AMD releases Opteron 3200 series processors

AMD today launched Opteron 300 series platform for single-socket low power cloud servers. The platform consists of SR56X0 NorthBridge chipset, SP5100 SouthBridge chipset, and three Opteron 3200-series microprocessors featuring from 4 to 8 cores. Although all first Opteron generations included single-socket models, they have been dropped in Six-core Opteron family three years ago, and were re-introduced today with a new twist: they have low power requirements, and they are targeted at dense power-efficient web servers.

Opteron 3000-series platform utilizes socket AM3+, that was also used by desktop FX microprocessors. Like desktop counterparts, Opteron 3200-series CPUs are based on Bulldozer core, and integrate up to 4 Bulldozer modules, up to 8 MB L3 cache, and include such features as Turbo Core technology and Virtualization. New Opterons support ECC UDIMM memory with data rates up to 1866 MHz. Currently AMD offers three 3200-series models: 3250, 3260 and 3280:

Model	Cores	Frequency	Turbo Frequency	L2 cache	L3 cache	TDP	Price
Opteron 3250	4	2.5 GHz	3.5 GHz	4 MB	4 MB	45 Watt	$99
Opteron 3260	4	2.7 GHz	3.7 GHz	4 MB	4 MB	45 Watt	$125
Opteron 3280	8	2.4 GHz	3.5 GHz	8 MB	8 MB	65 Watt	$229

Opteron 3250 and 3260 are quad-core chips with 4 MB L2 cache, 4 MB L3 cache and 45 Watt TDP. These models are clocked at relatively low 2.5 GHz and 2.7 GHz, although the frequency can be temporarily raised to 3.5 GHz and 3.7 GHz with the help of Turbo Core technology. Preliminary price of Opteron 3250 and 3260 SKUs is $99 and $125.

Opteron 3280 doubles the number of cores to 8, and the size of cache to 16 MB. The CPU is rated at 65 Watt, and comes with 2.4 GHz default clock speed. The speed can be boosted up to 2.7 GHz for all cores, and as high as 3.5 GHz when only a few cores are active. Preliminary price of this model is $229.