AMD is also working on a new 64-bit x86 Core
by Anand Lal Shimpi on May 5, 2014 1:16 PM EST
Jim Keller joined Mark Papermaster on stage at AMD's Core Innovation Update press conference and added a few more details to AMD's K12 announcement. Keller stressed AMD's expertise in building high frequency cores, as well as marrying the strengths of AMD's big cores with those of its low power cores. The resulting K12 core is a 64-bit ARM design, but Jim Keller also revealed that his team is working on a corresponding 64-bit x86 core.
The x86 counterpart doesn't have a publicly known name at this point, but it is a new design built from the ground up.
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MadAd - Monday, May 5, 2014 - link
I dont see any promises, just an announcementFlunk - Monday, May 5, 2014 - link
He has a point, AM3 was released in 2009, AM3+ has to maintain backwards compatibility with that. If they're building a brand new core for 2016+ I would hope for DDR4 support in the least which would necessitate a new socket.Plus I expect this will have a built-in GPU anyway so AM3+ support would be out the door regardless, maybe FM2+ but then you still have the DDR4 issue. AMD is going to need a new socket.
whickywhickyjim - Monday, May 5, 2014 - link
backwards compatibility with am3 isn't a factor. most am3+ procs don't work on older am3 boards. some do with bios updates, but many do not. am3+ is a 2011 product, and steamroller/excavator procs were promised for the socket. amd could keep promises with new piledriver releases in 2014/15, or sempron variant of this new 2016 product. no dispute that a new socket design and ddr4 support are needed.tabascosauz - Monday, May 5, 2014 - link
Yell at me all you want for backing Intel's no-upgrade-path strategy, but were IVB and Haswell still stuck on LGA775 we probably wouldn't be where we are today in terms of performance and efficiency.It's time for AMD to move on. AM3 and AM3+ are getting old, and only bring up painful memories of FX.
ericore - Thursday, May 8, 2014 - link
No point arguing with whickywhickyjim, he has no reason, just beliefs.Let the sailor sail.
Gizmosis350k - Friday, May 9, 2014 - link
and sail he shallWieRD_WoLF - Tuesday, May 13, 2014 - link
And then there is an issue that AMD is still using HyperTransport 3.1 (their latest standard) which was last updated around 2008-2009.Though AMD has only every used up to a 16-bit wide link whereas HyperTransport 3.1 allows up to a 32-bit link (think Intel's DMI or QPI)
MikeMurphy - Monday, May 5, 2014 - link
You can't expect AM3 it to be forever current in light of the move to HSA, APUs and DDR4, all of which is happening right now. It's time for a new socket.Gizmosis350k - Wednesday, May 7, 2014 - link
Colour me pink and call me a tit but I dont think DDR4 is on AMDs agendaAlexvrb - Saturday, May 10, 2014 - link
It's going to happen sooner or later... they might even have a variant of Carrizo that is compatible with DDR4. The extra bandwidth is beneficial to their APUs, so saying it's not on their agenda is kind of silly. Even if it doesn't happen with Carrizo, it will happen with it's successor.It would also help tremendously on their smaller low-power APUs (single channel), since it is both lower voltage and higher bandwidth.