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AMD Multi-Core G3MX DRAM Interface Details Emerge
MojoKid writes "New details have emerged regarding AMD's upcoming G3MX technology. The 'future Opteron Platform' AMD mentioned in their press release
seems to be built around a CPU currently codenamed 'Hydra'. Hydra will
still feature an on-die memory controller, but unlike current platforms it will
be geared for DDR3 memory. The processor will interface to one or more
G3MX chips, which
in turn provides the interface to the memory slots. G3MX will act as a memory port extender for the memory controller in the CPU socket and a serial link to the RAM.The electrical signaling between the memory controller and G3MX is based on HyperTransport 3.0."
I didn't even know there was a DDR2. But then again, I'm not a dancing japanophile idiot.
DDR2 has been out for a while though, and AMD makes most of its chips in Germany, not Japan.
Dance, idiot.
Looks like a mini northbridge - just memory and no PCIe or AGP or anything else.
I wonder what the latency hit is going to be with lots of them on a server and moving data from one branch of a tree to another?
BR> I guess if they don't deviate from HT3 spec too much lots of other applications could emerge for this chip, with the inclusion of partnerships to bring DSP's and other accelerators / CPU alternatives to the server line this is turning more and more into Lego.
Seriously, I think this will be the final nail in Intel's coffin. They think they can wait out for Barcelona and then release their stockpiles of their new Prypiat chips, but does anybody honestly care anymore? They are taking it in the shorts so hard these days, AMD just keeps on dishing it out and Intel keeps winding up with a black eye. Does anybody know anyone who is buying Intel parts these days?
I think this AC was referring to that weird Japanese game with coloured circles on the ground, trying to be funny or just having no clue at all.
This is Slashdot. Common sense is futile. You will be modded down.
Translation: "We've taken some moderately new technology and repackaged it with buzz words to make you think you need it."
can i play halo 3 on it?
When did that start?
Today only at powerpoint city.. 2 slides for the price of one! With a neat blending effect and a free press release!
OK I kid, but AMD going to DDR3 in 2009 (assuming the date doesn't slip) is not exactly the biggest revolution in all of computing. I'm sure it will be a very nice memory interface, but by then the standard 'Intel is evil because of the FSB' rant will be obsolete due to CSI (now called 'Quickpath' in marketese).
What I want instead of an AMD press release: Honest to God numbers on the K10! The thing is supposed to be 'officially' launched in 3 weeks and there is nothing from any independent source! Meanwhile over at Anandtech there is a full preview of an actual Wolfdale chip that was run, tested, overclocked, all without Intel's supervision (or apparently their permission either). We now have a whole hell of a lot more information on an Intel chip that is not due out until very late this year or next year than we do about the amazing new AMD chip that is supposed to already be at system integrators by this point. That is not a good sign for AMD.
Oh, and I do want AMD to do well, they have some nice technology, I'm just not necessarily enamored with their more vocal fanboys. Despite what some people here think, AMD is also a multi-billion dollar company that outsources production overseas, tries to charge more for its products than it had to pay to make them, has those evil patents, supports DRM technology, and has agreements with that evil Microsoft company. Despite the propoganda they are not pure angels and Intel is not pure evil either.
AntiFA: An abbreviation for Anti First Amendment.
It'll be interesting to see if AMD actually get to deliver this technology before they run out of money (http://uk.theinquirer.net/?article=41700)
this concept seems quite sensible.
They are using G3MX chips as a sort of multiplexer and connecting it to the CPU though a couple of lanes with high-speed signaling.
Internal logic within HYDRA CPU will have the capability to use either conventional onboard memory controller and drive the DDR-3 RAM directly or when socketed within board with G3MX extenders, use that same lines for communication through the G3MX.
Since the load on the lines will be much smaller and constant and since all lines are unidirectional, each line will be capable of much higher signaling speed, so they will be able to use 4x as much RAM as before per CPU node.
If that is not enough, several Hydra CPUs could be connected through HT links- just like now with existing Opterons.
CPU-G3MX connection is much more direct and probably need not to use extra cycles for node addressing, unlike conventional internode communications through HT links, so time overhead could be considerably smaller...
Also, compared to FB-DIMMs, when accessing to some RAM bank here user only pays some throughput penalty (if any), but doesn't suffer much extra latency- with FB-DIMMs data hos between the modules and each hop costs one clock, so access time for 4-th module is longer than to the first one in a group.
Not to mention that GMX-3 chip could host some L3 cache if needed in some later implementation and that combined speed of all G3MX chips is probably greater than existing solution, so interesting effects could be achieved with meory interlieve.
It could very well be that such combination could have distinct speed advantage even in many workstation applications...
...for the day when processor and memory will come in one piece.
Is it just me or does this product seem to be an alternative to using expensive DIMMS using normal grade DDR3 memory rather than using expensive FB-DIMMS like intel does on their enterprise hardware and also increasing the amount of slots per system since you have a more ideal fanout with the memory split up like its shown in article?
I don't know what it is, but I know I need me some of that Hypertransport 3.0.
Now if I just had some more mana, fiery kernite and tritanium, I could build a time machine.
You are welcome on my lawn.
Something bugs me about the chart in TFA.
:-)
It shows 13 lanes outgoing and 20 lanes incoming to each G3MX unit.
And then it references hypertransport. However, hypertransport is a duplex standard. It can transfer data 20GB/sec in each direction per 32bit link.
So how am I to interpret this.
Anyway, supposing that each of those 3GMX units is anything at all similar to an 32-lane HT3.0 protocol, we're talking 80GB/sec of memory bandwidth per processor. That's just nuckin' futz!
C//
The Real Question is how much less time will my renders take compared to not having a G34X! chip?
Don't wait! Death is for you!
...
Supposely killed by:
* Intel Conroe 45nm in 2008Q1
* rival ppc970, clean 64 bit architecture of high performance computing, present in PS3, XBox360, G5,
I used to be a huge fan of the AMD CPU architecture. Clearly a better, faster, more product compared to Intel
But over the years there has been so much splitting and fragmentation of the architectures from both companies and I hardly know what I'm getting anymore. Too many cute names and not enough information about what they are really doing. It would have been a lot better for both companies if they just made three lines of CPU and left it at that
Of course, my choice for the simplified structure would be:
- Notebook class: emphasis on power consumption
- Workstation class: emphasis on a cheap ass POS that is affordable but limited (original Celeron)
- Server class: dims the lights in most major cities trying to get that extra squeeze of performance because it's all about performance
But they've got way too many variants right now for me to have a clue what I'm actually getting.