Source: AMD's server roadmap webcast

June 2009: 6-core "Istanbul" processors with same power rating as current quad-cores.

Q1 2010: 12-core "Magny Cours" processors with same power rating as current quad-cores.

2011: New architecture "Bulldozer". ~35% better performance per core. 32nm. 16-cores, again with same power rating.

Wow, I hope AMD can pull these off, that would be awesome!

And I assume they mean the power ratings will be the same as a quadcore running at the same clock frequency.

Bulldozer sounds great.

I imagine the clockspeeds will be lower actually (to keep the thermals in range). Judging from their graph (really rough numbers) and the fact that the 6/12-core will be the same "core" as the 4-core, I think both the 6 and the 12 will launch at 2.6GHz vs. 3.1GHz for current high-end quad-cores. Which will equate to a 30% whole-CPU boost from 4 to 6, and a 160% boost from 4 to 12.

But who knows with Bulldozer.

I thought of that, but it didn't make much sense, as saying the power rating of a current quadcore is a very broad term. Oh well, hardly unexpected...

What it means (I assume) is that the highest-power current quad-cores will be the same power as the highest-power 12 cores (i.e. 105W). The performance increases I quoted are likewise for the highest-end model. But I imagine similar scaling will take place at all price points.

Think of it as, "In 2010 I able to buy a chip for the same price and power consumption as chip X but 160% faster."

Ah, I see.

Wow.

Stuff's about to start going bananas, isn't it? I don't even know what the practical application of this stuff means!

Means it will be a pain to make things 16 core, but if you pull it off it will be the equivalent of Skynet.