Opteron: Meaning (information, definition, explanation, facts)

The AMD Opteron is the first eighth-generation x86 processor, and the first of AMD's x86-64 processors, released April 22, 2003. It is intended to compete in the server processor market, particularly in the same market segment as the Intel Xeon processor.

The Opteron's main advantage is the ability to run both current 32-bit applications without speed penalties, and new 64-bit applications that can directly access more than 4 gigabytes of RAM. The processor includes an integrated DDR SDRAM memory controller, avoiding the need for a Northbridge and reducing the latency penalty for accessing the main RAM. Although the memory controller may be supplanted by an external chip as new memory technologies enter the market, one will then lose the benefits of an in-core controller (thus necessitating the release of new processors with updated memory controllers to match the speed of new memory technologies).

Multiple Opterons on the same motherboard communicate through one or more high-speed HyperTransport links, so that each one can access the main memory of another processor in a way transparent to the programmer.

The Opteron naming scheme is a new one: each processor is identified by three digits, where the first is the "quantity" index (if the model is intended for 1-, 2- or 4- and 8-way servers and workstations), and the other two is a speed rating. Some naming examples follow:

• Opteron 242 - an Opteron for two-way servers and workstations, with a speed rating of "42" (the speed rating corresponds to an arbitrary clock speed, in this case 1.6 Ghz)
• Opteron 842 - similar to the above but for four- and eight-way servers and workstations
• Opteron 144 - a faster Opteron for one-way servers and workstations.