Advanced Micro Devices today announced the AMD FireStream 9170 Stream Processor and an accompanying Software Development Kit (SDK) designed to harness the massive parallel processing power of the graphics processing unit (GPU). AMD leveraged its unique collective expertise in both GPUs and CPUs to deliver the first integrated hardware and software development solution that meets the needs of the demanding high-performance computing (HPC) market. AMD plans to deliver the FireStream 9170 and supporting SDK to market in the first quarter of 2008. With this launch AMD expects to achieve another important milestone on the path to Accelerated Computing by delivering the first in a series of next-generation heterogeneous compute architectures.

While AMD is working very hard to ensure the RV670 launch will be a success, we're hearing very little about the alleged "R680" graphics card. According to AMD's partners, R680 is indeed a real AMD graphics card that is currently in development. At this point, it is supposedly a dual-RV670 solution, and we may be seeing it in retail channels before Christmas. We'll keep you posted.

Someone on XtremeSystems recently got their hands on two AMD HD 2900GTs, and proceeded to overclock them, put them in the same system as an Intel Core 2 Quad Q6700, cooled everything with a labyrinth of heatsinks and fans, and benchmarked the whole system. Have a look at the scores below:

After the redistributor prices for AMD's new Phenom processors emerged a couple of days ago, DailyTech has managed to get hold of some retail prices (not bulk prices) for AMD's new Phenom processors, so here's a roundup:

AMD is appointing its President and Chief Operating Officer Dirk Meyer to the board of directors. Meyer, who was promoted to his current role as President and COO in January 2006, continues to share leadership and management duties of AMD with Chairman of the Board and CEO Hector Ruiz. Meyer's election to the board took effect Nov. 1.

Dirk has played an integral role in defining AMD's vision and strategy, helping make AMD the partner of choice for our customers and positioning the company for long-term growth and profitability.

said Ruiz. Prior to his role as president and COO, Meyer served as president and chief operating officer of AMD's Microprocessor Solutions Sector where he had overall responsibility for AMD's microprocessor business, including product development, manufacturing, operations and product marketing. Meyer joined AMD in 1995 and led engineering for the AMD Athlon microprocessor. In April 1999, he was promoted to vice president of engineering. In 2001, he was named group vice president, and in 2002 was named senior vice president and an executive officer of AMD.

AMD today announced availability of home servers based on the AMD LIVE! Home Media Server solution. First to market is the HP MediaSmart Server, which is powered by AMD64 technology and Microsoft Windows Home Server software. This new category of home media servers offers consumers a simple way to access, share and enjoy their PC files, digital photos, movies and music throughout the networked home and on the go.

AMD today announced it is demonstrating platforms based on Quad-Core AMD Opteron processors, including features designed to help Microsoft Windows application developers optimize their software applications through tools in upcoming software products from Microsoft Corp. The technology demonstrations at the conference in Barcelona, Spain show new integration with Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 and Quad-Core AMD Opteron processors.

ISA Hardware, AMD's master distributor of processors, has updated its price list to include AMD's first native quad core CPUs. Three new desktop Phenom X4 processors are now listed as actual:

• HD9500WCGDBOX CPU Desktop Phenom X4 9500 (4MB,95W,AM2) box $247.00
• HD9600WCGDBOX CPU Desktop Phenom X4 9600 (4MB,95W,AM2) box $278.00
• HD9700XAGDBOX CPU Desktop Phenom X4 9700 (4MB,125W,AM2) box $288.00

Expreview has posted a comparison results between AMD's new Phenom GP 7000 2.0GHz processor and Athlon 64 X2 Dual-core 6400+ 3.20GHz. The systems used was: ATI RD790 motherboard, GeForce 8600 GTS and pair of 1GB Corsair DDR2-1066MHz memory (2x1GB).

Despite strict competition from Intel, AMD managed to gain market share in Q3. In Q3 2007, Intel sold 76.2% of all processors, AMD sold 23.3%, and everything else went to other manufacturers such as VIA. AMD processors got said market share from companies such as VIA and Transmeta, according to Mercury Research. Intel market share has remained somewhat flat over the past couple quarters. According to analysts, "Clearly, there are a lot of different dynamics to what is going on in the market. There is really strong consumer demand and there are some indications that we might be at the beginning of a corporate refresh cycle". Hence, AMD may be releasing the Phenom/Barcelona processors at an opportune time. Mercury research also discovered that laptop/server usage went up by 15%, and the mobile market segment experienced a 26% sequential growth this past quarter.

Some good news for all future AMD Phenom owners. AMD is developing a software called "AMD Overdrive". Just like nTune, it can adjust different CPU system parameters. The software utility can also change the multiplayer of each core on the fly.

Regardless of theoretical performance, the upcoming AMD RD790 and Athlon 64 Black Edition line of processors certainly are overclockable and feature-laden. On nothing but air cooling, MSI testers were able to get an RD790 chipset to a remarkable 510MHz FSB speed. Once the RD790 is released with PCI Express 2, CrossFire X, and support for goodies such as Phenom, we will see one seriously good platform.

There has been a lot of hype surrounding both the AMD Phenom X4 and the AMD RD790. Testers combined both, violated a couple NDAs, and pitted them against current offerings from Intel in one of the most stressing games of all time: Crysis. The chart, if true, speaks for itself...

