Con il comunicato stampa di seguito allegato, AMD ha lanciato ufficialmente i processori quad-core Phenom e, più in generale, la piattaforma Spider, indirizzata in primis ai gamer e composta non solo dalle cpu Phenom ma anche dai chip-set della linea AMD 7 e dalle gpu della gamma ATI Radeon HD 3800, le prime ad essere realizzate in tecnologia a 55nm da AMD. Il supporto di Microsoft DirectX 10.1, la compatibilità con la rinnovata tecnologia multigpu CrossFireX, con HyperTransport 3.0, con ATI PowerPlay, con Cool’n’Quiet e con PCI Express Generation 2.0, e inoltre il tool di configurazione e tweaking AMD OverDrive costituiscono il biglietto da visita dei nuovi sistemi Spider, di cui segue un sample arricchito da ben quattro schede grafiche ATI Radeon HD 3800 in configurazione CrossFireX, pienamente supportata dai nuovi chip-set di AMD.

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I primi quad-core ad arrivare sul mercato sono i Phenom 9600 (core operante a 2.3GHz) e Phenom 9500 (core operante a 2.2GHz); AMD non ne ha reso noto l'MSRP (Manufacturer Suggested Retail Price) ma il costo attuale per lotti da mille unità. In questa ottica, il Phenom 9600 costa $283 mentre mentre il Phenom 9500 costa $251.

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SUNNYVALE, Calif. -- November 19, 2007 --Rewriting the rules for enthusiast computing, AMD (NYSE: AMD) today unveiled its new platform codenamed “Spider”, with the first true quad-core processor supporting scalable graphics for The Ultimate Visual Experience™. 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. The AMD Spider platform is a major milestone on the path to Accelerated Computing, AMD’s vision for platform-level acceleration through co-processing.

“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 a highly-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.”

AMD’s Spider platform advances enthusiast computing by delivering the most sophisticated multi-GPU enthusiast platform ever 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. AMD design and manufacturing innovation has enabled the AMD Spider platform to easily scale to three or four graphics processors and deliver a true gaming supercomputer.

“Falcon Northwest is particularly impressed with the quad ATI CrossFireX potential of the new AMD Spider platform,” said Kelt Reeves, president of Falcon Northwest. “Running four graphics boards in one system has been a dream of gamers, but could be a nightmare for a system builder to get all those graphics cards proper airflow. The cohesive nature of the Spider platform design allows the AMD 7-Series chipset, high-performing AMD Phenom quad-core processor, and the already cool and quiet ATI Radeon HD 3800 graphics cards to all be placed for maximum airflow and cooling. AMD has made massive multi-GPU performance easy to build, and affordable.”

HD Technology Leadership
AMD is delivering the only platform that boasts major next-generation, industry-standard technologies to provide unparalleled bandwidth and balance in the delivery of next-generation HD content. 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. When combined with the additional bandwidth of AMD PCI Express 2.0 chipsets and graphics processors, the AMD Spider platform enjoys maximum bandwidth to support smooth 1080P video playback, enhanced multi-GPU and high-speed disk and network interfaces. With the only true 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.

Video enthusiasts can enjoy best-in-class HD entertainment on AMD Spider platforms with the addition of the powerful visual processing capabilities of the ATI Radeon HD 3800 Series. Striking image quality and power-efficient playback are made possible through the ATI Avivo™ HD video engine and the Unified Video Decoder (UVD). The addition of UVD ensures exceptional platform efficiency and image quality in HD-DVD and Blu-ray decoding for both H.264 and VC-1 specifications. Big screen gaming and entertainment is also made easy with enhanced HDMI connectivity with integrated HDCP and audio for HDMI video.

Scalable Platform Performance
AMD’s Spider platform offers a new class of enthusiast 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. The multi-core design of AMD Phenom quad-core processors, based on Direct Connect Architecture, features an integrated memory controller designed to support memory speeds up to DDR2 1066**, 128-bit floating point units and AMD’s Balanced Smart Cache for rapid access to memory, with a shared L3 cache for leading-edge performance on multi-threaded software.

The AMD 7-Series chipsets introduce the world to the latest ATI CrossFireX technology, a new class of scalable multi-GPU performance, supporting three or four ATI Radeon HD 3800 Series graphics processors for unparalleled upgradeability and DirectX 10.1 performance with the industry’s only tri- and quad-GPU solution for Microsoft Windows Vista®. AMD 7-Series chipsets support up to four graphics processors...