Here's an interesting development

[unixronin]

Amid continuing problems getting its four-core processors to market, it appears AMD will be repackaging four-core processors with minor faults on one core and selling them as triple-core processors.

Now tell me:  What was your first thought?

Yeah.  Mine was, "I wonder how long it's going to be before somebody hacks up a fault-tolerant Linux/BSD/whatever (or perhaps a completely custom OS) that runs a separate kernel thread on each core, with cross-checking and two-of-three majority voting?"

I mean, come on.  It's the obvious use for a triple-core processor.

Comments

[bfudlmint.livejournal.com]

I assume your saying a hack that uses all 4 processors. The big question is will all the overhead negate the advantages of 4 cores.

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

No, the fourth core is defective. It's just that if you have a triple-core processor, it's practically a ready-made platform to implement core-level triple redundancy. (See the thread immediately above.)

[bfudlmint.livejournal.com]

Yup, I asked my question 9 minutes too early. Another question, can you buy them? I couldn't find it as a product on the AMD site but the AMD site is horrible.

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

Not yet. But AMD is saying it'll put them on the market this quarter. If the price point is right, they could be a pretty hot product.

(Unfortunately, the chances of them being available in a Socket 939 package are probably slim.)

[bfudlmint.livejournal.com]

Judging by too quick a read of the AMD website, it is going to be AM2+. I think most of the new chips will be. Of course, yet again I've not been able to find any info on what a am2+ socket is on the AMD site(I found it elsewhere).