AMD finally launches Phenom II and Dragon Platform

AMD's 45nm, quad-core Phenom II has finally arrived. It's available in two flavors, the 2.8GHz X4 920 and the 3.0GHz X4 940 Black Edition, going for $235 and $275, respectively. AMD's naturally touting the ostensible cost savings of the chips . The Dragon platform includes a Phenom II proc, 4800-series Radeon HD graphics and a 790-series motherboard, all of which should combine for low power consumption -- up to 40 percent compared to Phenom processors. Where the Phenom II definitely wins is the fact that some AMD folks will be able to drop in the chip to existing motherboards, but otherwise it looks like value hounds and performance junkies aren't being served by this new chip.

AMD finally launches Phenom II

Performance

The Phenom II's integrated memory controller and HyperTransport interface give it a technical edge over competing Core 2 Quad chips, which lack those features. Intel moved to an integrated memory controller and began incorporating its own version of HyperTransport--dubbed QuickPath Interconnect--only with its Core i7 platform. The integrated memory controller and HyperTransport interface allow Phenom II processors to achieve a higher memory bandwidth than Core 2 Quad processors can, by eliminating the bottlenecks created by a frontside bus and an external controller. The arrangement, in theory, improves system performance.

Model / Processor Frequency:	AMD Phenom II Processor Model X4 940 / X4 920 / 3.0GHz, 2.8GHz
L1 Cache Sizes:	64K of L1 instruction and 64K of L1 data cache per core (512KB total L1 per processor)
L2 Cache Sizes:	512KB of L2 data cache per core (2MB total L2 per processor)
L3 Cache Size:	6MB (shared)
Memory Controller Type:	Integrated 128-bit wide memory controller, capable of being configured for dual 64-bit channels for simultaneous read/writes
Memory Controller Frequency:	Up to 1.8GHz with Dual Dynamic Power Management
Types of Memory:	Support for unregistered DIMMs up to PC2 8500 (DDR2-1066MHz)
HyperTransport 3.0:	One 16-bit/16-bit link @ up to 3600MHz full duplex
Total Processor Bandwidth:	Up to 31.5 GB/s bandwidth
Packaging:	Socket AM2+ 940-pin organic micro pin grid array (micro-PGA) (backward compatible with Socket AM2)
Fab location:	AMD's Fab 36 wafer fabrication facilities in Dresden, Germany
Process Technology:	45nm (.045-micron) DSL Silicon on Insulator (SOI)
Approximate Transistor count:	approx. ~758 million (65nm)
Approximate Die Size:	258 mm2 (45nm)
Nominal Voltage:	.0875-1.5 Volts
Max Ambient Case Temp:	62 degress Celsius
Max TDP:	125 Watts
ACP:	*to be announced after launch
Future Memory Controller Note:	Future 45nm processors versions are planned to include support for DDR3 memory

Availability and Phenom II Processor Pricing

Consumers can expect to see systems featuring Dragon platform technology from leading system builders and OEMs in the first quarter of 2009. In addition to Dragon platform technology-based offerings from AMD’s OEM partners, PC enthusiasts who enjoy building their own systems can search “Dragon” on popular e-tail sites such as newegg.com and tigerdirect.com to find special promotions on this new desktop PC platform.

In addition to Dragon platform technology, individual AMD Phenom II X4 processors will be available from AMD channel e-tailers at launch:

AMD Phenom II X4 940 Black Edition processor – (3.0GHz) – $275 MSRP

AMD Phenom II X4 920 processor – (2.8GHz) – $235 MSRP

AMD launches first 45nm, quad-core Shanghai Opterons, hitting desktops Q1

AMD has been blazing architectural trails well before Nehalem. As EE Times points out, AMD's 65-nm Barcelona was the first quad-core processor with 2MB of shared L3 cache integrated with the Northbridge memory controller. Now AMD has (finally) caught up with its own 45-nm technology under the code-name, Shanghai. AMD's newest quad-core Opteron server chip with 6MB L3 cache now offers up to 35 percent better performance while drawing 35 percent less idle power. Better yet, it's drop-in compatible with Barcelona which should keep IT-types happy as they extend the life of their server farms. Available immediately in 75-watt, quad-core versions running clock speeds from 2.3GHz to 2.7GHz.

"Barcelona was obviously a pretty rough start for them. And that does not appear to be the case for Shanghai," said Dean McCarron, the principal and founder of Mercury Research, a company that tracks chip market movements. "One of the big distinctions was they wanted to be absolutely sure that Shanghai was ready to go."

AMD launches first 45nm

Major customers are brimming with accolades for Shanghai. "We've been very pleased. Thrilled with their execution," said with Paul Gottsegen, vice president of Industry Standard Servers, HP, in an interview.

"We'll have products that will be shipping just after launch. We had high performance expectations for the product and it exceeded our expectations," he said. "We're going to put Shanghai across the meat of our product line. You'll see six different rack servers, three different blades, all up and down parts of our product line."

Shanghai technology ahead of Intel

Much of Shanghai's raw technology is a generation ahead of Intel. In a posting at EE Times, Don Scansen, a semiconductor technology analyst at Semiconductor Insights, said that many of the features that Intel is touting as new are not new to AMD and were initially introduced in AMD's Barcelona processor.

"Intel's Nehalem is due out soon, but many of the features of what has widely been touted as a 'new' architecture are only new to Intel," he writes.



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