AMD's 45nm quad core, "Shanghai" is apparently on-track for production to start in the second half of this year. Initially it will be offered as a server product, it will include "coherent" Hypertransport 3.0 for processor to processor communications in multi-socket systems.

Shanghai will be an incremental change to Barecelona, consisting of a geometry shrink to 45nm, some IPC (instructions per clock) and core tweaks - as well as increasing the L3 cache to 6MB.

Potentially more interesting will be next year's "Istambul" six core processor. Slated for Socket F1, the current 1207 pin socket, it is intended to increase performance without having to radically change the AMD architecture by the simple expedient of adding two additional cores, bringing us hex core processors sometime in the second half of 2009.

AMD also apparently plans to introduce a Socket G34 in 2010, and this new socket will apparently bring DDR3 and non-coherent HyperTransport 3.0 with the upcoming RD890 chipset as well as provide an additional HyperTransport link.

In 2010 AMD will also apparently offer six and 12 core Opterons, presumably using a multiple chip per module like Intel, by placing two six core dies into a single package - with a code name of "Magny Cours"

If the past is any indication, these "server" chips will also probably appear as "consumer" chips.