| Q: | What markets are you targeting with the AMD Opteron™ 800 Series processors?
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| A: | Single- and Dual-Core AMD Opteron™ 800 Series processors with Direct Connect Architecture are for use in up to eight-way servers or up to four-way workstations. Enterprise workloads typically benefiting from four-way and eight-way server processing include large, mission-critical databases, business processing (ERP, CRM, SCM), business intelligence, as well as other IT infrastructure applications including heavy-duty Web serving and messaging. AMD Opteron 800 Series processors are also suitable for 4P workstation environments such as oil & gas, EDA, rendering and others that benefit from increased computational power. |
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| Q: | Why dual-core now? Who needs dual-core?
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| A: | Customers and end users currently face thermal and environmental challenges with today’s computing platforms. AMD64 dual-core technology will deliver the best-balanced solution to meet their computing demands within a given power envelope. Multi-core processors will help to break through today’s single-core performance limitations, and provide the performance capacity to tackle more advanced software.
AMD64 dual-core technology can improve system efficiency and application performance in today’s multi-threaded and multi-tasking environments. The Direct Connect Architecture of all AMD Opteron processors enables superior performance on multi-threaded and symmetric multi-processing (SMP)-capable operating systems and applications because the AMD Opteron processors offer SMP capabilities at the processor level, not the system level.
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| Q: | What are the features of the Dual-Core AMD Opteron processor?
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| A: | Dual-Core AMD Opteron processors feature:
- The best performance for multi-threading and multi-tasking needs in x86 server environments.
- Attractive pricing to encourage customers to drive rapid dual-core adoption.
- The industry’s best x86 dual-core architecture —AMD64 technology with Direct Connect Architecture, which directly connects multiple processor cores, the memory controller and the I/O directly to the central processor unit and helps eliminate the bottlenecks inherent in a traditional front-side bus.
- Best performance-per-watt architecture in the market, because all Dual-Core AMD Opteron processors operate within the same power envelopes as our single-core 90nm processors.
- Best performing one-way, two-way and four-way x86 server and workstation processors in the industry.
- The investment protection of not only the best 64-bit platform but also the best performing 32-bit platform.
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| Q: | Explain AMD’s model number system for the AMD Opteron processor. What are the frequencies of the processors in relation to the model numbers?
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| A: | AMD Opteron processors are described by a three-digit model number. The first number indicates the maximum scalability of the processor. Thus, the AMD Opteron 100 Series processors can be used in one-way servers or workstations while the AMD Opteron 800 Series processors can be used in up to eight-way servers and workstations. The second two digits indicate relative performance within the series. So, for example, a Dual-Core AMD Opteron processor Model 880 outperforms a Dual-Core AMD Opteron processor Model 875. |
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| Q: | Has AMD changed the model number scheme for the Dual-Core AMD Opteron processors?
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| A: | Yes. The model numbers for the Dual-Core AMD Opteron processors will begin with 165, 265 and 865 and advance in increments of five versus increments of two like the single-core processors. This reflects how dual-core processors scale more than single-core processors. |
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| Q: | What models of the AMD Opteron 800 Series processor are available now?
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| A: | The AMD Opteron 800 Series is currently available in single-core Models 854, 852, 850, 848, 846, 844 and 842 and in dual-core Models 880, 875, 870 and 865. |
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| Q: | What are the prices of the AMD Opteron processors?
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| A: | Please see AMD Processor Pricing for a complete listing of prices for single- and dual-core processors. |
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| Q: | What motherboard support is available for these processors?
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| A: | The single-core AMD Opteron 800 Series processor is supported by the Sanmina-SCI 4300 server, which is available through the Validated Server Program as well as through various motherboard and bare-bones system manufacturers. A list of motherboards and bare-bones server systems supporting single- and Dual-Core AMD Opteron 800 Series processors can be found in the system component information.
Motherboards that support 90nm, single-core AMD Opteron processors can be upgraded to support Dual-Core AMD Opteron processors with a BIOS update. No hardware changes are required. |
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| Q: | What OEMs or system builders are offering systems featuring the 800 Series of the AMD Opteron processor?
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| A: | Leading OEMs including Egenera, HP and Sun, along with regional system builders, currently offer servers and blades based on the single-core and Dual-Core AMD Opteron processor with Direct Connect Architecture and are expected to add the latest version, the Dual-Core AMD Opteron processor Model 880, to their current platforms. Many system builders and value-added resellers are taking advantage of the opportunity to work with Sanmina-SCI, other ODMs and distributors to offer servers based on the AMD Opteron processor. Industry leaders like Egenera offer blade server products based on AMD Opteron 800 Series processors. Please contact the OEM for information on specific configurations supported and planned. |
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| Q: | What is the memory capability of the AMD Opteron 800 Series processors?
