Our event coverage of AMD's Australian market launch event for Athlon 64, Athlon 64-FX and Athlon 64 Mobile processors and platforms.
Introduction - Launch Event Report
Traditionally Hardware and software manufacturers/vendors have relied on support of customers and partners to ensure their success and longevity. The Internet is now such a core part of modern life that virtual communities can make or break a company.
For AMD, the former applies. Having already launched and brought the Opteron, their workstation/server 64 bit X86-64 CPU to market and retail channels earlier in the year, Q3 2003 saw the Australian launch and availability of AMD's consumer parts for the desktop space: the AMD Athlon 64 and, Athlon 64-FX, as well as mobile Athlon 64 part for the notebook space.
For the Australian launch at Sydney's Star City Casino, AMD decided to directly involve the virtual communities that would be excited by their new CPUs and to theses influential demographics experience AMD's new technologies first hand, and as such this public event was publicised in gaming and digital imaging/content creation publications. One enticement for gamers to attend this event was a chance to preview the PC version of Microsoft/Bungie's X-Box favourite, HALO.
Lets begin the journey to 64bit shall we:
The weather over Sydney's Darling Harbour that day was not the best it could be, but the even the overcast morning did nothing to stop the anxious gamers from attending the event, which would feature the cutting edge in technology and some previews of things to come, which any enthusiast would ignore and decide to sleep in instead.
Word about the event quickly within the virtual communities and a healthy turnout eventuated. Because of the number of attendees places for the mini Cyberslam HALO multi player tournament were snapped up quickly and the event started later than scheduled. Attendees received an AMD/Cyberslam show bag consisting of marketing and technical information about Athlon 64 family and Cyberslam LAN, post-it notes, stickers, a smiley MSI stress ball, AMD64/Cyberslam T-Shirt, stylish AMD pen and other paraphernalia.
Entry to the ballroom was greeted with green lighting, indicating the start of the event. One hall was dedicated for the launch event itself and the adjacent hall held vendor and partner displays, the HALO multi player tournament and as well as prize giving. This event was a combined public/press event, apart from seating arrangements and a Q and A session no additional content was presented to the press.
Keynotes
The presentation segment of the launch was MC'd by Charlie Brown, who presents a computer show on Melbourne FM radio. In his introduction he noted the increased use of computing for entertainment usage, which 32bit would not be enough for.
AMD Country Manager, John Robinson talked about where AMD is heading. The evolution of CPUs from 286 and up and of the perfect storm that has been the past few years,64bit being something new for desktop computing. He also mentioned that AMD's customers have asked for an 'industry standard' for 64bit and that has been what AMD has delivered. Additionally, 64bit computing can help build imaginations.
64 bit computing hardware requires 64bit operating system and software applications. Microsoft's Ian Walker, OEM Division, Microsoft Australia; discussed the development cycle and schedule for the upcoming 64 bit editions of Microsoft Windows, Particularly the 64bit edition of Windows XP Professional.
As the audience he was addressing was very up to date on the latest news about these releases, his comments regarding XP-64 was that Microsoft was "very close behind !, but not too far behind" in terms of bringing their OS's to market to support AMD's new processor family. Ian Walker and the audience tried to contain their laughter at the reasoning behind the delay.
Specific mentioned features of XP-64 would include addressing up to 10TB of RAM. Beta 1 available via MSDN at time of writing and Final build around Feb-Mar 2004.
Next up was Michael Athrope, Technical Manager for AMD Australia. This address highlighted the changes to the computing industry over recent times and what the current mix of users and uses is at the moment:
- Broadband use has tripled.
- 2/3rds of uses are straining their systems.
- 1/4 to 2/3s are for content creation.
- 80% play games.
- Increase from 7 million to 70 million games
The next segment of the launch event was the presentation of corporate videos from AMD and their partners who have all used x86-64 technology to better their product and business, as well as highlighting how these advantages benefit the industry. In keeping in tune with the demographic that was invited to the launch, the messages were from Gaming system manufacturers, Game developers and publishers, Multimedia software developers and content creation.
