octoberasian
2[H]4U
- Joined
- Oct 13, 2007
- Messages
- 4,082
So Steamroller for AM3+ will have many things disabled, like GPU and southbrige?
It's two entirely different platforms and sockets, always has been since Bulldozer FX/APU.
Steamroller modules will be coming in two varieties in both APU and FX form. Kaveri, the codename for the APU, will be the first to have the Steamroller modules hopefully released by the end of 2013. Socket is going to be socket FM2+. That platform supports on-die PCI-Express 3.0 due to lack of HyperTransport since Trinity, and on-die Radeon graphics support.
Steamroller-based FX series is coming out supposedly in 2014 but socket is still unknown. We might get it on Socket AM3+ or a new socket. All indications hint at Socket AM3+ still. Who knows, maybe it'll be Socket AM4? It's too early to say. But, that platform only supports PCI-Express 2.0 because of HyperTransport still exists, and no on-die Radeon graphics. And, with the leaked info of the 1070 and 1090FX chipsets, I'm going to assume Steamroller FX will coincide with that release.
But, if you look at it, Steamroller is going to be a rather substantial improvement over Bulldozer and PIledriver modules. MicroOP cache similar to Sandy Bridge and newer Intel processors. A doubling and widening of decoder, integer, and floating point units. Power improvements, hopefully.
By the time Excavator (or whatever its codename is now), it'll have that plus something called "condensed libraries" according to the AnandTech article. The idea is simple to understand: Squeeze more into less space. It'll probably be the first FX series to have an on-die GPU for compute and HSA (heterogenous system architecture).