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HyperTransport 3.0 Ratified

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the easy-to-upgrade-processor-dreams dept.

Hack Jandy writes "The HyperTransport consortium just released the 3.0 specification of HyperTransport. The new specification allows for external HyperTransport interconnects, basically meaning you might plug your next generation Opteron into the equivalent of a USB port at the back of your computer. Among other things, the new specification also includes hot swap, on-the-fly reconfigurable HT links and also a hefty increase in bandwidth."

2 of 179 comments (clear)

  1. In the meantime... by jd · · Score: 4, Interesting
    Broadcom's BCM1250 MIPS processor implements a totally non-standard HyperTransport that blends several of the early 1.x specifications in a way that is unpredictable and a pain. Yes, folks, there are manufacturers out there who don't debug or maintain their product lines, who won't stick to published specs, and who can't be relied upon to publish their own specs. Sometimes, those of us who post on Slashdot slam Intel for decisions that are nothing short of insane, but there are actually far far worse offenders out there.


    Most of the HyperTransport updates look to be good (and, frankly, about time) but I am highly concerned that if certain manufacturers (such as Broadcom) haven't even bothered to do better than a fragmentary 1.x and have ignored 2.x entirely, there is little hope that they'll do much with 3.x.


    And that's the big problem. If AMD are the only ones who ever implement the specification in full, correctly, then it doesn't offer any significant advantage. It isn't universal enough to be useful. That is the killer that has murdered so many excellent technologies. Being good - even being the best - isn't enough. If a rival is more widely adopted, then it'll be the rival that wins. The marketplace doesn't reward quality, it rewards popularity. Quality achieves nothing.

    --
    It's a small world and it smells funny; I'd buy another if it wasn't for the money; Take back what I paid (SoM)
  2. Re:x86 processors by fitten · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Yup... It has always been thus. The difference is that the high-end processors do exotic things and then Intel/AMD suck it in when it is ready for commoditization. The x86 has *always* been behind in those types of technologies (but usually pretty far ahead in tricks to make the x86 ISA fast) because those technologies are high-end. Eventually, it all trickles down to commoditization and then we get it in x86s.