AMD Reportedly Plans Six-Core 'Istanbul' for Later This Week

Sunnyvale, California-based Advanced Micro Devices is expected to update its series of Opteron processors with the introduction of the first 6-core chips for server systems. According to a recent report, the chip maker is planning the release of 'Istanbul' for later this week, which will allow it to gain more market share from its main rival, Intel. The report suggests that the company's first 6-core Opteron processors will be launched as part of the new Opteron 2400 series.

 

In a recent news-article on the brightsideofnews website, AMD is said to be planning the release of its Istanbul processors for later this week. The NDA for the 6-core Opteron has been reportedly set on May 27, by which time we should known more on the performances achieved by these new server parts. Unfortunately, the news is yet to be confirmed and there are no specific details on the new server chips, aside from a rumored 2.6GHz clock speed.

 

AMD has been actively promoting its upcoming Istanbul processors for some time now, claiming they will provide business users with an drop-in replacement alternative to the current quad-core Shanghai chips. The performance increases for the six-core Opterons are noticeable, especially when compared with AMD's current Shanghai CPUs. However, with the official release of the Istanbul, we will finally see if going for more cores has enabled AMD to better compete with Intel's recently unveiled Nehalem-based Intel Xeon 5500 series. As a matter of fact, an early wave of reviews is anticipated even before the NDA expires.

 

One of the most significant benefits of the Istanbul processors is that they will allow users to upgrade the performance of their Shanghai chips without having to replace the entire system. In that perspective, AMD's upcoming Opterons have the potential of increasing the chip maker's gain in the server market segment.