"Vishera" End Of The Line for AMD FX CPUs: Roadmap

[NC37]

If AMD can get serious with APU designs and bring in L3, up the core count, and resolve the performance hit under DDR3 RAM...then this isn't a bad thing. But that is going to require a lot of tricky wrangling. Good thing AMD brought back that CPU designer from Apple. The next few years are going to be his time to shine.

 

[RCoon]

One thing I don't understand about this roadmap is it appears to be all APU based. Will AMD have any non-APUs?

Say hello to Athlon 750K and 760K, the APU's with the GPU torn out. Less TDP to deal with, more overclocking potential. That isn't going to stop me from switching to intel now though, but I'm going to sit back and wait for their next iteration of CPU's before I switch MoBo socket.

 

[Dent1]

It truly sad to see AMD getting 'chased out' of the CPU market like this - Its almost somewhat depressing as back in '95 to '05 AMD seemed to flourish and it was like everything they touched turned to gold. For a company that was so successful they ended up leaving on a very very low note.

I don't think AMD are being chased out. They made an educated decision to follow the money. That is voluntarily leaving.


We all need to keep in mind that APUs are the way forward. Even Intel's high end CPUs are still APUs really. So AMD and Intel are mutually heading the same direction.

 

[newtekie1]

I'm glad AMD is focussing on APU's I just wish they would put out some higher end ones. I can live with AM3+ dying, I think they should combine everything into one socket. Go with socket C33, and have that one socket and motherboard support anything from dual-core APUs with no L3 to 16-Core APUs with huge amounts of L3.

Say hello to Athlon 750K and 760K, the APU's with the GPU torn out. Less TDP to deal with, more overclocking potential. That isn't going to stop me from switching to intel now though, but I'm going to sit back and wait for their next iteration of CPU's before I switch MoBo socket.

The GPU is still there, it is just deactivated. And since it doesn't lower the rated TDP any, I'd guess there is actually still some power flowing through it.

 

[TheHunter]

Its basically what intel has been doing since SB in mainstream market.. Onboard gpu + cpu..


Good to see there will be a SteamRoller and Excavator, but yeah only in this cpu+gpu hybrid mode. I hope its gonna be 8+ cores though.

But if we look at huma then it can change everything. Imo it would have been useless to use old FX design now if there is such a good potential in huma.. Wish intel would start doing this also, use igpu for general cpu processing more and mix both

 

[FreedomEclipse]

I don't think AMD are being chased out. They made an educated decision to follow the money. That is voluntarily leaving.


We all need to keep in mind that APUs are the way forward. Even Intel's high end CPUs are still APUs really. So AMD and Intel are mutually heading the same direction.

If they werent chased then they were hounded out. Hounded out by anti-competitive shenanigans. Intel are all over that shit. boutique system builders dropping AMD CPUs from their custom builds & inventories and review sites that no longer bench Intel vs AMD cpus because they think its a waste of time. Less review samples being sent out - AMD preferring to have their own PR team over-hype processors then having reviewers telling the honest truth about the chips when they are released. Everyone knows the score. Its an educated decision but how far did they have to flog a dead horse before coming up with the decision to depart from the mainstream desktop CPU market? Hats off to them for trying though, and to be honest, a lot of this probably could have been avoided if they pulled back the release date of the first phenoms and tweaked it a little more so they wouldnt look so bad when they were thrown against Intel chips. They knew it was coming alright, but I dont actually think they knew they were gonna be hit so hard. Maybe things might have been different if they held back and revised their designs.

They tried to roll with the punches but they never recovered from it. Theres really nothing more to say on this matter. At least now they will have some level of success even though they're no longer competing in the enthusiast market.

 

[TheoneandonlyMrK]

Get AMD a few years to restructure their CPU departments. I can see top end processor returning in the future. The FX lines were kinda of a embarrassment for AMD anyways give them a few years to fix themselves.

and a bit more node parity.

