Archive for the category Top Tech Stories
The surf report from here to eternity (or at least 2011)
Posted by John Taylor in 9:31 AM
Loading ...As I wrote last week, the AMD Financial Analyst Day held this year in Sunnyvale, CA , is an exciting day in that it represents a high-profile update on the state of AMD as an important innovator and business. We unveiled product and corporate roadmaps through 2011, including a technology direction with AMD Fusion that transcends that timeframe. The insights we shared on Fusion development, more widespread use of teraflops-class GPUs for compute, and our parallel performance/low-power x86 cores development in particular made waves in the business and tech trade press.
But as my high school friends might say on those stormy days when it was possible to truly surf off the west coast of Florida: “Some waves are tasty rides, and some knock you on your tail and get sand in your jams.”
So here’s the waves created by some of the media who attended in Sunnyvale or participated via Web cast.
Tasty waves:
- “Frankly, we’re jazzed about the possibilities…” – Darren Murph, Engadget (Thanks Darren, we are too!)
- “AMD has only recently made strides toward putting the pieces of the puzzle together, but it looks like it’s hitting the home stretch.” – Andy Patrizio, Internetnews.com
- “If all of this works, Fusion could be the basis for some compelling products. Rick Bergman, the head of AMD’s Products Group, promised the technology would “literally deliver a supercomputer on your lap . . . with all-day battery performance.” That’s an ambitious plan, but it’s good to see AMD get some of its mojo back.” – John Morris, ZDNet
- “[Bulldozer is] really a very elegant design and the basis for what AMD, Intel and NVIDIA have been talking about for years now. The CPU will do what it does best while the GPU does what it is good at.” – Anand Shimpi, AnandTech
- “Companies rarely make big news at financial analyst day events, but AMD bucked that trend Wednesday by unveiling details of its newly revamped roadmap, its two brand-new processor architectures, and its plans for CPU/GPU integration.” – Jon Stokes, Ars Technica
Life’s-No-Beach Waves:
- “If chip makers competed on the basis of code names rather than products then Advanced Micro Devices might have beaten Intel a long time ago.” – James Niccolai, IDG News Service
- “AMD has long struggled in the mobile segment, but the company’s 2010 roadmap is potentially strong enough to change its fortunes.” – Joel Hruska, Hot Hardware
- “AMD’s Opteron once held the high ground when compared to Intel’s server offerings. We reckon the boot is just about on the other foot…for now at least, and we wait with bated breath to see what kind of performance Bulldozer-driven Opteron can deliver in 2011.” – Sylvie Barak, HEXUS.net
Whether it’s criticism or praise, tasty or sandy, it’s always interesting to see how different media view our telling of the AMD story, and reshape it for their respective audiences. Overall, I like the “surf report” on the 2009 AMD Financial Analyst Day in the sense that media, to a deeper extent than before, perceive AMD has a unique strategy and unique IP to execute it. Yes, there were questions about how well AMD could win at a game currently defined by its competition (CPU-exclusive marketing and benchmarking). And that question can only be answered as AMD executes to its technology vision and design points.
Now, we’ve heard what the media have to say. What’s your feedback? Make some waves.
John Taylor is Director, Global Platform & Product Communications at AMD. His postings are his own opinions and may not represent AMD’s positions, strategies or opinions. Links to third party sites are provided for convenience and unless explicitly stated, AMD is not responsible for the contents of such linked sites and no endorsement is implied. This blog contains forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are generally preceded by words such as “plans,” “expects,” “believes,” “anticipates” or “intends.” AMD Investors are cautioned that all forward-looking statements in this release involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations.
What a Day, a Year, a Future
Posted by John Taylor in 5:49 PM
We just wrapped AMD’s annual Financial Analyst Day, and throughout the event I couldn’t help but think “What a big year it’s been.” But more importantly, I can’t help thinking, “Wow, we’ve got a great future ahead, and people need to get in on the excitement.”
I tend to get excited about the product and technology disclosures we shared for the first time today. It’s why I drive to work down Hill Country back roads to the AMD Lone Star Campus each morning with a smile on my face – it’s very cool being a part of a company that creates technology that truly matters in people’s lives. It’s also professionally gratifying when media start picking up on that excitement, and I think they increasingly are. After today, I predict the positive vibes will flow even more. I can see media are beginning to recognize our sustained product momentum and unique technology roadmap, and what we presented to them today further illustrates how we plan to sustain this momentum and create high-value experiences across our entire product line.
Before we jump to 2011, let’s look back at 2009.
The entire tech industry, including AMD, entered 2009 on a down note, fallout from a worldwide economic implosion. In spite of that, we’re exiting 2009 in clear, crisp fashion. In 2009 AMD consistently executed, delivered what we promised, and launched well-received new platforms and products for every market we serve, most of them ahead of schedule. And we made sure to focus on delivering these platforms with the right blend of computing performance and superior graphics. Moreover, this year we focused on growing our partner ecosystem and strengthened our customer and OEM relationships by truly listening to customers’ and consumers’ demands and offering complete solutions to match their needs—including the AMD Server Platform featuring the Six-Core AMD Opteron™ processor, AMD Platform for Ultrathin Notebooks, AMD Vision Technology, ATI Radeon™ 5800 series graphics cards, and Dragon platform technology featuring AMD Phenom™ II processors.
