#Amd phenom quad core agena series

AMD has already stated that DDR3 memory will probably be coming in late 2008 or early 2009, when the pricing of it matches parity with DDR2. The new memory controller hasn’t been changed much over the Athlon X2 CPUs - it still runs DDR2 memory officially at 800 MHz but more or less unofficially at 1066 MHz. It has given them an advantage over Intel’s processors in terms of memory bandwidth and latency and kept them in the performance game beyond when the core itself would have been able. The integrated memory controller is a feature that has been AMD’s pride and joy since its introduction in mid-2003. Two other key features of the Phenom processor include the integrated memory controller and the addition of a third level of cache. Compared to the Intel Yorkfield, which has over 800 million transistors, the Phenom core looks like a light weight though when you take the 45nm process that Intel uses into account, Yorkfield actually has a smaller die of 214 mm^2. Today’s Phenom processor is based on the 65nm process technology as shown above and features just about 450 million transistors and a die size of about 288 mm^2.

But that is several years away, so let’s focus on today’s release. Fusion will be the culmination of the ATI acquisition as both CPU and GPU are placed on a single die. Next year at some point we’ll see the 45nm shrink of the Barcelona cores and then in 2009 the first Fusion processor is supposed to be ready. We are now seeing the implementation of the 65nm version of Phenom - an x86 quad-core processor with an internal core design known as “Stars”. Our first slide from AMD during one of our various meetings in the past months shows their answer to the “tick-tock” methodology of Intel in their processor design. We have taken a couple of looks at the Barcelona technology before, but for the final release of the desktop Phenom processor we’ll touch on the detailed changes in the designs with more detail. The architecture of the new AMD Phenom processor is based on the Barcelona core, otherwise known as the Agena core for the desktop market. Introducing AMD’s Agena / Barcelona Architecture

#Amd phenom quad core agena series

Recent months have been hard on the Athlon 64 though as Intel’s Core 2 series of processors are powerful and power efficient leaving the aging architecture from AMD’s past behind.ĪMD is hoping that Barcelona, aka Agena, aka Phenom will help push them back into the performance fold. Since 2003, the on-die memory controller and 64-bit addressing have made AMD a dominant player in the CPU world and not just a footnote in Intel’s resume.

Today marks one of the most pivotal days in AMD’s recent history - the launch of their new desktop core architecture to replace the ever-lasting and ever-loved Athlon 64 core. Today is finally the day of its unveiling but can it possibly compete with the power house of Intel CPUs that has been built in 2007?

The Phenom CPU Architecture AMD’s Phenom processor launch could be called the most anticipated hardware release in a decade with literally years of information and news spread about its development.

Phenom Models and Testing Setup – A Unique Situation.

AMD’s Phenom processor launch could be called the most anticipated hardware release in a decade with literally years of information and news spread about its development.