Topics:

AMD Promises New CPU Architecture Soon

7:00 PM - April 29, 2008 by Theo Valich
Source: Tom's Hardware US – Keywords: amd, phenom, opteron
Categories: AMD/ATI, Business Servers

Syndication: Add to your Google homepage Add to My Yahoo!

 

Milan (Italy) - It is fair to say that Barcelona has not turned out the CPU core many hoped it would be and lots of people inside AMD would rather forget about this evolutionary step and quickly move on to the next architecture. Custom PC was able to squeeze some more information out of AMD about this next-gen architecture. It’s not much, but we now know for sure that it will be "completely different" from what AMD is selling today.

This confirmation comes from Giuseppe Amato, AMD’s technical director of sales & marketing for the EMEA region, one of the very few executives in the company who occasionally provide straight-forward answers.

"If I look at the next generation architecture of our CPU, then it will definitely not be, how can I say, comparable with the Phenom. It will look completely different," Custom PC quoted Amato. Of course, this does not really come as a surprise and was previously indicated. However, Amato also noted that the new architecture, which is expected to end up in the Bulldozer core, will "solve problems that today we think can never be addressed by hardware."

This comment is likely to fuel a new rumor mill and if it was up to us, we’d be betting the farm on addressing bandwidth challenges and simplify virtualization. We also believe that we could be seeing a GPU influence and AMD may be applying its Fusion LEGO concept to this new architecture - in order to apply massively parallel designs.

AMD would do well to introduce a brand new architecture, and not soon enough. The company has been losing market share to Intel over the last year, and much of what it gained during the Athlon days have been lost. AMD has also posted many consecutive losses in revenue in the order of billions of dollars. AMD recently announced a brand new initiative to produce and sell its own brand of computers. Company executives say that they have thought about it long and hard, and feel that it makes sense for AMD to introduce a business class group of computers with a guaranteed 24-months life cycle, something AMD says is a concern for most businesses.


Talkback

righteous 30/04/2008 01:34
Hide
righteous
Um......cool?
thomasxstewart 30/04/2008 03:20
Show
Kelfen 30/04/2008 05:42
Hide
Kelfen
I Think this is a very good move on AMD part considering all the negitive things with the bug and the unsure that it is stable, starting brand new would in future terms best solution to catch up to Intel.
jaydeejohn 30/04/2008 06:18
Hide
jaydeejohn
Is this the barely getting by AMD that devolped the K8? I hope this arch brings back competition to the cpu market
chechnyan 30/04/2008 07:47
Hide
chechnyan
finally some good news from AMD
justjc 30/04/2008 10:29
Hide
justjc
Is there really any new information in the above or linked article?
The only so called news i see is the quote "solve problems that today we think can never be addressed by hardware." a natural result of the new architecture breaking the CPU down into modules that can be put together as AMD sees fit to target specific markets.
A good google search on the words AMD Bulldocer will tell you that and more.
Wild9 30/04/2008 01:45
Hide
Wild9
I think that architecturally, AMD is in a better position here to implement the desired protocols. AMD's current technology scales very well, and is very flexible.

I am very much looking forward to the return of 'co-processor' technology, as well as better use of the GPU residing in your graphics card. The overall capability of your desktop will be absolutely staggering compared to even the fastest x86 architecture (once the software issues have been ironed out of course). Naturally, mobile devices will also be follow.

The sooner we go away from letting the CPU do all the work the better in my opinion..I remember using such a design with the Commodore Amiga range of computers and the multi-tasking capability of that machine was streets ahead of everything else.
conflict5 30/04/2008 03:54
Hide
conflict5
My old Amiga Kicked intel Azz until I go my first xp machine!
spongebob 30/04/2008 05:17
Hide
spongebob
Meh.

