AMD Dual Core CPU in 2005?

[wizzzer]

I read AMD will sell dual core cpus in 2005.
What's a dual core cpu? Is that like 2 cpu's in one package?

 

[GSV Three Minds in a Can]

I read AMD will sell dual core cpus in 2005.

Define 'sell' .. do you mean to HP, or Sun, or do you mean to me/you,
and did you mean 'a few units' or 'as many as the market wants'.

What's a dual core cpu? Is that like 2 cpu's in one package?

Essentially yes. Even better, it just drops into an existing motherboard
(if you picked the right one) and runs (if you have XP Pro, or the right
flavour of *nix). Lots of interest here ...

 

[Tony Hill]

I read AMD will sell dual core cpus in 2005.

Yup, as will Intel. First chips are expected in about 3 months time,
though I doubt that they'll be all that widely available until the
fall.

What's a dual core cpu? Is that like 2 cpu's in one package?

Pretty much. It's actually a single chip with 2 separate CPUs on the
same piece of silicon. It's already quickly becoming the norm for the
high-end of things, eg IBM's Power4 and Power5 chips, Sun's Ultrasparc
IV and HP's PA-RISC 8800 are all dual-core. Intel's Itanium is
expected to go dual-core this year as well, and IBM is talking about
making a dual-core PowerPC 970MP chip for use in Apple's computers.

 

[pixel]

Define 'sell' .. do you mean to HP, or Sun, or do you mean to me/you,
and did you mean 'a few units' or 'as many as the market wants'.



Essentially yes. Even better, it just drops into an existing motherboard
(if you picked the right one)

any idea on which ones are the "right ones"...? i'm considering the Tyan
K8WE with a single cheapo opteron 244/246 to start with, and then later
upgrading to 2 speedy dual core cpus.

on linuxhardware.org tyan had this to say when asked the question on
dual core support:

--
yan) Dual core support on Tyan's Opteron platforms, is a feature we are
very much looking forward to providing to all of our current and future
customers. Unfortunately while its not possible at this time to directly
comment on whether support will be implemented on the S2885, S2895 or
other models from Tyan, customers should be pleased to know we are
working to ensure compatibility on platforms going forward.

 

[keith]

any idea on which ones are the "right ones"...? i'm considering the Tyan
K8WE with a single cheapo opteron 244/246 to start with, and then later
upgrading to 2 speedy dual core cpus.

on linuxhardware.org tyan had this to say when asked the question on
dual core support:

--
yan) Dual core support on Tyan's Opteron platforms, is a feature we are
very much looking forward to providing to all of our current and future
customers. Unfortunately while its not possible at this time to directly
comment on whether support will be implemented on the S2885, S2895 or
other models from Tyan, customers should be pleased to know we are
working to ensure compatibility on platforms going forward.

I read this the other way. Of course they cannot guarantee anything until
the processors are available and tested. Their attitude seems to be that
thay'll support their customers as best they can. I expect nothing less
from Tyan.

 

[Rob Stow]

I read this the other way. Of course they cannot guarantee anything until
the processors are available and tested. Their attitude seems to be that
thay'll support their customers as best they can. I expect nothing less
from Tyan.

AMD has said repeatedly that if a motherboard meets AMD's
original thermal/power specs for Socket 940, then the dual-core
socket 940 chips will work with nothing more than a possible BIOS
upgrade needed.

HP recently demoed a machine with four dual-core Opterons.
That demo machine supposedly used a motherboard made by Tyan -
but nothing I read said whether it used one of Tyan's standard 4P
motherboards or whether it was something custom made for HP.

As well, the S289x boards use the nForce4 chipset and nVidia has
said that dual-core will work just fine with all versions of the
NF4. I can't remember if nVidia has said anything about the NF3.

 

[Kai Harrekilde-Petersen]

AMD has said repeatedly that if a motherboard meets AMD's original
thermal/power specs for Socket 940, then the dual-core socket 940
chips will work with nothing more than a possible BIOS upgrade needed.

HP recently demoed a machine with four dual-core Opterons.

