Press Release: AMD's Multiprocessing
Platforms Validated For Mental Ray Rendering Software
Posted By Kathy Smith
Date: December 19, 2001
Creators of realistic high-resolution images can now
take advantage of powerful AMD Athlon(tm) MP processor-based workstations and
servers.
SUNNYVALE, CA-DECEMBER 19,
2001-AMD (NYSE: AMD) today announced that mental
images® GmbH & Co. KG, a recognized leader in rendering and modeling software
technology, has validated and certified the AMD Athlon(tm) MP processor for its
software. Mental images' customers include major original software developers as
well as select key industrial end-users. Mental ray® users include most of the
leading visual effects and digital film studios, game development companies, and
companies in the automotive and aerospace industries.
Starting with mental ray version 3.0, mental images will support software
designed with this rendering technology in AMD Athlon MP processor-based
workstation and server platforms. AMD provided AMD Athlon MP processor-based
systems to mental images' development and quality assurance teams to help ensure
reliability, compatibility and stability.
"AMD and mental images worked hand-in-hand to test, evaluate and provide leading
visual computing solutions that enhance the performance and productivity for
segments such as Digital Content Creation (DCC) and CAD/ CAM markets," said
Tom-Michael Thamm, director Product Development of mental images. "We are
pleased with this new effort as it will help ensure that both users and software
vendors receive a positive customer experience and to ensure that applications
built using mental ray technology run smoothly and reliably on AMD
processor-based computers around the world."
"This validation by mental images further establishes AMD's presence in the DCC
and CAD/CAM markets," said Richard Heye, vice president of Platform Engineering
& Infrastructure for AMD's Computation Products Group. "The photorealistic
mental ray rendering software and the high-performance AMD Athlon MP processor
offer the stability, reliability and performance that creative professionals
demand."
Based on the state-of-the-art AMD Athlon MP processor, AMD's multiprocessing
platform supports Double Data Rate (DDR) memory technology and incorporates
AMD's latest innovation, Smart MP technology. Smart MP technology enables the
combined power of the processor and chipset to deliver better overall
performance on widely available, x86-based, dual-processor platforms.
About the AMD Athlon(tm) MP Processor
The AMD Athlon MP processor is a seventh-generation x86 processor designed for
high-performance multiprocessing servers and workstations.
A key advantage of AMD's multiprocessing platform is Smart MP technology, which
greatly enhances overall platform performance by increasing data movement
between the two CPUs, chipset and memory system. Smart MP technology features
dual point-to-point, high-speed 266MHz system buses with Error Correcting Code (ECC)
support designed to provide up to 2.1GB per second per CPU of bus bandwidth in a
dual-processor system. Smart MP technology also has an optimized Modified Owner
Exclusive Shared Invalid (MOESI) cache coherency protocol that manages data and
memory traffic in a multiprocessing environment.
The AMD Athlon MP processor features the patented QuantiSpeed(tm) architecture,
which includes a high performance full-speed cache with hardware data pre-fetch,
a fully pipelined superscalar floating point engine, and an exclusive L2
Translation Look-aside Buffer (TLB). The processor also incorporates 3DNow!*
Professional technology, which has 51 new instructions that extend AMD's 3DNow!
technology, enabling smoother, richer and more lifelike images, more precise
digital audio and an enriched Internet experience.
The AMD Athlon MP processor is compatible with AMD's stable Socket A
infrastructure, and supports DDR memory technology.
About AMD
AMD is a global supplier of integrated circuits for the personal and networked
computer and communications markets with manufacturing facilities in the United
States, Europe, Japan, and Asia. AMD, a Fortune 500 and Standard & Poor's 500
company, produces microprocessors, flash memory devices, and support circuitry
for communications and networking applications. Founded in 1969 and based in
Sunnyvale, California, AMD had revenues of $4.6 billion in 2000. (NYSE: AMD).
AMD on the Web
For more AMD news and product information, please visit our virtual pressroom at
www.amd.com/news/virtualpress/index.html. Additional press releases are
available at
www.amd.com/news/news.html.
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AMD, the AMD Arrow logo, AMD Athlon, and combinations thereof, QuantiSpeed, and
3DNow! are trademarks of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. Other product names are
for informational purposes only and may be trademarks of their respective
companies.
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Contact
Sean Cleveland
AMD Public Relations
(408) 749-5980
E-mail: sean.cleveland@amd.com
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