AMD-V - AMD and Virtualization

Some say that all AMD microprossors (X2, X3 and Quad) support Virtualization by default
It would appear that the X4 and X3 processors support AMD-V, but not the AMD Phenom X4 9150e

This page is the start of a voyage of discovery that started with an interest in this topic triggered by the announcement of Microsoft that they were going to incorporate an "XP Mode" into Windows 7. While the motivations for this remain unclear, the method by which they are acheiving this is through a virtualised "machine" VM that runs Windows XP on a host machine that has either Intel VT or AMD-V capabilities.

Having configured servers with Intel devices using Windows Vista 64 it was decided that an AMD approach to Windows 7 should be taken with an AMD processor that had AMD-V capability. The AMD Phenom II X2 550 was chosen as it was an entry level (relatively) processor that shares the AMD-V capabilities of the AMD Opteron 64.

While the AMD Phenom is not classified as a "Server Grade" processor it is similar in that it incorporates the same technologies for "Client Side Virtualization". Windows 7 XP Mode requires Hardware assistance (HAV) from the underlying client platform via AMD-V.

AMD say:

AMD-V is a set of unique on-chip features that help AMD processor-based clients run multiple operating systems and applications on a single machine by improving the efficiency of virtualization software.

The AMD webpages are not really clear (at the consumer level) on what processors offer AMD-V and those that don't - Unless you dig deep!

My AMD Athlon X2 7750 (Torrent Box) reports Secure Virtual Machine Mode as enablable in BIOS. But, The AMD website, for the 7750 says that Virtualization is NOT featured (UPDATE: 8 Oct 2009 - now the AMD w/s says that it IS FEATURED??? - either I was mistaken or the webpage has changed)

It is also not specific for AMD Athlon X2 7550 (an even cheaper processor) (This definately says AMD-V is not featured)

The AMD Phenom II X2 550 definitely says AMD-V is featured, and this is the processor purchased for my Windows 7 Box (an upgrade of my original IBM A40 desktop)

AMD-V - AMD and Virtualization

Links