AMD introduceert Phenom Processor (engels)

maandag 14 mei 2007

AMD makes first public demonstration of all-AMD enthusiast platform
codenamed "FASN8"

Industry's only true x86 quad-core architecture paired with the ATI Radeon
HD 2000 series to offer a phenomenal computing experience

SUNNYVALE, California, May. 14 2007 - Delivering a four-core foreshadowing
of innovations to come for PC enthusiasts worldwide, AMD (NYSE: AMD) today
unveiled the upcoming AMD Phenom processor family name and publicly
demonstrated the first all-AMD enthusiast platform, codenamed "FASN8." The
industry's only true quad-core client processors are expected to deliver the
ultimate visual experience, especially when paired with AMD's new DirectX 10
ATI Radeon HD 2000 series, which began shipping today (see related press
release: "AMD Introduces the ATI Radeon HD 2000 Series, Delivering The
Ultimate Visual Experience for Desktop and Mobile Platforms"). AMD expects
true quad-core and dual-core AMD Phenom-based desktop systems will ship in
the second half of 2007. In a demonstration in San Francisco, AMD previewed
an eight-core platform, codenamed "FASN8," pronounced "fascinate," to show
the first AMD silicon-based next-generation eight-core platform. The
demonstration platform includes two true quad-core AMD Phenom processors,
the new DirectX 10 ATI Radeon HD 2900 XT, as well as an upcoming AMD
next-generation, high-performance chipset, due in the second half of 2007.
This platform illustrates AMD's leadership in developing a single solution
with increased levels of integration to boost real-world performance. 
      
"AMD has always enjoyed a great bond with the enthusiast community, and the
introduction of the AMD Phenom processor family will take our relationship
to new heights," said Bob Brewer, corporate vice president and general
manager of AMD's desktop division. "We continue to focus on listening to and
addressing users' evolving needs. AMD is confident the performance
enhancements enabled by true quad-core client technology in
computing-intensive environments will allow them to realize new
possibilities and find new inspiration."

Only AMD Delivers True Quad-Core
AMD Phenom processors will be uniquely designed to facilitate intelligent
uses of energy and system resources that are reliable, virtualization-ready
and energy efficient, driving optimum performance-per-watt. All AMD Phenom
processors will feature resources like an integrated DDR2 memory controller,
HyperTransport technology links, and 128-bit Floating Point Units, for
improved speed and performance in floating point calculations. With the true
quad-core design offered by the upcoming AMD Phenom processors, cores
communicate on the die rather than through a front side bus external to the
processor – a bottleneck inherent in other products that are packaging two
dual-core chips to form quad-core processors. Additionally, AMD's Direct
Connect Architecture on-chip ensures that all four cores have optimum access
to the integrated memory controller and integrated HyperTransport links, so
that performance scales well with the number of cores. This design is also
highlighted by a unique shared L3 cache for quicker data access and Socket
AM2 and Socket AM2+ infrastructure compatibility to enable a seamless
upgrade path.

"AMD's quad-core processor rollout will put more computing horsepower at PC
users' fingertips," observed Nathan Brookwood, research fellow at Insight
64. "Quad-core innovations come at a time when many users are finding that
the combination of Microsoft Vista, multi-threaded applications and DirectX
10 no longer delivers the crisp performance they experienced on last year's
fastest systems running last year's software. The AMD Phenom processor's
ability to deliver significantly more performance within the same power and
thermal envelopes as its dual-core antecedents should make this quad-core
processor a fitting follow-on to earlier AMD dual-core processor offerings."

AMD Phenom Processor Family
Enthusiasts, digital content creators and mainstream users alike are seeking
more immersive, visual computing experiences – developing and navigating
rich 3D worlds, finding new ways to create and share digital media and
memories, and pushing the limits of productivity with intense multitasking.
AMD Phenom processors are designed for the exceptional performance and
capabilities customers want, employing state-of-the-art platforms and a
next-generation processor architecture. "Quad-core technology like the AMD
Phenom processor family will enable Dell customers to enjoy their personal
computers in entirely new ways," said Neil Hand, vice president marketing,
Dell's Consumer Product Group. "With a quad-core CPU, the desktop PC can now
truly act simultaneously as a server for home digital media devices, while
keeping customers secure and productive in their mainstream use."     