So what exactly did AMD talk about today?
We talked about all the exciting and innovative things to come in 2010 and 2011. Senior executives including AMD President and Chief Executive Officer Dirk Meyer briefed media and analysts on the great things AMD has in store for the future and discussed the state of our business. During the day, other senior execs talked about our technology strategy, future product and platform plans and led a series of more technical sessions. Attendees got to see firsthand the roadmaps outlined for platforms and technology that span the most popular usage scenarios for customers at work, at home and at play. With the growing importance and ubiquity of multimedia, AMD’s momentum and lead in the graphics market will differentiate us from competitors, enabling a complete computing experience with stunning graphics and video that consumers demand. Our strong roadmap for 2010 is scheduled to be followed with the advent of “Fusion” and the first Accelerated Processing Unit (APU) codenamed “Llano,” in 2011. This arrival will mark a new era in computing, succeeded the previous generations of first clock frequency, then multi-core driven performance gains. We also plan to bring to market the first “Bulldozer” and “Bobcat” core-based platforms, focusing on power, performance and size.
As highlighted in the platform and technology roadmaps presented today, here are the highlights of what’s scheduled to come in 2010 and 2011 (by codename):
Next-Generation Technologies for Next-Generation Graphics
- While AMD maintains momentum in rolling out several more DirectX 11 capable parts from its wildly successful ATI Radeon™ HD 5000 series in 2H09 and 1H10 including graphics cards codenamed “Cedar,” “Hemlock,” and “Redwood,” AMD will also introduce DirectX 11 capable members of the ATI Mobility Radeon™ HD 5000 series in 2010, bringing incredible graphics capabilities and stunning HD video to AMD’s new notebook platforms.
- “Bobcat” is AMD’s low-power x86 processor core aimed at notebook processing in ultrathin and netbook form factors, and designed to be extremely small, highly flexible and single threaded.
- “Bulldozer” is AMD’s completely new, high performance architecture for the mainstream server, mainstream desktop and notebook PC markets that employs a new approach to multithreaded compute performance for achieving advanced efficiency and throughput. “Bulldozer” is designed to give AMD an exceptional CPU option for linking with GPUs in highly scalable, single-chip Accelerated Processing Unit (APU) configurations.
Notebook Platforms:
- “Danube” is AMD’s new platform for the mainstream notebook market and will feature the new “Champlain” CPU, the first quad-core processor offered by AMD specifically for the notebook market that includes 2M cache and DDR3 memory support.
- “Sabine,” is AMD’s new mainstream notebook platform slated for 2011 and will be the first notebook platform to feature the quad-core “Llano” APU.
- “Nile” is AMD’s next generation platform for ultrathin notebooks and is scheduled for 1H10, with the dual-core “Geneva” CPU using DDR3 memory technology and is being designed to yield more than 7 hours of battery life under normal usage conditions.
- “Brazos” is AMD’s ultrathin notebook and netbook platform slated for 2011, and “Ontario” is the APU based on the “Bobcat” core.
Desktop Platforms:
- “Leo” is AMD’s next generation enthusiast-class desktop PC platform. Scheduled for 1H10, “Leo” will feature the industry’s first six-core desktop CPU, codenamed “Thuban,” for greater multi-tasking, as well as DirectX 11 capabilities for a visually enhanced gaming experience.
- “Dorado” is AMD’s next-generation mainstream desktop platform with AMD Athlon™ II processors, DirectX 11 discrete graphics options, and stream application acceleration.
- “Lynx,” and “Scorpius” are AMD’s desktop platforms for 2011. “Lynx” is the first desktop platform powered by the quad-core “Llano” APU. “Scorpius” is an enthusiast-class desktop platform featuring the “Zambezi” CPU, the first 8-core solution for enthusiast desktop users based on the “Bulldozer” core.
Server Platforms:
- “Maranello” is AMD’s next generation server platform and remains on track for introduction in 1H10. “Maranello” is a DDR3-based server platform which is expected to offer a new socket infrastructure, Socket G34, to support upcoming 8 or 12-core “Magny-Cours” processors.
- “San Marino” is AMD’s new server platform suited for large, dense deployments that require power efficiency and flexibility that is ideal for small/medium businesses, as well as web, cloud and infrastructure applications.
You can also check out AMD Senior Vice President and General Manager Rick Bergman’s presentation below.
We have an exciting road ahead of us, cool technological advancements and new innovative products we plan to bring to the market, so buckle up your seat belts and enjoy the ride and full featured experience we have in store. AMD has turned the corner, going in the right direction of a fully enhanced user computing experience for every market, there’s no looking back now – full speed ahead.
