We all know that AMD is preparing hexa-core consumer processors for the  April~June timeframe in 2010. According to rumors on the web AMD will release not one but two of them.

Thge processors are obviously based on the Thuban architecture (Istanbul chips for servers) are compatible with socket AM3 and will have integrated dual-channel PC3-10600 (DDR3 1333MHz) memory controllers. We believe that Thuban processors will keep the AMD Phenom II brand name but like will be tagged as Phenom II X6 processors. The processors would feature 3MB L2 cache (512KB per core) and 6MB of L3 cache. The chips will be made using 45nm SOI fabrication process and though unconfirmed we expect them to run at roughly 3 GHz as the current server hexacore chips operate at 2.80 GHz already.

SMall guru note: Thuban is actually a star in the constellation of Draco. It also means