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Chromebooks are finally getting AMD Ryzen 5000 C-series CPUs
Acer and HP are among the first manufacturers to use the chips.
AMD unveils its first Ryzen 5000 CPUs with built-in graphics
AMD has unveiled its first Ryzen 5000-series chips with built-in graphics, and it's promising a leap in performance over Intel equivalents.
AMD's 4700G APU is a mid-range PC on a single chip
It's been a year since AMD's Zen 2 Ryzen 3000 CPUs changed the desktop PC market, with best-in-class productivity and "good enough" gaming performance. One area has been left behind, though: desktop APUs, which combine a processor with integrated graphics. Today that changes, as AMD is announcing a family of "4000G" APUs for desktop PCs.
AMD's next laptop processor is mostly about battery life
Intel isn't the only chip giant championing battery life over performance this year. AMD has revealed Carrizo, a processor range that's focused heavily on extending the running time of performance-oriented laptops. While there will be double-digit boosts to speed, there's no doubt that efficiency is the bigger deal here. The new core architecture (Excavator) is just 5 percent faster than its Kaveri ancestor, but it chews up 40 percent less energy at the same clock rate -- even the graphics cores use 20 percent less juice.
The Xbox One will get more affordable thanks to a new processor
Microsoft may have already cut the Xbox One's price to $349 for the holidays, but there are hints that the game console may get a permanent price drop before too long. An AMD chip design manager recently updated his LinkedIn resume (since made private) with word that he worked on a more efficient, "cost-reduced" version of the Xbox One's processor. There aren't any clues as to when this spruced-up silicon will arrive, but recent AMD roadmap leaks suggest that its first CPU architecture based on the technology will ship in 2015. In other words, you could be buying a cheaper Xbox by this time next year.
Star Trek Online: Delta Rising exposes androids and isolationist aliens
We're mere weeks away from entering the delta quadrant in Star Trek Online, but there is so much more left to learn about this new space and its inhabitants. Cryptic posted an intelligence briefing today about two additional races that one might encounter in Delta Rising: the Automatic Personnel Units and the Turei. The APUs are androids built by a long-dead civilization to wage war by proxy. The androids turned on their creators, continued fighting with each other, and searched for a way to reproduce (pro tip: Newegg should have some in stock). In contrast, the Turei are reptilian, isolationist aliens who use the Underspace corridors to traverse the delta quadrant. They're kind of jerks but have been known to engage in trading in their journeys.
AMD Kaveri review roundup: a solid gaming chip that's ahead of its time
It's been a busy week for AMD news, what with the launch of the Kaveri APU and then our first real evidence of how the new Mantle drivers can impact on PC gaming. But now's the time to kick back and check out some full reviews of Kaveri over at the specialist sites. We've rounded up some of the best articles after the break, and if you're looking for brutally short executive summaries, we've got some of those for you too.
AMD says its next PC chip trumps Intel with 12 'compute cores' and smoother gaming
A decade ago, AMD brought us the first dual-core x86 processor. Then, starting in 2008, the company came out with tri-core and quad-core designs in quick succession, leading up to octa-core chips in 2011's FX range as well as in the latest AMD-powered game consoles. Today, we're looking at a fresh leap forward, albeit one that will take a bit of explaining: a desktop and laptop chip called Kaveri, which brings together up to four CPU cores and eight GPU cores and gives them unheard-of levels of computing independence, such that AMD feels justified in describing them collectively as a dozen "compute cores." Marketing nonsense? Not necessarily. AMD is at least being transparent in its thinking, and besides, if you've been following our coverage of the company's HSA project, and of GPU compute in general, then you'll know that there's some genuine technology underpinning the idea of GPU cores being used for more than just 3D rendering. Nevertheless, even if you don't go for the whole 12-core thing, AMD still makes some down-to-earth promises about Kaveri's price and performance -- for example, that it matches up to Intel chips that cost a lot more (the top Kaveri desktop variant costs just $173, compared to $242 for a Haswell Core i5), and that it can play the latest games at 30fps without the need for a discrete graphics card. These are claims that can -- and will -- be put to the test.
