AMD Confirms Six-Core 'Thuban' Consumer CPUs

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By Jane McEntegart
published

AMD has confirmed that the company will soon launch six-core 45nm consumer level processors.

IDF kicks off today and while Intel is was busy getting ready for the party, AMD has stepped in and snatched just a smidgen of the limelight by announcing that it is readying a hexa-core processor aimed at consumer desktops.

The chip, codenamed Thubon, is set for release sometime next year and according to Maximum PC, it will be backwards compatible with existing AM3 and AM2+ motherboards. Maximum PC cites AMD officials who Monday said that the heavily rumored Thurbon was "a done deal."

Thurbon will feature all six cores on a single 45nm die, feature an integrated DDR3 controller and is expected to have 3MB of L2 and 6MB of L3 cache. No word on branding or clock speeds as of yet but MPC reports the Phenom II X6 as a possible label.

All together now, ooooh!

Jane McEntegart
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58 Comments Comment from the forums
  • godwhomismike
    I have read that AMD plans on a 12-core Opteron CPU by Q2 2010. It's too bad that they couldn't leap frog over Intel and go for the throat by releasing desktop and server 12-core CPUs simultaneously. I am sure there would be a market for a $400 12-core 2.6 GHz CPU if AMD released it. Make an AMD AM3 Extreme motherboard which is basically a rebadged server motherboard with two AM3 sockets on it and 8 ram slots.
    24 cores, 16GB DDR3 ram, and two 5870x2 in crossfire - drool!!!

    But, I will gladly take a 3.0+ GHz six-core AMD Processor for $245. Maybe by Q2 2010, the prices for 4GB modules of DDR3 memory will have dropped significantly.
    Reply
  • ryanegeiger
    How many app's would even take advantage of this?
    Reply
  • socrates047
    YEAH GO AMD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    Reply
  • Kaiser_25
    Idonno i still think the core i7 side by side will be close, hope to see the comparison of the benchmarks. And Intels Westmere core wont be too shabby either..
    Reply
  • godwhomismike
    Kaiser_25Idonno i still think the core i7 side by side will be close, hope to see the comparison of the benchmarks. And Intels Westmere core wont be too shabby either..
    I hate to compare them, because when it comes down to it, majority of the buyers pick AMD for cost and/or brand loyalty.
    Reply
  • chaohsiangchen
    godwhomismikeI am sure there would be a market for a $400 12-core 2.6 GHz CPU if AMD released it.
    You can't have dual AM3 socket motherboard. AM3 socket is not built for multi-CPU. AM3 has no provision for CPU-to-CPU communication like Socket F has.

    I am not sure about how to use six cores. Maybe as X Window server for general home computing?
    Reply
  • captaincharisma
    ryanegeigerHow many app's would even take advantage of this?

    god knows. there are barely any apps out now that even take advantage of quad cores
    Reply
  • Kaiser_25
    godwhomismikeI hate to compare them, because when it comes down to it, majority of the buyers pick AMD for cost and/or brand loyalty.
    Price is huge i understand but, typically for enthusiasts we are more converned with
    Reply
  • deadlockedworld
    I have to agree... is there really practical use for it? I still haven't encountered anything for my dual core E8400 to really struggle with...
    Reply
  • SAL-e
    ryanegeigerHow many app's would even take advantage of this?Writing multithreaded apps is not a walk in the park, but even if you run only single threaded apps you can take advantage of multiple core system. Just look your toolbar. How many apps are running at all time. In addition if you using browser like Chrome that creates separate process for each tab you going to feel the benefits of extra 2 cores. Price you pay is the power and heat.
    Reply