"As we demonstrated with AMD in San Francisco, Nero is pleased to be on the
leading edge, delivering applications that are optimized to take advantage
of quad-core processors," said John Tafoya, GM of Global Alliance at Nero.
"The increased performance of AMD's latest processors, coupled with Nero's
quad-core optimized applications is helping bring about Nero's vision of a
true 'Liquid Media Revolution." For enthusiasts who demand cutting-edge
performance on their system, AMD Phenom FX processors are designed for
systems that offer extreme megatasking capabilities. True quad-core
platforms and octa-core platforms with the Dual Socket Direct Connect (DSDC)
Architecture can provide enthusiast-class features and performance, to
enable our customers to deliver professional-grade results. Moreover, AMD's
quad-core processors and unique eight core solutions, with four processing
cores on one die, coupled with the latest platform technologies, including
the new ATI Radeon HD 2000 series, can deliver the ultimate enthusiast PC
platform. AMD Phenom X2 and X4 processors will offer true quad- and
dual-core advanced technologies for seamless multitasking and optimum energy
efficiency. "The quad-core architecture behind the AMD Phenom processor
family correlates nicely with Alienware's relentless push to provide
customers with the most powerful, immersive experience possible," said Frank
Azor, senior vice president of Alienware's Worldwide Product Group.
"Quad-core performance helps optimize the productivity level of Alienware
users while further heightening their gaming enjoyment."

"Falcon Northwest understands what enthusiasts want and continually strives
to deliver the ultimate gaming experience," said Kelt Reeves, president,
Falcon Northwest. "The advent of AMD's quad-core processor technology
represents an industry-defining change for multi-threaded gaming that spells
immediate benefits in terms of absolute performance. By combining Falcon
Northwest's gaming prowess together with AMD's commitment to performance and
future platform offerings, including AMD Phenom processors and the ATI
Radeon HD 2900 XT, we are excited to help drive the future of multi-core
computing." AMD's open platform approach allows for AMD Phenom processors
and platforms that are compatible with a wide range of solutions, including
motherboard and chipset partners ASUS, Gigabyte, MSI and NVIDIA.

Software developers express support for AMD true quad-core
With true quad-core processors, AMD expects to see performance enhancements
in multitasking, computing-intensive environments, and multi-threaded
applications, as well as gaming. "Like AMD, we too envision quad-core
technology as an enabler of a more immersive experience," said Phil Taylor,
senior program manager of Aces Studio at Microsoft Game Studios. "Multi-core
technology is already opening up a new world of significant possibilities
with the Service Pack1 release for Microsoft Flight Simulator X. SP1
contains multi-threaded code for terrain loading and in-flight generation of
terrain textures; as well as for the batching of Autogen vegetation and
buildings. This code is written to allow SP1 to use all available cores. We
are excited about AMD's upcoming quad-core technology, which we believe will
further enable our mutual customers to dial up the visual details when using
SP1 and see more of the highly detailed world contained in FSX."

"AMD's new quad-core technology should provide a great performance boost for
today's high-end PC games," said Tim Sweeney, founder of Epic Games Inc.
"Our Unreal Engine 3 game technology can take advantage of four and even
eight processor cores, improving performance by accelerating physics and AI
calculations, and increasing the realism of the game environments our
artists can build. Upcoming games like Unreal Tournament 3 will truly fly on
these new CPUs."
"We envision quad-core technology as an enabler for a more advanced gaming
experience," said Chris Taylor, CEO of Gas Powered Games. "Multi-core
technology is already opening up a new world of never seen before gaming
possibilities that we believe will further drive more realistic AI, intense
physics, and of course spectacular special effects."
"Havok envisages quad-core technology as an enabler of more immersive
technology," said David Coghlan, VP of Development for Havok.  "Havok's
product suite of Physics, Animation and Behavior has been designed to take
full advantage of multi-threaded architectures to deliver more intense and
realistic gaming experiences. We are excited by the possibilities for
unprecedented performance levels in gaming offered by AMD's upcoming
quad-core technology."
"Lionhead is excited with the possibilities that multi-core will bring to
gaming and believe that AMD's quad-core technology is another step in
delivering the power we are looking for," said Tim Rance, CTO of Lionhead.
"We are eager to push the detail in our simulations ever deeper, make our
physics more fine grained, our AI more emotional and our lighting more
dynamic. All of this will enable us to deliver the mass-market experiences
that our customers are looking for."
"We are really excited about the upcoming introduction of AMD's native
quad-core solution," said Markus Mäki, Development Director, Remedy
Entertainment. "The technology behind Alan Wake is built to take advantage
of multiple CPU cores and gamers with quad-core systems will have an even
better experience. AMD Phenom processors should be a welcome addition for
all gamers."

posted by Ward @ 18:45