AMD announced availability of the AMD Opteron 6000 Series server platform featuring the first 8- and 12-core x86 processors.

AMD announced the Opteron 6100 series of CPUS as well as the Opteron 4100 series (code name Lisbon). The Opteron 6100 will come in eight- and 12-core flavors and it is compatible with Socket G34 (1,944 pins).







The 4100 series will be available in 6- and 4-core versions and is compatible with Socket C32 (1,207 pins):



The Opteron 6100 8- and 12-core x86 server processors have a host of new features, including 4 memory channels, HyperTransport technology 3.0, a fourth HyperTransport technology link for better processor-to-processor communication in 4P servers, and new power management features that allow us to double the cores, and achieve up to double the performance (compared to our previous generations), without having to double the power or the cost, AMD claims.

The new 8- and 12-core server processors are performing at up to two times the level of AMD's previous generation 6-core processors, according to AMD.

An integrated memory controller support four channels of DDR3 memory for up to a 2.5x improvement in overall memory bandwidth.

The platform offers 50% higher DIMM capacity compared to previous generations, with up to 12 per processor, increasing the available memory overall and improving virtualization, database and HPC applications.

The platform inlcudes the new AMD 5600 Series chipset with I/O virtualization capability, HyperTransport 3.0 technology and PCI Express 2.0. In addition, it is is chipset- and socket- compatible between 2P and 4P and will be compatible with the planned processors based on the next-generation AMD server processor core, code-named "Bulldozer".

The platform has also removed the '4P tax,' since the same processors can be used in both 2P and 4P designs, and 4P-capable processors are now the same price as 2P-capable processors, bringing greatly improved value to the 4P space.

The platform has several new power management features including a C1E power state to conserve energy when idle, the Advanced Platform Management Link allowing APML-enabled platforms to be remotely monitored for power and cooling, and AMD CoolSpeed technology can automatically reduce p-states if a specified temperature limit is exceeded, AMD said.

Large server vendors such as Hewlett-Packard, Dell, and Cray are all expected to announce systems with the chips.

A 12-core 2.3GHz AMD 6100 series chip will be priced at $1,386, while a 2.4GHz eight-core chip will cost $744.

AMD's rival Intel is also expected to follow this with a chip that contains eight cores. Earlier this month, Intel rolled out a six-core chip. At the high end of this series is a Xeon 5680 model priced at $1,663.