K10 (microarchitecture)
| Produced | From 2007 to 2012 |
|---|---|
| Common manufacturer(s) | |
| Max. CPU clock rate | 1700 MHz to 3700 MHz |
| FSB speeds | 1000 MHz to 2000 MHz |
| Min. feature size | 65 nm to 45 nm |
| Instruction set | AMD64 (x86-64) |
| Socket(s) | |
| Predecessor | K8 - Hammer |
| Successor | Bulldozer - Family 15h |
| Core name(s) |
The AMD Family 10h, or K10, is a microprocessor microarchitecture by AMD based on the K8 microarchitecture. Though there were once reports that the K10 had been canceled, the first third-generation Opteron products for servers were launched on September 10, 2007, with the Phenom processors for desktops following and launching on November 11, 2007 as the immediate successors to the K8 series of processors (Athlon 64, Opteron, 64-bit Sempron).
It is commonly perceived by the PC community that from the time after the use of the codename K8 for the AMD K8 or Athlon 64 processor family, AMD no longer uses K-nomenclatures (originally stood for Kryptonite) since no K-nomenclature naming convention beyond K8 has appeared in official AMD documents and press releases after the beginning of 2005.
The name "K8L" was first coined by Charlie Demerjian, one of the writers of The Inquirer back in 2005, and was used by the wider IT community as a convenient shorthand while according to AMD official documents, the processor family was termed "AMD Next Generation Processor Technology".
The microarchitecture has also been referred to as Stars, as the codenames for desktop line of processors was named under stars or constellations (the initial Phenom models being codenamed Agena and Toliman).
In a video interview, Giuseppe Amato confirmed that the codename is K10.
It was revealed, by The Inquirer itself, that the codename "K8L" referred to a low-power version of the K8 family, later named Turion 64, and that K10 was the official codename for the microarchitecture.
AMD refers to it as Family 10h Processors, as it is the successor of the Family 0Fh Processors (codename K8). 10h and 0Fh refer to the main result of the CPUID x86 processor instruction. In hexadecimal numbering, 0Fh (h represents hexadecimal numbering) equals the decimal number 15, and 10h equals decimal 16. (The "K10h" form that sometimes pops up is an improper hybrid of the "K" code and Family identifier number.)
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