ARM based processor set to ‘catalyse’ datacentre innovation, says AMD

AMD has launched the Opteron A1100 processor, which it is targeting at datacentre applications. The 64bit device, manufactured on what the company calls an optimised 28nm process, features up to eight ARM Cortex-A57 cores, as well as twin 10Gbit Ethernet ports.

There are currently three members of the family planned – two of these will feature eight A57 cores, while the other will be a quad core variant. One of the eight core devices will run at 2GHz, whilst the other two parts are designed for use at 1.7GHz. 

Dan Bounds, AMD’s senior director of datacentre products, described the products as the ‘first enterprise class SoCs from AMD based on ARM technology’. “They will be a turning point and a catalyst for datacentre innovation,” he contended. “The devices provide a legitimate choice when it comes to optimising workloads in datacentres and, by driving new thinking, we can help the industry innovate.”

Other features of the A1100 range include a shared 4Mbyte level 2 cache, a shared 8Mbyte level 3 cache and twin 64bit DDR3/DDR4 channels, supporting data rates of up to 1866MHz with ECC. There will also be eight PCI-Express Gen 3 lanes and 14 SATA-3 ports.

Author

Graham Pitcher