AMD Inching Towards an Increasingly ARM-based Future with "Seattle"

[btarunr]

AMD is inching toward a possible post-x86 future for itself, beginning with its enterprise product stack. In a blog-post, the company outlined a landmark product bearing its enterprise Opteron branding, codenamed "Seattle," which will be designed for scalar data-centers. Based on the 64-bit ARMv8 architecture by ARM, the chip will feature either four or eight cores based on AMD's own implementation of ARMv8, and a high-bandwidth integrated memory controller with support for up to 128 GB of system memory with ECC.

Since ARM-based processors are traditionally part of heavily integrated systems on chips (SoCs), "Seattle" will be an SoC, and among other things, will integrate a 10 Gb/s Ethernet controller, with support for AMD's FreedomFabric technology. Linux kernel 3.7 and above will come with ARMv8 architecture support, and Microsoft is already developing a Windows kernel with ARMv8 support that will be implemented on both its client (Windows RT, Windows Phone) product lines, and a future version of Windows Server. That said, AMD won't give up on x86. As the only active x86 licensee apart from VIA, AMD will continue to make APUs with 64-bit x86 cores for as far as the eye can see (in other words 2015). Future of its client CPU (non-APU) lineup based on the AM3+ socket, however, appears bleak.

View at TechPowerUp Main Site

 

[RCoon]

I have a distinct impression AMD is backing away and trying to leave certain markets altogether. All in all, severely unimpressed with everything they've brought to the table thus far.

 

[Jorge]

Nope AMD is not abandoning any markets they are just planning to cover them all with APUs.

 

[suraswami]

AMD is just trying to step away from 'I' monster. Now 'I' monster will follow AMD?

 

[FrustratedGarrett]

I have a distinct impression AMD is backing away and trying to leave certain markets altogether. All in all, severely unimpressed with everything they've brought to the table thus far.

And what is it that's so impressive about anything Intel for example or Nvidia have "come up with"?
X86 is just not all that relevant anymore. If tasks such as: video trans-coding, audio processing, audio trans-coding, encryption, decryption, graphics processing is officially done on non-X86 hardware on their Kaveri APUs, and we're not counting the many other potential tasks that are far better off handled by the GPU logic of their APUs.

I don't see how AMD's not going in the right direction with Mantle out, which will make GPU accelerate physics a hard reality (and it already is actually with the new consoles utilizing the GCN gpus for all kinds of collision detection and physics simulation calculations). These type calculations can be done tens of times faster on vector-like processors or GPUs...

As for ARM, you know Apple's A7 is said to have the IPC of a Nehalem chip... The dual core 1.3GHz chip is on par with a quad core Baytrail running at 50% higher clock speed. The A7 core has ~ 4x the IPC of a baytrail core, and it's actually more efficient while being manufactured using an inferior fabrication process node.

Take all that into account and you get a clear idea why Intel is paranoid of ARM.

 

[Steevo]

Nvidia is also using ARM, most of the Heterogeneous supporters are looking at using it as well, X86 is dying and X64 is moving forward, and AMD holds the patent for X64. So its all a win for them, selling patent rights, and hardware, helping steer the market towards what they really want. X64 multi-core CISC/RISC with stream processors to do other heavy lifting in a HSA architecture and lower power ARM cores to offload RISC instructions to.

 

[RCoon]

Meh, you can all say as you please about them moving in this direction. It all sounds a little less than dubious to me.

 

[TheoneandonlyMrK]

Meh, you can all say as you please about them moving in this direction. It all sounds a little less than dubious to me.

hows about you have a think now and again, the only company not going down this path is INTEL and there trying to get x86 as efficient as possible to beat an Arm powered train that left the station four years ago if not more(they have efff all chance of overturning qualcoms small core dominance let alone Arm in general) Everyone else is trying to add arm cores or are already there........................................

secondly only those uniformed types think intel is not trying to get hUMA and gpu compute up to par on there end, do you not think Windoze 9 (not8.2)might include full support for Hsa and if it did would Intel not have something along those lines as competition, they better or their ass is getting served as even Arms on Hsa.

Thirdly and not @ Rcoon but Op

Again with the bleak Am3+ bullshit and bleak Amd Big core Bs , Am3 has/will outlive 2011-E and both will be replaced around the same time, When Ddr4 is in the channel at reasonable-ish prices

 

[NC37]

Freaken called it! Go AMD go!

Now I long for the day when Apple goes back to RISC so I can rub it in Mac user faces.

 

[Steevo]

Meh, you can all say as you please about them moving in this direction. It all sounds a little less than dubious to me.

hows about you have a think now and again, the only company not going down this path is INTEL and there trying to get x86 as efficient as possible to beat an Arm powered train that left the station four years ago if not more(they have efff all chance of overturning qualcoms small core dominance let alone Arm in general) Everyone else is trying to add arm cores or are already there........................................

secondly only those uniformed types think intel is not trying to get hUMA and gpu compute up to par on there end, do you not think Windoze 9 (not8.2)might include full support for Hsa and if it did would Intel not have something along those lines as competition, they better or their ass is getting served as even Arms on Hsa.

Thirdly and not @ Rcoon but Op

Again with the bleak Am3+ bullshit and bleak Amd Big core Bs , Am3 has/will outlive 2011-E and both will be replaced around the same time, When Ddr4 is in the channel at reasonable-ish prices

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1001_3-57610120-92/intel-on-track-to-build-two-chips-with-arm-inside/

http://www.extremetech.com/computin...er-intel-announces-plan-to-fab-arm-processors

Google.

Intel is seeing the light due to their crappy Atom, and failure of most low power chips, and finally the overabundance of competitors already making good low power chips and the fact that X86 doesn't belong in low power in the duty they have given Atom.

 

[TheoneandonlyMrK]

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1001_3-57610120-92/intel-on-track-to-build-two-chips-with-arm-inside/

http://www.extremetech.com/computin...er-intel-announces-plan-to-fab-arm-processors

Google.

Intel is seeing the light due to their crappy Atom, and failure of most low power chips, and finally the overabundance of competitors already making good low power chips and the fact that X86 doesn't belong in low power in the duty they have given Atom.

my company uses Altera's cyclone and many other chips heavily and I fully knew/know all about that (ALtera Arm powered chip plus arm+fpga)but that is NOT an intel chip, and though they both hold an ARM license and intel may even use Arm cores in some of its chips (for security? though i think its just Amd)they are not consumer use cores and dont count as an intel cpu with arm processing cores ,,well googled though i read that a fair few weeks ago, dont assume others dont have googlefoo though thats why i post no links, look for yourself imho.

 

[cyneater]

my company uses Altera's cyclone and many other chips heavily and I fully knew/know all about that (ALtera Arm powered chip plus arm+fpga)but that is NOT an intel chip, and though they both hold an ARM license and intel may even use Arm cores in some of its chips (for security? though i think its just Amd)they are not consumer use cores and dont count as an intel cpu with arm processing cores ,,well googled though i read that a fair few weeks ago, dont assume others dont have googlefoo though thats why i post no links, look for yourself imho.

If amd released a CPU / APU arm based with a motherboard with 4 or more sata ports id buy them tomorrow. To replace my NAS.
Id love an arm based PC for an NAS but you can only get 1 port arm boards :<

I think if AMD went the way of ARM they would be going in the right direction.
From what I have seen ARM who are risc based designed by DEC would pwn any X86 intel chip.