, AMD is shifting gears and adjust its approach to provide information about technologies that are on the market already, products that will be introduced in the near term and products that are scheduled to be introduced in a few years down the road.

Among the product demos that AMD brought along, especially two products stood out: First, the company showed off the Agena FX quad-core processor, running in tandem with ATI R600 graphics cards as well as DDR2-1066 memory in two test systems. Agena FX is the desktop version of the “Barcelona” Opteron quad-core processor and is scheduled to be launched sometime after Barcelona, which apparently is still on track for a mid-2007 introduction.

AMD had two systems on display, a single-socket “Hammerhead” quad-core Agena FX system as well as a “Wahoo” dual-socket eight-core system, which extends AMD’s dual-socket enthusiast system approach. Details about Agena FX, which is rumored to launch with clock speeds up to 2.9 GHz, were not disclosed and AMD avoided showing any benchmark performance numbers. However, the eight-core system was able to convert 720p video from one format to another (the company declined to comment on file formats) in real time – while maxing out all eight cores at the same time.



I'm excited, at least for the Opterons, good to see they're still working on the SMP desktop models :-)

[zippyjuan]

A little more info:

AMD Showcasing 45nm Samples.
45nm CPUs to Start Shipping in Mass by Mid 2008

Category: CPU

by Aleksey Razin

[ 05/10/2007 | 04:56 PM ]


We have already pointed out multiple times that in the ideological fight between the two micro-processors giants Intel is always focuses on its superiority when it comes to mastering new production technologies. AMD tries to object by saying that the new production process alone doesn’t bring any advantages and it is all about progressive architecture. No matter what arguments both parties have at their disposal, we all understand very well that an ideal CPU should combine progressive architecture with progressive technological process. The first ensures high performance, while the latter promises high production yields, low production cost and low power consumption. Note that AMD still lacks production capacities, so they are really hurrying to start manufacturing more compact 45nm CPUs as soon as possible.


Knowing very well how important it is to master 45nm process, yesterday in California, USA AMD representatives demonstrated an actual 300mm silicon wafer containing 45nm semiconductor chips. They were very brief about the architecture of these chips: SRAM memory and some logic. Actually, this is practically ready raw material for production of 45nm processors.

The wafer was produced on Dresden Fab 36. This gives us to understand that this will be the first fab to get involved into 45nm wafers manufacturing process. They should start wafer mass production in the end of 2007, when Intel threatens to start shipping the first 45nm CPUs. AMD is going to begin shipping 45nm processors by the middle of 2008, according to our colleagues from TG Daily site.

HardOCP reports that at the same event AMD demonstrated single- and dual-processor systems built around Opteron Barcelona (K10) processors. They didn’t mention any of the system specs, but demonstrated Spiderman 3 movie trailer encoding into H.264 format with 1080p quality. On a dual-processor system this process was going on almost in real-time. The processor and chipset heatsinks were hardly getting warm at all. And that was about it on the new CPUs. This demonstration is evidently just a small episode of a more massive campaign, so stay tuned for more news.



http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/cpu/display/20070510165535.html

[shocky123]

So I've heard 4 different claims on the video encoding that they did?

Wonder whats up with that.

[zippyjuan]

More info:

AMD Promises Desktop Quad-Core CPUs by Christmas.
AMD Shares New Details on Upcoming Processors

Category: CPU

by Aleksey Razin

[ 05/11/2007 | 02:38 PM ]


We have recently got a chance to dig through some latest AMD roadmaps, which dissipated all our doubts and concerns about the upcoming launch dates and expansion of K10 generation of new AMD processors. It was evident that Q3 is obviously the earliest when new quad-core CPUs can appear this year, and as for the dual-core K10 solutions, we shouldn’t expect them before Q4 2007. Moreover, AMD is shooting for 1 million quad-cores by the end of 2007 including server Opteron CPUs that will make the biggest share of the shipment volumes.


