AMD Barcelona Review

In just a short few hours AMD will officially launch its newest addition to is server processor lineup named Barcelona. Barcelona marks an important point in the AMD roadmap as it is AMD's first quad core server cpu.

This is the AMD Barcelona, or Opteron 2347 Quad Core processor which clocks in a 1.9Ghz. As some might have noticed this chip differs slightly from previous CPU's offered. The integrated heat spreader has a beveled edge. We can only speculate that this assist with heat transfer and mating of the heatsink to the CPU. The new Quad Core AMD Barcelona retains the same socket F as the current generation Opterons making the upgrade a no-brainer for IT admins looking to increase processing power and density without having to buy an entirely new board.

The new Opteron (Barcelona) not only adds two additional cores to the server lineup but it also adds a number of unique new features. Let's take a look at the guts of the Barcelona and compare them to the current Rev. F Opterons.

As you can see the new Barcelona reduces the amount of L2 cache by half of its older sibling but it adds 2MB of shared L3 cache and a 2nd FPU.

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