John Taylor is Director, Global Platform & Product Communications at AMD. His postings are his own opinions and may not represent AMD’s positions, strategies or opinions. Links to third party sites are provided for convenience and unless explicitly stated, AMD is not responsible for the contents of such linked sites and no endorsement is implied. This blog contains forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are generally preceded by words such as “plans,” “expects,” “believes,” “anticipates” or “intends.” AMD Investors are cautioned that all forward-looking statements in this release involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations.
Review Highlights: AMD Athlon™ II X3 and Low-Power Variants
Posted by John Taylor in 11:46 AM
AnandTech: “AMD’s Athlon II X3 435 & New Energy Efficient CPUs: Killing Intel Below $90″
Putting today in context:
“A month ago AMD introduced the world’s first quad-core processor to debut at $99… And for the consumer, AMD is providing a ton of value these days. You’re getting more transistors per dollar than Intel will give you, and it’s not just bloat, these things are fast. The value train continues with today’s introduction of the first triple core Athlon II processors: the Athlon II X3 435 and 425.”
3 cores for the price of 2:
“They’re also quite affordable. The 435 will set you back $87 while the 425 costs $76. This puts them on par with Intel’s Pentium E6000 series dual core processors, but cheaper than the Core 2 Duo E7500. This has been AMD’s high end dual core strategy for the Phenom’s life: sell three cores for the price of two. And in the past, it has worked… The X3s AMD is announcing today are clocked high enough that you still have good performance in single threaded applications, and in those that can take advantage of three cores you’re almost guaranteed to have better performance than the Intel alternative.”
Thumbs up for AII X3:
“The Athlon II X3 435, priced at $87, is a better buy than any of the similarly priced Intel dual-core processors. In heavily threaded applications it’s even faster than the more expensive Core 2 Duo E7500. Compared to Intel, the X3 435 is a clear value leader.”
Tom’s Hardware: “Athlon II X3 435: AMD’s Three-Core, 2.9 GHz, $87 Triple-Threat”
Great expectations:
“Today AMD introduces what might turn out to be the ideal budget CPU, with three cores for multi-threading, a relatively high 2.9 GHz clock speed, and an impressive sub-$90 price tag.”
Thumbs up for Athlon II X3:
“In the final analysis, this author can recommend AMD’s new Athlon II X3 435 as the best budget CPU for the dollar available at stock clock rates. We haven’t properly compared all of these CPUs when overclocked, so we’ll leave that judgment for a future review. Regardless, the Athlon II X3 435 is a fantastic buy, and obviously offers reasonable headroom to the overclocking fans out there. We can’t help but speculate that the Phenom II X3’s days are likely numbered with the Athlon II X3 offering comparable performance for a lower price and on a more affordable die for AMD to manufacture.”
Low-power variants:
“Aside from that, AMD has introduced a number of low-power CPU options likely to be quite attractive to the power-conscious contingent, and with a maximum draw of 45W, the Athlon II X4 605e presents the lowest demands of any quad-core consumer-level CPU, potentially idea for home theater PC deployments.”
AMD has the value crown:
“For now, AMD has an impressive product in the Athlon II X3 435. With low prices, a great deal of selection, and good scalability, these CPUs are sure to score AMD favor with the value crown in the months to come.”
Firing Squad: “AMD Athlon II X3 435/Athlon II X2 240e Performance Preview”
AMD transitions value segment to 45nm:
“As we outlined at the outset of this article, completing the 45-nm transition is a significant step to getting AMD back in the black. These chips are cheaper for AMD to manufacture than older Phenom parts, they run cooler, and thanks to their high clock speeds, perform better. It’s a win for the consumer, and a win for AMD.”
AMD stands alone in the category:
“As it stands right now, AMD’s the clear performance leader in this space of the CPU market, and frankly it isn’t even close. From a price/performance perspective, AMD’s latest Athlon II CPUs are often priced against 45-nm Pentium, rather than Core 2, CPUs. As you saw in the benchmarks, the $84 Pentium E6300 we included in the charts was outrun by Athlon II X3 and Athlon II X2 CPUs in all of our gaming benchmarks, and only put up a strong showing in our MP3 testing with LAME. Everywhere else AMD’s Athlon II X3 435 reigned supreme. Its toughest competitor isn’t Intel, rather it’s AMD’s other Propus core that we raved about back in September, the Athlon II X4 620. Intel’s not only lacking in performance in this space either. Their value CPU lineup also lacks variety. While AMD offers a wide range of dual, quad, and now triple cores in the $60-$100 segment, Intel relies solely on dual-core Pentium CPUs.”
AMD owns value:
“AMD has this space locked down tight, and as long as Intel continues to basically ignore it in favor of higher margin Core 2 and Core i5/Core i7 CPUs, we don’t see this changing until Intel begins to introduce 32-nm parts. At that point, things may begin to get tougher for AMD. Until then though, AMD delivers the best budget CPUs money can buy.”
