Wilco (Wilco.Dijkstra.delete@this.ntlworld.com) on May 19, 2013 6:00 am wrote:
>
> Anand explicitly mentioned ARM in his first sentence. However it's still a ridiculous statement when
> you compare with Bobcat (and possibly VIA too).

I'd say it's ridiculous when you compare to original P6. Slightly less so, when you compare to PM or K7.
As to Bobcat, look at the date. AFAIK, Anand does not have time machine.

> This is how small an Atom core is today. Remember
> die size translates to cost, so this is why Atom never came out in quad-core variants, not even the
> Centerton server parts (where quad-core would have made sense to try to compete with ARM).
>
> Wilco

Not sure that quad-core Centerton would make sense. 8 threads is too much both for Saltwell's L2 cache and for its external memory interface.
Similarly, I think that Cortex-A15 based SOC with 4 cores per cluster is not a good idea for servers.
As to cost of silicon, I don't believe that in case of Centerton it even slightly mattered. 11 mm^2 (the size of couple of Saltwell cores) is too little to be accounted for in a chip with >$50 ASP.

Besides, quad-core would take non-trivial redesign - not something you want to do for a product that you launched not because you think that there is a meaningful market, but in order to keep Wall Street happy.