AMD shaves 800 million transistors from Bulldozer chip, swears nothing’s wrong

When a corporation cuts 40 percent of its transistors from an upcoming processor, one question involves mind: why? In accordance with ExtremeTech, AMD issued an update stating that its Bulldozer eight core / four module CPU would feature 1.2 billion transistors, rather than the previously stated two billion transistors. The reduction occurred even though the die size remains unchanged at 315 square millimeters — putting it on par with AMD’s lesser Llano chip — and depriving the chip of valuable horsepower before I/O, an integrated memory controller or HyperTransport are added. When approached for comment, company representatives stated they were simply correcting a mistake in regards to the chip’s actual specifications. Before you bemoan the fate of the Bulldozer chip, keep in mind that the drummer from Def Leppard has had an excellent musical career with just one arm, so what is the lack of several hundred million transistors to AMD’s latest?

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This post is tagged: company representatives, hundred million, hypertransport, memory controller, musical career, one question, square millimeters