AMD Istanbul to launch next week

AMD’s six-core Istanbul server chip is to be formally launched next Tuesday.

The 45nm chip, a rival for Intel’s Dunnington, follows AMD’s policy of naming server chips after Formula One racetracks and the Turkish Grand Prix takes place in Istanbul next weekend, where AMD will persevere with its sponsorship of the ailing Ferrari F1 team.

Istanbul – the chip, not the city – is expected to clock at 2.6GHz, and will make its debut on the opening day of Computex, June 2nd, according to a media invite just sent out by the chip firm.

In a strange coincidence, Intel’s Dunnington is almost named after a Formula One race track as well.