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X-Gene - AppliedMicro
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Revision as of 01:55, 26 September 2018 by At32Hz (talk | contribs) (X-Gene 3)

X-Gene
x-gene front.jpg
Developer AppliedMicro
Manufacturer TSMC
Type Microprocessors
Introduction October 28, 2011 (announced)
2012 (launch)
ISA ARM
µarch Storm, Shadowcat, Skylark
Word size 64 bit
8 octets
16 nibbles
Process 40 nm
0.04 μm
4.0e-5 mm
, 28 nm
0.028 μm
2.8e-5 mm
, 16 nm
0.016 μm
1.6e-5 mm
Technology CMOS
Clock 2.4 GHz-3.3 GHz
Succession
PACKETPro eMAG

X-Gene was a family of 64-bit ARM server microprocessors designed and introduced by AppliedMicro.

Overview

X-Gene was a family of high-performance multi-core ARM microprocessors first announced by AppliedMicro in 2011. Unlike their traditional product offering, X-Gene directly targeted high-performance data center servers, a market predominantly dominated by Intel Xeon processors. AppliedMicro introduced two generations of server processors based on their own custom ARM microarchitectures - Storm and Shadowcat. Those two generations shipped a total of 25,000 units. In late 2016, MACOM acquired AppliedMicro resulting in the shelving of third-generation X-Gene based on the Skylark microarchitecture. The X-Gene intellectual property including most of the design team was eventually sold to Ampere Computing has rebranded the design and improved on it under the eMAG brand.

Naming Scheme

appliedmicro x-gene naming.svg

Members

X-Gene 1

See also: Storm microarchitecture

First-generation of X-Gene processors were announced in October 2011 and later launched in late 2012. X-Gene 1 processors are based on the Storm microarchitecture and were fabricated on TSMC's 40 nm process. Those processors had up to four memory channels and up to eight cores operating at up to 2.4 GHz.

  • Mem: up to 4 memory channels, DDR3 @ up to 1866 MT/s
  • Tech: ARMv8 (ARMv8.0-A)
  • I/O: 17 PCIe, SATA/SGMII, 2x SGMII/XFI, 1x RGMII
 List of Storm-based Processors
 ProcessorMemory
ModelLaunchedCoresTurboL3$TypeChans
APM883204-X1201242.4 GHz
2,400 MHz
2,400,000 kHz
4 MiB
4,096 KiB
4,194,304 B
0.00391 GiB
DDR3-18664
APM883208-X1201282.4 GHz
2,400 MHz
2,400,000 kHz
8 MiB
8,192 KiB
8,388,608 B
0.00781 GiB
DDR3-18662
APM883408-X1201282.4 GHz
2,400 MHz
2,400,000 kHz
8 MiB
8,192 KiB
8,388,608 B
0.00781 GiB
DDR3-18664
Count: 3

X-Gene 2

See also: Shadowcat microarchitecture

Second-generation of X-Gene processors were announced in September 2014 and later launched in early 2015. X-Gene 2 processors are based on the Shadowcat microarchitecture and were fabricated on TSMC's 28 nm process. Though those processors were more of a refresh over their predecessor, the new process technology produced lower-power chips at similar performance. Those processors had up to four memory channels and up to eight cores operating at up to 2.4 GHz.

  • Mem: up to 4 memory channels, DDR3 @ up to 1866 MT/s
  • Tech: ARMv8 (ARMv8.0-A)
  • I/O: 17 PCIe, SATA/SGMII, 2x SGMII/XFI, 1x RGMII
 List of Shadowcat-based Processors
 ProcessorMemory
ModelLaunchedTDPCoresTurboL3$TypeChans
APM883208-X2March 201535 W
35,000 mW
0.0469 hp
0.035 kW
82.4 GHz
2,400 MHz
2,400,000 kHz
8 MiB
8,192 KiB
8,388,608 B
0.00781 GiB
DDR3-18662
APM883408-X2March 201535 W
35,000 mW
0.0469 hp
0.035 kW
82.4 GHz
2,400 MHz
2,400,000 kHz
8 MiB
8,192 KiB
8,388,608 B
0.00781 GiB
DDR3-18664
Count: 2

X-Gene 3

See also: Skylark microarchitecture

Third-generation of X-Gene processors were announced in 2016 and started sampling in 2017. X-Gene 2 processors are based on the Skylark microarchitecture and were fabricated on TSMC's 16 nm process. AppliedMicro made large changed to the system architecture of the chip and some minor changes to the core. The chip design shifted from incorporating an array of accelerators on-die to offering a large set of I/O (mostly PCIe lanes) so that high-performance PCIe-based accelerators could be attached instead. In 2017 AppliedMicro sold the X-Gene assets to Ampere Computing and consequently discontinued the X-Gene line. X-Gene 3 has re-launched by Ampere under the eMAG family.

  • Mem: 8x DDR4 channels, up to 2666 MT/s with ECC; 1 TiB/socket
  • I/O: 42 PCIe Gen 3 lanes
  • TDP: Up to 125 W
 List of Skylark-based Processors
 ProcessorMemory
ModelLaunchedTDPCoresTurboL3$TypeChans
APM883832-X3125 W
125,000 mW
0.168 hp
0.125 kW
323 GHz
3,000 MHz
3,000,000 kHz
32 MiB
32,768 KiB
33,554,432 B
0.0313 GiB
DDR4-2666 DDR4-24008
Count: 1

See also

Bibliography

Facts about "X-Gene - AppliedMicro"
designerAppliedMicro +
first announcedOctober 28, 2011 +
first launched2012 +
full page nameapm/x-gene +
instance ofmicroprocessor family +
instruction set architectureARM +
main designerAppliedMicro +
manufacturerTSMC +
microarchitectureStorm +, Shadowcat + and Skylark +
nameX-Gene +
process40 nm (0.04 μm, 4.0e-5 mm) +, 28 nm (0.028 μm, 2.8e-5 mm) + and 16 nm (0.016 μm, 1.6e-5 mm) +
technologyCMOS +
word size64 bit (8 octets, 16 nibbles) +