The maths for guessing the future of computer processing power is no longer “Think of a number and then double it.”
It should be getting easier in this multi-core world. We’ve gone from single brains to two brains and now quad-core microprocessors, so eight should be next, right?
Actually, the answer is three.
Advanced Micro Devices came out with the industry’s first triple-core chip today and it signals that cores are being viewed more flexibly than pure performance drivers. Instead, they are providing different price points and functionality for users.
“We’ve really started a debate in the industry with this,” Pat Moorhead, vice president of AMD’s advanced platform marketing, told me.
“Just like there’s a spot for $20,000, $30,000 and $40,000 cars, there’s room for two, three or four cores in the market. I see our competitor [Intel] now agrees – it’s announced a six-core server processor.”
Mr Moorhead says there are plenty of PC makers ready to support triple-core. It’s an in-between solution – for basic capabilities go for dual-core, for top performance, it’s quad-core, for something perhaps 30 per cent better than dual-core, triple-core will fill an important niche, he says.
The big shift is that Moore’s Law – the doubling of transistors on chips around every 18 months – is being de-emphasised by the two major processor makers in favour of “visual computing” – combining microprocessors with graphics processors to provide 3D interfaces and high-definition video.
“It’s going to become all about video, you get this incredible high-definition playback at 1080p with triple-core combined with our graphics,” says the marketing man, hammering home the message.
