Did they say anything about Bulldozer's performance? I have been awaiting Bulldozer for my video encoding rig for quite a while now, but these constant delays have made me lean towards getting a i7-2600K instead. Will the launch in July-September be a hard or soft launch?
B1 stepping can't scale high enough in speed to match i5/i7 "Sandy Bridge" lines.
Expect hard launch in September (worse case) with B2 stepping to correct the issue.
Performance-wise, B1 stepping against Sandy Bridge (clock-for-clock) => Bulldozer better in integer performance, but weaker in FPU. (Comparison Sandy Bridge processor had to be downclocked!)
The weaker FPU is intentional. The plan (since 2007) was to implement Bulldozer in APU form. Where the GPU-based IGP takes on a good chunk of the floating point workload via OpenCL or DirectCompute.
If you can wait. Then wait. If you can't, just go with the i7-2600K.
I know I'm about two weeks late...but it is just speculation at this point. However, it's almost certain the AMD's Bulldozer will be significantly weaker than Intel's Sandy Bridge. It's more or less a matter of how much.
AMD has a ways to go in the CPU department. But his point is very possible - AMD may try to overcome their CPU deficiency by bringing in the other dimension of a graphics processor. Once you consider the GPU, where AMD is light years ahead of Intel, then their mainstream product (for those who otherwise would not get a dedicated card) is much stronger.
I am looking forward to Trinity - I am hoping it makes PC gaming accessible to everyone.
"The A series will be broken down into 3 tiers: A4, A6, and A8. At this point we don’t know what the differences will be between the tiers, but it’s safe to assume there will be some cache, GPU, and CPU differences between the tiers, based on what we’ve seen AMD do with their existing series."
=> Based on what I've seen...
2011 mainstream APU line (Llano desktop) ----------------------------------------------------------- A8-xxxx = quad-core + Radeon HD 6550 (400 stream cores) A6-xxxx = quad-core + Radeon HD 6530 (320 stream cores) A4-xxxx = dual-core + Radeon HD 6410 (160 stream cores)
There will also be a neutered E2-xxxx version that will be marketed under the E-series. It has half the L2 cache of the A4-xxxx and lower clocked in IGP. (Sits right between E-series Zacate and A-series Llano APUs.)
AMD is probably naming there numbers to be 1 higher than the intel series it is trying to compete with. I3 vs A4, I5 vs A6, I7 vs A8. Whether these parts really compete with the similar intels doesn't matter. They did a similar naming scheme with the Phenom I vs the Intel Core2Quad and Core2Duo. AMD is hopping the higher number in the model will cause people to buy their cpus instead of intels.
Um, Trinity has nothing to do with AM3+/Zambezi, the successor will be Komodo (APU?), whether Komodo will come in either PGA or LGA format has yet to be known. What Trinity has to do with is AMD renewed 'Mainstream' push with products specifically tailored to that market.
It would be nice if it was "memory". As in 4GB of GDDR5 in the same package, with a 256bit interface. I am just wondering if it is possible, at any price. If they could do it at a cost of $100 plus the cost of the dies it might be worth it.
I've always thought that BullDozer variants with BobCat co-procs would be the greatest thing since wheat bread. APUs would make it perfect where the Bobcats do low IPC internet and GPU-accelerated tasks while mainstream gaming and HD encode\decode are run by the Bulldozer with GPU-acceleration.
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JMS3072 - Wednesday, June 1, 2011 - link
Is it just me, or are the images in this article REALLY low resolution and REALLY compressed?aegisofrime - Wednesday, June 1, 2011 - link
The first picture is a screen grab from Ustream, so quality will naturally be bad. You can see the Ustream logo on the top right.The Trinity picture was probably hastily taken with a cellphone camera, cropped and zoomed.
Ryan Smith - Wednesday, June 1, 2011 - link
They're all from Ustream. Sorry about the quality; hopefully Anand managed to grab something better.aegisofrime - Wednesday, June 1, 2011 - link
Did they say anything about Bulldozer's performance? I have been awaiting Bulldozer for my video encoding rig for quite a while now, but these constant delays have made me lean towards getting a i7-2600K instead. Will the launch in July-September be a hard or soft launch?stmok - Wednesday, June 1, 2011 - link
B0 stepping was under-performing.B1 stepping can't scale high enough in speed to match i5/i7 "Sandy Bridge" lines.
Expect hard launch in September (worse case) with B2 stepping to correct the issue.
Performance-wise, B1 stepping against Sandy Bridge (clock-for-clock)
=> Bulldozer better in integer performance, but weaker in FPU.
(Comparison Sandy Bridge processor had to be downclocked!)
The weaker FPU is intentional. The plan (since 2007) was to implement Bulldozer in APU form. Where the GPU-based IGP takes on a good chunk of the floating point workload via OpenCL or DirectCompute.
If you can wait. Then wait. If you can't, just go with the i7-2600K.
silverblue - Wednesday, June 1, 2011 - link
Do you have any proof to back up these claims? Just curious. :)norwayishot - Tuesday, June 14, 2011 - link
I know I'm about two weeks late...but it is just speculation at this point. However, it's almost certain the AMD's Bulldozer will be significantly weaker than Intel's Sandy Bridge. It's more or less a matter of how much.AMD has a ways to go in the CPU department. But his point is very possible - AMD may try to overcome their CPU deficiency by bringing in the other dimension of a graphics processor. Once you consider the GPU, where AMD is light years ahead of Intel, then their mainstream product (for those who otherwise would not get a dedicated card) is much stronger.
