AMD 6-core "Thuban" CPU Confirmed

From DailyTech: MaximumPC reports that it has confirmed AMD will be delivering its new six-core Thuban CPU next year. Perhaps the most interesting thing about the new six-core beast is that the CPU will be backwards compatible with existing AM3 and AM2+ mainboards.

An AMD spokesman told MaximumPC, "We are all about platform longevity and long-lived upgrade paths.” The statement was a jab at Intel who often requires new sockets when it unleashes new CPUs onto the market.

The new six-core processor is believed to be a 364mm2 processor and have 904 million transistors. For comparison, the Phenom II X4 956 BE has 758 million transistors and the Core i7 965 from Intel has 731 million transistors.

MaximumPC reports that the Thuban CPU is believed to have 3MB of L2 cache, and 6MB of L3 cache. Clock speeds are unknown, but are expected to be lower than those of the quad core parts being offered from AMD because of the increased heat output of the extra pair of cores.

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