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Hardware AMD Reveals 2012 Roadmap

Discussion in 'Article Discussion' started by arcticstoat, 14 Jun 2011.

  1. arcticstoat

    arcticstoat Minimodder

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  2. coolius

    coolius What's a Dremel?

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    Where do they get these names??
     
  3. NethLyn

    NethLyn Minimodder

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    2012?! It's the DNF of CPUs...
     
  4. fluxtatic

    fluxtatic What's a Dremel?

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    It's right in the graphic that Bulldozer won't have integrated graphics. Anyway, I guess this confirms what had leaked a few months back, which was almost exactly this.
     
  5. warejon9

    warejon9 What's a Dremel?

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    At a long shot, maybe its stars? As combining stars makes scorpious and leo etc?

    I hope that they've got decent performance, and more importantly just not delayed!
     
  6. Madness_3d

    Madness_3d Bit-Tech/Asus OC Winner

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    Good move AMD, letting people know what you're doing makes the option of buying an AM3+ board now more attractive. You know what you're upgrade path looks like
     
  7. wyx087

    wyx087 Homeworld 3 is happening!!

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    death by codename overdose.......

    just tell us the overall codename for 2012 processors.

    also, i thought 2011 release were supposed to be Bulldozer, where did other codenames come from?
     
  8. tonyd223

    tonyd223 king of nothing

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    remember performance per clock? I have a horrible feeling that all AMD have done is put the old Phenom architecture on a smaller die - no, of course they haven't, all the block diagrams are different...

    Good luck AMD!
     
  9. TeenGeek

    TeenGeek Worst touch typing ever.

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    i hope they do well with these, they look pretty cool! although, im not a huge fan of the APU thing... i like my gtx 260, thank you very much!
     
  10. Kris

    Kris Lord Lolwut

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    FMx - socket maybe? As we have Llano in the FM1 socket...
     
  11. Xir

    Xir Modder

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    we'll see when it's there...
    ...i was hoping for a SB-match for this year but hey...
     
  12. Goty

    Goty Minimodder

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    Bulldozer is the codename for the architecture, the other codenames are for individual product lines.
     
  13. Aracos

    Aracos What's a Dremel?

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    Anyone reading this thinking southern islands is next year? FFS! I want an upgrade!
     
  14. abezors

    abezors Lurking since '08

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    Tell me about it.. I've been holding off upgrading my 5770 for ages now. Desperately want the 7*** series to have some release details. Don't know whether to hold on and hope for a nice surprise, or or just go for a 6*** series...
     
  15. Snips

    Snips I can do dat, giz a job

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    Roadmap to administration?
     
    Zinfandel likes this.
  16. Zinfandel

    Zinfandel Modder

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    I thought this quite hilarious. Good work sir.
     
  17. OCJunkie

    OCJunkie OC your Dremel too

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    Whoopie doo... they're just spending way too much time getting all discombobulated with ridiculous codenames instead of actually releasing what everyone's been waiting for. GAH fack Llano and give my BD & 7xxx already!!!
     
  18. Adnoctum

    Adnoctum Kill_All_Humans

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    What are you talking about? Brazos, Llano and Bulldozer are all this year. This is their roadmap for next year, so obviously they are all about 2012.

    There's no conspiracy, they said in the release (and have said all along) that Llano is based on the Phenom II cores with power and efficiency enhancements. You don't need a horrible feeling.

    It is this year. Everyone is saying this year. In fact, it is said that 28nm Southern Islands has taped out and been sent to TSMC for baking, so I'd say definately this year.
    This roadmap isn't a graphics one, it is a CPU/APU one. Southern Islands is only not on the roadmap because is won't be ready for launch with the Lynx and Scorpius platforms, which is now for Lynx and September for Scorpius. What we can infer is that Southern Islands will arrive on or after October/November 2011.

    I always think it hilarious when supposed computer nerds complain about codenames, because real nerds like codenames. They give us something to hang our speculations and specifications on. If we weren't given codenames we'd have to invent them, like we did with the Phenom II core when we invented K10.5.
     
