Posted by Enlightenment on 17 maart 2008 @ 06:50
AMD has met its promise and starts shipping bug-free "B3" Opteron chips.
Tough luck
Processor manufacturer AMD is in desperate need of good news since the failed Phenom-processor launch in late 2007. That launch was spoiled by lower clock speeds than previously announced and a bug that might crash the system in very specific situations.
The TLB-bug caused customers to stay away from the Phenom chip and made AMD postpone the introduction of the Opteron "Barcelona", the server-version of the Phenom-processor. AMD noted that the bug occurred only at very specific situations and therefore should prove no problem for most customers. Yet, the bugged chips would not sell even at very low prices.
But now, AMD is shipping both server and desktop CPUs with a bug-free B3-revision. That means AMD is finally back in the game. The B3 revision does not change much about its performance level, but at least there is no 'dark shadow' cast above AMD's chips anymore.
AMD's recovery
AMD is in a race to get 45nm production going by the third and fourth quarter this year. The 65nm SOI production process has proved a great struggle for AMD. It both consumed too much power for high Phenom clock rates to become possible and the yields were disappointing. If AMD can stick to its deadlines, they might make a reasonable recovery. Intel is making good progress and selling 45nm products already, although in limited supply. On the CeBit 2008 technology fare in Hannover, Germany, AMD demonstrated a running Phenom 45nm system, proving the company has made progress in its journey towards 45nm.
AMD's 8-core Montreal
In 2009, AMD is said to release a native 8-core chip codenamed Montreal, this means no 2 x 4 (dual quadcore) design will be used, but rather a real native octal-core. Just like Intel's Nehalem architecture
, by the way. 
Phenom X4 9150e and 9350e
AMD will also release TLB-corrected quadcore chips with a TDP of just 65W. These are dubbed the 9150e and 9350e, and should arrive in summer this year. I should mention that the X4 9100e never was released to retail channel and that the dates have been pushed for more than once. No word on their actual power consumption, and they haven't been reviewed yet.
Tough luck
Processor manufacturer AMD is in desperate need of good news since the failed Phenom-processor launch in late 2007. That launch was spoiled by lower clock speeds than previously announced and a bug that might crash the system in very specific situations.
The TLB-bug caused customers to stay away from the Phenom chip and made AMD postpone the introduction of the Opteron "Barcelona", the server-version of the Phenom-processor. AMD noted that the bug occurred only at very specific situations and therefore should prove no problem for most customers. Yet, the bugged chips would not sell even at very low prices.
But now, AMD is shipping both server and desktop CPUs with a bug-free B3-revision. That means AMD is finally back in the game. The B3 revision does not change much about its performance level, but at least there is no 'dark shadow' cast above AMD's chips anymore.
AMD's recovery
AMD is in a race to get 45nm production going by the third and fourth quarter this year. The 65nm SOI production process has proved a great struggle for AMD. It both consumed too much power for high Phenom clock rates to become possible and the yields were disappointing. If AMD can stick to its deadlines, they might make a reasonable recovery. Intel is making good progress and selling 45nm products already, although in limited supply. On the CeBit 2008 technology fare in Hannover, Germany, AMD demonstrated a running Phenom 45nm system, proving the company has made progress in its journey towards 45nm.
AMD's 8-core Montreal
In 2009, AMD is said to release a native 8-core chip codenamed Montreal, this means no 2 x 4 (dual quadcore) design will be used, but rather a real native octal-core. Just like Intel's Nehalem architecture
, by the way. Phenom X4 9150e and 9350e
AMD will also release TLB-corrected quadcore chips with a TDP of just 65W. These are dubbed the 9150e and 9350e, and should arrive in summer this year. I should mention that the X4 9100e never was released to retail channel and that the dates have been pushed for more than once. No word on their actual power consumption, and they haven't been reviewed yet.
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