AMD kinda sorta takes aim at Atom with Athlon Neo

And here you thought AMD's 45-nm Conesus was its next generation netbook / ultra-portable processor. Sorry, for that you'll have to wait until the beginning of the second half of 2009 according to Bahr Mahony, Director of AMD's mobile division who we just spoke with here at CES. Instead, AMD's Athlon Neo ultra-portable platform built around existing 65-nm processes is scheduled to make its retail debut in the US in March. Remember, AMD won't be challenging Intel in a race to the bottom so Neo is aimed squarely at that soft, chewy marketshare nestled between the underperforming $499 netbook and over-the-top $1,499 ultra-portable. Neo boasts more processing power than Intel's 45-nm Atom at the cost of a higher load on your battery thanks to the 35W thermal envelop of the Neo chipset combined with a discrete, ATI Mobility Radeon Hd 3410 graphics. The result however is what AMD calls balanced performance from ultra-thin notebooks capable of smooth 1080p playback of your HD media -- a feat that Atom-based netbooks saddled with integrated graphics struggle with. Interesting, now let's see the 3rd party benchmarks. AMD's data versus the Atom posted after the break.

[Pedobear @ Jan 6th 2009 12:09AM]

AMD fanboys, rejoice!

[Rotaryfan @ Jan 6th 2009 12:31AM]

congratulations on being pedobear [not.] I have a pedobear stamp of approval button for some reason. just thought I'd share.

those benchmarks look reasonable. how long till we see a Neo + 9400? 3 hours?
(not entirely sure why I've been sucked into the hype about Nvidia's integrated video)

[quantumslip @ Jan 6th 2009 12:18AM]

woah...

[Joshua Walters @ Jan 6th 2009 12:21AM]

I like.

Its a good spot in between, and there will be a press to get these into netbooks, especially since the chipset will support more than 2gb of RAM.

Atom, you do have your limiting factors.

[Craig @ Jan 6th 2009 12:22AM]

You consider $1499 to be "over the top" for an ultraportable? All the really nice ones cost two grand or more.

[Boards of Canada @ Jan 6th 2009 12:30AM]

not anymore... only fujitsu and apple still super duper expensive.

[Patriks7 @ Jan 6th 2009 6:39AM]

Actually the Apple one is right below 2 grand..
Some Vaio's are 2 grand+ as well..

[Andrew Lazetera @ Jan 11th 2009 6:07PM]

HAHAHA You consider Sony a viable competitor in the computing arena! Stick to game consoles, beautiful AV systems, and potato chips Sony, stay out of computing. And while your at it, get the hell out of the whole "XPlod!!!111!!!!!" car audio gag, your (car) speakers suck.

[kingofwale @ Jan 6th 2009 12:25AM]

1080P video playback.... on what?? My 1270X600 screen???

Am I missing something here? If I want a monster computer with good video card, I wouldn't buy a netbook. Know your target audiences!

[Boards of Canada @ Jan 6th 2009 12:30AM]

HDMI output...

[Anthony @ Jan 6th 2009 12:30AM]

Nothing should be named Neo. That name was ruined long ago by Bill. Or Ted. I can't remember who's who.

[Boards of Canada @ Jan 6th 2009 12:31AM]

Games will be better too! its great news.

I guess dual-core Atom are very near now.

[Rotaryfan @ Jan 6th 2009 1:18AM]

a dual core atom isn't necessary, but better integrated graphics are. atom processor use only goes up when playing multimedia.

[Rotaryfan @ Jan 6th 2009 12:32AM]

it's actually pretty smart of amd to produce an in between processor. because stores like best buy and its ilk try to inform customers about the drawbacks of netbooks, a slightly larger, slightly better, and slightly more expensive alternative could really open up the quasi-ultra portable realm that sony/apple started with the air/vaio z by combining the two and cutting costs so that they can reach the everyman. the idea of a very thin, very light, more than good-enough laptop with excellent battery is really great for 90% of the non-business market.

[twitchy @ Jan 6th 2009 12:33AM]

AMD should've used XP and market it as the fastest netbook. By using Vista, it'll be compared with computers 30% to 50% faster and look like a dog in the process.

[KeegdnaB @ Jan 6th 2009 12:55AM]

Just wait till 7. Everything will be fine.

[Benson @ Jan 6th 2009 8:27AM]

XP would be better, but it stops mattering if one plans to install a free UNIX on it anyway.

[Christian Walters @ Jan 6th 2009 12:46AM]

Ahhh, very good news indeed! I was starting to lose faith in AMD...but this has helped me a little bit!

