SOURCES AT AMD Taiwan claim that when the next generation of Opterons is released in the first half of 2006, the microprocessors will be equipped with 1207 pins. Easy to bend one or two then, we'd suggest. The next gen Opteron is not, as our own Charlie D pointed out a little while ago, not really a K9, it's more the bastard offspring of the K8. In other Opteron news, our mole at AMD Taiwan also whispers that some of the 100 series will begin to disappear from price lists in the first quarter of next year, with the 140 being the first to go. But this is merely the thin end of the line wedge, because during 2005, all manner of Opterons will start performing a disappearing act, with 200s and 800s eventually ending up in the knacker's yard as well. Soon enough, Opterons will switch over the 90 nanometre process too, and include the good old 1GHz HT link that the desktop versions are boasting. As everyone knows, there's not much difference between an Opteron and an Athlon 64, except for what's called "branding". During 2006 the entire Opteron family will end up being dual core babies, and when AMD starts shipping the first dual core parts, which we suggest will be in the third quarter of next year, it will release microprocessors at different frequencies. Not that megahertz matters these days, of course Source: The Inquirer
