AMD Demos Working 16-Core Interlagos CPU at ISC 2011

At this year's International Supercomputing Conference, AMD has showcased a working version of its upcoming Interlagos server processor based on the Bulldozer architecture, marking the first public demonstration of such a chip. The machine used for this demo was based on a Supermicro 1U dual socket server which packed two 16-core Interlagos processor with additional space left for installing a GPGPU card and was running the POVRay rendering application. No actual details about the performance of the chips were released by the company, but The Inquirer did manage to find out that Interlagos will carry the same TDP as the current Magny Cours Opteron CPUs. AMD's Interlagos processors are based on the company's high-performance Bulldozer architecture and will have either 12 or 16 processing cores, while also featuring a series of improvements that should increase their performance when compared with the current Opteron 6100-series CPUs. The chips will also feature support for AMD's Turbo Core 2.0 dynamic overclocking technology and come with advanced power saving technologies. Interlagos CPUs features a multi-chip design (the processor is built by joining together two six or eight core Valencia dies) and are compatible with the existing G34 socket. At the beginning of July, AMD confirmed the rumors that stated the company plans to postpone the launch of the Zambezi FX-series desktop processors. These were expected to debut at the beginning of June, but AMD is now planning to launch them at the end of the summer, in August or September. According to one of the company's previous statements, the delay was caused by a strategic decision. This decision however, won't affect the sixteen-core Opteron "Interlagos" processors as these are still on-track for a Q3 launch. One of the first machines to include the new server CPUs will be built by Cray and is expected to arrive in the second half of this year. The XK6 pairs AMD's multi-core processors with Nvidia's Tesla 2000-series compute boards.

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