[Eric @ Jan 6th 2009 12:48AM]

I could use a motherboard with a 3410 on board, I really don't want to wait for the nvidia ion platform to be available before I can finish my NES pc.

[Cman @ Jan 6th 2009 12:51AM]

I don't get it. I can buy a Core 2 Duo or Core laptop at Best Buy for the same this dog will cost and the performance is substancially better as you can see.

[Eric @ Jan 6th 2009 12:53AM]

The size is the important factor, this can fit into a small package, while high power c2d options generally cannot.

[Jake@AMD @ Jan 6th 2009 12:34PM]

Neo-based systems have great appeal for users focusing on portability (sleekness, lightweight, etc.) but who still want the functionality of a mainstream notebook. Mainstream notebooks and ultrathin notebooks can coexist, with consumer usage models driving the choice between one or the other.

[Cman @ Jan 6th 2009 12:59AM]

But it doens't have s ize and I have seen Core in small mobile form factors even MIDs albeit more epensive. At 65nm can't imagine heat/power not being an issue in a netbook type product but I guess we'll see when they release it.

[kojo87 @ Jan 6th 2009 1:41AM]

yay for competition!

[SimonRichards @ Jan 6th 2009 1:41AM]

Put one of these in the fujitsu U820, bring the price down a bit, and I would maybe actually buy one!

[lhfan04 @ Jan 6th 2009 2:27AM]

Looks pretty good to me. I got to admit my friend has a Acer Aspire 1 and while it is a good computer it gets loaded way to easy its hard to open iTunes and Internet Explorer at the same time =|. Hopefully the Athlon Neo will serve for multitasking well.

[zomg0t @ Jan 6th 2009 2:43AM]

That's because it's iTunes and Internet Explorer. If he used Linux, he probably wouldn't load the system; but then again perhaps he needs IE and itunes.

[Oli D @ Jan 6th 2009 2:32AM]

last night i had a dream that AMD would launch an atom competitor soon,

maybe im a soothsayer,

or maybe this is ABOUT TIME!

[bebop @ Jan 6th 2009 4:11AM]

So Neo is a 65nm single core Athlon running at 1.6 GHz? Anything new added to the mix?

[dotAaron @ Jan 6th 2009 5:03AM]

The platform will likely have faster RAM, a faster FSB (or hyper-transport link), more cache, moer capable graphics etc. :)

Considering these Athlon Neo based systems will cost little more than Atom based, likely have similar battery life it could be an epic win for AMD (and us :D)

[superhobo @ Jan 6th 2009 4:22AM]

I'm rejoicing.
!

[dotAaron @ Jan 6th 2009 4:43AM]

I like how AMD is keeping hush about things. Like Phenom II just seemed to appear out of the blue, and now this!

Its clear they are working hard behind the scenes to get the business back on top form!

Go AMD!

[pfromg @ Jan 6th 2009 5:31AM]

will this prevent AMD from going bankrupt in 2009?

probably not.

[Wolfticket @ Jan 6th 2009 9:25AM]

HTPC Heaven

[jeremyturnley @ Jan 6th 2009 1:19PM]

Not quite HTPC heaven. HTPC heaven would be a dual core version with a Radeon 43xx graphics core - this won't QUITE have enough punch to be the core of a full-fledged HTPC (recording/ripping multiple HD sources while playing one or more back). Later this year after the 45nm die shrink, I think we will be ready for that.

Now, as a mulitmedia playback only box/softsled/My Movies client? Oh, yeah - we are definitely there. This would be an ideal core for a media client for a WHS install of My Movies, just add a 16GB SSD for your Vista Home Premium install and off you go.

[John Willaford @ Jan 6th 2009 10:43AM]

How did you avoid putting Keanu's face on the Neo Processor when doing the story graphic?

[Jake@AMD @ Jan 6th 2009 12:36PM]

Definitely. The package was shrunk, lower TDPs and the chipset optimized for ultrathin notebooks.

[dleonRJ @ Jan 7th 2009 11:23PM]

Asus, MSI, Lenovo, anyone who would care to listen!!

I want an AMD widescreen thinbook!! One whose touchpad is on the Right!! (they could make some for lefties too!) If someone makes this (cheap?), I am going to buy it!! Just make sure it runs King's Bounty!

[William Hartmann @ Jan 11th 2009 9:17PM]

I agree. A thin, widescreen lappy with an AMD processor would be great. Epic Win xD

[MC @ Jan 8th 2009 2:04AM]

Thanks for the review. I wonder what x1250 is like compared to the 9400 in the upcoming Ion?