Different strokes:
Now you’ll just have to pick which value AMD CPU to choose from. This answer is going to depend on your needs and your budget. HTPC users will probably opt for one of the 45W CPUs, but if you need more performance, the X3 435 or X4 620 would be better buys. And if you absolutely can’t cough up more than $70 for a new CPU, the Athlon II X2 is the CPU for you.”
Computer Shopper: “AMD Athlon II X3 435″ (Rated 8.1 out of 10)
Conclusion:
“But for most users spending their time with productivity apps, playing graphics-heavy games, or watching HD or standard-definition video, a triple-core CPU like the Athlon II X3 435 is a good choice. For $87, it offers more than enough speed and multi-core processing power to keep your system from feeling sluggish, even when multitasking heavily. Those who demand more performance but who still don’t need maximum video or graphics-editing speed might want to pick up a triple-core Phenom II chip, such as the Phenom II X3 720, for about $50 more. And those who spend hours editing media with professional programs such as Sony’s Vegas and Adobe’s CS4 will definitely want to splurge for a quad-core CPU. But for everyone else, the 435 offers more-than-sufficient CPU power for under $90.”
Computer Shopper: “AMD Athlon II X2 240e” (Rated 7.8 out of 10)
Editors’ Take:
“This dual-core CPU offers good budget-grade performance for everyday PC tasks while consuming half the power of similar chips under full load.”
Conclusion:
“While more-powerful CPUs are available for just a little more money, the $77 Athlon II X2 240e is still speedy enough for common PC tasks, and it never felt sluggish in our Windows 7 testbed PC. Its 45-watt maximum power rating is just over half that of many other mainstream CPUs, and it’s even more power-efficient when compared with high-end performance CPUs, so it should save you some measurable money in the long run. And those looking to save money now will appreciate this CPU’s compatibility with less-expensive AM2+ motherboards and DDR2 memory. This is a safe pick for budget-conscious upgraders and builders, and well suited to efficient, everyday productivity tasks should you see it in a prebuilt PC.”
Xbit Labs: “AMD Athlon II X3 435 CPU Review”
Multi-core value:
“Many users believe that the times of dual-core processors are coming to an end. However, so far there haven’t been any inexpensive processors with more than two cores in the market. Today AMD is correcting this: the new triple-core 45 nm CPUs are priced starting at $76!”
Competitive Comparison:
“[AMD] focused on inexpensive solutions that would be superior in functionality to Core 2 Quad, Core 2 Duo and Pentium processors within the same price range. For example, new triple-core Athlon II X3 are targeted for sub-$90 price range, which means that they are competitors to dual-core Pentium processors recently enhanced by Intel by raising their clock frequencies and introducing 1067 MHz bus support.”
… “New triple-core AMD Athlon II X3 processors fall into the same price category as the top Intel Pentium CPUs. That is why first of all we are going to compare these two…”
AMD Value:
“Not so long ago we reviewed a few of the first AMD solutions like that – Athlon II X4 quad-core processor family, with the junior models selling for no more than $100. These CPUs made a pretty good impression, especially in terms of price-to-performance. Today AMD went even further and announced even cheaper multi-core CPUs. Triple-core newcomers from Athlon II X3 series will be available for $70-$90. Frankly speaking, Athlon II X3 are in a way unique processors because neither AMD nor Intel have any other solutions like that. Only these CPUs have more than two cores but at the same time are extremely affordable. These particular features will make Athlon II X3 a pretty demanded solution. Multi-threaded applications become more and more popular. Today even games may benefit from an extra processor core in your system, not to mention numerous programs for work with media content that are becoming wider spread among home users.”
X3 recommendation:
“So, Athlon II X3 processors look like a very good and, most importantly, timely solution, which we have every right to recommend to those users who work with resource-hungry software applications and value the advantages of multi-core architectures.”
John Taylor is Director, Global Platform & Product Communications at AMD. His postings are his own opinions and may not represent AMD’s positions, strategies or opinions. Links to third party sites are provided for convenience and unless explicitly stated, AMD is not responsible for the contents of such linked sites and no endorsement is implied.
People are talking about the 40-watt ACP Six-Core AMD Opteron™ EE Processor
Posted by Phil Hughes in 4:04 PM
(6 votes, average: 4.83 out of 5)Yesterday we launched our latest energy-sipping server processor, the 40-watt ACP, Six-Core AMD Opteron™ EE processor. For those of you scoring at home, 40W ACP / 6 cores = ~6.67W per core.
In case you didn’t have time to read the enormous volume of coverage from Yesterday’s news, we at AMD’s Global PR headquarters here in Austin, TX are happy to provide you with the following summary:
Blogger’s note: Some of you may remember back in 2004 we brought to market a single-core, max TDP 30-watt processor. Very much ahead of the curve as the article suggests.
Here’s some additional info on DDR2 vs. DDR3 memory pricing for servers. Latest data shows customers still need to pay a premium for DDR3.