AMD's impossibly thin nano PC prototype sits on your TV, but don't call it a set-top box
Let's take a moment to forget the technical nonsense. Seriously. Besides, we only really know the broad strokes about Mullins, AMD's next-gen ultra-low voltage APU. Instead, let's just gaze upon the tiny wonder that is the Nano PC for a bit and soak it all in. This reference design from the Sunnyvale company packs enough power to run Windows 8.1 pretty seamlessly and even get in a quick game of FIFA 14 at 1080p. Inside, in addition to a Mullins chip, is a 256GB SSD, a camera, Bluetooth, WiFI and a DockPort connector. And, it's really not much larger or thicker than a Note 3 -- it's pretty much a marvel of engineering. It's the last of those specs that's pretty important, since it allows you to connect to a tiny breakout box with HDMI and USB ports. Obviously you'll need one of those to connect it to a TV, which the Nano PC is designed to sit atop. Here's hoping that a company or two picks up on the design and starts making absurdly thin machines of their own. Dana Wollman contributed to this report.
AMD brings full-on Android to Windows through BlueStacks
BlueStacks has helped Windows users run Android apps on their PCs for a few years, but now the AMD-backed company is going a step further. The graphics titan has just announced that a new version of BlueStacks will be able to run full-on Android, right on your desktop, tablet or notebook loaded with Microsoft's operating system. Rather than leaning on the BlueStacks App Player for virtualization, the coming version of the software will run the entire OS, giving folks access to a veritable Android interface, settings, configuration and more. What's more, apps running through Google's OS will have access to files that reside on the host desktop. Still, BlueStacks retains the ability to run applications in windows or in full screen. The firm says optimizations courtesy of its 4th-gen APUs help make this possible, but it's not clear if the software will only work on machines using their silicon. There's no word on when this refreshed software will drop or what version of Android it supports, but expect more news to trickle out as CES continues.
AMD's next desktop chip lands in January, merges CPU and GPU like never before
We've been waiting a long time for the AMD chip known as Kaveri, but at least now we have a date for its availability: January 14th. We also know that the flagship desktop part for FM2+ socket motherboards will be called the A10-7850K, that it'll use four Steamroller CPU cores clocked at 3.7GHz, and that it'll incorporate the same TrueSound audio processing technology found on AMD's latest Radeon graphics cards. What we don't know for sure is how much this A10 chip will cost, or whether it'll arrive first as a standalone part or in pre-built systems. But either way, we're about discover something important: namely, whether the next-gen "Heterogeneous Systems Architecture" (HSA) that AMD has been boasting about, and which is supported for the first time on Kaveri, is actually worth its syllables. Read on for more.
AMD's 2014 embedded roadmap includes dedicated graphics, gaming-friendly CPU
AMD has long signaled that embedded chips will play a major role in its future, and it's backing up that claim by providing a glance at its 2014 roadmap. The highlight is Bald Eagle, a 35-watt x86 processor designed for demanding tasks like gaming; it should include up to four Steamroller cores, and it will optionally sport on-chip Graphics Core Next video. Devices that need even more visual power will use Adelaar, a dedicated graphics chipset that includes both GCN and 2GB of built-in memory. It's reportedly fast enough to be useful for PC video cards, not just the usual set-top boxes and smart TVs. Two system-on-chip designs are also joining AMD's lineup. Hierofalcon is built with data centers in mind, and carries up to eight ARM Cortex-A57 cores; Steppe Eagle, meanwhile, is a combination of upgraded Jaguar x86 cores and GCN that should speed up AMD's low-power G-series processors. With the exception of Hierofalcon, all of the new embedded chips should be available in the first half of next year. AMD hasn't named any early customers, but its embedded silicon tends to reach products that you'd recognize. Check out the roadmap after the break.
