August 27, 2010 Suppliers News

AMD Sets New Mark in x86 Innovation with First Detailed Disclosures of Two New Core Designs

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Low-power “Bobcat” and high-performance “Bulldozer” pave the way to upcoming CPU and AMD Fusion APU designs

Today at HOT CHIPS 22, AMD (NYSE: AMD) will reveal new details on its two next-generation x86 processor core implementations, including AMDs unique approach to high-performance, multi-threaded computing, as well as a sub one-watt capable low-power design. The two new designs, codenamed “Bulldozer” for high-performance PC and server markets, and “Bobcat” for low-power notebook and small form-factor desktop markets, were designed from the ground-up to address specific customer requirements and compute workloads. The new cores are central to AMD’s future roadmap, including the AMD Fusion Accelerated Processing Unit (APU) products and AMD’s new high-performance server and client CPUs.

“In my opinion, Bulldozer and Bobcat are not only two of the greatest technical achievements in AMD’s rich history, but two of the most important for the industry as well,” said Chekib Akrout, senior vice president and general manager, AMD Technology Development. “With CPUs and APUs built from these core implementations, we expect our customers to deliver a new wave of innovative PC form factors and high-performance computing experiences.”

At HOT CHIPS 22, Brad Burgess, AMD Fellow and chief architect of Bobcat, and Mike Butler, AMD Fellow and chief architect of Bulldozer, will each present in the “New Processor Architectures” session. The x86 architecture lies at the very heart of computing and AMD has continuously evolved and improved its core designs. The Bulldozer and Bobcat cores continue that evolutionary path and are designed to change the user’s experience with the resulting products.

“Attacking both high-performance and low-power markets simultaneously with two brand new architectures is an impressive accomplishment that serves notice to the industry that innovation is alive and well inside AMD,” observed Nathan Brookwood, research fellow at Insight 64.

bulldoser, bobcat, AMD

Highlights of the new cores include:

Bulldozer

An innovative approach to multithreaded compute performance that balances dedicated and shared compute resources to provide a highly compact, high core count design that is easily replicated on a chip for performance scaling
New x86 instruction support (SSE4.1, SSE4.2, AVX, and XOP including 4-operand FMAC)
Advanced power management features
Manufactured on advanced 32nm process technology

Bobcat

Sub-one-watt capable operation
Out-of-order instruction execution for higher performance
Estimated 90 percent of today’s mainstream PC performance in half the area
Core power gating and a microarchitecture optimized for low power
Highly synthesizeable design that moves easily across manufacturing technologies

Additional Resources

^{About AMD}^{Avanced Micro Devices (NYSE: AMD) is an innovative technology company dedicated to collaborating with customers and technology partners to ignite the next generation of computing and graphics solutions at work, home and play. For more information, visit}^{http://www.amd.com}^.