On the way for AMD: Fusion, DirectX 11, 16 cores

The least we can say is that AMD ‘s Technology Analyst Day was rich in information as the company revealed its strategy for the next two years. While a long roadmap is always useful in reassuring analysts who are wondering about a firm’s financial situation, at the same time the creator of the Athlon also just informed Intel of all its future plans.

In terms of processors, there was a demonstration of a quad core set at 3GHz mounted on a AM2+ motherboard equipped with a RD790 chipset. On top of the processor was a simple radiator/fan combo. There is, however, little chance of seeing such a model appear in 2007. As for 2008, it is now confirmed that the future 45nm Phenom X4 and X2, that are the base of the Leo platform, will have a L3 cache of 6MB. Lower down the line, we will find 45nm Athlon X2s, which will also have an L3 cache of 1MB.

2009 could be technologically very interesting because we will see the arrival of Fusion (Falcon?) processors in the Performance and Mainstream segments. Engraved in 32nm, they will fit into an AM3 socket and therefore support DDR3. However, especially interesting is that they will be equipped with a DirectX 10 or DirectX 11 graphic core, second generation UVD engine and, in theory, "Bulldozer" CPU cores. These are the first real results we are seeing in terms of technology from the buyout of ATI by AMD, and it could be a major turn of events in the evolution of the x86 platform. Besides the Southbridge and voltage levels, nothing really differentiates the Fusion Python (Performance) platform from the Copperhead (Mainstream). We can also note that nothing was said about the existence of an entry level Fusion, although the latest information from TSMC does not entirely exclude this possibility. Coming back to the Bulldozer, they will equip the Sandtiger, which are processors intended for servers and AMD even mentions up to 16 cores of this type in a single processor.

While waiting for the arrival of a potential DirectX 11 Fusion, DirectX 10 solutions are still to evolve. Amongst other things, AMD unveiled CrossFire 2.0, which designates a quad GPU solution comprised of four Radeon HD 2x00s found on a motherboard equipped with a RD790 chipset. Elsewhere, AMD’s slideshow mentioned the arrival in 2008 of a GPU R7xx DX10+ series engraved in 55nm. We will just have to wait and see what exactly the "+" is, which could remind us of the vague communication involving certain of its DirectX 9+(+) GPUs.

Finally, there is the Bobcat. This x86 processor should be integrated to HD TVs as well as portable devices or set-top boxes, which if we believe its creators, should allow decreasing consumption to 1 Watt.