[VRNews]

Not surprisingly, AMD is preparing a desktop version of its Istanbul six-core server CPU. Istanbul is an extension of the Shanghai 45nm core, and includes the same 6MB L3 cache as with the quad core versions. Due to six cores, the total L2 cache is 3MB. Codenamed "Thuban" which means Dragon in Arabic (possibly a nod to Abu Dhabi government's investment in Globalfoundries), the desktop six-core is expected to be branded AMD Phenom II X6 and manufactured on the same 45nm SOI process as the current AMD Phenom II processors. Thuban is expected to arrive with the Leo platform as previously reported. Thus, it might release in the late Q2 '10 timeframe.

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[Rumour] AMD prepares six-core desktop CPU

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[psolord]

AMD will beat Intel in the multicore race or am i missing something here?

The problem is that mhz to mhz in single core apps, the Nehalem architacture will still be faster.

Especially for us gamers, six cores will be irrelevant. Unless there is something hidden in DX11 and/or upcoming ATI cards!

[Mario26JT]

Originally Posted by psolord

AMD will beat Intel in the multicore race or am i missing something here?

The problem is that mhz to mhz in single core apps, the Nehalem architacture will still be faster.

Especially for us gamers, six cores will be irrelevant. Unless there is something hidden in DX11 and/or upcoming ATI cards!

We already been here and see that
Personaly,im afraid for amd - no real news,same as with athlon - for years same technology.Sorry,but for the moment (and for future 10years) probably Intel will be No 1.
Im absolutely happy with Q9550@4.4Ghz - and dont even think to buy another cpu for at least 2 years.
About video cards - from what i seen,not big deal from ati dx11 cards-in many cases GTX285 faster,its just rv770+dx11+15% performance.Maybe its yet another driver problem for ati New Nvidia cards way more promising

[psolord]

Originally Posted by Mario26JT

We already been here and see that
Personaly,im afraid for amd - no real news,same as with athlon - for years same technology.Sorry,but for the moment (and for future 10years) probably Intel will be No 1.
Im absolutely happy with Q9550@4.4Ghz - and dont even think to buy another cpu for at least 2 years.
About video cards - from what i seen,not big deal from ati dx11 cards-in many cases GTX285 faster,its just rv770+dx11+15% performance.Maybe its yet another driver problem for ati New Nvidia cards way more promising

Although this is completely off topic, where on God's good earth did you see any kind of performance of ATI's DX11 cards vs GTX 285?

Rumors are talking about a die size of 300mm2+. If you do some basic math, this chip should be faster than the GTX 295 in badly multi gpu scaling games and/or even the rest of them! We are talking about 2BIO transistors on a single package, with ATI know how here mate!

[Niceone]

Originally Posted by psolord

AMD will beat Intel in the multicore race or am i missing something here?

Well Intel Dunnington, 6 core Xeon-processor was launch one year ago.

The problem is that mhz to mhz in single core apps, the Nehalem architacture will still be faster.

Another problem could be that these 6 core K10 processors won't fight against Nehalem; they'll go against Intel's next gen "Sandy Bridge"-processors.

So AMD goes 45nm still in Q2 2009 where Intel has their second processor line up with 32nm. One year from that and Intel is scheduled to go 22nm.

[psolord]

Originally Posted by Niceone

Well Intel Dunnington, 6 core Xeon-processor was launch one year ago.


Another problem could be that these 6 core K10 processors won't fight against Nehalem; they'll go against Intel's next gen "Sandy Bridge"-processors.

So AMD goes 45nm still in Q2 2009 where Intel has their second processor line up with 32nm. One year from that and Intel is scheduled to go 22nm.

Yes sorry, i meant desktop processors! When i say "market" in general i mean the market that i am interested in...and i am a humble home user! Of course you couldn't know what i am talking about! I should have phrased it better!

So...let's hope Bulldozer comes sooner than later. Sandy bridge is "just" Nehalem architecture with 8 cores right? So the mhz to mhz single core difference isn't going to increase,right !?

[Megalord]

Originally Posted by Mario26JT

We already been here and see that
Personaly,im afraid for amd - no real news,same as with athlon - for years same technology.Sorry,but for the moment (and for future 10years) probably Intel will be No 1.
Im absolutely happy with Q9550@4.4Ghz - and dont even think to buy another cpu for at least 2 years.
About video cards - from what i seen,not big deal from ati dx11 cards-in many cases GTX285 faster,its just rv770+dx11+15% performance.Maybe its yet another driver problem for ati New Nvidia cards way more promising

No worries about NV, they probably will get hit big time by larrabee and havok standards. Talk about laughabee, its interesting to see if Intel would crush NV laughing like a bee.

As for video cards, interesting. Where have you actually seen ati dx11 card performance? How are NV new cards more promising? You seen them?

[Thepath]

Xeon X5570 (same as i7 940) outperforms AMD 6-core Opetron 2435 in almost every benchmark
IT @ AnandTech: AMD's Six-Core Opteron 2435

So, even in multi-treaded app, Intel quad core is superior.

Let us not forget that those 6-core AMD have huge die size and will be more expensive to manufacture

[chechnyan]

correction ...
(Thuban) or tho'aban means snake not dragon

[power666]

Originally Posted by Niceone

Another problem could be that these 6 core K10 processors won't fight against Nehalem; they'll go against Intel's next gen "Sandy Bridge"-processors.

So AMD goes 45nm still in Q2 2009 where Intel has their second processor line up with 32nm. One year from that and Intel is scheduled to go 22nm.

I think you mean Q2 2011 for Sandy Bridge. Westmere based chips aren't due until Q1 2010 which could be Intel's first 32 nm offering (well 32 nm Atom based chips maybe first).

Still, Intel will have the 32 nm built Core i9 out in Q1 2010 which is also a native 6 core design. That will be a direct comparison to AMD's 45 nm built 6 core Istanbul chips on the desktop available at that time.

Originally Posted by psolord

Sandy bridge is "just" Nehalem architecture with 8 cores right? So the mhz to mhz single core difference isn't going to increase,right !?

Nope, Sandy Bridge offers the AVX which increases the SSE register width to 256 bits. Additionally, a fused multiply-add instruction is part of that extension. Those two changes alone quadruple the theoretical floating point performance of the chip. Of course that is purely theoretical with real world performance being lower and people having to upgrade to new software with AVX in mind.

Other tweaks to cache and the memory controller will likely be the main source of any mhz to mhz speed differences when Sandy Bridge launches.

Originally Posted by LinuxSucks

Will the X6 be made out 3 dual-core dies packaged together, 6 native cores or 2 quad-core dies packed together (with 2 cores disabled)?

Looks to be a single die with 6 cores. Basically the desktop version of Istanbul 6 core chip. Thus looking at how the 6 core Opteron performs now, you can get a pretty good estimate on how it'll perform on the desktop.