It's nice to hear they seem to have plans for the technology side of the biz, but ATM this is all just talk.
cruiseoveride 30/04/2008 10:28
Hide
cruiseoveride
I couldn't be bothered, the days of AMD64 making Pentiums look like typewriters are long gone. Perhaps like 3Dfx even. As long as AMD can feed the n00bs and keep Intel competitive, i couldn't care less what they came up with.
doomsdaydave11 01/05/2008 12:29
Hide
doomsdaydave11
AMD better come up with something good soon... otherwise they're screwed..
spearhead 01/05/2008 02:18
Hide
spearhead
i think we can expact more from the bulldozer core then we have seen on improvement with the phenom. the phenom indeed is faster then today's fastest athlon dual core but it comes just to late and its clock speeds as its cache still beg for improvement. while the bulldozer core offers much improment. there for i hope AMD is well prepaird next for comming year and hopefully they show us some great results.
Deleted profile 01/05/2008 04:17
Hide
Fool me once shame on you. Fool me twice shame on me. The same things were being said about K10. K10 has barely been launched and they are talking up next gen already?

Even if it is better... it will either be in the distant future (2+ years) or they are telling people that people buying a K10 will be purchasing a soon to be obsolete architecture.

Neither condition is good - why would I upgrade to a K10 which is marginally better than a K8 (if they can get clocks up), rather than wait for this great new architecture?
pitbulltko 01/05/2008 05:13
Hide
pitbulltko
I hope AMD get better for all are sake and very soon
righteous 01/05/2008 05:24
Hide
righteous
I have no clue about their new architecture and could care less, but if it gives good performance, and I don't have to pay 1400 for a processor, I'm all for it and I wish them well in their pursuit of that.
Deleted profile 01/05/2008 05:30
Hide
OMG, AMD suxx!!! I know because I read it on the int3rw3b!!!

I love my Phenom 9500(OMG B2 stepping), it's fast and stable. I upgraded from a Core2Duo e6600 to it, and it was a very worthwhile upgrade. I think it's safe to say that everyone who's posted thus far doesn't own one, they've just read propaganda articles + other peoples benchmarks, and go and repeat the information they've read to make themselves feel cool and knowledgeable. If Intel completes the copying of all of AMDs platform features(nehalem) first, then AMD might have some problems, but if Bulldozer comes out before, or around the same time, then nobody can say at this point in time who's going to win that round. For the time being, Hypertransport 3.0 FTW.
Luscious 01/05/2008 07:20
Hide
Luscious
I used to own an Amiga back in the 80's. Indeed the architecture of that computer (Motorola cpu, 3 co-processors) was leaps and bounds ahead of anything the PC could offer at the time.

Today's heavy demands on eye-candy and frames-per-second would require a newer breed of co-processing architecture. Without argument, it is the GPU that has become the performance indicator and space-hog inside today's pc's, especially the triple-sli double-slot arrangements that eat power and slot space.

I have been advocating ever since the advent of SLI that a radical redesign of the PC is necessary. We are no longer using 16-color displays to run DOS windows full of 80x40 text, yet it is exactly this obsolete dinosaur spec that continues to manifest itself in the PC and drag down advancement.

But by using the gpu as a coprocessor, it opens up a whole new world of development. With the coming of 32 and 25nm technologies, it will be possible to place 4 gpu cores on a single chip. Now you can imagine a dual socket board where one socket has your 8-core cpu and the next socket has your 4-core gpu with it's on-die memory controller. That memory controller ties directly into ONE memory slot on the motherboard that allows you to add/change gpu memory. Add physics capability to the gpu and you begin to see the advantages again of the co-processor design architecture.
MTLance 01/05/2008 07:48
Hide
MTLance
New architecture? Ooo man, this is old news, Intel got better road map planned already. This is probably good news to AMD hardcore fans. Hmm where is that Aussie AMDFanGirl.
LAWL, AMD is a joke, just feeding the budget ppl might help them survive.
Wild9 01/05/2008 10:21
Hide
Wild9
MTLance :
New architecture? Ooo man, this is old news, Intel got better road map planned already. This is probably good news to AMD hardcore fans. Hmm where is that Aussie AMDFanGirl.LAWL, AMD is a joke, just feeding the budget ppl might help them survive.



If you really think AMD is a joke then perhaps you should look at the work AMD has done in the IGP market..including the latest 780 chipsets. You may just find that these devices are much, much faster than Intel's offerings and also run on a small fabrication process. You may also want to talk to the University of Texas, who recently built one of the most powerful super-computers on the face of the planet, using AMD parts. AMD is not just about Phenom and considering AMD doesn't have nowhere near Intel's resources I think you are being a bit unfair.