The CEO of Falcon NorthWest, North American assembly company of high performance clone machines for gaming which has high levels of respect and accolades from the industry, called the Athlon-64 "Elite".
The next partner message took some of us by suprise. AMD sponsors the Scuderia Ferrari Forumla 1 Racing Team and it was this team and their star drivers Michael Schcumacher and Rubens Barrichello who all spoke about how AMD processors have helped them improve their data analysis and race better. Specifically AMD helped solved brake wear issues at the Montreal, Canada circuit and Athlon-FX was called the Ferrari of processors. Sizeable amount of the footage was race and pit stops. Michael spoke candidly of AMD's involvement and through his message it was evident he was aware of the significance of performance computing to Ferrari's engineering efforts
DivX as a video CODEC has gone through quite allot of change and revolution from its beginnings, it has gone through legal and technical issues to become one of the premier MPEG-4 based video CODECs of this time. AMD being aware of the modern DivX Network's large install base both by users and content creators, partnered with DivX to ensure that the latest DivX CODEC would take full advantage of AMD-64.
DivX was one of the first supporters of Intel's SSE2 instructions on the Pentium 4 so it was wise of AMD to make sure they caught the bought this time around to ensure DivX fully supported and optimised for their design.
In keeping with the increased presence of home entertainment systems and multimedia in the home, a Digital House concept was presented. This concept utilised small form factor Shuttle XPC systems (Extended PC) as media servers and utilising wireless network technology and software by Home Media Networks, other multimedia devices such as Archos DivXmobile player or smart DVD players with network capability could all share multimedia content, allowing true digital integration within the home.
Up next were the game demos.
First we were shown Unreal Tournament 2004 - 64bit edition by EPIC megagames. The on screen scenes comprised of many of players and action that showcased the power of the system. This demo was a cite-recorded in game demo.
Next a new title that not many were familiar of was showcased. FarCry by Crytek Studios. Unlike the previous demo, a live tech demo was used which comprised of a flyby of the island which is the setting for game play. The FaryCry-AMD64 demo was rock solid at 60fps.
Having covered the gaming enthusiasts, it was time to highlight how well AMD can be used for Digital Content Creation (DCC). AMD Sponsored a rendered short-film contest and the winning entry was showcased as part of the launch. As an audience we thought that the short film was shot live and not rendered due to its high quality and realism and the fact that the short film was a render was revealed to us after the short film was finished.
MC Charlie Brown thanked the audience for attending and made a reminder to visit the partner and sponsor stands in the adjacent hall as well as to participate in the mini HALO Cyberslam tournament.
This marked the conclusion of the public portion of the launch presentation. For the press a Q and A session was held with John Robinson and Michael Athrope. Such questions and issues were discussed as that the Opteron was hailed as "awesome" by the press, how can PCI-X IEEE-1394b(Firewire-800) be supported by the AMD 8000 series chipset, which is something that some of the Digital Content Creation segment require or wish for; archecture; comparison to Apple's 64bit G5 systems and technical features of the new CPUs such maximum setup of 1TB and Mobile part using 51W and desktop 89W.
Vendor and Sponsor displays - Desktop
Several local partners, System Integrators, Distributors, resellers and manufacturers were on hand to answer queries and to showcase their new products which would support and complement the new Athlon-64 Family. Some of these were currently shipping or would ship in volume after the launch.
Altech Computers Australia
The Sydney arm of the distributor had on hand running Athlon 64 gaming systems outfitted with ASUS, SOLTEK and Corsair products.
Recton
An Australia wide distributor known for TYAN, Giga-Byte and Leadtek products which were on display.
Achieva Australia
Achieva is famous for being a large supplier of ASUS products and exclusive distributor of Sapphire graphics cards.
Thermaltake Australia and New Zealand Pty Ltd
Cooler and Accessory manufacturer Thermaltake has recently setup an official Australian presence by way of a Melbourne sales office.
SATO Technology
Those around long enough will remember SATO as being the Australian distributor of SOYO mainboards. Times have changed and now they are the exclusive distributor of SHUTTLE Small Form Factor Systems.
