AMD readies compatible quad-core Opteron for socket 940

Quad-core Opterons will be demoed mid 2006, on compatible socket 940 infrastructure. According to Marty Seyer, senior VP of AMD's CBPCMSS unit: "To go from single-core to dual-core to quad-core on the same platform, that has never been done in the industry."

I bet this will be on 65nm process. Also, I wonder when we can see the socket F with 1207 pins. A couple of years ago, when I showed a socket 940 to some dudes only worked with INTEL CPUs, they were awed by the massive number of pins. More pins, more expensive, more features, more performance, it's that simple. :-)

AMD's message is crystal clear: buy a server with socket 940 Opterons today, you can do single core or dual core right now; if you need more CPU power juice later, swap out the CPUs with quad-cores, and sell the existing CPUs on ebay. That's so no brainer.

If you go the INTEL route, it will be hot and slow, and you need to change horses. INTEL relies on external chipsets soldered on the motherboard that must be upgraded to handle more shouting matches on the shared FSB. Those bought Paxville won't be able to use Dempsey, those bought Bensley won't be able to do Tigerton, no wonder INTEL is also making billions on chipsets and motherboards.... And the Paxville story told us that you may even need to drill bigger holes to support heavier heatsinks....

I wrote here that if AMD releases quad-cores in 2006, INTEL will be very dead, no way for INTEL to scale beyond 4 cores with shared FSB.