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AMD looks to boost Windows tablet gaming with its first true mobile chip
Whatever happened to AMD's last tablet chip, Temash? We had a great time playing DiRT Showdown on a Temash-powered Windows 8 tablet back at CES, but the graphics-focused processor has so far only appeared in a handful of low-profile devices from the likes of Acer, ASUS and Gigabyte. If this lack of impact was due to the chip's relatively hungry four-watt power draw (hungry for a tablet, at least), then AMD might just have a solution in the form of Temash's successor, this time named after a river called "Mullins." Thanks to its new Puma cores and 28nm fabrication, Mullins brings the wattage down to just two watts. This puts it broadly on a par with most ARM and Intel Bay Trail consumer tablet chips, which is a first for AMD outside of its industrial G-Series range. Meanwhile, a claimed doubling of performance-per-watt means that frame rates shouldn't take much of a hit. As with all of AMD's latest processors, including its "Beema" range for low-power laptops which should launch around the same time as Mullins, the presence of a Graphics Core Next GPU should help to improve performance on Mantle-boosted games, including those brought across from next-gen consoles. So, although AMD is now extremely late to the tablet party, it may still get there -- and we don't have long to wait. Mullins is due to launch in the first half of next year, and we're promised a turn on a Mullins-powered tablet at the upcoming CES 2014 in January.
Toshiba's Satellite Click detachable PC promises better graphics than your typical budget system
We get it: speeds and feeds aren't everything. But this might be a rare case where a chip could actually make the whole story. Toshiba announced the Satellite Click today, and until you get to the spec sheet, it reads like a totally forgettable product. What we have here is a 13-inch detachable tablet with a 500GB hard drive inside the tablet and an extra battery inside the keyboard dock. Sounds like lots of other things you've read about, right? Well, lo and behold, the Click is actually one of the first products to ship with AMD's Temash chip, whose graphics prowess we showed you back at CES. To be fair, this is a dual-core 1GHz A4-1200 processor with AMD Radeon HD 8180 graphics, not the quad-core one we demoed earlier. Even so, the general concept is the same: this is a system-on-a-chip tailored for tablets that makes use of AMD's 28nm Graphics Core Next architecture, which you'll also find inside some of AMD's discrete GPUs. Depending on the exact chip, Temash promises to compete with Intel's Atom processors as well as its Core i3 series. Unlike a Core i3 tablet, though, Temash allows for a fanless design, more akin to what you'd expect from an Atom or ARM-powered device. Also, it drives down the cost. The Click will go for about $599, making it $150 cheaper than the Core i3-powered HP Split x2, which also has a 13-inch screen, dual batteries and a 500-gig hard drive in the dock. Granted, there are likely to be tradeoffs, and we suspect battery life could be one of them, if not speed. A Toshiba rep estimated runtime at three to four hours for the tablet only, and six to seven hours with the dock. That wouldn't match up well against a new Haswell hybrid but then again, some of its competitors (like the Split x2) are based on Ivy Bridge, which isn't so hot in the longevity department either. The Click will be available later this month exclusively at Best Buy and on Toshiba's site. Update: We've just seen the Click on display here at IFA... sort of. Toshiba is showing off the European version, the Satellite W30t, which for whatever reason ships with an Intel Core processor, not an AMD Temash chip. So, similar design (save for the fans), but very different performance, we'd imagine. Follow all of our IFA 2013 coverage by heading to our event hub!
ASUS unveils budget X102BA laptop with 10-point touch and AMD inside
ASUS' new Zenbook UX301 and second-gen Transformer Book a little too rich for your blood? You'll be glad to hear that the company has announced what appears to be a more down-to-Earth ultraportable, the X102BA. As suggested in rumors, the laptop is ultimately a rival to Acer's 11-inch Aspire V5. While the X102BA sports a smaller 10.1-inch touchscreen, it uses the same 1GHz Temash-based AMD processor and should offer both healthy battery life and quicker-than-usual integrated graphics. The base 2GB of RAM and 320GB hard drive won't impress anyone, but ASUS is sweetening the pot by offering a free copy of Office 2013 Home & Student with every model. The company isn't providing launch details just yet; still, we wouldn't be surprised if the X102BA is priced well within the budgets of returning students. Follow all of our IFA 2013 coverage by heading to our event hub!
