AMD demonstrated Quad-Core AMD Opteron 8000 Series processors (codenamed Barcelona), “the industry’s first native quad-core x86 server and workstation CPUs featuring four processing cores on a single die of silicon”. The Quad-Core AMD Opteron is manufactured on 65nm silicon-on-insulator process technology.
At the annual AMD Industry Analyst Forum, a server powered by four upcoming Quad-Core Opterons was shown utilizing all 16 cores. “By delivering a consistent thermal envelope while adding two more processing cores, along with micro-architectural enhancements, AMD expects to significantly advance the performance-per-watt capabilities of AMD Opteron processors,” the company’s press release says.
Upgradeability from dual to quad-core processors is expected to be as straightforward as it was from single to dual-core with BIOS update, AMD says.
AMD expects to begin shipping native Quad-Core AMD Opteron processors to customers in mid-2007, according to the press release.
