AMD Delays Bulldozer Processors to 2011

From X-bit Labs: Advanced Micro Devices on Thursday said that the company had reset plans for the launch if its new micro-architecture code-named Bulldozer and the first truly next-generation processors will only emerge in 2011. This slightly contradicts the optimism caused by comments of the company’s chief executive officer, who promised to “ramp up” the first chips produced at 32nm node in mid-2010.

“Our guidance for the Bulldozer CPU core was reset to expect test silicon in late 2010 and product in 2011,” said Damon Muzny, a spokesperson for AMD, in a brief conversation with X-bit labs.

Dirk Meyer, chief executive officer and president of AMD, said in a recent interview that the company expected to ramp up the manufacturing of central processing units (CPUs) using 32nm process technology sometime in mid-2010. Since Mr. Meyer said back in early 2008 that the first samples of processors featuring code-named Bulldozer micro-architecture will be made using 45nm fabrication process would be out in 2009, the claim regarding the ramp up of chips at 32nm node caused expectations that Bulldozer processors will be out earlier than expected. However, this is not correct.

The first processor in the Bulldozer family is code-named Orochi and it has more than four cores, more than 8MB of cache and supports DDR3 memory. The Orochi chip will be made using 32nm process technology and is currently due in 2011. Another interesting chip due in 2011 is code-named Ontario, which has two general-purpose x86 cores, built-in graphics processing engine, 1MB of cache and DDR3 memory support. The chip will be based on the code-named Bobcat micro-architecture, which is projected to be very power efficient, and will also be among the first "Fusion" processors that combine x86 and graphics processing on the same chip.

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