ASUS VivoBook X102BA leaks with 10.1-inch screen and Win 8, reportedly launching next month
Families are all about growing -- an honest case of "the more, the merrier," if you will. Now, according to our friends over at SweClockers, ASUS is getting ready to make its own Vivo family a little larger by introducing the VivoBook X102BA. This leaked Windows 8 PC reportedly packs some pretty run-of-the-mill specs, including a 1.0GHz, dual-core AMD A4-1200 CPU (with Radeon HD 8180 for graphics), 2GB of RAM and a 320GB hard drive. What's also of interest here is that ASUS is said to be bundling it with Microsoft Office Home & Student 2013, which would certainly be a useful tool to interested parties. Per the report, the ASUS VivoBook X102BA will launch sometime in September for around 330 euros, or about 440 bucks if you're this side of the pond. [Thanks, Jacob]
Gigabyte PC revamps include game-ready Ultrabooks, AMD A4-based tablet (hands-on)
Gigabyte loves to pull out all the stops at Computex, and this year is no exception: the company just unveiled 11 (mostly) new laptops and tablets. According to a brochure on hand at the computer maker's demo table, the emphasis is chiefly on slimmer portables with both Haswell-era Core processors and some dedicated graphics firepower. The P34G and P35K Ultrablade models are equally 0.83 inches thick, but pack gaming-friendly GeForce GTX 760M (P34G) and 765M (P35K) video. More pedestrian Ultrabooks get a boost as well: both the touchscreen U24T (pictured above) and the non-touch U24F wield a mid-tier GeForce GT 750M. If you don't mind bulkier laptops, the Q2546N, Q2556N, U35F, P27K and P27W scale from the GeForce GT 740M through to the GTX 770M while allowing for more storage and Creative Sound Blaster audio tuning. The tablet updates aren't nearly as extensive. Most of Gigabyte's energy centers on the 10-inch Slate S10A, a spin on the S1082 with an AMD Temash-based A4-1200 processor that delivers up to 14 hours of battery life. Other refreshes are even subtler: the 11.6-inch U21M convertible is similar to the U2142, while the dockable S1185 returns virtually unchanged outside from a new Padbook nickname. Release dates and prices aren't immediately available for any of the new systems, unfortunately, but you can peek at a few of the fresh models in our hands-on photos just below. %Gallery-190058% Zach Honig and Mat Smith contributed to this report.
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%
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 Turbo Dock promises better performance and cooling for hybrids, we go hands-on (video)
Here's a question we've been asking ourselves for a while: what if the dock for a hybrid tablet could offer not only a keyboard and battery, but also increased performance? Wouldn't that provide the best of both worlds, with long battery life when you're in tablet mode and true laptop productivity when you have a place to sit down? Turns out AMD is on the same wavelength. In fact, the company has already implemented the idea in a prototype device here at MWC, destined to appear in commercial products around the middle of this year. As you'll see if you check out the video after the break, it's built by Compal and includes a 13-inch 1080p display with a quad-core Temash chip, which when combined with its Turbo Dock delivers some serious power -- going from 8 W to 15 W, with extra air flow delivered through the connector to keep it cool. AMD says that the docked tablet offers general computing performance broadly at the level of a full-fledged 17 W Intel Core i3 notebook. Judging from Microsoft's Fish Bowl HTML5 benchmark, we're looking at a gain of 50 percent -- and yes, that's pretty impressive. Next stop, a dock with an extra discrete GPU for CrossFire gaming? Who knows, but it's the logical progression.
