Charting the upcoming changes in the CPU and GPU worlds can be a daunting task, the tech world is a fast-paced industry and thus rumors on upcoming products from AMD, ATI, Intel, and NVIDIA combined can change on a weekly, if not sometimes daily basis. Therefore what we wanted to do with this article is give a quick summation of what these four companies are up to so that you, the end user, could be kept abreast of what’s coming so you can plan your CPU and GPU upgrades accordingly.
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AMD:
Let’s take a look at our projected roadmap for AMD for the next year:
AMD's CPUs:
Q4'06 Q1'07 Q2'07 Q3'07 Q4'07
FX-74 5000+ Barcelona Altair Arcturus
FX-72 4800+ Antares Spica
FX-70 4400+
6000+ 4000+
5600+
5400+
The CPUs will all ship with 1MB of L2 cache per core (2x1MB L2) and will be clocked at 3.0GHz, 2.8GHz, and 2.6GHz respectively. AMD has stated that they plan to make the 4x4 platform less expensive than previous dual-processor solutions in the workstation/server space, but we do know that AMD’s 4x4 CPUs will not be based on AMD’s AM2 socket, relying on their server-oriented 1207-pin Socket F instead. This could end up making 4x4 motherboards more expensive than the comparable Intel-based solution, as Intel’s first-generation quad-core CPUs will be compatible with many of today’s existing motherboards.
AMD 90-nm Windsor Athlon 64 X2 CPUs:
Model Number Clock Speed (GHz) L2 Cache Size
6000+ 3.0 2x1MB
5600+ 2.8 2x1MB
5400+ 2.8 2x512KB
5200+ 2.6 2x1MB
4600+ 2.4 2x512KB
4200+ 2.2 2x512KB
3800+ 2.0 2x512KB
2007 marks the beginning of AMD’s transition from 90-nm to their smaller 65-nm manufacturing process. The smaller process should allow AMD to produce more CPU cores per wafer, but another tidbit about AMD’s 65-nm process that will help boost production is the fact that AMD will begin using 12-inch, 300mm wafers at 65-nm. Today’s 90-nm CPUs from AMD are built on smaller, 8-inch 200mm wafers.
As has become their tradition when introducing a new manufacturing process, AMD’s playing it conservative with their first wave of 65-nm parts. Rather than use the new process on an unfamiliar, untested core, AMD’s 65-nm Brisbane CPUs are essentially die-shrunk derivatives of today’s Windsor CPUs. In other words, AMD’s introducing no new features with these chips, and they’ll ship with the same 2x512KB L2 cache configuration used today on the 5000+ and other CPUs, as well as similar clock speeds. Take a look at the table below:
AMD 65-nm Brisbane Athlon 64 X2 CPUs:
Model Number Clock Speed (GHz) L2 Cache Size
5000+ 2.6GHz 2x512KB
4800+ 2.5GHz 2x512KB
4400+ 2.3GHz 2x512KB
4000+ 2.1GHz 2x512KB
AMD will then follow-up Barcelona with “Altair” AMD’s first K8L chip with HyperTransport (HT) 3.0.
HT 3.0 runs at 2.6GHz, providing up to 20.8GB/sec of peak bandwidth. In comparison Athlon 64's HT 1.0 tops out at 1GHz, yielding up to 8.0GB/sec peak bandwidth. According to DigiTimes, the new Altair chips will reside in AMD’s Socket “AM2+”.
AMD K8L:
While the aforementioned chips will definitely be nice performers, AMD’s true answer to Intel’s Core 2 CPU won’t come until next year, in the form of K8L. K8L brings with it a number of improvements. Here are the highlights:
Native Quad-core design
New L3 cache
128-bit wide SSE units
Improved memory addressing (Up to 48-bit memory addressing)
Better prefetching (Going from 16 bytes to 32)
New Extensions added to SSE3
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INTEL:
Fresh off Core 2’s introduction earlier this summer, Intel’s ramping up from dual-core processing to quad-core, a transition Intel had originally planned to begin in 2007, but has now been bumped up to the end of 2006. The first of these quad-core CPUs will be the Core 2 Extreme QX6700, which was previously codenamed “Kentsfield”:
Intel's CPUs:
Q4'06 Q1'07 Q2'07 Q3'07 Q4'07
Core 2 Extreme Core 2 Quad Pentium E1060 Yorkfield
Edition Quad Q6600 Pentium E1040 Celeron 400
Core 2 Extreme Core 2 Duo E4300 Pentium E1020
Edition X6900?
Kentsfield will be clocked at 2.66GHz, just like the Core 2 Duo E6700, with each of its two cores containing 4MB of L2 cache, for a grand total of 8MB L2 on the CPU itself.
