Posted on Wednesday, September 07 2011 @ 22:05 CEST by Thomas De Maesschalck
X-bit Labs
reports AMD has revised its plans for the high-end desktop market for 2012. The eight to ten-core Komodo processor has been cancelled as well as the Corona platform in favour of the eight-core Vishera CPU and the Volan platform (aka Scorpius refresh).
Not a lot is known about AMD's code-named Vishera chips, which are projected to succeed AMD FX "Zambezi" processors next year. People with knowledge of the matter indicated that the CPUs sport up to eight Piledriver (next-generation Bulldozer) x86 cores, dual-channel DDR3 memory controller and are compatible with AM3+ infrastructure as well as Scorpius platform featuring AMD 990FX core-logic sets. Although the new platform has its own code-name "Volan", some sources refer to it as "Scorpius Refresh".
AMD's Komodo CPUs were officially announced by AMD in early November, 2010. The chip was supposed to have up to eight next-generation Bulldozer (Piledriver) cores. Indirectly though, AMD implied that the number of cores inside Komodo may be as high as ten and the design of the chip is similar to Sepang (a server chip for 1-2 socket machines), which features triple-channel memory controller and integrated PCI Express 3.0 controller. Unofficial sources later confirmed that Komodo was supposed to have ten Piledriver cores, utilize Fusion Controller Hub (meaning built-in PCIe 3.0 and a new form-factor) and be the base of AMD's Corona platform. Integration of PCIe into microprocessors speeds up data transactions between CPU and graphics cards, a necessary thing for high-end desktops and workstations.