I may have to except the demise of Am3+ but Amd will be back when they have the right things in place and fully tested, the roadmap has slipped as has most bar intel's AND ARM'S, but most of these things are node based issues and process obstacles im expecting the next Fx Arch to rival a medium Gameing pc 8x8 core gpu+cpu Hsa combined with ddr4 support ,a true step up from am3+ and all intels mobos.

Many decry the lack of new features on AM3+ but ive 4 useable pciex since day 1 and nothing gimped,, all features present, all intel did was unravel their chipset piecemeal over years and many sockets,, and at great cost to the yearly updaters ,,so what Am I missing out on ,,,PCIEX3 and thunderbolt oh my, how are us Amd AM3 users getting by.

Also excavator the core made for Hsa isnt out yet and hence fairly untested (and the core worth most in investment(Ip and future) terms),whilst they maybe could have done a steamy FX, it would not have made good business sense since the channels loaded with FX still and intel have a lead in nodes and power efficiency,ie they wouldnt have sold, Amd have been very busy on Hsa/ software and Soc designs and the effort required for a steamy FX was not worth it in reality, however once TSV(3d/2.5d)production really kicks in on a decent node size below 28 and ddr4 finally hits the consumer market,,, well ,then well see.

 

[dwade]

AMD was Intel's old rival in Pre-PC era. Intel's main rival is ARM, who won't last long as well.

 

[Eukashi]

we need more cores, please 4M8C 4CU/256SP Kaveri PLEASE!

 

[badtaylorx]

how quickly we all forget that SB, IB, and Haswell are all technically APU,s

 

[GLD]

Well my 125w PII 940 that isn't being used may just have increased in resale value? Good solid CPU as we all know.

Maybe now Biostar will make another batch of AM3+ motherboards. I want a new Biostar 990FX board, to make me want to upgrade from my Biostar TA790XE that I have been using since Feb. of 2010.

 

[xenocide]

This sure puts a kink in all those people saying AM3+/AMD offer better upgradability xD

 

[Sempron Guy]

Surely though we are not moving backwards to single threaded performance so with better multi core support for both apps and games, the current FX line can still pack a punch.

 

[TRWOV]

I don't really mind that no new architecture will be developed for the AM3+ platform but I hope that we at least get to see a 28/22 nm Vishera. A 22nm Vishera at >5Ghz and 125w TDP would be a nice swang song for the AM3+ platform.

I suppose that AMD is going to take a page from Intel's book and direct us power users to their server platforms in the future.

 

[ompak5]

when ATI was handed down to AMD they said they will not compete on Nvidia to higher END of video card coz theres no money on the enthusiast level, but now they have R290 for enthusiast. Today AMD throw the towel and they will not compete on the higher END of CPU war with INTEL. i think there is something cooking on the design room of AMD? GO ON AMD!!!!

 

[beautyless]

Why FX CPU not profitable? It's more expensive than their APU.

I dreaming for 22nm 4.5/5GHz x 12 excavator cores CPU 12MB L3 Cache without Graphic part, support PCI-E 3.0, support dual-channel DDR4 3.2 GHz up to 64 Gigabyte capacity, and latest storage interface for faster SSD. Also, used on the same socket with cheap APU. But after read this news, I better hope with 2015 Intel.

 

[ensabrenoir]

Can't say im mad at them.... they've been doing some smart survival moves. redefining themselves instead of the old "we're the cheap intel / nvidia" strategy . Us desktop enthusiast are probably looking like ham radio operators.... in a cell phone age.... Its a great hobby ...but more money in cell phones so.....

 

[xenocide]

when ATI was handed down to AMD they said they will not compete on Nvidia to higher END of video card coz theres no money on the enthusiast level, but now they have R290 for enthusiast. Today AMD throw the towel and they will not compete on the higher END of CPU war with INTEL. i think there is something cooking on the design room of AMD? GO ON AMD!!!!

I'm almost positive AMD never said they wouldn't compete with Nvidia--their GPU's have always been competitive with Nvidia. I know for a fact they did say they wouldn't compete Intel at the highest end about a year and a half ago when the FX-x3xx lines came out (Vishera). Apparently this is what they meant.

