One thing that I have been looking forward to in 2011 is AMD’s Bulldozer architecture in the server space. AMD recently released its next-generation, Bulldozer based Interlagos and Valencia CPUs. Interlagos is the successor to AMD’s Magny Cours CPU and will be available in single, dual and quad socket G34 configurations. Valencia is essentially half of an Interlagos but can be put in single or dual socket C32 configurations. Here is the complete list:
Until Intel releases its Sandy Bridge-E based Xeon E5’s in a few months, AMD’s offerings are especially competitive with Intel’s current LGA 1366 based Xeon family with one major advantage, memory slots. AMD’s Interlagos CPUs can handle up to eight DIMMs each, meaning a full 4P board, such as the Tyan S8812 reviewed earlier this year, can handle up to 32 DIMMs. For servers that require many cores and a lot of RAM, this can be a compelling platform.