AMD says it's open to developing chips for Android and Chrome OS after all
It was only last fall that AMD said it didn't see a need to make its new "Hondo" chip for tablets to work with Android in addition to Windows and Linux, but it seems that the company now sees things a bit differently. Speaking with PC World at Computex, AMD Senior VP Lisa Su said that while AMD is "very committed to Windows 8," the company also sees "a market for Android and Chrome developing as well." Details remain light beyond that for the time being, with Su offering no indication as to when those chips might actually land in some devices. It does appear that the company is now working with developers on Android applications for AMD chips, though.
AMD rolls out Elite desktop APUs with Splashtop game streaming
AMD has already shown what its mobile Richland APUs can do, and it's now ready to reveal their desktop equivalents' potential. The company's new, full-power A6, A8 and A10 Elite processors are more evolutionary bumps than overhauls, but they still have a few clear advantages over last year's Trinity chips. Along with a bump in Turbo Boosted frequencies to between 4.1GHz and 4.4GHz (3.5GHz to 4.1GHz normally), the updates ship with Radeon HD 8000 video and can handle speedier DDR3-2133 memory (on the A10). Wireless is just as important as it is with the firm's newest mobile processors: the desktop Elites improve streaming games to other devices using Splashtop, with relatively little lag when modern AMD processors are on both ends. As for performance? AMD didn't have the luxury of comparing against Intel's Haswell chips at the time it gave us benchmarks, but it did claim big gains over Ivy Bridge in both general-purpose computing and gaming. A 4.1GHz A10-6800K is up to 3.3 times faster in OpenCL than a 3.2GHz Core i5-3470, and games like Bioshock Infinite are playable at 1080p (if barely) where they're unusable with the HD 3000 graphics of Intel's CPU. Performance boosts over Trinity are a more modest eight to 21 percent, however. If you want to know how well the Elite line fares in the real world, it won't take much effort to find out. AMD is shipping its processors this month, at very frugal prices that range from $69 to $142. %Gallery-190368%
AMD details Elite Mobility and mainstream APUs, we run early tests (hands-on)
AMD has been willing to tease its 2013 ultra-mobile APU (accelerated processing unit) strategy through PCs like the Acer Aspire V5, but today it's spilling the beans in earnest. The headliner for many is the company's just-shipping Elite Mobility line, or Temash: the A4 and A6 designs are built for tablets, like Hondo was, but their Jaguar-based system-on-chip designs should be faster in both CPU and graphics power without a hit to battery life. AMD estimates that the Radeon HD 8280G video core in an Elite Mobility A6 is about five times faster than a Clover Trail-based Atom and twice as fast as Hondo, but lasts about 45 percent longer on battery than an Intel Core i3. And that's while untethered -- that Turbo Dock feature is still in place to boost speeds by over 30 percent when a dock is around for extra cooling. The E1, E2, A4 and A6 mainstream APUs based on Kabini, meanwhile, are all about tackling the Pentium and Core i3 chips that go into entry-level laptops. AMD reckons that the dual-core (E-series) and quad-core (A-series) parts are up to 88 percent faster overall than their ancestors, and can even punch above their weight class: the E1's Radeon HD 8000-level graphics are up to 66 percent faster than those of a much thirstier, Trinity-era A4 chip. Battery life is a specialty as well, with up to 10 hours when idle and 9 hours of web use. That's typically 2 to 3 hours more than Kabini's Brazos ancestor could manage. AMD wasn't specific on when these mainstream APUs would first ship when we were briefed, but we had the opportunity to benchmark an A4-based reference laptop. Read on past the break for the scores and some early impressions. %Gallery-189169% %Gallery-189171%
AMD outlines Elite Performance laptop APUs with game-ready Wireless Display
AMD isn't focusing all its attention on its entry-level mobile APUs today: it's also providing details for the faster Richland-based models. The new A6, A8, and A10 mobile variants fall under the Elite Performance badge, and theoretically beat Intel to the punch with up to 71 percent faster 3D graphics than the current Core i5 family. They also muster about 7.5 hours of battery life with web use, or about an hour longer than we saw in the previous generation. The roster includes both regular power (35W) and low-voltage (17W to 25W) APUs, in dual- and quad-core editions. We're more interested in how well the chips play with other devices and software, however. Besides the face and motion gesture recognition that we've seen before, AMD touts a new take on Wireless Display with low enough latency for game sessions, support for 1080p60 video and native Miracast sharing. The Richland upgrade also introduces a new DockPort standard that can feed both USB 3.0 and up to three external DisplayPort screens through one cable. If you like what AMD is pitching, you won't have to wait to try it -- Elite Performance APUs have already been shipping with MSI's GX60 and GX70, and other vendors shouldn't be far behind. %Gallery-189172%
