AMD launches 16-core Opteron 6200 server processors

[Jos]

AMD has announced the availability of its first sixteen-core server chips, the new Opteron 6200 (codenamed "Interlagos"), as well as a new six and eight-core parts launching under the Opteron 4200 series (codenamed "Valencia"). The company is promising up to 84% higher performance compared to their predecessors, up to 73% more memory bandwidth for virtual machines and energy efficiency improvements.

The Opteron 6200, based on AMD’s Bulldozer-architecture, will include ten different models clocked between 1.6GHz and 2.6GHz and priced between $523 and $1,019. Only five of them are packing the full sixteen cores, however, as the line up also include a couple of twelve-core chips, two eight-cores and a quad-core model that also drops AMD's Turbo Core frequency boosting feature. They all draw between 85 watts and 140 watts of power and are designed to fit into the same socket as the previous-generation Opteron 6100 models that reached up to 12 cores.

Meanwhile, the Opteron 4200 series comprises four eight-core models and four six-core models. The higher end Opteron 4284 boasts a 3.0GHz clock speed and 95W TDP, while the Opteron 4256 EE on the other side of the spectrum features a 1.6GHz frequency and 35W TDP. These will fit into the same C32 socket as their 4100 series siblings.

The launch comes as AMD tries to reverse its fortunes in the server market after losing ground to Intel over the past year. AMD's worldwide server market share was only 5.5% during the second quarter of this year, while Intel held a 94.5% share, according to IDC. With a new management in place, lead by CEO Rory Read, the company is looking to boost the high-margin commercial business and focus its efforts on low-power computing, emerging markets and the cloud.

AMD last week unveiled a program, dubbed Ready Solutions for servers, designed to offer a wide range of motherboards compatible with the Opteron 6200 chips to quicken adoption of the processors. High-end servers from Dell, HP and others are expected to start shipping soon. Among the notable customers of the new processor is Cray, which is going to upgrade the Jaguar supercomputer at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory into Titan with the new 16-core chips.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/46244-amd-launches-16-core-opteron-6200-server-processors.html

 

[chaboi390]

sorry, but when it said x86 architecture, does that mean it can only run 32bit Operating systems? or is there a difference between server chips and regular chips?

 

[Guest]

It runs 64bit native. It just means its not the ARC or PowerPC architecture.x86 is much more compatible with software and is based on the tried and true IBM architecture. .

 

[R3DP3NGUIN]

Well im being abit biasd here,but. If these are based on Bull-dozer arch, these probebly couldnt beat the E3 xeon series let alone the E5's.

 

[dividebyzero]

If these are based on Bull-dozer arch...

They are. Each Opteron 62xx series CPU is two Zambesi (Bulldozer) CPU's glued to the same piece of silicon - same methodology as Core 2 Quad or Magny Cours...so, 2 x 315mm² per Opteron part....AMD are continuing to sacrifice profit margin in an attempt to claw back marketshare.

these probebly couldnt beat the E3 xeon series let alone the E5's.

They should be fine for some workloads, and anyway, outright performance isn't where Opteron is at - the buzz phrase is "performance per watt" according to Comical John (Fruehe) - AMD's Server Propaganda Minister.

The metrics for judging server platform performance usually aren't as straightforward as desktop. A lot of software licences are paid for on a "per core" basis (which works against AMD), so that needs to be factored in as well as overall platform cost, power consumption and ongoing support

EDIT: First part of Anandtech's Opteron 6200 review >>here<<
Another mixed bag for Bulldozer