I am looking forward to Trinity - I am hoping it makes PC gaming accessible to everyone.
Crazymech - Wednesday, June 1, 2011 - link
Don't you get it? Llano is now coming integrated in Audi's, so your kids can game Dirt 3 while you're cruisin' the Autobahn/Interstate.Trolling out of the way, I kinda like the new names, used or not. Just hope they'll differenciate it with more than "HT ON/Off on some models"...
stmok - Wednesday, June 1, 2011 - link
"The A series will be broken down into 3 tiers: A4, A6, and A8. At this point we don’t know what the differences will be between the tiers, but it’s safe to assume there will be some cache, GPU, and CPU differences between the tiers, based on what we’ve seen AMD do with their existing series."=> Based on what I've seen...
2011 mainstream APU line (Llano desktop)
-----------------------------------------------------------
A8-xxxx = quad-core + Radeon HD 6550 (400 stream cores)
A6-xxxx = quad-core + Radeon HD 6530 (320 stream cores)
A4-xxxx = dual-core + Radeon HD 6410 (160 stream cores)
P-versions => eg: A8-3560P = 100W TDP
Non-P-versions => eg: A8-3560 = 65W TDP
There will also be a neutered E2-xxxx version that will be marketed under the E-series. It has half the L2 cache of the A4-xxxx and lower clocked in IGP. (Sits right between E-series Zacate and A-series Llano APUs.)
2012 mainstream APU line (Bulldozer-core => codename "Piledriver")
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Trinity => Replace Llano-based A8-series.
Weatherford => Replace Llano-based A6-series.
Richland => Replace Llano-based A4-series.
The chipsets from 2011 to 2012 will likely remain the same. The socket format may change in spec. ie: Revision 2 or "+" label.
MonkeyPaw - Wednesday, June 1, 2011 - link
I think the 4,6,8 is related to core counts.Thelolinator - Wednesday, June 1, 2011 - link
No, not at all. The highest core count on Llano we'll see is 4.mejobloggs - Wednesday, June 1, 2011 - link
No I think 4 is the highest 'module' count I thinkAnd a module is supposedly equal to 2 cores
So 4,6,8 is probably the 'core equivalent' count
Roland00 - Wednesday, June 1, 2011 - link
AMD is probably naming there numbers to be 1 higher than the intel series it is trying to compete with. I3 vs A4, I5 vs A6, I7 vs A8. Whether these parts really compete with the similar intels doesn't matter. They did a similar naming scheme with the Phenom I vs the Intel Core2Quad and Core2Duo. AMD is hopping the higher number in the model will cause people to buy their cpus instead of intels.jjj - Wednesday, June 1, 2011 - link
I hate you for that Trinity speculation.Now for the next year i'll wonder what the third element could be.modnar58 - Wednesday, June 1, 2011 - link
Maybe it's named after the Trinity River that runs through DFW. :Dakbo - Wednesday, June 1, 2011 - link
This sounds like AMD trolling at intel's i3/5/7 and giving the finger to intel.amd: LOOK WE HAVE ONE-UPPED YOU!!!
maniac5999 - Wednesday, June 1, 2011 - link
It goes to 11.mamisano - Wednesday, June 1, 2011 - link
Perhaps it comes from code name used for the first ever atomic bomb test ;-)scook9 - Wednesday, June 1, 2011 - link
Given the announced 990FX and AM3+ socket I guess we can assume trinity does not refer to the chipset moving on die like Intel has doneJMC2000 - Wednesday, June 1, 2011 - link
Um, Trinity has nothing to do with AM3+/Zambezi, the successor will be Komodo (APU?), whether Komodo will come in either PGA or LGA format has yet to be known. What Trinity has to do with is AMD renewed 'Mainstream' push with products specifically tailored to that market.Server: Valencia/Interlagos --> Sepang/Terramar
Performance Desktop: Zambezi --> Komodo
Mainstream Desktop/Essential Desktop/Performance Notebook: Llano --> Trinity
AIO/SFF Desktop/Essential Notebook/HD Netbook: Ontario/Zacate --> Krishna/Wichita
Tablet: Desna --> ???
Shadowmaster625 - Wednesday, June 1, 2011 - link
cpu +gpu + ?It would be nice if it was "memory". As in 4GB of GDDR5 in the same package, with a 256bit interface. I am just wondering if it is possible, at any price. If they could do it at a cost of $100 plus the cost of the dies it might be worth it.
travisty - Wednesday, June 1, 2011 - link
We could call the in-package memory L4 cache =DMaybe the 3rd element is a hard drive, hopefully SSD! Install windows right on your APU!
Or maybe a physx chip! Or a dolphin - make the chip water-proof! Or or or....
BaronMatrix - Wednesday, June 1, 2011 - link
I've always thought that BullDozer variants with BobCat co-procs would be the greatest thing since wheat bread. APUs would make it perfect where the Bobcats do low IPC internet and GPU-accelerated tasks while mainstream gaming and HD encode\decode are run by the Bulldozer with GPU-acceleration.Iketh - Wednesday, June 1, 2011 - link
baha Optimus for the CPU???