Direct Connect Architecture can improve overall system performance and efficiency by eliminating traditional bottlenecks inherent in legacy front side bus architectures.
Legacy front-side buses restrict and interrupt the flow of data. Slower data flow means more latency which translates to slower system performance. Interrupted data flow means limited system scalability.
With Direct Connect Architecture, the front side bus is eliminated. Instead, the processor core is directly connected to the memory, the I/O subsystem, and any other processors in the configuration by high bandwidth Hypertransport™ links. The memory controller is located on the processor die instead of on the motherboard as with front side bus architecture. This further cuts down on the latency and improves performance.
Direct Connect Architecture is available only with AMD64 processors, including the AMD Opteron™ and AMD Athlon™ 64 processors, as well as with AMD Turion™ 64 mobile technology.
Exclusive features of Direct Connect Architecture include:
Integrated memory controller
AMD64 processors with Direct Connect Architecture feature an integrated, on-die memory controller, optimizing memory performance and bandwidth per CPU and reducing latency inherent in front side bus architectures. AMD’s memory bandwidth increases as processors are added to a configuration, compared to legacy designs that scale poorly because access to main memory is limited by external Northbridge chips.
HyperTransport™ technology
HyperTransport™ technology is a high-speed, bi-directional, low latency, point-to-point communication link that provides a scalable bandwidth interconnect between computing cores, I/O subsystems, memory banks and other chipsets. AMD Opteron processors support up to three coherent HyperTransport links, yielding up to 24.0 GB/s peak bandwidth per processor.
Learn more about Third-Generation AMD Opteron™ processors
Features and Benefits:
Performance:
Product Information:
All AMD Opteron™ Processor Product Information