In Q1’07, Intel plans to move quad-core to more mainstream price segments with the debut of the Core 2 Quad Q6600, which will also be based on Intel’s Kentsfield core. It’s believed that the Core 2 Quad will run at 2.4GHz and contain 8MB of L2 cache, just like the Core 2 Extreme QX6700
INTEL CONROE-L:
When it debuts, Conroe-L will essentially replace the Pentium 4 from Intel’s low-end lineup. Besides being single-core, Conroe-L will sport a 1MB L2 cache, making it cheaper for Intel to produce. Like the E4300, Conroe-L won’t support virtualization, but it will support 64-bit, execute disable bit, and Enhanced Speedstep technology. Fortunately there seems to be a consensus on clock speeds, it’s expected that Conroe-L CPUs will be clocked at 1.8GHz, 1.6GHz, and 1.4GHz, with an even lower-end Conroe-L variant, the Celeron 400.
INTEL YORKFIELD:
Yorkfield is Intel’s 2nd-generation quad-core CPU, and according to DigiTimes sources should have one L2 cache shared by both dual core processors, enhancing efficiency. Yorkfield will be built on Intel’s upcoming 45-nm manufacturing process.
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GPU's:
ATI:
R600:
The upcoming GPU ATI enthusiasts are eagerly awaiting is R600. R600 is ATI’s next-generation DirectX 10 GPU. What we can expect for sure from R600 though is that it will fully support unified shaders, after all ATI’s had their first GPU based on a unified shader architecture shipping for nearly a year now in the form of the Xenos GPU sitting inside the Xbox 360. R600 will also support GDDR4 memory.
Obviously they just introduced the Radeon X1950 XTX, but they still would like to get R600 out the door before the end of the year. Right now it’s looking like the most likely scenario is a launch in the January timeframe, right around the same time Microsoft releases Windows Vista.
Specs:
65nm
64 Shader pipelines (Vec4+Scalar)
32 TMU's
32 ROPs
128 Shader Operations per Cycle
800MHz Core
102.4 billion shader ops/sec
512GFLOPs for the shaders
2 Billion triangles/sec
25.6 Gpixels/Gtexels/sec
256-bit 512MB 1.8GHz GDDR4 Memory
57.6 GB/sec Bandwidth (at 1.8GHz)
WGF2.0 Unified Shader
RV570:
RV570 is ATI’s replacement for today’s Radeon X1900 GT. It’s expected to be built on TSMC’s 80-nm manufacturing process and feature 36 pixel shaders and 12 ROPs, just like the X1900 GT. It will be clocked a little higher than the X1900 GT however, with its core clock expected to be 600MHz (25MHz higher than the X1900 GT), while its memory is rumored to run at 700MHz (100MHz higher than the GT). Like the X1900 GT, it will have a 256-bit external memory interface, and for the first time in an Radeon graphics card, ATI’s compositing engine will be built-in to the GPU, giving the chip native CrossFire support. In other words, you won’t have to buy a CrossFire master card, all RV570 GPUs will support CrossFire technology out-of-the-box.
Graphics cards based on the RV570 GPU will be known as the Radeon X1950 Pro, and will be offered with 256MB of memory.
NVIDIA:
G80:
There’s actually less concrete info on G80 out there than there is on R600, even though it’s expected that G80 will debut first, possibly as early as sometime next month, but most likely definitely before the end of the year. NVIDIA’s PR/marketing group does a really good job of keeping info about their upcoming GPUs out of the public eye for the most part; they’ve even been known to use misdirection from time to time, so you’ve got to take the rumors about their upcoming products – particularly the earliest rumors that have the least chance of being credible – with a grain of salt, if that.
What is known is that G80 is NVIDIA’s next-generation part, and that it will support DirectX 10.
The specs were quickly taken down by the site, but chief among them was that G80 would sport a unified shader architecture and an unconventional 384-bit memory interface, as well as be available with both a conventional heatsink/fan cooler, as well as a hybrid water/fan cooler.
