'Phenom II X6' Confirmed

[drizek]

Just saw this on Engadget. http://www.maximumpc.com/artic...ms_hexacore_thuban_cpu

For release sometime next year. According to the article, AMD confirmed that it will be compatible with AM2+ motherboards, which I assume means it won't be DDR3-only.

This will be an enormous chip, so I doubt it will be particularly affordable, but it seems to be the most obvious upgrade from my X3.

 

[lopri]

Makes sense. AMD has yet to launch its DDR3 platform on server front so its 6-core (Istanbul) runs on DDR2 there right now. Istanbul = 1.5 x Deneb so it must have both DDR2/DDR3 controllers.

Obviously it won't be competing against Gulftown on performance/watt (or clock-for-clock performance) but if AMD actually get the socket compatibility right it'll be a nice upgrade option for current AM2+/AM3 users.

 

[Eeqmcsq]

I don't need 6 cores at home, but I'll take it for work............... if AMD introduces these at $100, that is.

 

[VirtualLarry]

"3MB of L2 and 6MB of L3 cache. "

I thought that AMD's hex-cores had 10MB of L3 cache?

 

[ilkhan]

lol $100.
Probably >$500 just in production costs with the size that chip has to be. On the plus side, it'll help to push gulftown prices down [and gulftown = drool]

edit: yeah the 2427 istanbul is $499 starting price on newegg. It'll fall by next year, but still not a cheap chip on 45nm. istanbul is 6x512KB L2, 6MB L3.

 

[toyota]

this thing will be be low clocked for sure as even the current 3.4 965 X4 has a tdp of 140 watts. this thing would be silly for most home users as they would do better with faster quad.

 

[eternalone]

Awesome, can I have one??

 

[thilanliyan]

Please...please...PLEASE let this also be able to use DDR2. Although it says it's AM2+ compatible, it only mentions a DDR3 mem controller. Can anyone shed any light on memory types possible for this CPU?

EDIT: Wait did AM2+ ever come with DDR3? No right? I guess I answered my own question then?

 

[TurtleCrusher]

Originally posted by: Eeqmcsq
I don't need 6 cores at home, but I'll take it for work............... if AMD introduces these at $100, that is.

Why on earth would you expect such a low price? A six core CPU is well worth $250+ at the moment.

Originally posted by: VirtualLarry
"3MB of L2 and 6MB of L3 cache. "

I thought that AMD's hex-cores had 10MB of L3 cache?

It may possibly just be binning at the moment. Maybe they are saving those CPUs with higher yields for servers and just binning the ones with partially bad cache to the consumer market.

Just a guess.

 

[drizek]

These aren't going to be on sale for at least another 6 months. Is it normal to start binning them this early?

 

[LoneNinja]

I might look into getting one for 3ds max, otherwise until multithreaded software is mainstream and there is a reason for more cores, my quad will do just fine.

 

[ilkhan]

Originally posted by: drizek
These aren't going to be on sale for at least another 6 months. Is it normal to start binning them this early?

IMO they aren't a priority item. Margins are going to be slim to none, prices high, sales non-existent. No reason to push the things out the door until gulftown ships and AMD needs a "me too!" item.

 

[TurtleCrusher]

Originally posted by: ilkhan

Originally posted by: drizek
These aren't going to be on sale for at least another 6 months. Is it normal to start binning them this early?

IMO they aren't a priority item. Margins are going to be slim to none, prices high, sales non-existent. No reason to push the things out the door until gulftown ships and AMD needs a "me too!" item.

Also, just like AMD's partners did with their 48xx cards, save the best binned cards for last. AKA the 4890.

 

[faxon]

Originally posted by: Scholzpdx

Originally posted by: ilkhan

Originally posted by: drizek
These aren't going to be on sale for at least another 6 months. Is it normal to start binning them this early?

IMO they aren't a priority item. Margins are going to be slim to none, prices high, sales non-existent. No reason to push the things out the door until gulftown ships and AMD needs a "me too!" item.

Also, just like AMD's partners did with their 48xx cards, save the best binned cards for last. AKA the 4890.

lol the 4890 was actually a different GPU. they added a bunch of transistors to get it to scale up to that clockspeed and performance level, even though it was the same architecture as the 4870 @ the shader level.

 

[Eeqmcsq]

Why on earth would you expect such a low price? A six core CPU is well worth $250+ at the moment.

Because I was joking.

 

[Gikaseixas]

Originally posted by: thilan29
Please...please...PLEASE let this also be able to use DDR2. Although it says it's AM2+ compatible, it only mentions a DDR3 mem controller. Can anyone shed any light on memory types possible for this CPU?

EDIT: Wait did AM2+ ever come with DDR3? No right? I guess I answered my own question then?

AM2+ = DDR2

 

[TurtleCrusher]

Originally posted by: faxon

Originally posted by: Scholzpdx

Originally posted by: ilkhan

Originally posted by: drizek
These aren't going to be on sale for at least another 6 months. Is it normal to start binning them this early?

IMO they aren't a priority item. Margins are going to be slim to none, prices high, sales non-existent. No reason to push the things out the door until gulftown ships and AMD needs a "me too!" item.

Also, just like AMD's partners did with their 48xx cards, save the best binned cards for last. AKA the 4890.

lol the 4890 was actually a different GPU. they added a bunch of transistors to get it to scale up to that clockspeed and performance level, even though it was the same architecture as the 4870 @ the shader level.

Then I failed. I was under the impression they were high performing 4870s.

 

[HannibalX]

Originally posted by: Eeqmcsq
I don't need 6 cores at home, but I'll take it for work............... if AMD introduces these at $100, that is.

Put the crack pipe down. $100? Get outa here. AMD is allowed to make money.

 

[thilanliyan]

Originally posted by: Gikaseixas
AM2+ = DDR2

Good!! Then no need for a motherboard/ram upgrade any time soon.

 

[alyarb]

tired of oversized 45nm parts.

 

[Soleron]

Originally posted by: VirtualLarry
"3MB of L2 and 6MB of L3 cache. "

I thought that AMD's hex-cores had 10MB of L3 cache?

No, they have 6MB. But it is confirmed by an AMD employee that this product will not use the Istanbul die, so that may not be true for this.

You're thinking of the 12-core Magny-Cours, which is two six-core Lisbon dies (giving 12MB L3) minus 2MB for the probe filter giving 10MB.

 

[Idontcare]

Differences between Lisbon and Istanbul being what exactly?

 

[Soleron]

Originally posted by: Idontcare
Differences between Lisbon and Istanbul being what exactly?

Server features. Nothing a desktop user would care about, at least. Also brings DDR3 and Socket C32/G34 support which Istanbul did not have.

That AMD employee I said, John Fruehe, says server dies like Lisbon and Istanbul won't be used for desktop products in the future.

 

[ShawnD1]

If the Istanbul X6 is $500 on newegg and server chips are about twice as expensive as desktop chips, this new chip should come out at maybe the $250-300 range currently taken by 965.

Seems reasonable. I don't expect AMD to release any $500 desktop chips since they know nobody would buy it.

 

[richierich1212]

interesting.