AMD is well on its way to releasing the chip it has dubbed the "Core 2 Duo killer", probably Q3-4 2007, and now has decided to reveal exactly how its K10 "Barcelona" chip plans to make that kill.
The first point AMD stress is that moving to the new K10 using Socket F will only need update the BIOS while both desktop and notebook Barcelona versions will be released.
Technically, Barcelona will be able to deliver 4 Floating Points per clock cycle and will feature an increased buffer while all four cores will carry 512 KB of L1 and an L2 cache and all cores will share the 2 MBs of the L3 cache. According to AMD's European technical director, Guiseppe Amato, the main advantage of the new microprocessor compared to Intel's design is AMD's memory connect design.
This information comes from AMD as Intel prepares the ground for its Developer Forum in Beijing next week. If AMD stick to their usual strategy expect more Barcelona information to be unveiled as the Intel event approaches.