Specs:
* Unified Shader Architecture
* Support FP16 HDR+MSAA
* Support GDDR4 memories
* Close to 700M transistors (G71 - 278M / G70 - 302M)
* New AA mode : VCAA
* Core clock scalable up to 1.5GHz
* Shader Peformance : 2x Pixel / 12x Vertex over G71 (48 pixel and 96 vertex) (48 unified and 48 vertex *See post #16 for explanation)
* 8 TCPs & 128 stream processors
* Much more efficient than traditional architecture
* 384-bit memory interface (256-bit+128-bit)
* 768MB memory size (512MB+256MB)
* Two s at launch : GeForce 8800GTX and GeForce 8800GT
* GeForce 8800GTX : 7 TCPs chip, 384-bit memory interface, hybrid water/fan cooler, water cooling for overclocking. US$649
* GeForce 8800GT : 6 TCPs chip, 320-bit (256-bit + 64-bit) memory interface, fan cooler. US$449-499
"Expect G80 to be out somewhere in mid November along with Kentsfield."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
AMD:
Let’s take a look at our projected roadmap for AMD for the next year:
AMD's CPUs:
Q4'06 Q1'07 Q2'07 Q3'07 Q4'07
FX-74 5000+ Barcelona Altair Arcturus
FX-72 4800+ Antares Spica
FX-70 4400+
6000+ 4000+
5600+
5400+
The CPUs will all ship with 1MB of L2 cache per core (2x1MB L2) and will be clocked at 3.0GHz, 2.8GHz, and 2.6GHz respectively. AMD has stated that they plan to make the 4x4 platform less expensive than previous dual-processor solutions in the workstation/server space, but we do know that AMD’s 4x4 CPUs will not be based on AMD’s AM2 socket, relying on their server-oriented 1207-pin Socket F instead. This could end up making 4x4 motherboards more expensive than the comparable Intel-based solution, as Intel’s first-generation quad-core CPUs will be compatible with many of today’s existing motherboards.
AMD 90-nm Windsor Athlon 64 X2 CPUs:
Model Number Clock Speed (GHz) L2 Cache Size
6000+ 3.0 2x1MB
5600+ 2.8 2x1MB
5400+ 2.8 2x512KB
5200+ 2.6 2x1MB
4600+ 2.4 2x512KB
4200+ 2.2 2x512KB
3800+ 2.0 2x512KB
2007 marks the beginning of AMD’s transition from 90-nm to their smaller 65-nm manufacturing process. The smaller process should allow AMD to produce more CPU cores per wafer, but another tidbit about AMD’s 65-nm process that will help boost production is the fact that AMD will begin using 12-inch, 300mm wafers at 65-nm. Today’s 90-nm CPUs from AMD are built on smaller, 8-inch 200mm wafers.
As has become their tradition when introducing a new manufacturing process, AMD’s playing it conservative with their first wave of 65-nm parts. Rather than use the new process on an unfamiliar, untested core, AMD’s 65-nm Brisbane CPUs are essentially die-shrunk derivatives of today’s Windsor CPUs. In other words, AMD’s introducing no new features with these chips, and they’ll ship with the same 2x512KB L2 cache configuration used today on the 5000+ and other CPUs, as well as similar clock speeds. Take a look at the table below:
AMD 65-nm Brisbane Athlon 64 X2 CPUs:
Model Number Clock Speed (GHz) L2 Cache Size
5000+ 2.6GHz 2x512KB
4800+ 2.5GHz 2x512KB
4400+ 2.3GHz 2x512KB
4000+ 2.1GHz 2x512KB
AMD will then follow-up Barcelona with “Altair” AMD’s first K8L chip with HyperTransport (HT) 3.0.
HT 3.0 runs at 2.6GHz, providing up to 20.8GB/sec of peak bandwidth. In comparison Athlon 64's HT 1.0 tops out at 1GHz, yielding up to 8.0GB/sec peak bandwidth. According to DigiTimes, the new Altair chips will reside in AMD’s Socket “AM2+”.
AMD K8L:
While the aforementioned chips will definitely be nice performers, AMD’s true answer to Intel’s Core 2 CPU won’t come until next year, in the form of K8L. K8L brings with it a number of improvements. Here are the highlights:
Native Quad-core design
New L3 cache
128-bit wide SSE units
Improved memory addressing (Up to 48-bit memory addressing)
Better prefetching (Going from 16 bytes to 32)
New Extensions added to SSE3
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
INTEL:
Fresh off Core 2’s introduction earlier this summer, Intel’s ramping up from dual-core processing to quad-core, a transition Intel had originally planned to begin in 2007, but has now been bumped up to the end of 2006. The first of these quad-core CPUs will be the Core 2 Extreme QX6700, which was previously codenamed “Kentsfield”:
Intel's CPUs:
Q4'06 Q1'07 Q2'07 Q3'07 Q4'07
Core 2 Extreme Core 2 Quad Pentium E1060 Yorkfield
Edition Quad Q6600 Pentium E1040 Celeron 400
Core 2 Extreme Core 2 Duo E4300 Pentium E1020
Edition X6900?
Kentsfield will be clocked at 2.66GHz, just like the Core 2 Duo E6700, with each of its two cores containing 4MB of L2 cache, for a grand total of 8MB L2 on the CPU itself.
