Moves fast to pip Intel
AMD IS DOING something that we haven't seen a chip company do in a long time, sandbagging its official roadmaps.
A while ago we told you about the intended
launch frequencies, basically 1.9-2.5GHz, but that was before B0 parts came back.
We were told that the B0 stepping was due a few weeks ago, early April to be inexact, and they've been returned for inspection. If they were clean, they would be the launch stepping, and the Q2 date was do-able. If not, add in another few months, and you were looking at the end of Q3, maybe.
We understand that people in Austin were 'dancing in the aisles'. When asked if that was because of B0, we were told that people are very happy, very very happy, but he had 'never heard of such a thing'.
Another source claimed the memory controller, long a bottleneck in K8 scaling, came in way better than expected.
So what do you end up with? A massive gain in frequency. How massive? Almost 500MHz. Instead of the much touted launch parts, look for five SKUs at launch, AM2 quads at 2.6GHz, 2.7GHz and 2.9GHz, a dual at 2.7GHz and a quad on socket F at 2.8GHz.
We think whoever worked this magic deserves a pat on the head, a few days off
after launch, and quite possibly a raise. Twnty per cent faster out of the gate is nothing to be sneezed at. The only question that remains is what volumes AMD can deliver at these speeds.
The INQuirer
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