As predicted by analysts earlier, AMD will indeed be releasing the RV670 graphics chips on November 19th. However, even now, the market branding of the card remains unknown. While some say it will be the HD 2950 series, others say it will be the HD 3800. Regardless of what it will be called, AMD will be releasing two versions. The first, codenamed "Gladiator" will run at a core clock of 825MHz, and have an undetermined quantity of 2.4GHz GDDR4 memory. "Revival" will run at a core clock of 750MHz, have the same GDDR4 memory, but will be clocked at 1.8GHz.

While the NVIDIA 8800GT may be getting a lot of press, AMD refuses to let itself be forgotten about. Leaked documents show that the RV670 (HD 3800 series) will be well worth the wait for it. While people hear that the RV670 will be PCI Express 2 and DX10.1 compatible, have Unified Video Decoder (UVD), and be 55nm, this doesn't really amount to much if people have no idea what the benefits are from any of that. And so, this leaked document shows one of the many goodies waiting for potential RV670 customers, via a "global illumination" demo. The image on the left is rendered with DX10.1, and the one on the right is rendered with DX10.0. Vista SP1 will be built on the DirectX10.1 architecture.

Although AMD has launched the Black Edition Athlon 64 X2 5000+ CPU with an unlocked multiplier, some motherboard makers are taking a conservative view over whether the CPU will help win back market share. Although it is available for about $130, motherboard makers have no plans to adjust their current shipment proportions since they do not think the Black Edition CPUs will lead to any increase in demand for AMD motherboards. Currently, motherboard makers are putting their hopes on AMD's next-generation Phenom processors, but even so, they are not expecting to see any real boost in demand for a couple of months. AMD will launch the first Phenom-based CPUs on November 20th this year.

Codenames and features of the tri-core CPUs AMD is planning to launch next year and in 2009 have been revealed. Codenamed Toliman the first tri-core CPUs will adopt a 65nm process, support socket AM2+ motherboards and HyperTransport 3.0. The CPUs will have 2MB L3 cache and will be launched by the end of March 2008. The next-generation, 45nm-based CPUs will adopt socket AM3, support HyperTransport 3.0 and DDR2/DDR3 memory, and will launch in first half of 2009.

Today AMD provided more details and a specific design example of the DTX small form-factor standard. Back in January of this year at the Consumer Electronics Show, AMD first revealed their plans for the DTX open industry standard for small form factor computers. This HotHardware article showcases a prototype system built on a low power AMD Athlon 64 BE-2350 processor and 690G chipset motherboard with integrated graphics.

AMD recently admitted that it was not quite prepared when they launched quad-core processors earlier this year. Even after the delays, there simply were not enough AMD quad core offerings to go around. And so, to make up for that, they've announced that they're going to make a lot more quad core processors this quarter. The official statement by AMD:

While our initial production ramp of quad-core Opterons has been slower than anticipated, we expect quad-core Opteron will be widely available by the middle of this quarter; and, we expect to ship hundreds of thousands of quad-core processors this quarter into the server and desktop segments.

AMD today reported third quarter 2007 revenue of $1.632 billion, an 18 percent increase compared to the second quarter of 2007 and a 23 percent improvement compared to the third quarter of 2006. In the third quarter, AMD reported an operating loss of $226 million, and a net loss of $396 million, or $0.71 per share. Third quarter results include a negative impact of $120 million, or $0.22 per share, due to ATI acquisition-related, integration and severance charges and impairment of assets. In the second quarter of 2007, AMD reported revenue of $1.378 billion and an operating loss of $457 million. In the third quarter of 2006, AMD reported revenue of $1.328 billion and operating income of $121 million.

Advanced Micro Devices has confirmed that they will shutdown their 90nm Fab30 plant in Dresden, Germany, by the end of the year. Fab30 will be closed to allow for retooling and will open at a later date as Fab38, AMD's second 300mm production plant.

Dirk Meyer, AMD's chief technical officer, indicated during their Q3 conference call that Fab 36 is currently manufacturing 45nm processors. Meyer says AMD's first 45nm processor line-up will be server and desktop based and that they will be on track for production ramp in the first half of 2008. Basic yields are being attained right now at 45nm using existing materials.

While ATI CrossFire technology was introduced in early 2005, delays and the wide adoption of NVIDIA SLI platforms prevented CrossFire from really catching on. AMD hopes to change that by introducing a little ace-in-the-hole that's currently nicknamed 'CrossFire X'. The CrossFire X initiative aims to increase scalability, performance, reliability, and flexibility of CrossFire platforms with the help of the AMD 790 chipsets, PCI Express 2, and new graphics cards. The most noticeable things CrossFire X will do are listed below.

• 3/4 way CrossFire
• Allow for two or more completely different cards to be combined under the same CrossFire Platform
• CrossFire Overdrive, which allows for the dramatic increase of graphics clocks across a CrossFire platform, regardless of how many cards said platform may consist of.
• CrossFire Hybrid, which allows for the combination of integrated/onboard graphics and graphics card rendering, disabling the latter when it is not needed to reduce power consumption.

AMD is expanding its TV Wonder product lineup that enables HDTV on the PC. Available through VisionTek at Best Buy stores across North America, ATI TV Wonder 650 Combo USB, TV Wonder 600 PCI and TV Wonder 600 PCI Express transform PCs into exceptional high definition digital video recorders. The TV Wonder family of products is AMD LIVE! Ready and Certified for Windows Vista -- delivering The Ultimate Visual Experience and strengthening the value of multimedia PCs.

AMD has confirmed the model names and clock speeds of the upcoming quad-core Phenom processors and plans to launch them as scheduled in November/December while Phenom FX will be launched in Q1 next year. AMD will also add higher clocked Phenom FX and Phenom quad-core processors in Q2 next year.