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AMD "FASN8"
Phenom, to deliver a phenomenal computing experience

AMD today officially announced its new Phenom processor brand for its next-generation Barcelona architecture. The new Phenom branding will find its way on AMD’s next-generation Stars family of desktop processors. Phenom processors will coexist with AMD’s current Athlon 64 and Sempron processors; however, Athlon 64 processors cater towards entry-level while Sempron caters towards value consumers.

Last week, AMD demonstrated its Phenom processor in a Quad FX configuration for a total of eight-cores in a system. AMD has dubbed its next-generation Quad FX platform FASN8, or “fascinate.” The next-generation FASN8 platform forms around AMD’s upcoming RD790 chipset paired with dual Phenom FX processors. With a pair of AMD ATI Radeon HD 2900 XT’s in the FASN8 platform, the system is able to deliver over a teraflop of computing power in a single box.

“AMD has always enjoyed a great bond with the enthusiast community, and the introduction of the AMD Phenom processor family will take our relationship to new heights,” corporate vice president and general manager of AMD’s desktop division Bob Brewer said. “We continue to focus on listening to and addressing users’ evolving needs. AMD is confident the performance enhancements enabled by true quad-core client technology in computing-intensive environments will allow them to realize new possibilities and find new inspiration.”

Expect AMD to introduce its Phenom processors and accompanying RD790 platforms in time for the Christmas shopping season.

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AMD is on fire
By theteamaqua on 5/14/2007 2:35:54 AM , Rating: 1
with the launch of Barcelona and R600 . AMD's future is looking well.




RE: AMD is on fire
By osalcido on 5/14/2007 2:41:35 AM , Rating: 2
UMM no?

Read the article... these new processors are not going to be launched until around Christmas. 6 MONTHS away.
The 2900 is meant to compete with NVIDIA's 8800 series.. which came out over half a year ago


RE: AMD is on fire
By Metroid on 5/14/2007 2:41:58 AM , Rating: 2
I knew this would happen, now just some benchmarks to make it right.


RE: AMD is on fire
By DannyLee on 5/14/2007 10:24:16 AM , Rating: 3
I wouldn't say they are on fire yet. If they are, I think they need to put it out. Seriously, it's too early to tell. I mean who is going to run out and get a Phenom? What percentage of people who do are going to be dissapointed when they find out they really only need two cores for what they do?

As far as GPUs. What does it matter Nvidia has had a graphics solution out for 6 months. What DirectX 10 games have you been playing on it? I mean, 3DMark07 isn't even out yet! Why would I upgrade my 7600 to an 8600 which barely does better for DX9 games when 10 isnt out?


RE: AMD is on fire
By HVAC on 5/14/07, Rating: -1
RE: AMD is on fire
By incompleteunit on 5/14/2007 12:27:07 PM , Rating: 2
Athlon? Pentium? Wii? iPod?

I don't see how "Phenom" is any less silly than other brand names out there - it's new right now and feels weird on the tongue, but once we're used to it, it will be just one more in the crowd.

Besides, distinctly sillier names like Wii and iPod were predicted to be crippling to the products they were assigned to, and they've proven to be no obstacle to popularity.


RE: AMD is on fire
By deeznuts on 5/14/2007 1:07:53 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
I don't see how "Phenom" is any less silly than other brand names out there - it's new right now and feels weird on the tongue, but once we're used to it, it will be just one more in the crowd.

I personally think it's silly because of what Phenom means. The other names, you can take issue with how it sounds phonetically or whatever, but none of them mean "A phenomenon, especially a remarkable or outstanding person"

That's like a Mom calling an ugly daughter beautiful (not saying the Processor will suck, nobody knows yet). It's a synonym for "AMD Super #1 Processor in the World"

And any NFL Draftniks in here? Are we gonna start calling it Phe (pronounced Fee)? Sorry just went through the NFL draft and that's Amobi Okoye's nickname (19 year old).


RE: AMD is on fire
By Fubar0606 on 5/31/2007 9:09:13 AM , Rating: 2
well I believe they will be a phenomenon, a Quad core that does not have the name Intel on them, and is a true quad core and not just 2 dual cores spooshed togther..


RE: AMD is on fire
By encryptkeeper on 5/14/2007 1:03:30 PM , Rating: 3
It's....just....wrong.....

Why are you speaking in slow broken sentences?


RE: AMD is on fire
By leidegre on 5/14/2007 12:32:57 PM , Rating: 1
Because materializm rocks!

No, seriously, as far as we know, AMD is not in a position to change anything, they probably could, but the new-line up alone is not enough.

Performance wise, Intel and NVidia is offering more intresting products. But AMD has some nice inovations going, and I do expect to see a brigther future with AMD.