 

[Fourstaff]

AMD is not going to lose a lot of business because of this: the only group alienated through this decision is the budget HPC crowd.

 

[medo]

I dont mind killing AM3+ Socket, my issue with the slowness of AMD in progressing with there Plans

AM3+ was truly bulky with north bridge and south bridge but ofcourse having hexa or octa cores is great benefit, espeically for cheap, and the fx 6300 was truly amazing.

Here is my problem :

1) AMD will ditch big cores, and favor GPU computing, and push towards that note that there slides shows the future CPU`s will all have an 65W TDP, which is hard to create in hexa or octa form, but who knows maybe manufacturing will advance by then.

2) AMD will create a APU version with hexa or octa cores but it will take very long time, and AMD plans will keep getting delayed.

I truly hope AMD works ASAP, and Unify there socket as many have stated, into a single one, and push forward with there plans, and make the 8 core athlon, Amd states now that upto 47 Percent of the die space is used for GPU and thats with quad core, so with another shrink or optomization i reckon AMD can pull an 8 core Athlon, but the question is how much longer will it take.

 

[NC37]

1) AMD will ditch big cores, and favor GPU computing, and push towards that note that there slides shows the future CPU`s will all have an 65W TDP, which is hard to create in hexa or octa form, but who knows maybe manufacturing will advance by then.

ATI did the same thing on the GPU end. nVidia for the longest time ran with powerful monolithic GPUs while ATI switched over to a smattering of cores to handle the same load. Trouble was, they were behind for about 2-3 gens but they did finally catch up.

Its a novel idea. But execution is always an issue. However this isn't GPU company vs GPU company. This is GPU company vs CPU company. GPU computing is an area AMD could beat Intel in. There is no question there. But AMD really, really, has to nail it. I suspect it would come down to drivers and Windows implementation. AMD could do it but if nothing can utilize it then Intel just sits there while it gets it's own R&D caught up.

 

[HammerON]

AMD is not going to lose a lot of business because of this: the only group alienated through this decision is the budget HPC crowd.

Yep - ^^^AMD is going to be providing the hardware for many, many PS4 and Xbox One users for the next x years. They haven't been able to compete in the high-end CPU market for many years now. Their APU's are selling really well right now and so this is a good business decision in my book.

 

[kn00tcn]

i remember reading something about how dirk meyer resigned due to 'not liking the direction amd wanted to go' or something along those lines...

given that processor designs take years, could that have been an early hint that high end high power desktop cpus didnt have a future (in the classic sense at least, nothing wrong with a good mainstream apu in the veign of q6600 / q9550 / one of those $300 i7s / 2600k / 3770k / 4770k, i can totally see an apu conflict with him since he led the team that created the athlon)

EDIT: the ps4/xb1/wiiu stuff is hardly a big deal, it only gets the brand into consumers minds, why would amd get lots of profits from it? it's nothing like their own retail product like a cpu or gfx card

 

[joyman]

Most of the people forget the purpose of the APU. And it is merely just a stage in the way of hybrid processors. By 2015 on the old AMD roadmap there will be HSA enabled chips. Looking on their updated roadmap it appears that they are a little ahead of this. So in a few years GPU cores in the CPU will be used also as a FPU, because they are just designed for this task since of the first scalar gpu architectures. This is why AMD Bulldozer design is oriented on more integer modules and less FPU, because GPU will help there. And Intel are far behind this kind of tech IMHO. They have more resources, yes, but history tells that most of great design features comes from AMD. Also in good threaded apps(games) 2 module/4 thread AMD CPU fares well against other 4 cores processors. The limiting factor for smooth gameplay is almost always the GPU(people game at big resolutions and there cpus are not so important).

 

[ValenOne]

Thanks for the dead socket AMD, never again.

Intel Haswell is not compatible with Intel Sandybridge/Ivybridge sockets.

PS; My PC has Intel Core i5-2500K.