In Q1’07, Intel plans to move quad-core to more mainstream price segments with the debut of the Core 2 Quad Q6600, which will also be based on Intel’s Kentsfield core. It’s believed that the Core 2 Quad will run at 2.4GHz and contain 8MB of L2 cache, just like the Core 2 Extreme QX6700
INTEL CONROE-L:
When it debuts, Conroe-L will essentially replace the Pentium 4 from Intel’s low-end lineup. Besides being single-core, Conroe-L will sport a 1MB L2 cache, making it cheaper for Intel to produce. Like the E4300, Conroe-L won’t support virtualization, but it will support 64-bit, execute disable bit, and Enhanced Speedstep technology. Fortunately there seems to be a consensus on clock speeds, it’s expected that Conroe-L CPUs will be clocked at 1.8GHz, 1.6GHz, and 1.4GHz, with an even lower-end Conroe-L variant, the Celeron 400.
INTEL YORKFIELD:
Yorkfield is Intel’s 2nd-generation quad-core CPU, and according to DigiTimes sources should have one L2 cache shared by both dual core processors, enhancing efficiency. Yorkfield will be built on Intel’s upcoming 45-nm manufacturing process.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
GPU's:
ATI:
R600:
The upcoming GPU ATI enthusiasts are eagerly awaiting is R600. R600 is ATI’s next-generation DirectX 10 GPU. What we can expect for sure from R600 though is that it will fully support unified shaders, after all ATI’s had their first GPU based on a unified shader architecture shipping for nearly a year now in the form of the Xenos GPU sitting inside the Xbox 360. R600 will also support GDDR4 memory.
Obviously they just introduced the Radeon X1950 XTX, but they still would like to get R600 out the door before the end of the year. Right now it’s looking like the most likely scenario is a launch in the January timeframe, right around the same time Microsoft releases Windows Vista.
Specs:
65nm
64 Shader pipelines (Vec4+Scalar)
32 TMU's
32 ROPs
128 Shader Operations per Cycle
800MHz Core
102.4 billion shader ops/sec
512GFLOPs for the shaders
2 Billion triangles/sec
25.6 Gpixels/Gtexels/sec
256-bit 512MB 1.8GHz GDDR4 Memory
57.6 GB/sec Bandwidth (at 1.8GHz)
WGF2.0 Unified Shader
RV570:
RV570 is ATI’s replacement for today’s Radeon X1900 GT. It’s expected to be built on TSMC’s 80-nm manufacturing process and feature 36 pixel shaders and 12 ROPs, just like the X1900 GT. It will be clocked a little higher than the X1900 GT however, with its core clock expected to be 600MHz (25MHz higher than the X1900 GT), while its memory is rumored to run at 700MHz (100MHz higher than the GT). Like the X1900 GT, it will have a 256-bit external memory interface, and for the first time in an Radeon graphics card, ATI’s compositing engine will be built-in to the GPU, giving the chip native CrossFire support. In other words, you won’t have to buy a CrossFire master card, all RV570 GPUs will support CrossFire technology out-of-the-box.
Graphics cards based on the RV570 GPU will be known as the Radeon X1950 Pro, and will be offered with 256MB of memory.
NVIDIA:
G80:
There’s actually less concrete info on G80 out there than there is on R600, even though it’s expected that G80 will debut first, possibly as early as sometime next month, but most likely definitely before the end of the year. NVIDIA’s PR/marketing group does a really good job of keeping info about their upcoming GPUs out of the public eye for the most part; they’ve even been known to use misdirection from time to time, so you’ve got to take the rumors about their upcoming products – particularly the earliest rumors that have the least chance of being credible – with a grain of salt, if that.
What is known is that G80 is NVIDIA’s next-generation part, and that it will support DirectX 10.
The specs were quickly taken down by the site, but chief among them was that G80 would sport a unified shader architecture and an unconventional 384-bit memory interface, as well as be available with both a conventional heatsink/fan cooler, as well as a hybrid water/fan cooler.
Specs:
* Unified Shader Architecture
* Support FP16 HDR+MSAA
* Support GDDR4 memories
* Close to 700M transistors (G71 - 278M / G70 - 302M)
* New AA mode : VCAA
* Core clock scalable up to 1.5GHz
* Shader Peformance : 2x Pixel / 12x Vertex over G71 (48 pixel and 96 vertex) (48 unified and 48 vertex *See post #16 for explanation)
* 8 TCPs & 128 stream processors
* Much more efficient than traditional architecture
* 384-bit memory interface (256-bit+128-bit)
* 768MB memory size (512MB+256MB)
* Two s at launch : GeForce 8800GTX and GeForce 8800GT
* GeForce 8800GTX : 7 TCPs chip, 384-bit memory interface, hybrid water/fan cooler, water cooling for overclocking. US$649
* GeForce 8800GT : 6 TCPs chip, 320-bit (256-bit + 64-bit) memory interface, fan cooler. US$449-499
"Expect G80 to be out somewhere in mid November along with Kentsfield."
Last edited by sergeriver (2006-10-25 17:23:29)