MSI Computer Australia
MSI is one of the few mainboard/peripheral manufacturers to have an official (sales and support) presence in Australia. MSI was showcasing their new NEO range of red mainboards as well as their optical drives, USB products and graphics cards.
Vendor and Sponsor displays - Mobile.
Toshiba was present, displaying their notebooks as well as QDI Innovative Computer Pty Ltd of Melbourne, who had several Athlon 64 Mobile generic notebooks on show which were to ship in volume soon after the event.
The Alcaritss A520-K8 with Athlon 64-M CPU, VIA K8T400 Chipset, ATI Mobility Raedon 9000 and 15.1 inch screen or higher. The Alcaritas W720 features an AthlonXP-M CPU, ATI Raedon IGP 320M chipset and 15.4 Wide screen display.
Both systems ran cool to the touch at idle and under load.
HALO multi player tournament
The mini Cyberslam HALO tournament was one of the draw cards of the event, and attracted many gamers both amateur and professional. All competitors were able to play on high specification matched modern machines . The gaming was popular with onlookers and finals played on a large projection screen.
Regardless of the machines not being AMD-64, lots of fun was had playing and watching HALO
Lunch, prize raffle and giveaways and conclusion
Gourmet Lunch was served for all attendees which was prepared by Star City, many hot and cold dishes, beverages and deserts were available and the hungry attendees ate and ate and ate !
A Prize draw for the Halo Tournament and general raffle was held after Lunch, The winner of Halo received an AMD Athlon-64 FX cpu and other goodies. The runner up recived a MSI mainboard. The lucky door prize of a fully configured modded PC system went was won by Atomic Magazine. The raffle prizes conisted of many items from Windows XP Professional to games to software utilies to AMD promotional items. The winner of the CPU was lucky enough to be one of the first people in Australia to own an Athlon-64 FX cpu.
In all, a good event was had by everyone who got entertained, informed, influcened and fed at the same time
Congrats to AMD for a successful event and allowing members of the virtual communities who have supported AMD along the years to particpate.
Quick Facts
The following information is taken from the AMD press kit. Q and A that we have considered relevant we have included.
| AMD Athlon™ 64 FX Processor | AMD Athlon™ 64 Processor - Desktop | AMD Athlon™ 64 Processor - Notebook | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Designation | Series number: FX-51 | Model number: 3200+ | Model number: 3200+ and 3000+ |
| Manufactured | Fab 30 in Dresden, Germany | ||
| Process | 130 nanometer SOI (silicon-on-insulator) technology | ||
| Packaging | 940-pin ceramic micro PGA | 754-pin organic micro PGA | 754-pin ceramic Leadless micro PGA |
| HyperTransport Links | Single link - up to 6.4GB/sec bandwidth per I/O link | ||
| Memory | Integrated 128-bit wide memory controller - 6.4GB/sec | Integrated 64-bit wide memory controller - 3.2GB/sec | |
| Bandwidth | Up to 12.8GB/sec (HT plus memory bandwidth) | Up to 9.6GB/sec (HT plus memory bandwidth) | |
| Memory | PC1600, PC2100, PC2700 and PC3200 DDR registered memory | PC1600, PC2100, PC2700 and PC3200 DDR unbuffered memory | PC1600,PC2100,PC2700 DDR soDIMM memory |
| Cache | 128k L1 cache, Up to 1MB L2 cache | Up to 1MB L2 cache | |
| Voltage & Heat Dissaption | 89W | 81.5W | |
| Die Size | 193mm2 | ||
| Transistors | approximately 105 million | ||
| Frequency | 2.2GHz | 2.0GHz | 3200+ and 3000+ |
| Prices | $733 for 1K units | $417 for 1K units |
$417 for 3200+ for 1K units $278 for 3000+ for 1K units |
| Chipsets | ALI, NVIDIA, VIA and SiS | ||
Q; What are the differences between the AMD Athlond 64 Processor and the AMD Athlon 64 FX processor?
