Will Opteron help dispel the megahertz myth?
Published: 13 Mar 2003 16:24 GMT
AMD on Thursday announced a new matrix of model numbers for its forthcoming 64-bit chips for workstations and servers that does away with megahertz-based performance ratings.
Instead of using a four-digit model number designed to relate the chip's performance to traditional clock speed measurements, similar to the scheme for its Athlon XP processor for PCs, the company has chosen to identify the new chips with a three-digit model number -- resulting in models such as the AMD Opteron 140 Series -- as a way to depict each particular chip's capabilities.
The Athlon XP uses four-digit model numbers that roughly equate to the clock speed ratings of Intel's Pentium 4 processor.
Opteron, AMD's next generation of high-end chips, is set to debut on 22 April. The chips will be a key part of the company's efforts in 2003 to gain new business customers and also to return to profitability.
AMD said that before finalising the new Opteron model numbers, it consulted with its computer manufacturer customers and also its business customers and got favourable responses.
The chip is expected to start at speeds of about 2GHz. But the new model numbers don't reflect clock speed. Instead, they show whether a given chip is designed for single or multiple-processor servers and then point to its performance relative to other chips in the same family, the company said.
The new Opteron lines will include the 100 Series, for single-processor machines; the 200 Series, for dual-processor systems; and the 800 Series, for computers using up to eight processors. The individual chips will start their numbering at 40, so under the new nomenclature there would be a model 140, a model 240 and a model 840. As chip speed increases, so would the model number -- a model 142, for instance, would be faster than a model 140, and a model 144 would be faster still.
The new Opteron model numbers continue AMD's efforts to change people's thinking away from using clock speed as the only measure of a chip's performance. The company calls the computer industry's obsession with clock speed the "megahertz myth."
In October 2001, AMD moved from using clock speeds to a model number rating system for its Athlon XP processors.
To find out more about the computers and hardware that these chips are being used in, see ZDNet UK's Hardware News Section.
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