AMD?s most advanced x86 processor ever, the new 8- and 12-core AMD Opteron 6100 Series processors (codenamed "Magny-Cours") are currently on their way to AMD's customers. The new CPUs started their journey weeks ago, in the German state of Saxony, where the GLOBALFOUNDRIES fab began the process of building the new chips.

John Fruehe, Director of Product Marketing for Server/Workstation products at AMD, said that production had began last month and AMD's OEM partners had received production parts.

Earlier this week, someone tried to offer products that they claimed were "Magny-Cours" processors for sale on the web.

"Obviously the message about 12-core goodness with incredible value is making it out into the market, so much so that somebody wanted to jump on the bandwagon," Fruehe added.

The Magny-cour CPUs will fit server systems with two or four sockets, enabling them to replace the existing Opteron 1000, 2000 and 8000 chips.

AMD's 12-core chips are expected to launch before the end of the quarter. "With 8 or 12 cores, 4 memory channels and lots of other great technology coming, it?s worth the wait," Fruehe said.

Magny-Cours will have 12-cores, four-channel memory controllers, high-speed inter-chip interconnections and they will be compatible with AMD's third-generation Socket G34 platform. The CPUs will be clocked at 1.7-2.3GHz range and have an average power consumption of 85W, 115W, and 140W. The 8-core variables will be clocked at 1.8-2.4GHz.

AMD's new Opterons will face the strong competition from Intel's Xeon family of 32nm server CPUs, based on Intel's Nehalem micro-architecture.