AMD K8L: Quad Core Desktops And So Much More

K8L processors are expected to be very co-processor friendly, allowing for additional HT and HTX interconnects specifically for math or cryptography acceleration. Current Opteron 2xx and 8xx processors use three HyperTransport links per die, but AMD's documentation did not reveal how many HyperTransport links K8L would utilize. Recently, AMD's Phil Hester claimed embedded on-chip coprocessors were part of the company's long term plan just a few months ago. While we may not see embedded co-processors with the K8L, it does look like the architecture is gearing towards supporting co-processors in a big way.