TSMC to triple 28nm chip shipment this year, asserts confidence in 20nm demand
At yesterday's investor meeting in Taipei, TSMC's chairman and CEO Morris Chang shared the good news that his company's 28nm chip shipment this year will triple that of last year, which should boost its annual increase in revenue to above the industry's average rate of seven percent. China Times reports that orders for TSMC's 28nm silicon are lined up to as far out as late Q3, courtesy of demand for ARM processors, baseband chips, graphics processors and x86 processors. This is no surprise considering the likes of Qualcomm (Snapdragon 600 and 800), Huawei (HiSilicon K3V2 Pro and K3V3), NVIDIA (Tegra 4), AMD (Temash and Kabini) and possibly Apple will be ordering more 28nm-based chipsets from the foundry throughout the year. TSMC did struggle with its 28nm supply for Qualcomm early last year, but it eventually caught up later on, and Chang stated that TSMC now owns nearly 100 percent of the 28nm process market. Looking further ahead, Chang said his company's already seen enough clients and demand for the upcoming 20nm manufacturing process, which should have a more significant financial contribution in 2014. The exec also predicted that at TSMC, its 20nm production will see a bigger growth rate between 2014 and 2015 than its 28nm counterpart did between 2012 and 2013 -- the former should eventually nab close to 90 percent of the market, said Chang. [Image credit: TSMC]
AMD shows off a reference device with a quad-core, x86-based Temash chip
Earlier today AMD's director of global business units marketing, John Taylor, joined us on our CES stage to talk chips. Specifically, tablet chips, and laptop chips, and chips for products that have elements of both. While he was up there, Mr. Taylor flashed a reference device -- a laptop hybrid with the keyboard and touchpad built into the carrying case. Obviously, we weren't satisfied with just a quick tease, so we caught up with him afterward to learn a bit more. As it turns out, it runs a quad-core version of AMD's new Temash chip, which is being billed as the first quad-core, x86-based SoC. (There's also a dual-core version.) Built into the chip is an HD Radeon 8000 series GPU with AMD's Graphics Core Next architecture, so in theory you should be able to pull off PC-caliber gaming even on a tablet. All told, it promises 50 percent more performance than AMD's Hondo processor, which you can find in Vizio's new Windows 8 tablet. Of course, those are just marketing claims, and besides we haven't had a chance to benchmark either a Hondo or a Temash system yet. So, to put that in better context, it might be helpful to hear AMD talk about its competitors. Obviously, Intel is a biggie, but in particular AMD says Temash should be able to compete with Clover Trail tablet chips, going all the way up to Core i3 on laptops. We're told Temash will ship sometime in the first half of this year, and that AMD will be revealing more details about the platform at Mobile World Congress, which kicks off in late February. Until then, we've got hands-on photos of the unit below, along with some performance impressions after the break.
AMD announces Temash, Kabini, Richland, and Kaveri APUs at CES 2013 (video)
AMD's press event here in Vegas just wrapped up, and if there's a single acronym to describe everything that we witnessed, it's this: APU. The two highlights were codenamed Temash and Kabini, two products that the company is touting as its first true system-on-chip APUs. In fact, each of 'em will launch as the "industry's first quad-core x86 SoCs" in the first half of 2013. It also took the wraps off of Richland, an APU that's presently shipping to OEMs and promises to deliver "more than 20 percent to up to 40 percent over the previous generation of AMD A-Series APUs." The outfit will be bundling Richland will new software for consumers such as eyeSight-enabled gesture and facial-recognition, while the follow-on will be the 28nm APU codenamed "Kaveri" -- a device that should ship to customers during the second half of 2013. We're also told that AMD's newest silicon will be used in various HP Sleekbooks and Vizio's 11.6-inch APU-powered tablet, two Vizio ultrathin laptops, and a 24-inch AIO desktop. Hungry for more? The full release is after the break.
