Difference between Barton and Thoroughbred (what's SOI)?

[praetorius]

According to the latest AMD roadmap, Thoroughbred will become available early next year, while Barton is due the second half of next year. From what I'm reading, Barton is the same as Thorougbred, but adds SOI. So, what's SOI? I plan on upgrading next year; is the difference (between Barton and Thoroughbred) worth the additional six-month wait?

 

[Soccerman]

SOI stands for Silicon on insulator. I don't know exactly what it does, but it I think helps with the heat transfer away from the core, so it can run much cooler on the same .13 micron process.

as for Barton just being a Thoroughbred with SOI, I highly doubt that. every new core AMD has brought us that has been based on the K7 has brought performance enhancing changes.

 

[praetorius]

I based the Barton = Thoroughbred + SOI statement on information at this location, which is Slide 33 from AMD's 2001 Annual Analysts Meeting. The slide says in part,



<< Barton: Thoroughbred in 0.13um SOI technology. >>



It may just be that going to the .13-micron process, and then to SOI, will allow production of Athlons with increasingly high clock rates, but with no additional performance-enhancing design changes. I don't know one way or the other - that was the whole point of this thread: What other differences, if any, are there (and are the differences worth the wait)?