[BLOG] 32-core processor? CERN Engineer Leaks Info on AMD's Zen CPUs

Post Reply
CrimsonShade
He's Technically Motivated
Posts: 122
Joined: 16 May 2011, 04:14
Location: England
Contact:

[BLOG] 32-core processor? CERN Engineer Leaks Info on AMD's Zen CPUs

Post by CrimsonShade »

This is a blog post. To read the original post, please click here »


AMD have been surprisingly quiet in recent weeks, seemingly pinning much of its business plan this year on its upcoming Zen line of processors; but it seems the time is being spent very deliberately and cleverly, with a heavy focus on Research and Development to improve its CPU Technology further. And if the most recent leak, which comes courtesy a CERN engineer who gave a talk at the IT Technical Forum on market trends concerning data centres, is to be believed, it may be about to pay off in a spectacular fashion.



Basing his claims on what evidently seems to be information supplied to CERN by AMD themselves, the engineer stated that Zen CPUs will benefit from Symmetrical Multi-Threading, which would seem to be AMD's own version of Intel's Hyper-Threading. More shocking, however, is that CPUs in the Zen line will apparently feature up to 32 physical cores in a single package, though this is spread over two 16-core modules within the same die - effectively two chips in one.



If that wasn't enough, Zen will also apparently support 8-channel DDR4, meaning a computer with one of these monsters installed could feature 8 separate RAM cards. Assuming an 8GB card in each slot, this means a potential maximum of 64 Gigabytes of DDR4 RAM.. excuse me while I pick my jaw off the floor.



The CERN engineer also reiterated previously leaked information about the Zen CPUs, which mainly focused on the point that these new CPUs are said to be able to handle 40% more instructions per clock than the current Excavator cores. Sadly, this was really all the information there was to glean from this leak - there is no news of a release date for any processor within the Zen line; and it is reasonable to assume that this monster processor is likely to wait to later in the launch cycle. For the first processor out of the gate, it is suggested that the line will start with the FX desktop CPUs - which are only expected to come in the now-standard 4, 6 and 8-core variants.



AMD appear to be seriously upping the game for CPU manufacturers and going far beyond anything done before if the claims are to be believe (and if you can't trust an engineer at one of the major centres for scientific and technological research, who CAN you trust?). Could this spark some rivalry with the other major player in the scene, Intel? One thing's for sure - this should only be good news for the processor market and its customers.
Image
Image
Post Reply