A: The AMD Athlon 64 FX processor offers greaer performance, larger cache memory and a 128-bit memory interface. It is designed to offer extraordinary performance on digital content creation and gaming applications. It is simply the best PC processor you can buy. Please visit www.amd.com/us-en/Processors/ProductInformation/0,,30_118_9485_9488_9532,00.html for benchmark comaprsions.
Q: What is the difference between the AMD Athlon 64 FX processor and the AMD Opteron™ processor for 1-way servers and workstations?
A: While they both feature a 128-bit wide integrated memory controller with registered memory, the AMD Athlon 64 FX processor id designed for gamers and prosumers who need high-performance desktop systems. The AMD Opteron Processor for 1-way servers and workstations is designed for business that need high-performance server solutions for demanding enterprise applications .
Additionally, the processor differ in that the AMD Opteron processor features theree HyperTransport links, compared to the one HyperTransport link of the AMD Athlon FX processor. Try are also tested to different electrical specifications.
Q: What markets are you targeting for the AMD Athlon 64 FX processor?
A: Gamers and prosumers
Q: What does FX mean?
A: FX is the class designator. It also alludes to the film industry's terminology for effects.
Q: What does the 51 mean?
A: This is part of the series designation. The number “51“ is arbitary. It is odd numbered on purpose. The odd numbers are different. They stand out from the norm, much like the processor.
Q: Which operating systems will support the AMD Athlon 64 processor at launch ?
A: The AMD Athlon 64 processor is designed to run all 32-bit x86 operating systems. In addition, all major operating systems vendors are expected to support the AMD64 platform including Microsoft, RedHat, SuSE, United Linux (comprised of SuSE, Conectiva, Caldera and TurboLinux), MandrakeSoft and Wasabi.
Q: What is a desktop-replacement notebook?
A: Desktop-replacement (DTR) refers to consumer mobile systems using “desktop or near desktop performance processors,“ the largest formf actor of notebook computers. These notebook PCs are characterised by large LCD panels (14 to 16 inches is typical), multiple media (DVD/CD-RW, Floppy, HDD) included, and tend to use chipsets that are also found in desktop computers. Weight is generally about six to 10 pounds and these systems are 1.5 to more than two inches thick.
Q: Who are the OEMs for the AMD Athlon 64 processor for notebook computing?
A: OEM partners worldwide such as NEC-CI, Sotec, Thunis, Time, Medion, Hryucane, IPC, Archtec, QD Innovateive Computers and Evesham have announced planned avaliblity of AMD Athlon 64 processor-based notebooks. You can find more information at http://www.amd.com/us-en/processors/ComputingSolutions/0,,30_288_3091,00.html
Q: Who are the original design manufacturers for the AMD Athlon 4 processor for notebook computing ?
A: Partners offering barebones solutions include Arima, Mitac and Wistron.
Q: What is the battery-life of AMD Athlon 64 processor-based notebooks? What kind of power managment technology is included?
A: The versions of the upcomign AMD Athlon 64 processor for desktop-replacement notebooks will include AMD's advanced PowerNow!™ technology to reduce average power consumption and extended system battery life. The battery life of specific notebook systems depends on many factors, not just the CPU , but we expect to be competitive with other desktop replacement systems.
Q: What wireless solutions are avalible for AMD Athlon 64 processor-based notebooks?
A: AMD works with many industry partners to offer competivive chipset, graphics and wireless features in AMD processor-based notebook platform designs. Advanced 802.11g solutions are avalible from companies including Broadcom and TI - either as a mini-PCI card that can be integrated internally in the system or as a PCMCIA card that a user an add in an external slot. 802.11a , 802.11b and combination solutions are also avalible from a variety of vendors. AMD's PCS business unit does offer a very competiive chipset for 802.11b. AMD encourages its customers to seek the best cost/performance value when selecting a wireless vendsor.
Q: When will you offer a “Thin and Light“ solution?
A: Low-voltage mobile AMD Athlon XP-M processor based thin and light notebooks are currently avalible from partners such as Fujitsu, NEC, Sharp, Averatec and Sotec. We plan to introduce lower power versions of the upcoming AMD Athlon 64 processor for notebook computing in 2004.