Posted by: chipdesigner In reply to: CombJelly who wrote msg# 2185 Date:2/23/2006 11:57:42 PM Post #of 2193
From what I've seen, they plan to do exactly that. Replacing what might be the fourth core with a more complicated cache structure.
Huh? Where have you seen this?
chipdesigner.
Forget if it was Weber or Hester, but I do remember one of them discussing an odd core being used for a speceal purpose. something like a math co-proc etc. Almost certain tri cores were mentioned.
As AMD plans its future chips, including quad-core, it must balance chip production costs and software benefits. For instance, a chip with three cores and a large amount of cache memory may deliver more bang for the buck than a four-core chip, Hester says. That’s because many applications, including demanding ones like Adobe Photoshop, make use of cache memory to speed up tasks. "It may make more sense for us to spend on fewer cores and include more cache,” Hester says.
The only talk about tricore being salvaged chips has been on the boards, AMD has never floated this idea at all. It is hard to guarantee there will be enough partially defective chips to make a product line, it just isn't a feasible idea at all. At some point, AMD would be in the position of deliberately disabling functional cores so they would be able to ship products. And that would be a waste of silicon.
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