Chip maker to continue focusing on the value market

Mar 26, 2010 09:34 GMT  ·  By

End-users are most likely well acquainted with AMD's plans to launch its own six-core processors, but even despite all the leaks and reports about when and where the chips will show up, the actual product roadmap remains a mystery. Fortunately for AMD loyalists, however, the folks over at VR-Zone seem to have somehow gotten their hands on a set of AMD slides that actually reveal what might be the Sunnyvale, California-based chip maker's complete 2010 offer.

All the processors mentioned by the slides are designed for the AM3 socket, but will also be compatible with AM2+ boards with DDR2. It appears that AMD will provide the chips, leaving it to motherboard makers to come up with the necessary BIOS updates. In addition, all processors will have the HyperTransport 3.0 interface running at 2,000MHz (4.0GT/s), enabling a maximum CPU bandwidth of 37.3GB/s.

AMD will steadily phase out some existing SKUs (stock-keeping units) as new ones show up. The Phenom II X4 800 Deneb, with 4MB L3 cache, as well as the Phenom II X4 810 will phase out by the end of the second quarter, as will the Phenom II X3 720. The Phenom II X4 900e and Phenom II X4 945 will also fade out of existence around the same time. This leaves only the Phenom II X4 905e, which will be gone by the third quarter. The gap left by these chips will be filled by a number of new offerings, mostly six-core processors.

The CPU lines that will make up the main force of AMD's 2010 strategy are, obviously, the Phenom II X6 one, as well as the new T X4 series. Both support the new TurboCore technology, which boosts the clocks of used cores and powers down unused ones in order to improve performance. The Zosma die-based Phenom II X4 960T, for instance, will have a base clock of 3.00GHz, but will reach up to 3.40GHz in turbo mode.

This chip will be accompanied by a 2.60GHz Phenom II X6 1035T (3.10GHz Turbo) and the Phenom II X6 1055T (2.80GHz/3.30GHz Turbo). This last CPU will come in TDPs of both 95W and 125W. All these processors should show up in the second quarter, along with the Phenom II X6 1090T Black Edition, whose clocks of 3.20GHz/3.60GHz Turbo make it the strongest of them all.

In addition to all these processors, AMD will also introduce the Phenom II X6 1075T, only somewhat later, namely in the third quarter. This CPU will have a base clock of 3.00GHz, which means it will be able to reach 3.50GHz in turbo mode.

When looking at these plans, it becomes visible that Advanced Micro Devices intends to mainly address the value market, which Intel's Gulftown, being an enthusiast CPU, cannot approach. It remains to be seen whether Intel will release mainstream six-core chips of its own.

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