Here's a chart that shows how AMD does not compromise features in order to save power
“Advanced Micro Devices is also hoping to appeal to cost-conscious data center managers with a new line of low-power, six-core “Istanbul” Opteron CPUs. The 40-watt models join the 75- and 55-watt versions already on the market.” Good Morning Silicon Valley
The above doesn’t even include the 100+ tweets and counting I’ve already seen on this since yesterday. Only a few of the tweets are from me. So yes, people other than me are tweeting about this amazing engineering and manufacturing feat that is the 40-watt ACP Six-Core AMD Opteron EE processor.
Phil Hughes is a senior public relations manager at AMD. His postings are his own opinions and may not represent AMD’s positions, strategies or opinions. Links to third party sites are provided for convenience and unless explicitly stated, AMD is not responsible for the contents of such linked sites and no endorsement is implied.
Is it time to stop trying to define the Cloud?
Posted by Phil Hughes in 1:33 PM
“Either you stand for something or you don’t”
Jack Ryan from the Tom Clancy novel Clear and Present Danger
Cloud Computing is real and seems to be growing rapidly. Cloud providers need the most energy-efficient servers they can get without compromising the features and reliability of traditional rack servers. That aspect of Cloud Computing seems to be, well, the least cloudy. It’s why AMD added the 40-watt ACP Quad-Core AMD Opteron™ EE processors to our server lineup earlier this year and plans to soon offer 40-watt ACP Six-Core AMD Opteron™ EE processors.
Since we launched our EE processors, I’ve tried to gain a better understanding of what Cloud Computing really is. Now, I’m not sure why, but that over-simplistic Jack Ryan quote kept running through my head as I recently read the latest f5 networks survey results on Cloud Computing. It asked 250 IT professionals what they thought of SIX possible Cloud Computing definitions. Before reading the results, I said to myself: Either you know what the Cloud is or you don’t. It should just be that simple.
Not so fast. There appears to be a thought leadership race among analysts, service providers and numerous other industry pundits to be the one who arrives first at the accepted Cloud Computing definition.
This “define the cloud” fascination seems to be reaching new levels. This week alone, I found more than 100 articles that discussed the topic of defining Cloud Computing on Google News. Does this mean we are near the “tipping point” on coming to a consensus, or are we further away than ever?
India’s CXO Today just posted an Cloud Computing interview with an SAP senior executive, Simon Dale. Dale said “For now it is still a marketing definition with nobody having come out with a proper and complete description of cloud computing.” Great observation and it would be nice if the industry could actually land on even a single “marketing” definition of Cloud Computing.
The good news is that even without a widely-accepted definition, interest and investments in Cloud computing are undeterred, looking at f5’s survey results. More than 80 percent of the 250 IT professionals surveyed are now in at least trial stages of Cloud deployments, and more than half have deployed a public Cloud environment.
Now as a PR guy, I’m all for the discussion about defining Cloud Computing to rage on. Particularly if it drives attention to the fact that AMD is working hard to shave every watt it can off its processors without compromising the features such as AMD-V™ or AMD-P. While the definition remains cloudy, we continue to work to keep the benefits to customers clear.
Phil Hughes is a senior public relations manager at AMD. His postings are his own opinions and may not represent AMD’s positions, strategies or opinions. Links to third party sites are provided for convenience and unless explicitly stated, AMD is not responsible for the contents of such linked sites and no endorsement is implied.
Boom or Bust
Posted by Phil Hughes in 4:13 PM
This is the final chapter of my blog looking back on the first year of the AMD OpteronTM processor.
If you’re a fan of professional sports, you know that the stretch from April until the end of June is draft time for the big four North American leagues -- NFL, MLB, NBA and NHL. Inevitably during these months, the sports media revisit past drafts and look at some of the biggest draft busts and successes. Take an example from the NFL -- Ryan Leaf (2nd pick, 1st round, 1998) and Tom Brady (199th pick, 6th round 2000) -- epitomize the concepts of bust (Leaf) and boom (Brady.)
Contrast this to the world of microprocessors. The AMD Opteron processor entered the market in April 2003 as a solid, but unproven, option during a time when the industry had been trying to determine if the 64-bit Itanium processor was more hype than substance.
I noted in my first blog that the AMD Opteron processor was met with some skepticism early on due to a lack of initial OEM support. But by the first half of 2004, the AMD Opteron processor was well on its way to being the dark-horse in x86 servers. Sun began to launch the servers it announced late in 2003 and the market was seeing some impressive performance on those systems. In February, the competition did us a big favor when they validated our approach to 64-bit computing by emulating the AMD64 instruction set extensions. In fact, it kicked off the first of several instances in that period where the competition took a page from the AMD playbook (multi-core, processor model numbers and Direct Connect Architecture are just a few more examples of them following the AMD lead.) The competition announcing its plans to incorporate AMD64 extensions served notice to the industry that AMD was ahead of the curve in understanding the needs of enterprise customers.
