AMD Promises 2.5GHz Quad-Core Microprocessors

Advanced Micro Devices said during the formal unveiling of its quad-core server microprocessors that it would introduce 25% faster versions of the chip in about two months time. The move will allow the world’s second largest chipmaker not only to improve performance for servers, but also to present a competitive solution for desktops.

Randy Allen, corporate vice president of server and workstation division at AMD, said during the quad-core AMD Opteron launch conference that while initially AMD’s chips with four processing engines work only at up to 2.0GHz clock-speed, in December the company will be in position to offer 2.5GHz chips. But 25% speed increase will bring only up to 15% performance improvement, said Mr. Allen.

“AMD today shows the path to better performing design for demanding data center requirements, again. In fact, here is a proof to you of our 2.50GHz [quad-core] processor that is going to be available in December and what it is going to deliver to the market. […] This chart shows incremental performance that is going to be delivered on top of that existing [2.0GHz] product: you can see 15% performance benefit, 15% performance increase that will be delivered [by] our 2.50GHz product,” said Randy Allen.

In addition to clock-speed increase of server processors late this year, the chipmaker also promised to deliver the first AMD Phenom processors for desktops in December, though, remained tight-lipped regarding their working frequencies and other peculiarities.
Earlier it was reported that the chipmaker only plans to unveil its AMD Phenom FX-80 processor, which is designed for single-processor configurations, this year, whereas AMD Phenom FX-90 and FX-91 products are set to be released sometime in the first quarter of 2007. The move basically delays the introduction of AMD’s FASN8 platform, which employs two quad-core central processing units and puts AMD’s success in the field of computer enthusiasts under question.

AMD Phenom FX-80 quad-core processor is projected to operate at 2.20GHz – 2.40GHz clock-speed, have 2MB of L2 cache (1MB per core), 2MB shared L3 cache, dual-channel PC2-8500 (DDR2 1066MHz) memory controller and AM2+ form-factor with HyperTransport 3.0 bus support. The AMD Phenom FX-90 and FX-91 models are expected to operate in 2.20GHz – 2.60GHz clock-speed ranges and support dual-processor configurations.