Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD)

[rupert]

Paul: Here is doug's response to that on SI. (BTW what sort of a message board is it that periodically bans one of its better-informed most industrious contributors? If intellibies can't take the heat they should stay out of the kitchen).


"All c't said was that they received "pilot lot" boards, which might not be unusual for a pre-NDA article.

The article doesn't claim 939 boards are not ready, just that the board *they* tested was from the pilot lot.

Now, maybe the production boards are slightly delayed-- but that's not directly stated in the referenced article.

Doug

This http://www.heise.de/ct/04/12/034/ translates as:

Nichtmal one year after the introduction on the market of the Athlon 64 presents the third base format already to AMD. That sounds annoying and nervt to Upgrader, proves with the view of the technical background however as meaningful. Completely besides the Athlon makes the life still heavier for 64 3800+ Intels Pentium 4.

AMD had developed two platforms for the two variants of the 64-Bit-Prozessors: The server processor Opteron with two memory channels needs Sockel-940-Mainboards and buffered memory. The Desktop variant Athlon 64 has only one memory channel and runs on more inexpensive Sockel-754-Boards.

AMD wanted to establish the advantage of the two memory channels also within the Desktop range and therefore to the Athlon 64 FX offered - for the base 940. Because it needed special memory (registered PC3200R), did not run it not in all Opteron boards. Besides the boards were rather aligned to the server as the Desktop market: The current savings technology Cool'n'Quiet is not missing, some boards has AGP, but but PCI x or Onboard SCSI. Fast this FX the call had to be away, only a renamed Opteron, a notloesung.

The new base 939 is one for Highend PCS custom-made platform: It supports like the base 940 two memory channels. Owing to skillful layout the obligation to buffered memory is void, whereby also Cool'n'Quiet functions again. The base 939 is however not dualable.
Architect

Two processors for the new base AMD presents at first, to the Athlon 64 3800+ and the Athlon 64 FX-53. Both use two memory channels and run like the Opteron 150 (see c't 12/04, S. 20) and the FX-53 for the base 940 with 2,4 GHz, introduced in March.

Because the number of the memory channels is omitted as demarcation of the FX series of the Athlon 64, AMD has now the L2-Cache as small difference auserkoren: While so far the Athlon-64 and mobile versions were equipped with 512 KByte or 1 MByte depending upon model, each 939er-Athlon will have only 512 KByte and each FX 1 MByte L2-Cache.

Besides AMD accelerated the Hypertransport Frontsidebus from 800 MHz to 1 GHz (HT1000), transfers it now maximally 4 GByte/s into both directions. That support three chip-corrode: Nvidia nForce3 250, the SiS755FX and VIA K8T800 pro.
Overhauling maneuver

So far exists however no hardware, which reaches this speed: AGP-8X gets along with approximately 2 GByte/s and uses already only rarely, and even the fastest Athlon-64-Chipsatz Nvidia nForce 250Gb binds the other periphery (PCI, non removable disks, LAN) also straight times maximally 400 MByte/s on (see ct 12/04, S. 138). PCI x transfers 533 MByte/s, to Sockel-939-Boards not to be found will however probably have.

HT1000 nevertheless offers air for PCI express, which hunts as diagram map interface in the 16X-Version 4 GByte/s per direction by the conductive strips.

Pilot lot boards of MSI and Asus with the Via Chipsatz were to us at the disposal. At first they ran disappointing slowly, then different bio its positions - above all switching the 2T COMMAND off rate - lifted the bench mark results on the expected order of magnitude. Only a test of production stages boards will uncover the final performance of the 939er-Plattform.

After the past measurements the FX-53 in the base 939 due to the unbuffered memory modules about two per cent works faster than in the base 940. In running with Intels Pentium of 4 extremes edition differ most test results around less than five per cent. With some 3D-Benchmarks the FX-53 has clearly the nose in front, the P4EE profited however by the Cinebench 2003 from the Hyperthreading and by the memory throughput from 2 MByte large L3-Cache.

The 3800+ profits to 64 3400+ (1 MByte L2-Cache, 2.2 GHz clock, base 754) in the comparison to the Athlon more strongly from the second memory channel and from the higher clock, than it loses due to the smaller Cache: Many applications do not add more clearly, than alone the higher clock explains, not one program work more slowly. The designation 3800+ suggests more speed than the 3400+, which after the past measurements only with few applications the case is however twelve to per cent. Before the Pentium 4 with 3,4 GHz the 3800+ with most applications, only remains the domain leads the binaryable of hyper+ Threading.
The Athlon 64 exists in three designs for the base 754 (left), the base 940 (center) and the base 939 (right).

Cool'n'Quiet did not function yet perfectly: The two Sockel-939-Prozessoren throttled their clock on 1,2 GHz, however no more shifted up to their full clock. With a memory module both processors functioned, worked then however naturally clearly more slowly - with FR C C dropped back the 3800+ even behind the 3400+. Mixed components did not run reliably; AMD recommends, only modules with same capacity to use organization and CAS Latency parallel. With the assembly with 4 GByte only about 3.5 GByte can be used due to the faded in PCI address area also in the 64-Bit-Modus - a restriction, from which so far all x86-Chipsaetze suffers.
Track switching

The Sockel-939-Plattform combines the advantages of the two past platforms for AMDs 64-Bit-Prozessor: Two memory channels for quite inexpensive PC3200-Speicher provide for high speed and support Cool'n'Quiet, the boards leave themselves for Highend PCS massschneidern. The smaller L2-Cache brakes the Athlon 64 hardly out, the advantage of the two memory channels weighs more strongly. The 939er FX-53 outdated even the Opteron and proves as the fastest AMD processor. Also the Intel competition the AMD processors leave with many applications behind itself, only the hardly available and expensive P4EE keep up.

AGP-8X and PCI must exist probably still at least a half year long, before PCI express Chipsaetze for the Athlon are available 64. All too heavily waiting should not fall however, brings nevertheless ATI and Nvidia their current diagram chips also in a AGP version (see c't 11/04, S. 130). Nvidias chip set nForce3 ties up besides non removable disks and Gigabit LAN so fast that the whole 133 MByte/s of the PCI are available for extensions. Thus at present few reasons exist not to seize with the desire for much performance to the base 939 - if production stage board and processors are available (jow)"