Six-core Processor - computers - gadgets & gear

AMD Ups the Multi-core Ante with a Six-core Processor

Published on Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009 at 4:18 am

AMD wants you to forget about Intel?s four-core processing power: six-core is on the way

The rivalry between Intel and AMD is not a new thing, but the latter company has recently upped the stakes; and then some. AMD has announced a hexa-core chip codenamed ?Thuban?; a retail-targeted processor that offers more than six-core processing.

According to Maximum PC, not only is an AMD six-core on its way to consumers, it?s also set to be backwards compatible. An AMD spokesperson had the following to say, ?We are all about platform longevity and long-lived upgrade paths?; a not-too-subtle dig at Intel and its three current, and incompatible, socket structures for desktop PCs.

The Thuban processor will house the six cores on a single 45nm die, as well as feature an in-built DDR3 controller. The chip is also expected to be comprised of a whopping 904 million transistors, along with 3MB of L2 and 6MB of L3 cache. AMD came short of confirming clock speeds for the Thuban, but they are expected to come in lower than the quad-core counterparts because of the extra two cores.

Intel?s upcoming ?Gulftown? processor is slated to hit before the Thuban, but you can expect the hexa-core CPU in stores next year.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009 at 4:18 am and is filed under Computers, Gadgets & Gear. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.