AMD and Hypertransport
Hypertransport will be a very good technology for many companies and their products. AMD showed a
diagram that was somewhat interesting, and perhaps sheds a little light on future products. This diagram
showed a dual processor setup with Hypertransport connecting the Southbridge to the Northbridge, and had a
few things like dual ethernet in between the two, as well as SCSI and other products (does this by chance
sound like the Tyan/Guiness board?). The 760MP may in fact support Hypertransport, but it is not official yet.
AMD publically stated that it is going to release a new Southbridge for use with the 760MP (as the 766 is not
well supported or feature rich). Further speculation may in fact lead to the Southbridge being the MCPX, but that is a bit of a stretch (but again it would make sense as the design is already there and it utilizes
Hypertransport, and is again feature rich for a good price).
The 760MPX (Paulaner based boards) will be the next AMD MP design, and it will include more features such as the 64bit/66MHz PCI interface. This will most definitely utilize Hypertransport on the motherboard for all communications from the memory controller and the peripherals. Hypertransport is a very powerful technology, and it is essentially available today for manufacturers to implement.
Conclusion
AMD is a very smart company, and it is making sure to work with as many partners as possible to help
everyone succeed. AMD needs these partners to broaden its technology base, and when AMD succeeds, it brings along these other partners, so they all end up profiting through the experience. AMD is willing to shareits technology with anyone that wants to support AMD processors (this technology includes DDR tech,
Hypertransport, and many other emerging technologies that have not been announced as of yet).
AMD is not trying to be an Intel, and this looks to be where AMD will succeed. AMD is content to let its
partners do much of the groundwork based on AMD technology, as everyone profits from this philosophy, and
when everyone profits, they will be more willing to work with AMD in the future. Intel tried to buy everything
and do everything, and that alienated some of Intel’s staunchest allies in the technology field. AMD is hoping not to make that mistake. AMD is a company to keep close watch on.
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