Both corporations have roadmaps that incorporate GPGPU processing capability..it's just a matter of when, no if. AMD is good at developing the protocols on which these devices will run, and incorporating them into current designs. This is much easier with current AMD architecture than it is with Intel's. That's not to say AMD isn't having issues but I think you are being very unfair - remember just how long Intel has been playing catch-up and what it took to manufacture Core 2 architecture. That's how good AMD can be.
Wild9 01/05/2008 11:38
Hide
Wild9
cruiseoveride :
I couldn't be bothered, the days of AMD64 making Pentiums look like typewriters are long gone. Perhaps like 3Dfx even. As long as AMD can feed the n00bs and keep Intel competitive, i couldn't care less what they came up with.



April 2008.

'Cray to build an almost-Petaflop supercomputer for the University of Tennessee '

..using AMD technology.

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/Cray [...] 27904.html
justjc 01/05/2008 12:41
Hide
justjc
hankst :
why would I upgrade to a K10 which is marginally better than a K8 (if they can get clocks up), rather than wait for this great new architecture?



Answer is quite clear, because it's cheaper to build the AMD system than the new Intel system you'll need soon to use Intels comming processors ;)
coldmast 01/05/2008 07:17
Hide
coldmast
I just want good gaming on the cheap!
AMD already messed up the whole AM2 -- AM2+ compatibility thing.
AMD needs to stick to some of those promises it makes, otherwise it's going to lose all the street cred it took decades to build.
Deleted profile 02/05/2008 05:02
Hide
justjc :
Answer is quite clear, because it's cheaper to build the AMD system than the new Intel system you'll need soon to use Intels comming processors



Thanks - but I wasn't talking about buying an Intel system - why must the fans come out and make everything Intel vs AMD? There would be no reason to upgrade to K10 at all and might as well just hunker down until this great new architecture comes out (or go the Intel route later). The problem is AMD has to sell K10's for the next 2-3 years and the main benefit of it was the drop-in upgrade. Now there are all sorts of compatibility issues, and it doesn't appear to be enough of a leap in performance to justify upgrading in the first place. And if I was to start from scratch, it would probably be an Intel system based on performance for a few extra bucks (and the fact that I will use a discrete gfx card)
MTLance 02/05/2008 10:45
Hide
MTLance
LOLOLOLOLOLOL. Intel can kick AMD butt with new integrated FSB. Yeah, it is wayyyyyyyyyyy better than AMD. And super computers can be powered by Intel inside by then. IBM still pwns with BlueGene yay big blue the ultimate giant.
AMD is no where to be seen.
infornography42 03/05/2008 04:43
Hide
infornography42
I do hope AMD pulls back up soon. We saw what happens when a company has a virtual monopoly on the processor industry back in the nineties. I don't ever want to go back to that. For better or worse, we NEED AMD. We need fierce competition in the processor industry to drive innovation and keep prices reasonable.

Whether you are an Intel fanboy or an AMD fanboy, you should be able to see the benefit of having both companies competing.
Wild9 08/05/2008 02:57
Hide
Wild9
infornography42 is right. In the 90's the college I went to bought some workstations, which were Intel-based and very, very expensive. The only way I could personally use the software which ran on those workstations, was through the purchase of AMD-based hardware. Prior to this I was able to afford AMD-based 486 clones and again, that was the only way I could afford to run the software I needed. Intel practically monopolised the industry at the time..competition is good for innovation and keeping prices down. Without AMD there would be no Core2 architecture :)

Note You are going to post a comment as anonymous.



Shop for Computer Cooling Fans
CNPS9700 LED CPU Cooler CNPS9700 LED CPU Cooler

Compare the top 5 lowest prices by hovering your mouse over the product names on the left

$70.74
Ultra120  Extreme CPU Cooler Ultra120 Extreme CPU Cooler $53.95
Freezer 7 Pro CPU Heatsink $21.99
CL-P0401 V1 CPU Cooler CL-P0401 V1 CPU Cooler $69.99
IFX-14 Inferno Fire eXtinguisher CPU Cooler IFX-14 Inferno Fire eXtinguisher... $68.95

See More Products...