AMD targets Atom with low power server processor families

Pitching the parts against Intel's Atom processors, AMD claims the X1150 and X2150 processors offer better single thread and throughput performance, along with superior power efficiency, twice the number of cores, a more advanced pipeline architecture and higher integration. There will be two variants of X-Series processors. The X2150, which consumes as little as 11W, is the first server APU SoC, integrating CPU and GPU engines on the same die and connecting them with a high speed bus. Meanwhile, the X1150, which consumes as little as 9W, is a cpu only version. Andrew Feldman, general manager of AMD's server business unit, noted: "The data centre is at an inflection point and requires a high number of cores in a dense form factor with integrated graphics, massive amounts of dram and unprecedented power efficiency to keep up with the pace of innovation of internet services. Opteron X-Series processors challenge the status quo by providing unmatched capabilities to drive the most energy efficient servers in the industry." Both versions of the X-Series use AMD's 64bit Jaguar x86 core, with the cpu running at up to 1.9GHz for the X2150 and up to 2GHz for the X1150. The X2150 SoC features 128 AMD Radeon HD 8000 cores, which can run at clock rates ranging from 266 to 600MHz. According to AMD, the X-Series is targeted at 'scale out' server architectures. In 'scale out', data centre performance is increased by adding systems in parallel. 'Scale up' architectures increase performance by adding more processors to an existing system.