We had fun at IDF in Feb. 2004 reminding the world who made 64-bit migration easy.
A big helping of “Swordfish”
In the first few months of 2004, the momentum behind the AMD Opteron processor was fast and furious. The teams that supported the AMD Opteron processor were extremely busy but no one was complaining. We all had a lot of sweat equity invested in the AMD Opteron processor and we were now seeing the payoff. While IDF was going on, several of us were working on a project code-name “Swordfish”. “Swordfish” was the codename for our upcoming server launch with HP and it represented probably the biggest milestone for the AMD Opteron processor. Here’s why;
- Most industry watchers assumed HP would probably be the least likely OEM to come on board because of their investment in Itanium;
- HP didn’t make a small commitment to AMD, much like Sun, they went big right out of the gate;
- As the industry-leader, HP’s broad portfolio of AMD servers helped drive the discussion away from AMD being seen as a niche player in HPC;
- HP had a huge footprint among Wall Street IT, which was a critical customer segment for AMD in order to increase our market share.
Slide from HP's launch presentation on February 24, 2004
Rookie of the Year
In April 2004, we went back to NYC to celebrate the one-year anniversary of the launch of the AMD Opteron processor. While our event didn’t quite have the production value that our launch did a year earlier, we opted to go for substance over style. What a stark contrast from a year earlier. IBM was of course back again but joined this time by our new friends from Sun and HP along with an end-user from Verisign.
We had our cake, and ate it too at the AMD Opteron one-year anniversary celebration in NYC
One final thought: at its launch in April 2003, the AMD Opteron processor delivered some unique innovations to an x86 server market hungry for choice. The AMD Opteron processor initially fell into that category of a draft pick that had loads of potential, but not quite a first rounder yet. However, looking back at some of the milestones AMD achieved with the AMD Opteron processor from April 2003 to April 2004, it probably was a clear-cut “Rookie of the Year,” in the x86 server business. Particularly if you read some of the following….
“AMD is viewed as a credible tier-one server processor supplier, which certainly wasn’t the case a year ago,” said Dean McCarron, principal analyst at Mercury Research. InfoWorld, April 19, 2004
The Opteron processor has vaulted AMD to the front lines of the competition between IBM, HP and Sun Microsystems--three of the top four server makers. CNET, April 19, 2004
Overall, AMD shattered industry expectations for Opteron’s first year. The fact that the company’s product is even discussed as a serious Intel alternative in the server market is a major accomplishment. The Register, April 23, 2004
There you have it, some great quotes that sum up the first year of AMD Opteron. Perhaps in another year or two, you will see another blog from me about the first year of our Six-Core AMD Opteron processor, also known as “Istanbul”. Thanks for reading.
Phil Hughes is a senior public relations manager at AMD. His postings are his own opinions and may not represent AMD’s positions, strategies or opinions. Links to third party sites are provided for convenience and unless explicitly stated, AMD is not responsible for the contents of such linked sites and no endorsement is implied.
Recap of early “Istanbul” Reviews
Posted by Phil Hughes in 8:51 AM
(4 votes, average: 4.00 out of 5)
On June 1 we launched our Six-Core AMD Opteron™ processor, formerly code-named “Istanbul”. Here are some of the early highlights from some of the industry’s most-respected hardware reviewers.
AnandTech: AMD’s Six-Core Opteron 2435
“It is out of the scope of this article, but it is clear that even if the CPUs cost the same, the AMD based server will be less costly.”
“Our power consumption data is preliminary. We really have to double-check all the power data. Very roughly, we find that the Opteron 2435 machine consumes about 35-45W less than the Xeon X5570. On a total of slightly more than 300W, that is about 10 to 15%. Idle power seems to be slightly in favor of the Xeon “Nehalem”.
“There are two types of applications where we feel that the AMD six-core deserves your attention: decision support databases and virtualization. . . . Of course, performance-critical applications are by definition more demanding when it comes to processing power. That is exactly what vApus Mark I measures: how well do performance-critical applications perform when they are virtualized? This is a relatively “new” market where the AMD 2435 shines. The new Opteron 2435 at 2.6 GHz was a pleasant surprise on vApus Mark I: it keeps up with more expensive Xeons on ESX 3.5 update 4 while consuming less, and offers a competitive performance/watt and performance/price ratio on vSphere 4. The six-core Opteron is about 11 to 30% slower on vSphere 4 than the 2.93 GHz Xeon X5570 but the overall cost of the Istanbul platform is significantly lower (DDR-2 versus DDR-3) and the 2.6 GHz 2435 consumes less power in a virtualized environment (*). On the condition that you optimize your hypervisor well to take advantage of the six cores (cell size is for example one critical optimization), we feel that the six-core Opteron is a worthy opponent for the Xeon “Nehalem” in this market. We tested only the 2435 versus the X55xx series.”
(*) Virtualized servers do not run idle very often
Tech Report: “AMD’s ‘Istanbul’ six-core Opteron processors / We crack open a six-pack”
AMD Executing Early: “AMD had originally planned to introduce this product in the October time frame, but the first spin of Istanbul silicon came back solid, so the firm pulled the launch forward into June.
