AMD launches new Opteron 6000 series server platform

AMD has launched its new Opteron 6000 series server platform.

The Opteron 6000 series CPUs addresses three key data center trends:

• Virtualization - Support up to 48 cores in a 4P configuration as well as virtualization acceleration technology
• Power management - Incorporates AMD-P suite of power management features, which minimize the usage of the whole CPU, of individual cores and even specific logic within each core based on current workload
• Value - Twice the performance of the previous generation platform, double the cores, all at the same price point

The catch? Well, it's that upgrading to the Opteron 6000 series will mean whole-scale server replacements because directly upgrades of the servers isn't possible because the Opteron 6000 series use a G34 socket as opposed to the Socket F used on older Opteron processors. The G34 platform provides support for four DDR3 channels and up to four processor sockets.

Target: Enterprise Class 2-way and 4-way Servers

• Twelve-core and Eight–core, L2 – 512K/core, L3 - 12MB of shared L3 Cache
• AMD CoolCore™ technology, AMD PowerNow!™ technology, Enhanced C1 state, AMD CoolSpeed technology, APML (in APML enabled platforms)
• Quad-Channel LV & U/RDDR3, ECC, support for on-line spare memory Supports up to 3 DIMMs/channel, up to 12 DIMMS per CPU
• Planned platforms 2P/2U, 2P Tower, 4P rack, 4P Blade

Single Series for performance DP and MP platforms

• 2P economics for 4P servers
• Compelling price/performance for volume market

G34 Socket Infrastructure

• Balanced performance with power/thermals
• Quad 16-bit HyperTransport™ 3 technology (HT3) links, up to 6.4 GT/s per link
• AMD SR56x0 chipset with I/O Virtualization and PCIe® 2.0