HPCwire: Six-Core AMD Opteron Processor: Top-line Performance That's Bottom-line Efficient

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June 11, 2009

Six-Core AMD Opteron Processor: Top-line Performance That's Bottom-line Efficient

by Tom Farre

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The new Six-Core AMD Opteron processor, formerly code-named "Istanbul," bridges two worlds -- in technology

In today's tight economy, IT professionals are looking to Six-Core AMD Opteron™ processor-based servers to give them the performance efficiency to handle heavy workloads with maximum value and energy savings at every price point.

Socket-compatible with a broad range of the AMD Opteron™ processor offerings, from Rev F (which began shipping in 2006) through the processor models formerly code-named "Shanghai," the new Six-Core AMD Opteron processors (formerly code-named "Istanbul") continue the tradition of delivering substantial performance gains over previous AMD Opteron processor models within the same power and thermal envelope. The Six-Core AMD Opteron processor launched on June 1, 2009.

The "Istanbul" processor was released ahead of schedule, according to John Fruehe, director of business development for server/workstation products at AMD, and it is "everything we had hoped for, and more." Its predecessor, the 45-nanometer Quad-Core AMD Opteron (formerly code-named "Shanghai") was released in November 2008 and was also ahead of schedule.

"With strong OEM and channel support expected at the launch of the processors code-named "Istanbul," in part enabled by the processor's stable platform infrastructure, IT executives should have a wide range of 12-, 24- and 48-core servers to choose from that offer exceptional performance-per-watt capabilities along with higher value than that of competitive products," says Ron Myers, senior product marketing manager at AMD.

"The new Six-Core AMD Opteron processors deliver superior value through a balance of performance, energy efficiency and lower ownership costs," continues Myers. Even with the addition of more cores per processor and other performance enhancements, the processors code-named "Shanghai" operate within the same energy-efficient envelope as previous AMD Opteron processor models and leverage AMD's Direct Connect Architecture. Says Myers, "This means that users get more from the same trusted infrastructure and shorter time to benefit. It's about protecting our customers' investments."

The "Istanbul" processors are expected to deliver performance that's as much as 30 percent better than that of the current generation in 2P and 4P servers, according to AMD, and even more in certain memory- and bandwidth-intensive applications, thanks to HT Assist, a new feature for reducing the latency of bringing in a new cache line and for raising the effective bandwidth of the CPUs. These enhancements -- combined with continued improvements to AMD-V™ hardware-assisted virtualization technologies and the AMD-P suite of industry-leading power management technologies -- should appeal to enterprises and midsize firms running virtualization, Web servers, database management, e-mail and file/print servers -- as well as large cloud computing clusters, frequency-intensive high-performance computing and integrated business systems.

Istanbul in Two Worlds

"As a city, Istanbul is the only one that sits on two continents (Asia and Europe)," says Fruehe. As a processor, "Istanbul" also bridges two worlds: (1) the socket-F infrastructure that has been a foundation of AMD processors since 2006 and (2) the next generation of AMD Opteron™ processors, expected in the first quarter of 2010, which will boast more cores, twice the number of memory channels and higher interconnect speeds than ever before.

Just as the city of Istanbul combines aspects of both continents into one whole, the Six-Core AMD Opteron processor combines the best of certain tried-and-true technologies with futuristic innovation. This approach is typical of AMD's outlook on technology transitions: Take what works, and innovate upon it. As an example, "Istanbul"-processor-powered servers continue to support low-power DDR-2 memory, considered the current sweet spot in terms of performance and price, rather than the more power-hungry (and often more expensive) DDR-3 memory. AMD plans to support DDR-3 memory in a new processor line next year, when its price and power consumption are expected to come down. "If you are struggling to make the most of your IT budget," says Fruehe, "expensive memory, which can represent up to 50 percent of the cost of a server, is not a good idea."

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