VR-Zone

AMD has just announced the commencement of revenue shipments for the very first Bulldozer-based CPU in their lineup. That is good news in any case, as it was expected for quite a while. But what CPU flavour is it exactly?

The answer is: 'Interlagos', the G34-socket dual die MCM with a total of 8 dual core blocks, for a total of 16 integer and 8 FP units. It is aimed at dual socket and quad socket general purpose servers and HPC nodes in those applications NOT requiring very high per-core performance, but just many cores for situations with many less demanding tasks running in parallel - think of huge database search operation, for instance.

Do note that Interlagos core clock will be at least 25% lower than then single-die server or desktop Bulldozers. There were rumours abounding of Bulldozer die issues reaching high clock speeds, but the lower clocked dual die version, where the total TDP needs to be managed, would be spared that problem. Therefore, no wonder this flavour comes out first. Let's hope we see the single die versions with faster clocks later this month as well - AMD needs to act as the Socket 2011 Intel Sandy Bridge E launch is coming closer as well...