  19. aussiebear

    aussiebear What's a Dremel?

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    Lots of people don't know what's really going on. So let me fill you in on the overall picture...


    Firstly, in regards to GPUs not moving forward. The problem isn't AMD or Nvidia. They are fabrication-less chip design companies.

    The problem is TSMC...The company that actually manufactures the designs into physical GPUs. They promised 32nm in 2010. They didn't deliver on time or on budget. It costs more to transition to 32nm than to redesign a GPU for 40nm (Which is what AMD/Nvidia did; as 40nm is cheap and mature)...TSMC decided to skip 32nm and go straight to 28nm. Samples of AMD's and Nvidia's next generation GPUs are being made and tested as we speak. They go through a multi-phase regime of stability testing, then they tweak for performance when its near final silicon.

    To keep consumers at bay, both Nvidia and AMD have drastically slowed down their pace, conduct "product refreshes", and "product relabeling" of existing 40nm-based products. 28nm products won't be available until late 2011 or early 2012.

    So in summary...
    Fabrication plant can't deliver the needed silicon product => Fab-less design company affected => Consumer affected.



    Secondly, in regards to 2nd generation Bulldozer-based processors changing socket formats. Its not because AMD is following the Intel practice of "encouraging the customer to upgrade". Its because AMD has no choice from an engineering standpoint.

    Here's why...

    The upcoming FX-series (Zambezi) is going to be replaced by Komodo...Komodo is going to have up to 10 cores. That's two more than FX-series! Do you honestly think a dual-channel memory configuration is going to cut it? The upper end of JEDEC speeds (with good price/performance) is DDR3-1866...The upcoming FX-series is already on that in dual-channel RAM configuration, and that goes up to 8-cores! To go up to the next JEDEC (official memory speed) standard is costly...Go check prices for DDR3-1866 and -2133 sticks; you'll see the latter is expensive!

    What about the A-series (Llano) APU replacement, Trinity?...That's going to have a dual/quad-core 2nd gen Bulldozer with Radeon HD67xx class IGP. You can already see with A-series, that DDR3-1866 in dual channel configuration doesn't offer enough memory bandwidth for optimal performance. (If you don't, just wait for desktop version reviews that are coming at the end of this month, and note what happens when the reviewer ramps up memory speeds when they overclock...See how much the IGP improves.)

    So if you can't clock up the RAM while keeping prices affordable, there's only one choice....Add another channel. That's right, AMD is going triple-channel in 2012. This means a new memory controller, different configuration of RAM slots, and a new socket format...Translation? A new motherboard is required.



    Think about it:


    If you move up to the next official JEDEC memory speed...

    Dual channel DDR3-1866 offers 29.9 GB/s
    to
    Dual channel DDR3-2133 offers 34.1 GB/s

    ...About a 15% increase.


    But if you add another memory channel...

    Dual channel DDR3-1866 offers 29.9 GB/s
    to
    Triple channel DDR3-1866 offers 44.8 GB/s

    ...About a 49% increase.


    Concluding the obvious: Adding a memory channel gives you more benefit per dollar.



    Another side fact:

    Computer enthusiasts who build their own desktop systems are a small market compared to the rest of the world. If you do some research, you come to realise most of the world upgrades their systems by buying a whole new box. They don't open their box and tinker with its insides. My point? AMD is willing to take a verbal hit from a vocal minority when such a major change doesn't really affect the majority. (The majority and OEMs will enjoy Fusion APUs, because it lifts up IGP performance. To an enthusiast, it doesn't mean anything as they often get discrete video cards that are way more powerful.)

    Let's be honest, unless you have specific power and footprint (system size) requirements, you wouldn't bother with A-series APUs; as it won't meet your needs. You would got for Intel Core i-series or AMD's upcoming FX-series with a discrete video card of your choosing.
     
    Last edited: 15 Jun 2011
  20. Kris

    Kris Lord Lolwut

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    mate, i've been thinking exactly the same thing :) the 6950 looks mighty attractive, but then again the summer is coming so wouldn't have that much time to play anyway so might as well wait... really would like some news about the 7 series :)
     
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