AMD Quad FX (4X4) Platform

Are you into extreme “megatasking?" Do you want the raw power four execution cores on your motherboard? On November 30th, 2006 AMD announced the Quad FX Platform that brings two dual-core processors into a single system that is not a server platform but rather a high-end personal workstation platform with advanced graphics card support.

Yes the Quad Core FX platform features the ability to install two physical dual-core processors into one system as well as fast DDR2 memory, SLI graphics, and high definition audio solutions - a true enthusiast platform built for speed and scalability. In fact the 4X4 codename means 4 cores + 4 graphics cards.

The AMD Quad FX Platform is powered by pairs of the AMD Athlon™ 64 FX-70 series dual-core processors, the newest additions to the award-winning AMD Athlon 64 FX processor family. The new platform lets enthusiasts make the most of their overall computing experience while gaming, editing audio/video and streaming high-definition content. This is a true multi-purpose power workstation with scaleable performance that brings professional digital content creators the extra edge they need by accelerating multimedia tasks up to 100% over a single dual core platform.

The Quad FX will allow you to take greater advantage of Windows Vista Ultimate Edition multithreading capabilities. While costing significantly more than a normal desktop the Quad FX is still an affordable combination that brings together high performance elements rarely, if ever, seen together. This extra cost will be a bargain for those who make a living working on their PC especially those creating multimedia content, and already many leading gaming developers have been working on massively multi-threaded games that can use two or more execution cores.

This platform consist of a number of unique components and features that build on AMD Athlon 64 and FX architecture and design philosophy:

Two Socket 1207 (socket F) FX-70 processors: CPU are based on 0.09 micron process technology and have 1MB L2 cache per core: These CPU also feature Dual-channel DDR2 SDRAM memory controller (like AM2 processors) and three 2GHz HyperTransport links. HyperTransport is one of the backbones the DSDC architecture (we talk about next). AMD will eventually release quad-core processors (codenamed Agena FX)compatible with this platform, allowing 8 cores per systems, sometime around mid 2007.

Dual Socket Direct Connect Architecture: DSDC Architecture enables high-bandwidth communication between matched pairs of AMD Athlon™ 64 FX-70, AMD Athlon™ 64 FX-72, and AMD Athlon™ 64 FX-74 dual-core processors. DSDC Architecture is designed for the multi-core, multi-threaded future with planned platform upgradeability to eight cores (dual quad-core systems).

Dual Socket Motherboard with Nvidia Chipsets: Nvidia is AMD's launch partner and is providing the first chipsets the NVIDIA nForce 680a MCPs. These MCP (media and communications processors) are certified Vista ready and designed to be extremely high performance chipsets than can supply the board with two full speed x16 PCIe for SLI and an additional two x8 PCIe slots to install up to four independent graphics cards supporting up to eight monitors. As with Opteron processors the DDR2 memory controller is built into each processor (two slots per CPU). Hypertransport bus links directly to one processor with a coherent bus between the processors. The massive component support does not stop there. MCP supports up to 12 SATA 3Gbps hard drives for highly scalable storage. Below is a chipset diagram.

Asus is the exclusive launch partner of AMD offering the first and currently only Quad FX motherboard on the market.

 First Quad FX Motherboard - ASUS L1N64-SLI (ASI SKU# 56568)

The ASUS L1N64-SLI WS is powered by two NVIDIA nForce 680a MCP chipsets. Two socket-1207 processors are supported with four memory slots (two slots allocated per processor). With two nForce 680a MCPs the ASUS L1N64-SLI WS features 12 SATA 3.0 Gbps ports and one PATA for storage connectivity.

Networking features of the ASUS L1N64-SLI WS include dual Gigabit Ethernet ports. The onboard Gigabit Ethernet features NVIDIA’s FirstPacket, DualNet, Teaming and TCP/IP offload technologies. Audio is powered by a high definition audio codec with optical and coaxial SPDIF outputs.

Due to the complex design of AMD’s 4x4 platform, the ASUS L1N64-SLI WS uses a  larger than ATX form factor (The L1N64-SLI WS is 12" by 10.5" standard ATX is 12" x 9.6") ) which will not fit in smaller ATX only cases. Since dual processors require a little extra power, ASUS has equipped the L1N64-SLI WS with an 8-pin EPS12v and Molex power connectors.

For those currently running AMD Dual core processors (Athlon X2 or FX series) and need a permanent big boost to create /edit multimedia titles, 3D animation, etc, then the Quad FX platform is definitely worth the investment compared to the amount of time you will save.

The Quad FX only major shortcomings are in relatively high power usage (per processor and overall system), especially when compared to a Quad Core Intel (Quad Core 2 Duo). In the recent past some people have used dual Opteron workstation motherboards but for those who want the top of the line in the AMD workstation space plus truly advanced graphics support the Quad FX is a clear winner.