“The most notable change, though, is probably the addition of a feature AMD calls HT Assist. HT Assist is essentially a probe filter intended to reduce the overhead required for the synchronization of cached data across CPUs in multiple sockets. HT Assist reserves space in each processor’s L3 cache, in which it stores an index of where that CPU’s cache lines are being used system-wide. The CPU then becomes “host” of the cache lines stored in its directory. If any CPU needs an update about a particular cache line, it will often know which CPU is the correct host to probe for that information. This reduction in probe traffic can yield big gains in available system bandwidth, as we reported when we saw AMD demo a 4P system whose Stream bandwidth increased from roughly 25GB/s to 42GB/s with the addition of Istanbul processors with HT Assist.”
“Yet Istanbul should be a clear improvement over Shanghai for many workstation-class workloads and most server-class workloads—i.e., those that are essentially parallel and widely multithreaded. The Opteron 2435 manages to deliver this higher performance not just within the same power envelopes, but quite empirically with almost the exact same measured power consumption as the Opteron 2389.”
“This combination yields a nice increase in power efficiency, which was enough to put our Istanbul-based test system in the same territory as our Xeon X5550 system. The competition between the two was remarkably close in SPECpower_ssj, and the Istanbul system required notably less energy to render the Cinema 4D sample scene in Cinebench. So despite that fact that Intel leads in outright performance, the Opteron 2435 is entirely competitive on the power-efficiency front, with lower peak power draw, to boot. Those who evaluate systems strictly on this basis would do well to keep Opterons in the mix.”
“And if you have existing, compatible Socket F servers, the Istanbul Opterons should be an excellent drop-in upgrade. They’re a no-brainer, really, when one considers energy costs and per-socket/per-server software licensing fees.”
ZDNet: “AMD Istanbul: Field Upgrade Only If Your Hands are Nimble”
Unlike Intel’s Nehalem, which requires entirely new and unproven mainboards, systems, chipsets and sockets, the “Istanbul” is based on existing, mature AMD chipsets and uses the existing 1207-pin Socket F, allowing current Quad-Core Opteron systems to be field upgraded rather than requiring entirely new server purchases. . . . . The 24xx and 84xx series CPUs are actually compatible with systems going back four Opteron quad-core chip generations, ever since the 2000 and 8000 series were introduced in August of 2006. . . . . AMD also was able to engineer and manufacture the Istanbul during a period in which it also spun off its entire manufacturing capacity as a separate company, GlobalFoundaries, so the fact they were able to get this product out in record time (six months ahead of schedule, according to the company) to compete with Intel’s Nehalem is a significant achievement.”
Phil Hughes is a senior public relations manager at AMD. His postings are his own opinions and may not represent AMD’s positions, strategies or opinions. Links to third party sites are provided for convenience and unless explicitly stated, AMD is not responsible for the contents of such linked sites and no endorsement is implied.
One week since EC ruled against Intel, where do things stand?
Posted by Michael Silverman in 4:51 PM
One week ago, the European Commission fired a very loud antitrust shot at Intel that was no doubt heard ’round the world. This “shot heard ’round the world” has sparked a tremendous amount of dialogue across the IT ecosystem regarding what the ruling could mean for Intel, the marketplace, consumers, computer makers and innovators in-general.
The dialogue from all corners has been fascinating to watch unfold. So many levels, tangents and rampant speculation abounds, including what moves antitrust regulators in the United States may now make in having stated loudly and clearly that the laissez faire approach to antitrust by the Bush era was officially over.
Like most things, one can quickly get way, way into the weeds on the reasons behind Intel’s antitrust problems and the issues underlying them. For AMD, and for others in the industry who have been watching Intel’s antitrust snowball slowly but surely rolling downhill for years now, it’s really pretty simple…
1. Protection of consumer welfare is the fundamental purpose of antitrust law across jurisdictions all over the world.
2. By any measure, Intel has monopoly power in the x86 microprocessor market.
3. Antitrust enforcers in three separate markets (representing roughly half a billion consumers) have uncovered evidence that Intel engaged in anti-competitive behavior and harmed consumers.
Some of the most thoughtful journalism – and I admit, favorable to the EC’s ruling and skeptical of Intel’s claims -I’ve seen on the ruling and Intel’s weak arguments have appeared in FORTUNE, Intel’s hometown newspaper The San Jose Mercury News, and EE Times. I encourage you to read them and let me know what you think.
Commentary speculating that AMD would rather regulate instead of innovate could not be further from the truth. As fellow AMD bloggers Pat Moorhead and Nigel Dessau have said before me, we do not want or need special treatment. All we want is the assurance of a truly competitive market where our innovations, and those of all tech companies, are able to be freely adopted by consumers who want them, and not blocked by anti-competitive business practices perpetrated to preserve a dominant firm’s control of the market.
