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AMD plans Rev F chips in this quarter

Stephen Shankland Former Principal Writer
Stephen Shankland worked at CNET from 1998 to 2024 and wrote about processors, digital photography, AI, quantum computing, computer science, materials science, supercomputers, drones, browsers, 3D printing, USB, and new computing technology in general. He has a soft spot in his heart for standards groups and I/O interfaces. His first big scoop was about radioactive cat poop.
Expertise Processors, semiconductors, web browsers, quantum computing, supercomputers, AI, 3D printing, drones, computer science, physics, programming, materials science, USB, UWB, Android, digital photography, science. Credentials
  • Shankland covered the tech industry for more than 25 years and was a science writer for five years before that. He has deep expertise in microprocessors, digital photography, computer hardware and software, internet standards, web technology, and more.
Stephen Shankland

BOSTON--Advanced Micro Devices will start moving to its "Rev F" series of processors this quarter, beginning with desktop chips, said Margaret Lewis, the chipmaker's director of commercial solutions. In the third quarter, the Rev F move will extend to the company's Opteron line of server chips, she said in an interview at the LinuxWorld Conference and Expo here.

Opteron and Athlon chips have made significant inroads against Intel, but the AMD rival has led in one department: virtualization support called VT. The equivalent, AMD-V, is built into the Rev F models, which also are known by the code name Santa Rosa. Virtualization is a major subject at the Linux show, with several companies announcing significant moves in the area as the technology becomes a mainstream way to boost computer efficiency.

In addition, all the Rev F products have at least two processing cores, an area where AMD has led Intel.

The Rev F line also supports DDR2 memory, which Intel has supported for more than a year. They're built using a manufacturing process that incorporates 90-nanometer circuitry elements (a nanometer is a billionth of a meter). AMD plans to move to the more advanced 65-nanometer process late this year, but Intel already made its switch at the end of 2005.