Tuesday, September 1st 2009
AMD Preparing ''Thuban'' Desktop Six-Core Processor
AMD is planning to create a desktop implementation of its Opteron "Istanbul" monolithic six-core processor. Codenamed "Thuban" (named after a star in the Draco constellation, which means Dragon), the new processor will be based on the socket AM3 package for compatibility with existing and future desktop core logic. It features six cores, 9 MB of total cache (6 x 512 KB L2 + 6 MB L3). Thuban is aimed to make for AMD's high-end desktop processor, as the company prepares to face competition from a near-complete lineup of processors based on the Nehalem/Westmere architectures from Intel. It is expected to be the posterboy for AMD's "Leo" high-end consumer desktop platform that succeeds its current Dragon platform.
Some of the key components that make up AMD Leo platform are the upcoming AMD 890FX and 890GX chipset, companion SB800 series southbridge chips, and members of AMD's Evergreen family of DirectX 11 compliant graphics processors. On the software front, AMD will give its Fusion and Overdrive utilities some big updates. The SB800 series southbridge chips will feature native support for SATA 6 Gb/s and USB 3.0; connectivity is further enhanced by integrated Broadcom MAC Ethernet interfaces. While the Leo platform is expected to launch almost simultaneously with the 8-series chipsets, the six-core Thuban processor on the other hand comes later. It is due only in Q3 2010. Thuban will have come out an year after its enterprise implementation in the form of Opteron "Istanbul".
Sources:
X-bit Labs, VR-Zone
Some of the key components that make up AMD Leo platform are the upcoming AMD 890FX and 890GX chipset, companion SB800 series southbridge chips, and members of AMD's Evergreen family of DirectX 11 compliant graphics processors. On the software front, AMD will give its Fusion and Overdrive utilities some big updates. The SB800 series southbridge chips will feature native support for SATA 6 Gb/s and USB 3.0; connectivity is further enhanced by integrated Broadcom MAC Ethernet interfaces. While the Leo platform is expected to launch almost simultaneously with the 8-series chipsets, the six-core Thuban processor on the other hand comes later. It is due only in Q3 2010. Thuban will have come out an year after its enterprise implementation in the form of Opteron "Istanbul".
93 Comments on AMD Preparing ''Thuban'' Desktop Six-Core Processor
Now, when will you bring in the Bulldozers? AMD :toast:
nice they r getting exotic with their naming schemes =P
please AMD free me from Intel once n for all =)
PLZ 9mb to 12 and Q3 to simotanious launch. one thing i dont like about amd the mix match launch. Arent the 32s coming Q2. lol id just save it all for q3 then. wtfnot really, nothing any chipname hasnt been b4. And if it was in englsh wouldnt it mean thuban in arabic lol
Edit: 1000 post! Finally! :D
Anyways, go AMD! World's first native x86 quad (a lot that meant...) and now first native x86 hexacore!
I can't wait to see how this works out. I hope we can get a nice, "We are ahead of schedule and redoing our 2010 figures. Pushing up the release of several products....." Letter. I can dream.
I want one... or at least one to come out. (so prices drop on other cpus)
Look at what happened with Phenom 1 and Core2Quad. Phenom 1 released so much later, it was pretty much dead before it even released.
AMD needs to get releasing.
They are selling it for servers because servers often benefit from more cores. They can sell it to the server market on 45nm at a price point very competitive to Intel (Dunnington is helluh expensive).
They've been getting their names from stars and stuff tho. Deneb is a star, and Agena is a star.. Thuban appears to be a star too.. Bleh..