AMD unveils 'Spider' new PC platform

SUNNYVALE:AMD today unveiled its new platform codenamed “Spider”, with the first quad-core processor supporting scalable graphics.

The AMD Spider platform combines the introduction of AMD Phenom quad-core processors, ATI Radeon HD 3800 Series graphics processors with Microsoft DirectX 10.1 support, AMD 7-Series chipsets with CrossFireX and AMD OverDrive software.

It is a major milestone on the path to accelerated computing, AMD’s vision for platform-level acceleration through co-processing, AMD said in a release.

“AMD is the only company committed to delivering The Ultimate Visual Experience across all the screens of your life,” said Dirk Meyer, president and COO, AMD.

“The AMD Spider platform embodies our approach to platform-level innovation and delivers an advanced, feature-rich enthusiast computing experience. Our commitment to energy-efficient design and manufacturing excellence drives an unprecedented performance-per-watt at an amazing price point, putting enthusiast-class platforms in reach for more users than ever before,” he added.

AMD’s Spider platform delivers multi-GPU enthusiast platform with ATI CrossFireX technology. The combination of the energy-efficient 55nm ATI Radeon HD 3800 Series of graphics processors and the increased system bandwidth of PCI Express Generation 2.0 and HyperTransport 3.0 technology, provide optimal processing power for a scalable HD multi-GPU experience. It can be easily scaled to three or four graphics processors and deliver a gaming supercomputer.

With HyperTransport 3.0 technology, AMD Phenom processors have more system bandwidth than ever before with up to 14.4 GB/second of high bandwidth I/O. With quad-core processor and infrastructure flexibility with AM2+ socket, AMD processors are designed to be compatible with future 65nm and 45nm AMD Phenom processors to deliver key performance gains.

It offers new platform scalability, with multiple upgrade options to increase performance and boost compatibility with configurations that can deliver an estimated two teraflops of desktop processing power by harnessing four graphics processors.

AMD Phenom processors 9600 (2.3GHz) and 9500 (2.2GHz) are now available for $283 and $251 respectively in 1,000-unit pricing.

The ATI Radeon HD 3850 with 256MB of GDDR3 memory begins at $179 and the ATI Radeon HD 3870 with 512MB GDDR4 memory from $219, available from AMD’s selected graphics products partners.