Posts tagged with AMD

NetworkWorld recently released its list of the 11 Most Influential Microprocessors of All Time. I have to agree that the AMD Opteron^TM 240 Series processor is one of the most influential processors because it is the singular reason that I left my last job of almost ten years – I came to AMD specifically to work on the AMD Opteron processor because I realized the game-changing potential of this technology.

The list is a relative “who’s who” of the microprocessor world.  Every processor clearly had a huge impact on the market, and it is an honor to be included in the list. Most importantly, we are the only processor in the list that was released after 1993. AND we are the only one that is still in the market today in any reasonable volume (somehow, somewhere, somebody is probably utilizing the others because they were such strong designs).

Back in 2002, a year before the launch of the AMD Opteron processor AMD and Microsoft announced a cooperative effort to develop 64-bit version of windows for AMD 64-bit processors. We were the first mainstream processor to enable 64-bit, and our shared vision was that 64-bit computing would drive the data center of the future.  I guess you could say that we helped influence the move to 64-bit.

In 2003, there was no such thing as a “low powered server processor.” Enterprise-class processors were big, hot and power hungry.  Now look at where we are today.  The new AMD Opteron EE processor delivers six cores in a single processor, with a 40W ACP. Power is one of the biggest concerns in the data center today, and we influenced the market with the introduction of power efficiency for servers back before people realized how important power would be.

What about price? If you can remember the pre-AMD processor Opteron days (or the “dark ages” as I like to call them), there was little competition in x86 server processors.  Price/performance was a very limited concept, your price/performance came at the platform level, not really at the processor level. Prices were significantly higher than they are today.  AMD influence? Check.

Remember the world of single core computing? It may be hazy for most of you because for the past 4 years, almost every server processor sold was probably a multi-core.  And who had the first multi-core X86 processor?  Yep, the influencer.

So what does the server processor of 2009 look like? Well, let’s take a look at the profile:

• Multi-core
• 64-bit x86
• Integrated memory controller
• Low power options
• High performance per watt
• High price performance
• Hardware-based virtualization capabilities

When you put the list together, it is clear that AMD has had a significant impact on the server processor market.  Regardless of which processors you are deploying, what you enjoy today in your X86 data centers are either AMD Opteron processors, or processors that have been heavily influenced by our technology decisions. Some would say that “imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.”  I like to call it influence.

John Fruehe is the Director of Business Development for Server/Workstation products 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.