AMD Istanbul Processors Match Intel’s Latest with Six Cores

When it comes to servers, the mantra for performance is simple: When in doubt, add more cores.

Intel may have been the first chipmaker to introduce a six-core processor with the Xeon 7400 series, but it won’t be for long. AMD played catch-up on Wednesday by unveiling its new Opteron processors for servers, which will jump from four cores to six while retaining compatibility with the old socket 1207 platform. The company demonstrated the new processors earlier this week.

The so-called Istanbul uses the same 45nm processor as the earlier Shanghai processors, and should operate within the same power consumption and throw off a similar amount of heat as a result. That’s good for system manufacturers, who won’t have to significantly retool existing plans to make room for Istanbul.

Videos of the new processor under stress tests emphasize its new HT Assist feature, which expands memory bandwidth from previous versions. They also illustrate the ease with which existing computers can upgrade from four to six cores.

Right now, the chip is scheduled for commercial release in the second half of 2009.