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AMD refreshing high-end CPUs again this year?

by Pete Mason on 27 September 2010, 14:31

Tags: Phenom II X6 1055T, Phenom II X6 1090T, Phenom II X6 1075T, AMD (NYSE:AMD)

Quick Link: HEXUS.net/qaz7y

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If the latest rumours are to be believed, AMD is set to expand its high-end desktop CPU offerings before the end of this year. Details obtained by X-bit labs suggest that the top-of-the-line quad- and hexa-core chips could be getting a little faster, while new low-end Thuban CPUs will make six-core computing even more accessible.

At the top of the stack is the Phenom II X6 1100T, which is set to arrive in the last quarter of this year clocked at 3.3GHz with a turbo speed of 3.7GHz. This is a 100MHz speed-boost over the incumbent 1090T, meaning that it's also likely to be a multiplier-unlocked Black Edition CPU.

Name

Codename

Cores

Cache

TDP

Clock Speed

Turbo CORE

Availability

Phenom II X6 1100T

Thuban

6

9MB

125W

3.30GHz

3.70GHz

Q4 2010

Phenom II X6 1090T

Thuban

6

9MB

125W

3.20GHz

3.60GHz

Q2 2010

Phenom II X6 1075T

Thuban

6

9MB

125W

3.00GHz

3.50GHz

Q3 2010

Phenom II X6 1065T

Thuban

6

9MB

95W

2.90GHz

3.40GHz

Q4 2010

Phenom II X6 1055T

Thuban

6

9MB

125W

2.80GHz

3.30GHz

Q2 2010

Phenom II X6 1055T

Thuban

6

9MB

95W

2.80GHz

3.30GHz

Q2 2010

Phenom II X6 1045T

Thuban

6

9MB

95W

2.70GHz

3.20GHz

Q3 2010

Phenom II X6 1035T

Thuban

6

9MB

95W

2.60GHz

3.10GHz

Q3 2010

Phenom II X4 975

Deneb

4

8MB

125W

3.60GHz

-

Q4 2010

Phenom II X4 970

Deneb

4

8MB

125W

3.50GHz

-

Q3 2010


According to the leak, the lower-end of the Thuban family will also be fleshed out, putting a CPU at almost every 100MHz interval.  A 2.9GHz 1065T will appear as a 95W part, as well as a reworked 1055T with the same TDP. At the bottom of the pile, the oft-rumoured but rarely-seen 2.6GHz 1035T will be joined by the 2.7GHz 1045T - now listed on the manufacturer's website - which is scheduled to arrive in Q3 with a 95W thermal-envelope.

AMD hasn't forgotten about its quad-core offerings either. Continuing the theme of incremental speed increases, the Phenom II X4 975 is rumoured to be shipping in Q4 with a stock-frequency of 3.6GHz and a 125W TDP. Obviously this is based on the Deneb architecture, so you won't get the benefit of Turbo CORE, though such a high clock-speed should make up for the omission.

Technically this is all a rumour, so AMD has declined to confirm or deny its validity. However, we wouldn't be surprised to see the company continue to tweak its line-up with minor speed-increases to tide us over until the launch of its next generation CPUs.



HEXUS Forums :: 5 Comments

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It is the 1045T i really want to see released, six core for ~£120 is going to be a bargain, especially with a turbo that will take three cores to 3.2GHz.
Jedibeeftrix
It is the 1045T i really want to see released, six core for ~£120 is going to be a bargain, especially with a turbo that will take three cores to 3.2GHz.

Not to mention some pretty good overclocking headroom.
I wish AMD would apply what they've learnt in Thuban and apply it to Deneb.
If tehy can make a 95w 6 core at 2.9 GHz - 3.4 GHz with 3 cores flat out then hopefully they can do a 65w quad core that can do 3.4 GHz with only 2 cores active.

However I suspect this isn't in their interests currently :(

Still, Fingers X'd. Maybe AMD will be able to use clock speed to get their single threaded performance up to Nehalem levels.
badass
However I suspect this isn't in their interests currently :(

I suspect the issue is more that they'd have to tape out a new die to make the necessary amendments to a native quad core, and that bulldozer / bobcat / whatever are close enough to production yields that it's not worth pushing out a tweaked Deneb core in between.

One thing we can probably assume, however, since the 9x0T variants never made it to market, is that they're yielding well enough to sell all of the Thuban dies as hexacore processors. Bottom line seems to be that they're going to line up slower hexcores against the existing quad cores and ask people to choose either cores or clockspeed. For my money the hexes are the ones to go for: particularly if they undervolt well (could get a 70Wish hex for your money at 1.05V) or overclock well (you could probably get a 3.4GHz hex for less money than a 965BE….).
scaryjim
I suspect the issue is more that they'd have to tape out a new die to make the necessary amendments to a native quad core, and that bulldozer / bobcat / whatever are close enough to production yields that it's not worth pushing out a tweaked Deneb core in between.

IIRC the bulldozer CPU's won't work in an AM3 socket, however AM3 CPU's will work in the AM3+ socket that bulldozer needs. This makes little to no odds to AMD, however for those of us with AM3 motherboards it's a bit unfortunate. A nice Quad core with Turbocore would have made up for that though.