Wednesday, July 26th 2006

AMD explains 4x4 architecture.

Jul 26th, 2006 13:50 Discuss (26 Comments)

AMD has had a small "coming out party" for it's new 4X4 architecture. AMD recognizes that in order for true multitasking, you need two things, processor cores and high memory bandwidth. And so, AMD takes two A64 X2 chips, enables ccHT so the processors can talk to each other, allowing for extremely high memory bandwidth and four processor cores. At AMD's "coming out party", they showed 4x4 technology running multi-threaded applications very well, as well as two very intense applications running side by side. Assuming that a process is multi-threaded, 4x4 technology also allows for combining of the 4 cores to run one process, as seen in 3Dmark06.

The monitor on the left represents an FX62, and the monitor on the right represents 4x4. The FX62 started first, and the 4x4 finished first. While 4x4 architecture won't exactly take the performance crown back from Conroe, it will certainly keep AMD in the game.

Source: TheINQ

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26 Comments on AMD explains 4x4 architecture.

Alec§taar

AMD is NOT taking the Intel CONROE technology lightly, & this proves it.

:)

* Which is GOOD!

APK

P.S.=> This is good news for AMD fans, for certain, & for users in general, as imo @ least, it will force price breaks from BOTH sides probably (I hope so, don't you all?)... apk

WarEagleAU

Bird of Prey

This is awesome. I dont know how it wouldnt take the crown; but then again, it will probably perform on par.

Wait, that sucks though, more money to keep up with the cheaper Conroe ::scowl::

CjStaal

Yes They Finally Did It! Reverse Hyperthreading!

drade

Just to help you out here zerk... you forgot the A in the beggining, as it says "MD" only... Just giving feedback.. Put the A in the "MD"... some small words can be misswritten:)

CjStaal

hhah 4AMD cores working on a single process splitting the process across multiple processors still cannot compete with the conroe
MUWAHAHAHA
God, conroes are a revolution.

Alec§taar

Cj_Staalhhah 4AMD cores working on a single process splitting the process across multiple processors still cannot compete with the conroe
MUWAHAHAHA
God, conroes are a revolution.

I'll second that motion...

:)

Still, it forces AMD to answer, & answer they are! We all gain by it imo, & hopefully it will make Intel step down pricing some.

APK

wtf8269

I'm going to assume each of these cores are still 90nm? Once we have 65nm quad core, it'll catch up to the Conroe.

Tory

So wait, AMD wants dual socket motherboards to become mainstream? I bet power consumption goes to crap. Bye bye AMD...

Alec§taar

TorySo wait, AMD wants dual socket motherboards to become mainstream? I bet power consumption goes to crap. Bye bye AMD...

An excellent point... my power prices in bills has doubled literally, the past 2-3 years now!

:(

* BUMS ME OUT, large, but I have NO SAY in it, whatsoever!

(Still, power consumption's been on the minds of the oem's of hardwares this past year, & you can bank on it that this is the driving force behind it... especially for datacenters!)

APK

#10

vaperstylz

What impact will quad core procs have on the 4x4 processing environment?

#11

Dippyskoodlez

Cj_Staalhhah 4AMD cores working on a single process splitting the process across multiple processors still cannot compete with the conroe
MUWAHAHAHA
God, conroes are a revolution.

ofcourse, comparing current stuff to next gen stuff sure is fair! :rolleyes: (you have yet to see any actual benchmarks for this, so its still very uncomparable)

#12

zekrahminator

McLovin

dradeJust to help you out here zerk... you forgot the A in the beggining, as it says "MD" only... Just giving feedback.. Put the A in the "MD"... some small words can be misswritten:)

Oops :roll: Thanks for fixing that W1zzard.

#13

randomperson21

woah.

if you could have 4 cores all running the same thread..................

i'm shivering with excitement.

now, if only these things worked with 939 boards. i don't want to replace my 3800+ 939 with an am2 3800+

just think: quad core rendering in 3ds max 8...............

#14

not a suicide-bomber

randomperson21woah.

if you could have 4 cores all running the same thread..................

i'm shivering with excitement.

now, if only these things worked with 939 boards. i don't want to replace my 3800+ 939 with an am2 3800+

just think: quad core rendering in 3ds max 8...............

the X23800+ AM2 just lowered their prices to 169€, if i could sell my AMD i would buy that one
:D

#15

randomperson21

grrah i just bought my 939 3800+ 6 months ago for $300!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

#16

creidiki

wtf8269I'm going to assume each of these cores are still 90nm? Once we have 65nm quad core, it'll catch up to the Conroe.

