14 DAY TRIAL // Advanced Micro Devices, AMD for short, today officially launched its native quad core processors under the codename Barcelona and the commercial name of Opteron. This launch is of utmost importance for the small company as it marks the day when it regains competitive status against Intel, as its quad core processors intended for server use are finally here. According to the manufacturing company, the Quad Core AMD Opteron processor product line is the most advanced x86 compatible central processing unit in the whole world, while being the very first native x86 quad-core microprocessor.
The new breed of Opteron processors is not designed for desktop or mobile use, but for servers and datacenters and it is aimed at providing a high energy efficiency coupled with a truly high computing power. Apart from the native quad core internal design, the new Opteron comes with AMD's revolutionary Direct Connect Architecture which offers a critical 50 percent increase in integer and floating point operations, enhanced virtualization performance and some low power and thermal envelopes in order to keep the ownership costs down. "Today marks one of the great milestones in microprocessor achievement as AMD again raises expectations for industry-standard computing", said Hector Ruiz, chairman and chief executive officer of AMD in a press release. "We've worked closely with our customers and partners to design a new generation of processing solutions embodied by today's Quad-Core AMD Opteron processor, a four-way winner in performance, energy efficiency, virtualization and investment protection. Early customer response has been extremely positive."
Intel's own quad core processing units like the already released Clovertown, Kentsfield and upcoming Harpertownand and Yorkfield are based on two dual core dies on a single package, unlike the Barcelona class of processors which features a true native quad core internal architecture. Apart from this innovation, AMD included in the Barcelona class of processors a number of tweaks and features in order to increase performance while keeping the energy footprint at a low level, comparable with the one found on dual core units. One of the most important features is a cache memory configuration which includes a third level of memory, designated as L3, which is common to all processors from this class and it reaches up to 2MB. The first level of cache memory amount to 128KB per core, while the second level is bigger, having 512KB per core. According to the news site dailytech, the L1 is 2-way associative, while the L2 is 16-way associative and the L3 features a 32-way associative configuration. Another tweak of the Barcelona processors is the presence of two 64-bit memory controllers which can operate independently, unlike the previous generation of processors which were equipped with a single 128-bit wide controller. While the first quad core Opterons will only support DDR2 memory modules, the first refresh of the family will include support for DDR3 random access memory.
As the datacenters around the world are confronted with increased pressure from their huge energy requirements, AMD equipped the new Opterons with a number of energy saving features like the CoolCore, Independent Dynamic Core and Dual Dynamic Power Management technologies. The CoolCore is able to power down the unused parts of the processor, while the Independent Dynamic Core technology is a continuation of the older PowerNow! Energy saving feature as it allows each core to scale its clock frequency according to its workload. Dual Dynamic Power Management, DDPM for short, provides a separate power supply for the processing cores and for the memory controllers, allowing them to operate at different voltages. Apart from the hardware innovations, AMD is offering an enhanced support for Microsoft's operating systems as the manufacturing company is preparing the launch of its quad core processors aimed at the general consumer market too.
"Microsoft and AMD are working together to drive innovation, performance and energy efficiency across the datacenters and development environments", said Bill Laing, general manager of Windows Server Division at Microsoft Corp. "With 64-bit multi-core technology, Direct Connect Architecture and built-in virtualization, AMD Opteron processors continue to provide Microsoft Windows customers with an innovative platform. Looking ahead, we believe Windows Server 2008, SQL Server 2008 and Visual Studio 2008 running with Quad-Core AMD Opteron processors will provide a compelling development and deployment platform to drive customers' dynamic IT environments."