45nm Phenom? It's called the Phenom II and you Get It Next Year

Phenom II will be available in a couple of versions. The Phenom II X4 is a quad-core part initially released for the Socket-AM2+ platform, but eventually it will be a Socket-AM3 part with DDR3 support. The Deneb core is a Phenom II X4 with 8MB of L3 cache and the Propos version has a 2MB cache. Both of these cores have integrated DDR2 memory controllers, with a transition to DDR3 sometime in 2010.


Caspian is a dual-core version of the 45nm Phenom II with a 2MB cache, Champlain hits in 2010 and is a quad-core Phenom II with DDR3 for the mainstream notebook market. Geneva is a lower powered 45nm dual-core product, presumably Phenom II as well, due out in 2010 for ultra portables.

AMD also revealed a bit of its 2011 roadmap; these products are based on the first new architecture since Phenom - called Bulldozer. I talked about Bulldozer a while ago but details have been scarce since then.

In 2011 AMD expects to be at 32nm with its Orochi, Llano, and Ontario cores. Orochi will be the new high-end enthusiast desktop product with more than four cores, more than 8MB of cache, and an integrated DDR3 memory controller. Remember from the server roadmap that in 2011 AMD will have four DDR3 memory channels on its server products so I'd expect at least a 3-channel DDR3 controller here.

Llano is the mainstream 32nm part with four cores, 4MB of cache, DDR3 memory controllers, and an on-die GPU. Note that this is a delayed introduction of the first CPU/GPU fusion product, originally scheduled for 2009. AMD stated that the plans for the first CPU/GPU products got pushed back simply because the 45nm designs weren't compelling enough. The dies get small enough at 32nm that you can actually offer tangible benefits. Note that this also means that the first single-package CPU/GPU will actually come from Intel in 2009 with a Nehalem derived part and not from AMD.

Finally we've got Ontario, which is a very low power core based on AMD's upcoming Bobcat core. It's a dual-core product with 1MB of cache, on-die GPU, and a DDR3 memory controller. We know even less about Bobcat, but I did write about it over a year ago.

The New Consumer Platforms

AMD outlined all of the new platforms we'd see in 2009 and they are as follows:


4Q 08 - Maui platform, HTPC with integrated 3.1 and 7.1 pre-amp or 5.1 amplified audio out.

1Q 09 - Dragon platform, 45nm Phenom II X4 processors

1H 2009 - Yukon platform, ultra portable and mini notebook space, sub-25W TDPs. These won't be Atom competitors, as they should be higher performance but also higher power consumption. These things will be targeted at netbooks and low-end notebooks.

2H 09 - Tigris platform, 45nm mainstream notebooks

2H 09 - Kodiak platform, 45nm business class notebooks

2H 09 - Pisces platform, 45nm quad and triple-core processors, consumer desktop

Index The Graphics Update
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  • melgross - Thursday, November 13, 2008 - link

    And what happens if Intel prevails, and AMD is no longer considered to have a license from them because of the Foundry split?

    If the idea of that was to give the Foundry the ability to compete for other customers, it could be a bust, and both halves will flounder.
  • Griswold - Friday, November 14, 2008 - link

    Its not up to Intel to decide and I'm sure AMD still had the money to hire an army of licensing and patent rights seasoned lawyers to test this deal for its water tight sealings beforehand.
  • hechacker1 - Thursday, November 13, 2008 - link

    Intel Platform: 9.7FPS?

    I have a 1080p capture of Heros. Using Nero Recode (latest version) I get ~38FPS on my q6600 G0 @ 3.15GHz.

    Thats to a native resolution iphone format.

    I'm sure there are even faster encoders. I though ati's previous encoder was cpu based and still faster than their claim.
  • MadMan007 - Thursday, November 13, 2008 - link

    It's marketing slides, what do you expect, truth or details of the testing?
  • hechacker1 - Thursday, November 13, 2008 - link

    And I should mention cpu ultilization hovers around %60 percent. Nero's encode doesn't do so good on that particular sample. For 720p material I get ~50-60fps with hq settings. I'm sure it can be tweaked to get more fps.
  • JarredWalton - Thursday, November 13, 2008 - link

    I'm pretty sure Nero Recode doesn't do H.264, which is typically about 3X slower than something like DivX, which in turn is 3X slower than straight MPEG2. I could be mistaken, but last time I used a Nero Recode it was only MPEG2.
  • Griswold - Friday, November 14, 2008 - link

    Of course Nero is capable of using H.264. They call it AVC, thats all.
  • hechacker1 - Thursday, November 13, 2008 - link

    It's h.264 AVC standard profile I believe for an ipod. Nero has supported this for a while now.

    I'm just saying there are CPU based encoders that do much better than AMD's claims. And probably with higher quality.
  • JarredWalton - Thursday, November 13, 2008 - link

    iPod supports HD H.264!? Why? I mean, you only need a piddly 480x270 resolution or something for that display, right? I suppose if you can connect it to an HDTV via component or HDMI... but you can't. LOL
  • Griswold - Friday, November 14, 2008 - link

    Yes they all support h.264. Whats wrong with that? Its not just a HD codec, you know...

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