AMD releases Opteron 6200 and 4200 CPUs

Earlier last week AMD announced "Ready Solutions for servers" initiative, which aims to provide large selection of compatible motherboards at the launch of Opteron 6200 series microprocessors with Interlagos core. Also last week, specifications of several HP Proliant servers were updated to include new Opterons, and Japanese Dell website started offering Opteron 6200 chips, along with 6100 processors, in PowerEdge servers. The timing of the "Ready Solutions for servers" announcement, and sightings of Opteron 6200 CPUs in Dell and HP servers, indicated that the launch was near. Today, AMD published AMD Opteron 6200 and 4200 Series Processors (PDF file) presentation, which implies that the processors are released.

The presentation includes information on 10 different Opteron 6200 SKUs, including one quad-core, two 8-core, two 12-core and five 16-core chips. The microprocessors are clocked from 1.6 GHz to 3.3 GHz, and many of them come with 400 - 600 MHz Turbo Core boost for all cores, and even higher frequency boost when half of the cores are idle. Opteron 6262 HE has the lowest 85 Watt Thermal Design Power from the series, and Opteron 6282 SE has the highest, 140W. All remaining models have 115W TDP. Opteron 6200 CPUs are priced from $266 for model 6212, and up to $1019 for 6282 SE.

Opteron 4200 family, aimed at dual-processor systems, consists of 8 different chips with 6 and 8 cores. Like the 6200 family, Opterons from 4200 series operate at frequencies from 1.6 GHz to 3.3 GHz. The 4200 processors have lower power consumptions, 95 Watt on average, and as low as 35 Watt for Opteron 4256 EE. The CPUs have 1K tray prices in the range from $125 for Opteron 4228, and to $377 for low-power 4256 EE and mid-power 4274 HE.

Dell now offers full line-up of Opteron 6200 chips in Dell PowerEdge R715, PowerEdge R815, and PowerEdge M915 systems. Interesting that extra price for the most powerful and expensive 16-core CPU, Opteron 6282 SE, is noticeably lower than the previous flagship model, 6180 SE. Pricewise, upgrade to 6282SE costs as much as upgrade to 8-core Opteron 6140, running at the same clock speed, or to Opteron 12-core Opteron 6172, clocked at 2.1 GHz. Pessimists may say that this is due to lower per-clock performance of new Interlagos models, while optimists will say that it's due to more aggressive pricing. We think that there is a truth to both explanations.

Specifications of newly released CPUs are provided in the table below:

Model	Cores	Frequency	Turbo Frequency	L3 cache	Socket Type	TDP	Price
Opteron 4226	6	2.7 GHz	3.1 GHz	8 MB	Socket C32	95 Watt	$125
Opteron 4228 HE	6	2.8 GHz	3.6 GHz	8 MB	Socket C32	65 Watt	$255
Opteron 4234	6	3.1 GHz	3.5 GHz	8 MB	Socket C32	95 Watt	$174
Opteron 4238	6	3.3 GHz	3.7 GHz	8 MB	Socket C32	95 Watt	$255
Opteron 4256 EE	8	1.6 GHz	2.8 GHz	8 MB	Socket C32	35 Watt	$377
Opteron 4274 HE	8	2.5 GHz	3.5 GHz	8 MB	Socket C32	65 Watt	$377
Opteron 4280	8	2.8 GHz	3.5 GHz	8 MB	Socket C32	95 Watt	$255
Opteron 4284	8	3 GHz	3.7 GHz	8 MB	Socket C32	95 Watt	$316
Opteron 6204	4	3.3 GHz	N/A	16 MB	Socket G34	115 Watt	$455
Opteron 6212	8	2.6 GHz	3.2 GHz	16 MB	Socket G34	115 Watt	$266
Opteron 6220	8	3 GHz	3.6 GHz	16 MB	Socket G34	115 Watt	$523
Opteron 6234	12	2.4 GHz	3 GHz	16 MB	Socket G34	115 Watt	$377
Opteron 6238	12	2.6 GHz	3.2 GHz	16 MB	Socket G34	115 Watt	$455
Opteron 6262 HE	16	1.6 GHz	2.9 GHz	16 MB	Socket G34	85 Watt	$523
Opteron 6272	16	2.1 GHz	3 GHz	16 MB	Socket G34	115 Watt	$523
Opteron 6274	16	2.2 GHz	3.1 GHz	16 MB	Socket G34	115 Watt	$639
Opteron 6276	16	2.3 GHz	3.2 GHz	16 MB	Socket G34	115 Watt	$788
Opteron 6282 SE	16	2.6 GHz	3.3 GHz	16 MB	Socket G34	140 Watt	$1019