Acer Aspire V5 11.6-inch notebook leaked with $450 price tag, unexpected AMD Temash chip
While AMD announced its new Temash APU (alongside others) at this year's CES, the only device we've seen sporting it was an intriguing reference hybrid that made the rounds at the show. Now, details of an Acer Aspire V5 notebook have emerged, indicating the company is preparing its first Temash-powered device for general consumption. Acer already has a trio of Aspire V5 models with Intel Core processors and NVIDIA handling the graphics, but a half-complete product page for an unannounced V5-122P-0643 swaps those components out for AMD's wares. Formally called the AMD A6-1450, the Temash APU combines a quad-core 1GHz processor -- or 1.4GHz in "Turbo" state -- with a Radeon HD 8280 GPU. When put into tablets, it has an unusually low, sub-5W power envelope that allows for passive cooling. While we don't know exactly what wattage this Acer notebook will have, the presence of Temash should bode well for battery life. Head past the break for more details.
AMD reveals G-Series X embedded chips, drops a little ARM-powered bombshell
We're no strangers to AMD's embedded processors, designed for specialist applications such as casino gaming and dashboard infotainment systems. But this latest announcement of an updated G-Series processor reveals something totally unexpected. It's not just that the chip contains four Jaguar cores of PlayStation 4 fame, or that it also includes a Radeon 8000 GPU and I/O module on a single piece of silicon -- although that's all interesting enough. The key thing is actually the "X" in the lower right corner of the logo, which signifies that this is an x86 chip of the type we'd normally expect from AMD. The question is this: Why bother even mentioning the "X" when everyone knows AMD is an x86 stalwart already? Read on and we'll explain its true significance.
AMD Richland chips will arrive in notebooks next month, promise better graphics, battery life and a few extras
Yearly product cycles? AMD doesn't need that long, thank you. It's planning to release a fresh batch of low-power APUs just 11 months after Trinity. Known as Richland, this generation won't be vastly different at the silicon level, as it's built on the same 32nm process as Trinity, has the same number of transistors and offers very similar compute performance in terms of raw GFLOPs. However, there are some noteworthy upgrades in attendance, including a move to Radeon HD 8000M graphic processors, which are claimed to deliver a 20-40 percent increase in "visual performance" in higher-end models, plus power-saving tweaks that should provide over an hour of additional battery life while watching 720p video -- perhaps even enough for two extra episodes of House of Cards. Some Windows 8 enhancements will also tag along for the ride, and these will promptly be revealed if you read on past the break.%Gallery-181305%
AMD cuts silicon wafer order by three quarters, gets a nasty fine
If you're in need of a concrete example of how the chip-making industry is trickier than ever, and how it rewards scale at the expense of flexibility, then please, look no further. AMD has just significantly reduced its order for silicon wafers from its old mate Globalfoundries, in an effort to avoid the inventory surpluses and write-downs that have recently plagued its balance sheet. Instead of buying the originally agreed $500 million-worth of cake trays this quarter, it's now committed to spending just $115 million. Except it was never, ever gonna be that simple. In lieu of reneging on its contract at short notice, AMD will have to pay Globalfoundries a $320 million penalty on top, bringing the final cost of the deal to just $65 million less than what it would have paid for the full order. On the plus side, of course, that's still a major saving for a company which is going through an intense rough patch (to say the least) and trying to cling to every dime. Besides, AMD managed to get out of paying the fee as a lump sum, while also reducing its obligations for 2013 and agreeing to pay Globalfoundries less for R&D once it shifts to a more standard 28nm process -- so it can't entirely have run out of clout.
