Technologies in HP ProLiant G7 c-Class server blades with AMD Opteron™ processors, 3rd Edition

5
Processor technologies
ProLiant G7 server blades with AMD processors contain 8-core, 12-core, or 16-core AMD Opteron 6200 Series
processors. All ProLiant G7 server blades with AMD Opteron processors use AMD SR5690/SP5100 chipsets to
manage data throughput.
AMD Opteron processors use Direct Connect architecture: An integrated memory controller replaces the front side
bus. The architecture includes dedicated memory banks for each processor and point-to-point HyperTransport™ 3.0
technology (HT3) links between the processors, memory, and I/O chipsets. The integrated memory controller
supports only DDR3 memory. HT3 operates at a maximum interconnect rate of 6.4 gigatransfers per second (GT/s).
HT Assist™ reduces coherence traffic overload on the HT links, resulting in faster queries in both cache and
compute-intensive applications.
In ProLiant G7 server blades with the standard feature set (see the product QuickSpecs for standard features), each
16-core AMD processor operates at speeds of up to 2.3 GHz, has access to 512 KB of L2 cache memory per core,
and shares a total of 16 MB of L3 cache. The 12-core processor operates at speeds of up to 2.6 GHz, and the
8-core at speeds up to 3.0 GHz. AMD Dual Dynamic Power Management™ powers the processor core and the
voltage planes of the memory controller independently for increased performance and improved power
management.
The top processor speeds cited here occur under full core-count operation. AMD Core Select lets you choose the
number of cores per CPU that are visible to software. You can access AMD Core Select through the ROM Based
Setup Utility (RBSU). Compliant operating systems and applications recognize a reduced core count, so a lower
core count may decrease your software licensing costs. This option also reduces processor power use and improves
overall performance for applications that benefit from higher performing cores rather than from additional
processing cores. In multi-processor configurations, AMD Core Select enables the same number of cores for each
CPU. AMD Core Select function can also depend on support by user application software. Check with software
vendors to determine application support.
The latest AMD Opteron processor packages use a processor socket technology called Land Grid Array (LGA).
AMD calls this a G34 socket. The processor package designs have no pins. Instead, gold-plated pads touch the
processor socket pins on the motherboard. Because pin damage could require replacing the motherboard, we
designed a tool to simplify processor installation and reduce the possibility of damaging the socket pins (Figure 4).
We recommend that you use HP Services for field processor upgrades.
Figure 4: The HP processor installation tool protects processor pins from damage and simplifies processor installation.