Tyan joins the AMD 6-core release cycle with "Istanbul-enabled" BIOS releases six 2P motherboards (and related systems). We here from a reliable source that the Tyan "twin" system (B2985, 2-node, 1U) BIOS is in "alpha" testing and will be released "soon." Here's what's available now:Dual-Opteron Motherboards (2000-series)
S2912-E, S2915-E, S2927, S2927-E, S2932, S2932-E
Notes
These BIOS releases were only available from Tyan's FTP site (ftp.tyan.com, anonymous access) until now. As of 6/17/2009 you will find them on the BIOS helper from the product web page.
Also, we were surprised to find that the AGESA for the S4985 series (quad-socket) motherboards are still version 3.3.0.3 and are likely not Istanbul-ready. We do not have the S4985 in our testing lab to confirm of deny this, but we have been told by AMD that 3.5.0.0 is the minimum Istanbul supported AGESA.
Wow...just imagine a K12LTSP (Linux Terminal Server Project) server, in ATX form factor, with TWELVE processor cores! Now, that would really be something beautiful to use for upgrading a school computer lab.
ReplyDeleteI'm starting to like AMD more and more. The competition that they give Intel is obviously very healthy for the computer industry, and I'm very glad both companies are around.
--TP