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AMD might not be able to keep up (down?) with Intel in the CPU power consumption race, so it's taking another tack with the new Opteron X-series: horsepower. It just announced the Opteron X1150 and X2150 64-bit processors for microservers, part of the Jaguar-codenamed family of CPUs arriving in the next-gen Xbox One and Sony PS4 consoles. Thanks to its ultra-low power 6-watt Atom S1200 chips, Intel excels in the low-power server market, and at 9W and 11W respectively (minimum), AMD's CPUs consume considerably more juice. But AMD is pitching them as a better solution overall, thanks to those four cores (compared to two in the Atom), integrated AMD Radeon HD 8000 graphics on the X2150 model, support for 32GB of RAM and integrated SATA ports. AMD's chips are pricier, though, at $64 (X1150) or $99 (X2150) compared to $54 for Intel's Atom S1200 (all in quantities of 1,000). To top it off, Intel has new 64-bit Atom SoCs coming soon promising even lower power consumption -- possibly leaving AMD to play catch-up again.
Filed under: Peripherals, Networking, AMD
AMD gave us a tease of its next-generation Steamroller architecture in 2012, but things weren't looking good for pro users when the initial timeline had current-generation Piledriver technology as the focus for Opterons in 2013. Thanks to a newer investor presentation, there's a glimmer of hope for the workstation and server users among us. Its roadmap shows Steamroller-equipped Opteron variants arriving this year, with an Excavator follow-up coming at an undetermined point in the future. There's nothing about specific timelines and models, as you might imagine -- AMD isn't going to spoil its plans quite so readily -- but the presentation reminds us that Steamroller will put an emphasis on the parallelism that's oh so vital to high-end computing. We're mostly glad to hear that IT backrooms will have something genuinely new to play with while we're off enjoying its Kaveri counterpart at home.
Via: X-bit Labs, TechEye
Source: AMD (PDF)
For all the money and effort poured into supercomputers, their lifespans can be brutally short. See IBM's Roadrunner as a textbook example: the 116,640-core cluster was smashing records just five years ago, and yet it's already considered so behind the times that Los Alamos National Laboratory is taking it out of action today. Don't mourn too much for the one-time legend, however. The blend of Opteron and Cell processors proved instrumental to understanding energy flow in weapons while also advancing the studies of HIV, nanowires and the known universe. Roadrunner should even be useful in its last gasps, as researchers will have a month to experiment with the system's data routing and OS memory compression before it's dismantled in earnest. It's true that the supercomputer has been eclipsed by cheaper, faster or greener competitors, including its reborn Cray arch-nemesis -- but there's no question that we'll have learned from Roadrunner's brief moment in the spotlight.
Filed under: Science
Via: NBC
Source: Los Alamos National Laboratory
The Open Compute Project is pushing hard for servers that are both very scalable and streamlined, and AMD is more than willing to help with the launch of its Open 3.0 server platform. The framework combines two Opteron 6300 processors with a motherboard that contains just the essentials, yet scales to meet just about any need in a rackmount system. Among the many, many expansion options are 24 memory slots, six SATA ports for storage, as many as four PCI Express slots and a mezzanine link for custom components. Open 3.0 isn't as flexible as a decentralized, Intel-based prototype being shown at the same time, but it's also much closer to practical reality -- a handful of companies already have access, and on-the-ground sales should start before the end of March. If all goes well, companies will have a Lego-like server base that solves their problems with precision.
AMD Open 3.0 Brings Simplicity, Power Efficiency and Cost-Effectiveness to the Data Center
Unveils First-ever Open, Modular Platform for the Masses
SANTA CLARA, Calif. -1/16/2013
OPEN COMPUTE SUMMIT - AMD (NYSE: AMD) today is launching the AMD Open 3.0 platform (formerly codenamed "Roadrunner,") a radical rethinking of the server motherboard designed to the standards developed by the Open Compute Project. AMD Open 3.0 enables substantial gains in computing flexibility, efficiency and operating cost by simplifying motherboard design with a single base product to address multiple enterprise workloads, including high-performance computing, cloud infrastructure and storage. This innovative design is optimized to eliminate features typically over-provisioned in traditional server offerings.
Today's servers are designed with a "one size fits most" approach incorporating many features and capabilities that can inefficiently utilize space and power, increasing cost. Many mega data centers have engineers developing optimized platforms with the minimum set of components for specific workloads. The desired result is a tailored solution with the ideal combination of power, space and cost. The AMD Open 3.0 platform is designed to easily enable IT professionals to "right size" the server to meet specific compute requirements. Fidelity Investments and Goldman Sachs are evaluating AMD Open 3.0 as part of their collaboration on the Open Compute Project.
"We became involved with the Open Compute Project very early as we saw a pervasive demand for simplified, energy efficient servers," said Suresh Gopalakrishnan, corporate vice president and general manager, Server, AMD. "Our goal is to reduce data center power consumption and cost yet increase performance and flexibility- we believe that AMD Open 3.0 achieves this."