Yesterday members of the press got a chance to see the first quad-core AMD processors with their own eyes. At this time, those who were present at the event are bound by the NDA agreements, however some info has still been released to the public. Most of it was disclosed by TG Daily site. According to them, AMD demonstrated Phenom FX (Agena FX) processors for Socket F+ (Socket G) working with R600 based graphics cards and DDR2-1066 memory. By the way, this system configuration proves that K10 processors feature DDR2-1066 support implemented in their memory controller.

They also showcased new mainboards based on AMD’s own chipsets developed by ATI engineering team. As you may remember, the list of chipsets supporting K10 CPU is quite long. They showcased three mainboards: Seahorse, Wahoo and Hammerhead. The first one is an inexpensive solution for Socket AM2+ platform based on AMD 690 chipset. The second one (Wahoo) is most likely based on RD790, and features two Sockets F+ (Sockets G) for quad-core Agena FX processors, three graphics card slots (PCI Express x16 + PCI Express x8 + PCI Express x8) and four DIMM slots. The third mainboard (Hammerhead) can accommodate only one Socket AM2+ processor, but boasts four graphics card slots onboard. There are four DIMM slots for the memory.

By the way, the demo system performed not only video encoding. They rendered images, calculated physics, detected motion and performed photo face recognition. Some of these tasks will over time become the prerogative of hybrid Fusion processors combining traditional processor and graphics cores in one. AMD believes that hybrid processors will come forward by 2012.

DailyTech site has also shared some very interesting news. Our colleagues reported that AMD will introduce their Phenom FX trademark this coming Monday. Robert Rivet, AMD executive vice president and chief financial officer, revealed more definite launching schedule for the upcoming quad-core server Barcelona processor. According to hi, it should happen in July or August 2007. Desktop Agena FX (Phenom FX) processors are scheduled to arrive a little later, but they will only be used in Quad FX Socket F or Socket F+ (Socket G) systems.

He also promised that we would see Agena (Phenom X4) processors this year, too. Robert Rivet claimed that we will be able to buy these processors by Christmas, i.e. in the end of December. They are formally due in Q3 2007. So, it may take some time for the shipments to take their pace. Consumers’ buying activity is usually very high in November and December, therefore it was very important for AMD to stress that you would be able to get yourself a Phenom X4 processor for Christmas or New Year.

[johnnymk]

Doea anyone really care about multi-core processors? Who performs more than one task most of the time; two tasks occasionally?

And is there software available for mult-core taskng?

Personally, if the manufacturers could have solved the heat issue, I would have preferred faster processors.

[Napoleon54]

Doea anyone really care about multi-core processors? Who performs more than one task most of the time; two tasks occasionally?

And is there software available for mult-core taskng?

Personally, if the manufacturers could have solved the heat issue, I would have preferred faster processors.

Multi-tasking, who DOESN'T?! Right now I'm running light at home, just: Opera, Task Manager, one explorer window, WinAmp, Outlook Express, Gaim, plus whatever stuff is running in the background. Most people have a virus scan which takes up a lot of resources.

At work I usually have going: 2 Opera windows (one for work and one for pleasure), Eudora, Gaim, Win Media Player, MS Word, MS Excel, Eudora, uTorrent, task manager, a few explorer windows, a calendar/ scheduling program, Norton, whatever is running in the background, and one or two other resource-intensive apps.

Multitasking is mega important.

[Cubsfan]

Doea anyone really care about multi-core processors? Who performs more than one task most of the time; two tasks occasionally?

And is there software available for mult-core taskng?

Personally, if the manufacturers could have solved the heat issue, I would have preferred faster processors.

Like Nap said, everyone uses multitasks. Especially in a Windows environment, there's a lot of crap doing things. Antivirus, MSN messenger, etc... Also, multi core processors allow you to do things like encode a video (or rip a CD) and still have a very responsive system.

Single core processors, even if faster, still have the same problems. For example, if a virus scan starts your system gets pretty slow.

If I remember correctly, the new generation of the Core Duo chips have a cool feature. If they detect that one of the cores is being utilized extensively while the other is relatively idle (say, if you're playing a game, most of which don't use multiple processors well), it will shut down one core and overclock the other. Really should be some cool technology.