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AMD steals march on Intel with dual-core demo

By Alun Williams

Posted on 31 Aug 2004 at 12:28

AMD will demonstrate today a x86 dual-core processor - an industry first. The company will be showing off an HP ProLiant DL585 server running on four dual-core 64-bit AMD Opteron server processors.

For its 'dual-core' technology it has connected the engines of two processors on the same chip, using its Direct Connect Architecture. The development path of combining processors in silicon - and multi-core processors are on the horizon - provides an alternative for greater performance to simply increasing the clock speed of individual processors, which are increasingly running into overheating problems.

'This industry milestone changes the dynamics of the computing business,' boasted Dirk Meyer, executive VP of AMD's Computation Products Group. 'Once again, AMD is delivering a simplified approach to more efficient processing power, with products that will deliver multi-core 64-bit computing to our strong customer base.'

In making the announcement, AMD has stolen a march on its big rival Intel, which is widely expected to unveil its own dual-core platform at its IDF conference, which begins next week.

While AMD has achieved a first with an x86 dual-core, IBM is already producing dual-core processors for Apple machines, such as the G5 for the PowerMac and iMac.

AMD's roadmap introduces dual-core processors for the server (one-way to eight-way) and workstation market in mid-2005, using the 940-pin socket. They are codenamed 'Denmark' Italy' and 'Egypt' for the 100-, 200- and 800-Series Opterons respectively. The desktop-oriented 'Toledo' dual-core processor is planned to follow, in the second half of 2005.

For its part, Intel plans 'Smithfield' dual-core processors, which are now also expected mid-2005 (instead of sometime in 2006, as originally planned). Built using a 90nm process, the processors will use socket LGA-775.

More information can be found on AMD's website at www.amd.com/dualcore2.