AMD shows ARM server chip and announces x86 ARM chips

AMD gave its first demonstration of the Seattle platform, the codename for AMD’s server platform based on 64bit ARM chips, during a presentation. AMD also announced that it will combine x86 APUs with ARM cores next year.

The first demonstration of the Seattle platform consisted of a LAMP web server, which served a WordPress blog and video stream. The demo platform consisted of a 64-bit Opteron A1100 series processor with a maximum of 128GB of registered DDR3 memory. The platform also had eight PCI Express lanes spread over two slots and eight SATA ports.

The first samples of the Seattle platform have already been delivered, with the commercial roll-out to follow in the second half of this year. AMD says the demand for compact and economical servers with ARM cores is increasing. Seattle is produced at 28nm.

Furthermore, for 2015, AMD announced Project SkyBridge. This platform must combine ARM-A57 cores with Puma+ cores and a gcn GPU. Project Skybridge’s apus and socs must be produced at 20nm. With this strategy, which AMD calls ‘ambidextrous computing’, the company aims not only to power embedded applications, but also to develop consumer products.

Further ARM integration of AMD products is on the roadmap for 2016. The company has bought a license from ARM to develop ARM cores itself. In 2016, the first AMD-designed ARM cores with 64bit and codenamed K12 should be released. Those should be used standalone, in Seattle and combined with x86 apus as in Project Skybridge.