"This is a realization of the Open Compute Project's mission of 'hacking conventional computing infrastructure,'" said Frank Frankovsky, chairman of the Open Compute Foundation and VP of Hardware Design and Supply Chain at Facebook. "What's really exciting for me here is the way the Open Compute Project inspired AMD and specific consumers to collaboratively bring our 'vanity-free' design philosophy to a motherboard that suited their exact needs."
AMD Open 3.0, powered by the recently announced AMD Opteron[TM] 6300 Series processors, can be installed in all standard 19" rack environments without modification, as well as in Open Rack environments. The AMD Open 3.0 motherboard is a 16" x 16.7" board designed to fit into 1U, 1.5U, 2U or 3U rack height servers. It features two AMD Opteron 6300 Series processors, each with 12 memory sockets (four channels with three DIMMs each,) 6 Serial ATA (SATA) connections per board, one dual channel gigabit Ethernet NIC with integrated management, up to four PCI Express(R) expansion slots, a mezzanine connector for custom module solutions, one serial port and two USB ports. Specific PCI Express card support is dependent on usage case and chassis height.
Pre-production AMD Open 3.0 systems are currently available to select customers. Production systems from Quanta Computer and Tyan are expected to be available through Avnet Electronics Marketing, Penguin Computing and other system integrators before the end of Q1.
"We have eagerly awaited the AMD Open 3.0 platform as it brings the benefits and spirit of the Open Compute Project to a much wider set of customers," said Charles Wuischpard, CEO, Penguin Computing. "As we deliver a new line of Penguin servers based on AMD Open 3.0 and AMD Opteron 6300 Series processors, our high performance computing, cloud and enterprise customers can now deploy application-specific systems using the same core building blocks that are cost, performance and energy optimized and perhaps most important, consistent. We think this initiative eliminates unnecessary complexity and provides new levels of supportability and reliability to the modern data center."
Filed under: Desktops, Networking, AMD
Source: AMD
As a followup to its flagship Opteron 6300 launch last month, AMD has just released several more Piledriver-based processors meant for the server room. One eight-core and two quad-core models are part of the Opteron 3300 series, while the Opteron 4300 series gets six new CPUs: one quad-core, three six-core and two eight-core designs. With all this new silicon, IT pros may have concerns about compatibility issues -- but fear not, for all of AMD's new gear has sockets that fit in with the 3200 and 4200 series to make upgrading a painless process. Designed for small-to-medium sized businesses and web host servers, the chips are relatively inexpensive with prices ranging from $174 to $501, a far cry from the the $575 to $1,392 price of the higher-end 6300.
Despite the low cost, AMD claims the CPUs have a 24 percent performance per watt increase and 15 percent less power usage than their predecessors. The chip maker will likely still face an uphill battle against Intel's mighty Xeon, but businesses looking to save a little cash might be the Opteron's saving grace. There's more detailed specs on the newly announced processors at the source, and you can get a peek at the pricing table after the break.
Continue reading AMD reveals Opteron 3300 and 4300 processors for the penny-pinching enterprise
Via: PC Perspective
Source: AMD
AMD's advantage these days most often rests in datacenters that thrive on the chip designer's love of many-core processors, so it was almost surprising that the company brought its Piledriver architecture to the mainstream before turning to the server room. It's closing that gap now that the Opteron 6300 is here. The sequel to the 6200 fits into the same sockets and consumes the same energy as its ancestor, but speeds ahead through Piledriver's newer layout and instructions -- if you believe AMD, as much as 24 percent faster in one performance test, 40 percent in performance per watt and (naturally) a better deal for the money than Intel's Xeon. Whether that's true or just marketing bluster, there's a wide spread of chips that range from a quad-core, 3.5GHz example to a 16-core, 2.8GHz beast for massively parallel tasks. Cray, Dell, HP and others plan to boost their servers before long, although the surest proof of the 6300's success from our perspective may be that everything in the bacrkoom runs just as smoothly as it did yesterday.
Continue reading AMD unveils Opteron 6300, hopes to put servers in a Piledriver
AMD unveils Opteron 6300, hopes to put servers in a Piledriver originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 05 Nov 2012 00:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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AMD has long stuck to x86 architecture for its server processors, but its gearing up to add 64-bit ARM-based Opteron CPUs to its arsenal in 2014. Sunnyvale also plans to reap the fruits of its SeaMicro acquisition by employing the company's "fabric" tech to link its ARM-based processors in clusters for maximizing efficiency. Where might these new processors come in handy? AMD thinks they'll fit nicely into clouds and "mega data centers" thanks to their power efficiency, but it'll let its x86-based hardware do the heavier lifting such as video encoding and rendering. Other details on the CPUs are scarce, but we suspect that'll change as 2014 approaches.
Continue reading AMD promises 64-bit ARM-based Opteron server CPUs coming in 2014
AMD promises 64-bit ARM-based Opteron server CPUs coming in 2014 originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 29 Oct 2012 19:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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