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| A: | In addition to providing world-class 32-bit performance, the AMD Opteron 800 Series processors are 64-bit capable, allowing them to support very large memory (up to 1TB of physical memory), well beyond the 4GB limit of competing 32-bit processors. In server environments based on 4P and 8P systems, this large memory addressability can benefit enterprise workloads such as mission-critical databases, business processing (ERP, CRM, SCM) and business intelligence. This can result in enhanced performance and improved productivity in business environments. With its 128-bit integrated memory controller and three HyperTransport™ technology links that together offer up to 24.0GB/s of I/O bandwidth per processor, the AMD Opteron processors with Direct Connect Architecture can provide a higher level of performance for multi-threaded applications by reducing memory latency (e.g., the CPU can get information more quickly and in turn produces results more quickly).
The AMD Opteron processor is based on AMD64 technology with Direct Connect Architecture, which helps eliminate the bottlenecks inherent in traditional front-side bus architectures and, instead, directly connects processors, memory controller and I/O to the central processor unit for improving overall system performance and efficiency. |
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| Q: | What chipset support is available for these processors?
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| A: | The AMD Opteron 800 Series processors are supported by the AMD-8000™ series of chipsets. This series includes the new AMD-8132™ HyperTransport PCI-X® 2.0 tunnel as well as the AMD-8131™ HyperTransport PCI-X Tunnel and the AMD-8111™ HyperTransport I/O Hub. NVIDIA supports the AMD Opteron 800 Series processor with the NVIDIA nForce Professional 2200 and 2050 chipsets that support PCI-Express. Serverworks offers HT2000 and HT1000 chipsets that support PCI-Express.
Since the Dual-Core AMD Opteron processors are designed to be completely compatible with single-core AMD Opteron processors, all chipsets that currently support the AMD Opteron processor will also support the Dual-Core AMD Opteron processor. |
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| Q: | What benchmarks are you providing for these processors?
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| A: | For the AMD Opteron 800 Series processors, AMD has already published benchmark results for TPC-C, MMB3, SPECint_rate2000, SPECfp®_rate2000, SPECjbb2000, SPECweb99_SSL, Lotus NotesBench, Microsoft Terminal Services, VMware ESX Virtualization and SAP Standard Application Sales and Distribution.
For more information, please see the benchmarks or the specific organization Web site. |
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| Q: | What software supports these processors?
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| A: | As a backward-compatible x86 microprocessor, the AMD Opteron processor is designed to support all existing 32-bit server and workstation operating systems from Microsoft® (Windows® Server 2003, Windows XP, etc.), major Linux distributors (RedHat, SuSE, TurboLinux, SCO, MandrakeSoft), and Sun Solaris. In addition, several 64-bit operating systems exist in production versions (Windows 64-bit editions, RedHat Enterprise Advanced Server 4.0, TurboLinux 10 Server, Novell SuSE Linux Enterprise Server 9.3, UnitedLinux V1, MandrakeLinux Corporate Version 3.0, NetBSD, Solaris 10) and several more are in development. For an up-to-date listing of 32- and 64-bit software applications that support AMD64 technology and AMD Opteron processors with Direct Connect Architecture, visit the AMD64 Ecosystem.
For multi-tasking and multi-threaded environments, two cores offer more physical resources, enabling operating systems to prioritize and manage tasks from multiple applications simultaneously and, therefore, maximize performance. Dual-core AMD64 processors are compatible with the existing base of x86 software, whether it is single-threaded, multi-threaded or hyperthreaded. This means the more than 1,300 applications from more than 300 ISVs and open-source software organizations that are featured in the AMD64 Ecosystem will be able to support AMD64 dual-core processors with a simple BIOS upgrade and no substantial code changes.
More than 30 strategic software partners joined AMD in the launch of AMD64 dual-core technology, including market-leading vendors for operating systems, development tools and database, IT infrastructure, engineering and graphic design tools. The industry’s leading operating systems — Windows 64-bit editions Solaris 10 and Linux dual-core-compatible operating systems — are all optimized for AMD64 dual-core technology. |
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| Q: | Are the AMD Opteron 800 Series processors available through the Validated Server Program?
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| A: | Yes, the Validated Server Program offers systems based on the AMD Opteron 800 Series processors. For more information, see the Validated Server Program. |
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