Yup, I saw such a beast a few months ago on a Windows fair in
Copenhagen (was there to meet a friend, not to attend the fair. But
it was not a Tyan board, it was one of the standard HP boxes, based on
one of the AMD chipsets, as I recall. Alongside of that, there was an
OEM design also running 4 dual-cores. (It was in the AMD booth).

Regards,


Kai

 

[Ed]

Yup, I saw such a beast a few months ago on a Windows fair in
Copenhagen (was there to meet a friend, not to attend the fair. But
it was not a Tyan board, it was one of the standard HP boxes, based on
one of the AMD chipsets, as I recall. Alongside of that, there was an
OEM design also running 4 dual-cores. (It was in the AMD booth).

Regards,


Kai

AMD's Dual Core 90nm Opteron Demonstration Dissected
Published: 9/2/04
http://www.amdzone.com/modules.php?...ns&file=index&req=viewarticle&artid=56&page=1
Next we come to the HP Proliant DL585. Equipped with 4 940 pin CPU
sockets filled with dual core Opterons. HP has clearly put engineering
hours into the Proliant and it was well cooled and laid out. Putting
our hand to the back of the CPU exhaust revealed an airflow that was far
from hot. In fact it reminded us of our air flow test of the original
Opteron demo in San Francisco.

 

[Rob Stow]

Yup, I saw such a beast a few months ago on a Windows fair in
Copenhagen (was there to meet a friend, not to attend the fair. But
it was not a Tyan board, it was one of the standard HP boxes, based on
one of the AMD chipsets, as I recall. Alongside of that, there was an
OEM design also running 4 dual-cores. (It was in the AMD booth).

I did some more searching at it turns out that it is HP's xw9300
that uses the Tyan S2895: two sockets rather than 4. Lots of
sites made reference to that system, but the only one I that
mentioned dual-cores in that system was the Inquirer - so not
much credibility. The Inq said it handled the dual-cores after a
BIOS upgrade.

 

[keith]

AMD has said repeatedly that if a motherboard meets AMD's
original thermal/power specs for Socket 940, then the dual-core
socket 940 chips will work with nothing more than a possible BIOS
upgrade needed.

That was my understanding. One hopes that Tyan followed those
specifications for *all* of their products and will stand behind their
product. So far they have, IMO, which is why I prefer them. OTOH, I
haven't seen the 2875 discussed. ;-)

<snip>

 

[Gnu_Raiz]

AMD's Dual Core 90nm Opteron Demonstration Dissected
Published: 9/2/04
http://www.amdzone.com/modules.php?...ns&file=index&req=viewarticle&artid=56&page=1
Next we come to the HP Proliant DL585. Equipped with 4 940 pin CPU
sockets filled with dual core Opterons. HP has clearly put engineering
hours into the Proliant and it was well cooled and laid out. Putting
our hand to the back of the CPU exhaust revealed an airflow that was far
from hot. In fact it reminded us of our air flow test of the original
Opteron demo in San Francisco.

I like how they put that, how HP has <clearly put engineering hours>, made
me fall out of my chair laughing. Now if they said Tyan put many
engineering hours into its development then I agree. Thats like saying
Dell has engineered, and developed cutting edge systems. I just wonder how
much HP systems reflect the Newisys white box system they used to show
different companies.

I guess my experience with Tyan is a little biased, because I own one of
the infamous mp2460's. In fact that is what I am typing this on, I was
also a little surprised by the ATI video flap, with the AMD chipsets. I
wonder how the Iwill boards are faring, everyone who has one seems to like
them a lot. At least AMD is not going to need new motherboards like
Intels, dual cores.

http://theinquirer.net/?article=21793

Ok its the Inquirer, but I guess its no surprise.

I still think Tyan will be a little hesitant to release bios fixes for
current boards. It might cut into their sales, I think they will fix a few
models, like the Thunder line maybe choose three or four models. But I
think it will all depend of user demand, I really don't think they will do
the Tiger line, unless their is such an outcry from the user base.
Regardless I will think that the official line will be something on the
lines, that they suggest a new motherboard for complete compatible
systems, but the bios should work.