No, they need a new architecture. K8 on 65nm wont catch up to Conroe anymore than P4s caught up to AMD when they had their die shrink.

This aint saying that they wont be competitvely priced as far as performance goes - AMD is already competitve in the low-end - but as far as clock-for-clock and MFlop-for-watt, gate shrink aint enough.

#17

randomperson21

creidikiNo, they need a new architecture. K8 on 65nm wont catch up to Conroe anymore than P4s caught up to AMD when they had their die shrink.

This aint saying that they wont be competitvely priced as far as performance goes - AMD is already competitve in the low-end - but as far as clock-for-clock and MFlop-for-watt, gate shrink aint enough.

i agree.

just like intel revamped their whole archatecture, its time for amd to do the same to keep ahead.

although i do think that the 4x4 platform is a satisfactory interm solution for us performance junkies, even if it does cost more than conroes. they have to stay compeditive somehow.

and the fact that it can run a single thread on all 4 cores is really kick ass. you can't do that on a conroe.

#18

not a suicide-bomber

creidikiNo, they need a new architecture. K8 on 65nm wont catch up to Conroe anymore than P4s caught up to AMD when they had their die shrink.

This aint saying that they wont be competitvely priced as far as performance goes - AMD is already competitve in the low-end - but as far as clock-for-clock and MFlop-for-watt, gate shrink aint enough.

Intel used sort of the P3 one, but AMD should use another, but that will take years to be optimized

#19

Dippyskoodlez

creidikiNo, they need a new architecture. K8 on 65nm wont catch up to Conroe anymore than P4s caught up to AMD when they had their die shrink.

This aint saying that they wont be competitvely priced as far as performance goes - AMD is already competitve in the low-end - but as far as clock-for-clock and MFlop-for-watt, gate shrink aint enough.

saying they need a new architecture is going a bit far.. The K8 is plenty capable of keeping up.

The K8 is just a suped up K7 afterall. and its way too early for a new arch. design, as this ones just starting to shine!!

That's where the K8L comes in... ;) K8L is AMD's answer to conroe...

#20

randomperson21

ohkey.

as long as they can give me a high performance chip for a reasonable price, i'll be happy

#21

magibeg

I thought the K8L was just a die shrink? Are there other optimizations with it too? And i'll believe amd has an answer to conroe when i see some benchmarks for it :)

#22

i_am_mustang_man

is it just me or does the 4x4 3d06 look better than the other one? would it refine the image more to have these faster processors? are there any numbers or screenshots or higher res pics of this?

i'm sorry, i've never really cared about cpu performance in 3dmark before recently because i couldn't OC

#23

creidiki

magibegI thought the K8L was just a die shrink? Are there other optimizations with it too? And i'll believe amd has an answer to conroe when i see some benchmarks for it :)

No its an architectural evolution implementing many of the advantages that conroe has over K8.

Properly implemented, the instruction-per-clock abilities of conroe and its shared cache (and possibly its intellingent memory prefetcher) as well as its better ooo execution coupled with AMD onboard memory controller could be the architecture to rule them all.. until the NextBigThing™ comes out anyway.

AMD itself doesent seem to sure about when its coming out though, one month its Q3 2007, then its Q4 2008, then its 2007 again... time will, as always, tell.

Personally I'm slightly concerned that at this rate Intel will be swimming in 45nm by the time K8L on 65 is out...

#24

Canuto

Well intel has cornered AMD and the 4x4 ain't enough they've got to get to 65nm fast or they're history.

#25

NamesDontMatter

CanutoWell intel has cornered AMD and the 4x4 ain't enough they've got to get to 65nm fast or they're history.

Disagree, sure Intel was on the wrong road for a few years, but they weren’t history because they didn't have the gamers. AMD is becoming more and more mainstream. With Dell beginning to sell AMD, and I believe HP already onboard AMD will be fine whether they can beat Conroe or not.

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AMD explains 4x4 architecture.

26 Comments on AMD explains 4x4 architecture.

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