In any event, with two live antitrust investigations into Intel’s practices by the US Federal Trade Commission and NY attorney general’s office, as well as the first day of our US civil antitrust trial approaching, what can safely be said is that this movie is far from over.
A common frustration among those who I talk with regularly on this subject matter is that much of the evidence that has so far trumped every Intel argument that its business practices are legal and pro-consumer have been concealed behind protective orders and locked away in antitrust investigators’ files. One exception is a translation of the Korean FTC findings provided courtesy of the American Antitrust Institute.
The lack of evidence available in the public domain is frustrating, but that’s the way the system works at this point. Eventually, we are confident the facts will come out. The best we can really do at this point is to encourage you to read the civil antitrust complaint against Intel that AMD filed with the Delaware Federal Court in 2005. This complaint is filled with examples of Intel threats and coercion like those that presumably the Japanese, Korean, and European regulators found in files taken from Intel and Intel’s customers.
Michael Silverman is a senior manager of public relations at AMD. His postings are his own opinions and may not represent AMD’s positions, strategies or opinions. Links to third party sites are provided for convenience and unless explicitly stated, AMD is not responsible for the contents of such links sites and no endorsement is implied.
The Verdict is in
Posted by Michael Silverman in 5:46 PM
European regulators spoke on behalf of consumers Wednesday when they issued a record €1.06 billion fine against Intel for engaging in anti-competitive practices in the European Union. In their ruling, the European Commission unequivocally found that Intel had paid to keep AMD products off shelves and out of the hands of consumers. The decision sends a strong message that it should be consumers – not companies trying to manipulate the market - who decide what products are successful. We at AMD couldn’t agree more and, fortunately, we’re not alone.
Depending on what headlines you read, Intel was either “slapped” (ChannelInsider), “slammed” (BusinessWeek) or “punished” (Economist) by the European Commission’s ruling on Wednesday. Some reporters went further, with the Economist writing that he European Commission had wielded its “heaviest antitrust hammer against Intel.”
Matthew Newman of Bloomberg reported one EU regulator’s comment that, “Intel’s unlawful practices must stop immediately” and that it would “actively monitor Intel’s compliance with this decision.”
For those still wading through the flood of news, we’d recommend checking out this growing list of excellent coverage:
- A must read is Chris O’Brien’s piece at the San Jose Mercury News where he asks if Intel execs have “lost their moral compass.”
- Or check out Fortune, where Roger Parloff explores what the ruling means for Intel’s credibility (hint: it’s not good)
Also, be sure to check out Nigel Dessau’s blog post on the topic and also keep up with ongoing coverage via our FriendFeed link.
Overall, the word is out about Intel’s anti-competitive practices. And while the European Commission’s ruling won’t be a surprise to AMD Unprocessed readers, it’s good to be vindicated by so many independent sources. Stay tuned for additional updates.
Michael Silverman is a senior manager of public relations at AMD. His postings are his own opinions and may not represent AMD’s positions, strategies or opinions. Links to third party sites are provided for convenience and unless explicitly stated, AMD is not responsible for the contents of such links sites and no endorsement is implied.
AMD-on-AMD action
Posted by Phil Hughes in 6:31 PM
A couple of weeks ago at a press event in Sunnyvale celebrating the sixth anniversary of the AMD Opteron processor launch in 2003, we provided details on Direct Connect Architecture 2.0 and our 2010 server platforms code-named “Maranello” and “San Marino”.
Both “Maranello” and “San Marino” will be “AMD on AMD” platforms, meaning they will leverage chipsets developed by AMD. Currently shipping AMD server platforms use chipsets from Nvidia and Broadcom. Both Nvidia and Broadcom will continue to support Socket F platforms through 2010, including upcoming systems based on our six-core “Istanbul” processors.
When asked at the press event about our relationship with Nvidia and Broadcom in the context of our server platforms, Vice President and General Manager of AMD Server Business Unit Pat Patla stated the following: “For 2010, moving forward, the solutions coming out from AMD will be AMD and on AMD at this time. We don’t expect to see new chipsets from NVIDIA or Broadcom for server implementations in 2010.”
Unfortunately, this led to some speculation that there were licensing issues between AMD and Nvidia. At no time did AMD offer any comment related to future server processor licensing agreements with Nvidia or any third-party chipset provider.
Dating to the ATI acquisition in 2006, the long-term AMD plan remains consolidating on our own chipsets for future server platforms. As such, it was a mutual business decision between AMD and our third-party server chipset providers that they would not develop chipsets for future AMD server platforms. This was a decision specific to the server business unit.
We are very excited about the opportunity to bring new platform-level innovations to the x86 server market later this year, starting with our “Fiorano” and “Kroner” platforms in the second half. Some of those new features include:
- IOMMU – Increased performance through enhanced I/O and improved security through hardware isolation of VMs
- HyperTransport 3 – Increased platform-level I/O bandwidth
- PCI Express Gen 2 – Optimized for Accelerated and Stream computing environments