Gnu_Raiz

 

[Tony Hill]

any idea on which ones are the "right ones"...? i'm considering the Tyan
K8WE with a single cheapo opteron 244/246 to start with, and then later
upgrading to 2 speedy dual core cpus.

on linuxhardware.org tyan had this to say when asked the question on
dual core support:

--
yan) Dual core support on Tyan's Opteron platforms, is a feature we are
very much looking forward to providing to all of our current and future
customers. Unfortunately while its not possible at this time to directly
comment on whether support will be implemented on the S2885, S2895 or
other models from Tyan, customers should be pleased to know we are
working to ensure compatibility on platforms going forward.

The statement from AMD is that any processor that is compatible with
the E0 stepping of Opteron, produced on a 90nm fab process (ie the
Opteron x52 chips or any other Opteron with SSE3 support) should be
able to support dual-core chips with only a BIOS update. Now the
slight caveat to this is that the board must be able to provide
sufficient current to power the dual-core chips, but they are only
slightly raising their current requirements for dual-core chips.

As for this Tyan K8WE board, Tyan does not yet have a list of
supported CPUs up on their site. However, that being said, the K8W
board that it replaced definitely is listed as being compatible with
the Opteron 252, so in all probability it will support dual-core
Opteron chips.

If you ask me, I'd say that it's 99% certain that the K8WE will work
with no trouble at all with dual-core Opterons (perhaps with a BIOS
update), though obviously guarantee support until the chips are on the
market (hence the above message).

 

[Bjorn-Ove.Heimsund]

I like how they put that, how HP has <clearly put engineering hours>, made
me fall out of my chair laughing. Now if they said Tyan put many
engineering hours into its development then I agree. Thats like saying
Dell has engineered, and developed cutting edge systems. I just wonder how
much HP systems reflect the Newisys white box system they used to show
different companies.

The DL585 system has been completely designed by HP, not by Tyan or by
Newisys.

 

[Kai Harrekilde-Petersen]

The DL585 system has been completely designed by HP, not by Tyan or by
Newisys.

Looked like a very nice box, and it will take twice the memory (64GB)
of the equivalent Sun Opteron box (V40z).


Kai

 

[Rob Stow]

Looked like a very nice box, and it will take twice the memory (64GB)
of the equivalent Sun Opteron box (V40z).

Sure. But keep in mind that you can have up to 32 GB with
PC3200, but if you want more than that you have to settle for
PC2100 - just as if you were getting a Polywell, Boxx, Tyan, etc,
system.

 

[Kai Harrekilde-Petersen]

Sure. But keep in mind that you can have up to 32 GB with PC3200,
but if you want more than that you have to settle for PC2100 - just as
if you were getting a Polywell, Boxx, Tyan, etc, system.

I'm quite aware of that. But when a single (PrimeTime-SI) job can take
10-12GB of memory, 64GB of PC2100 can be much better than 32GB of
PC3200.

Regards,


Kai

 

[nobody]

The statement from AMD is that any processor that is compatible with
the E0 stepping of Opteron, produced on a 90nm fab process (ie the
Opteron x52 chips or any other Opteron with SSE3 support) should be
able to support dual-core chips with only a BIOS update. Now the
slight caveat to this is that the board must be able to provide
sufficient current to power the dual-core chips, but they are only
slightly raising their current requirements for dual-core chips.

As for this Tyan K8WE board, Tyan does not yet have a list of
supported CPUs up on their site. However, that being said, the K8W
board that it replaced definitely is listed as being compatible with
the Opteron 252, so in all probability it will support dual-core
Opteron chips.

If you ask me, I'd say that it's 99% certain that the K8WE will work
with no trouble at all with dual-core Opterons (perhaps with a BIOS
update), though obviously guarantee support until the chips are on the
market (hence the above message).

How about MSI? This is especially interesting issue for me because I
am typing this on a K8T Master2-FAR dual 940. Their latest BIOS
supports Opty250 (and even that only in beta), but no word about 252
(let alone above that) on MSI site yet...
:-(