As far as the multi-core debate go, I'm fairly certain I could utilize a quad-core dekstop machine. My computer is currently running a total of 783 threads, while all most all of these threads are idle, it's a fact that a lot of things happen in paralell inside the OS. You will never se excellent single threaded performance on multi-core because software does not scale that way, but your computer can do a lot more than running singel thread software.


a bottleneck inherent in other products
By crystal clear on 5/14/2007 3:40:57 AM , Rating: 1


quote:
With the true quad-core design offered by the upcoming AMD Phenom processors, cores communicate on the die rather than through a front side bus external to the processor – a bottleneck inherent in other products that are packaging two dual-core chips to form quad-core processors. Additionally, AMD’s Direct Connect Architecture on-chip ensures that all four cores have optimum access to the integrated memory controller and integrated HyperTransport links, so that performance scales well with the number of cores. This design is also highlighted by a unique shared L3 cache for quicker data access and Socket AM2 and Socket AM2+ infrastructure compatibility to enable a seamless upgrade path


AMD Names the Next PC Computing Thrill Ride: The AMD Phenom™ Processor
http://www.amd.com/us-en/Corporate/VirtualPressRoo...




By KristopherKubicki (blog) on 5/14/2007 8:11:52 PM , Rating: 6
Interesting paraphrase from an interview with Henri Richard that I never republished:

quote:
Native monolithic quad-core in itself has no advantages over a non-monolithic design (was really surprised about his candidness here). Said that performance per watt and thermal envelope were the keys that will make Barcelona successful and dont necessarily have anything to do with the monolithic design. Will justify lateness to market, but will have two rough quarters until then and will have to defend market share with aggressive pricing. AMD did not design a MCM (multi-chip module) solution to bridge the gap between opteron and barcelona because they didnt have the R&D resources.

This was just from February.


By crystal clear on 5/15/2007 12:26:27 AM , Rating: 1
Your response is simply-

PHENOM (“phenomenal") & “FASN8ing"(fascinating).

also this for you -

TG Daily interview: AMD imagines 16 graphics cores for CPUs

http://www.tgdaily.com/content/view/32021/136/


By Proteusza on 5/15/2007 4:10:09 AM , Rating: 3
Wow thats an amazingly candid reply. Sometimes I forget that AMD is a tenth the size of Intel, we all expect them to keep up with the giant, but its obviously really difficult when intel can simply throw money at the problem.


Slide shows for D.T.
By crystal clear on 5/14/2007 4:07:37 AM , Rating: 1
Some slide shows that makes reading more satisfying.

-Layout of the Phenom quad-core processors
- others

http://www.tgdaily.com/index.php?option=com_conten...




RE: Slide shows for D.T.
By KristopherKubicki (blog) on 5/14/2007 5:09:18 AM , Rating: 2
I'd republish the AMD guidance, but we'd get slapped with a DMCA violation.


RE: Slide shows for D.T.
By crystal clear on 5/14/2007 6:44:20 AM , Rating: 1
Yes you are right-
Those guys at AMD are making a big P.R. mistake.

They are releasing information "TOO LITTLE TOO LATE"

Anand Shilpi was right in commenting(conclusion) - I think he saw them through & got suspicious.

But preferred to play it safe & concluded this or that

I will not be surprised if one day Anand is quoted as the first to make that observation.


RE: Slide shows for D.T.
By DannyLee on 5/14/2007 10:14:53 AM , Rating: 2
Yet, there is a side of me that is intrigued.

If you think about it, enthusiasts are outnumbered by the general populace. The general pop doesn't care much about what processor is coming out in 6 months from now as long as the one they buy today isn't going to be obsolete. Reality is, single core chips aren't even obsolete, so the "genpop" is happy for now.

So if AMD releases all kinds of benchmarks and whatnots it would indeed please those of us who feel we have a "need" to know, but the other more major factor is Intel would know what they are up against, and be able to react accordingly. Intel can only guess right now. AMD did waste 6 months on a new architecture they ultimately decided to pull the plug on. They need all the upper hand they can get.


RE: Slide shows for D.T.
By crystal clear on 5/15/07, Rating: 0
Worst name ever for a CPU
By borowki on 5/14/2007 12:41:32 PM , Rating: 2
The name calls to mind, for me at least, the capital of Cambodia, Phnom Penh. Subconscious association with the killing fields isn't something you want for your product...




It's truly amazing...
By INeedCache on 5/14/2007 8:06:01 PM , Rating: 2
how so many of you are business and marketing experts. Some of you already have a fork stuck in AMD, saying it's just way too late. Others are cracking on the Phenom name. You think they just pull names out of hats and use them, just like that? Associate it with Phnom Penh? How many Americans do you really think even know what that means? Especially those under, say 45, who make up the largest segment of computer buyers? Sure AMD is in a bit of trouble at present, with the ATI merger having placed much additional strain on them. Maybe they will ultimately fail, I don't know. But how about we at least wait for no pulse before pronouncing them dead?