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AMD reveals Trinity specs, claims to beat Intel on price, multimedia, gaming
Itching for the details of AMD's latest Accelerated Processing Units (APUs)? Then get ready to scratch: Trinity has arrived and, as of today, it's ready to start powering the next generation of low-power ultra-portables, laptops and desktops that, erm, don't run Intel. The new architecture boasts up to double the performance-per-watt of last year's immensely popular Llano APUs, with improved "discrete-class" integrated graphics and without adding to the burden on battery life. How is that possible? By how much will Trinity-equipped devices beat Intel on price? And will it play Crysis: Warhead? Read on to find out.
The Engadget Interview: AMD's Sasa Marinkovic
This isn't the easiest time to be an AMD fan. The company's eight-core FX-8150 desktop chip was widely panned on the review circuit, and then NVIDIA's GTX 680 graphics card ran off with Radeon HD's thunder. Even when you look at notebook processors, where AMD has long excelled with its Fusion APUs, the hype wars currently favor Ultrabooks and Ivy Bridge. Affection for the gamers' brand and its ATI back-story may make this stuff uncomfortable, but the predicament is already starting to mess with AMD's balance sheet. Which raises the obvious question: what's to be done? Sasa Marinkovic, AMD's Head of Desktop and Software Product Marketing, bravely took up the challenge of providing his side of the story -- even after we warned him that we'd try to disrupt his flow with accusatory glances. In the end, we did get him to acknowledge some recent hard knocks, particularly with respect to the FX chips and their (lack of) single-threaded performance. But we also got some insight into the mind of a chap who remains genuinely and abundantly confident about his employer's future. Read on and see for yourself.
AMD Llano desktop APU gets reviewed: the best integrated graphics in town
AMD is due to release a batch of new Llano APUs next month that are specifically tailored to desktops rather than laptops. The most powerful among them will be the 2.9GHz A8-3850, which has already caused a stir on the review circuit for one simple reason: it pulls off a brutal "one shot one kill" on Intel's HD 3000 integrated graphics. AnandTech raised an impressed eyebrow at the fact that all its benchmarking games were playable on the $135 AMD chip, which roughly doubled frame rates in titles like Modern Warfare 2, Bioshock 2 and World of Warcraft compared to the more expensive Sandy Bridge i5 2500K. TechSpot declared the APU its "new budget king," with graphical performance "on another level" compared even to an i7. However, the superlatives quickly evaporated once reviewers shifted their focus to the CPU. TechReport spotted that pure CPU performance per dollar was actually lower than what you'd get from a lowly i3. Moreover, it reckoned you'd only have to spend an extra $70 to buy a much more powerful CPU and a separate graphics card -- an option that comes "awfully close to making the A8-3850 seem irrelevant." Ouch. Nevertheless, if an affordable processor with integrated graphics is what you're after, then it's fair to say this one sets the standard. Click the source links below for full reviews.
AMD's Fusion A-Series chips official: 10.5-hour battery life, DirectX 11 graphics, and USB 3.0 support (video)
AMD's Llano platform has been on our radar for more than two years, and finally, the company has come clean with its latest class of hybrid CPU / GPU chips, officially dubbed the Fusion A-Series. Unlike the low-power flavor of Fusion accelerated processing units already on the market, these 32-nanometer APUs were designed with desktops and mainstream laptops in mind, taking direct aim at Intel's Core 2011 processors with the promise of superior processing and discrete-level graphics, and 10-plus hours of battery life. Aside from the assorted performance and battery life claims the company is making (much more on that in a moment), what this means is that as far as laptops go, AMD is completely stepping away from the standalone-CPU-plus-GPU paradigm. But, the company will still make dedicated Radeon cards, which can be coupled with an APU for a 75 percent boost in graphics performance -- a setup AMD is calling "Dual Graphics." All told, these chips measure just 228 square millimeters. To put this in context, check out the gallery of hands-on shots below, featuring the A-series next to a standalone CPU, discrete graphics card, and, for the sake of scale, the kind of low-power Fusion chip introduced back at CES. A-Series-equipped PCs are already shipping, and AMD says we can expect to see at least 150 of them this year. That sounds promising indeed, but we've still got lots of technical details to rehash. Head on past the break for the full spill on what these APUs pledge to do, along with a video of AMD senior product marketing manager Raymond Dumbeck showing off some A-series laptops in action. %Gallery-124351%
AMD Llano quad-core APUs and Zambezi octa-core CPUs get priced, the former listed inside an HP dv6
Don't mistake the relative quietness from AMD on the APU front for inactivity. Ever since announcing the first shipment of its Llano Accelerated Processing Unit in April, the company's been working behind the scenes to ramp up availability to OEMs, and somewhere along the supply chain a gracious soul has been found who's leaked the bulk pricing for those chips. The new quad-core A Series processors start off at $110 for an A6-3450 and max out at $170 for an A8-3550P, but there's also mention of octa-core FX processors, which will weigh in at $320 a piece and reputedly compete with Intel's 3.4GHz Core i7-2600K. The latter are built around AMD's Bulldozer modules (wherein one module counts for two cores) and look to be the manifestation of the company's Zambezi CPUs, which could come without an integrated graphics processor as is available on the Llano and the rest of AMD's Fusion line. Just to whet appetites further, we've also come across an HP dv6 on an obscure German retail site, offering a 1.6GHz A6-3410MX APU, 6GB of RAM, and a most reasonable €590 price. There's obviously no promised delivery date, but this should be the first of many such appearances in the coming days as we build up towards Computex 2011. Something tells us AMD won't be holding back when the Taipei electronics show gets started. [Thanks, Shashwat and Vygantas]
AMD's Bobcat APU benchmarked: the age of the Atom is at an end
So small, and yet potentially so disruptive. AMD's 1.6GHz Zacate chip, bearing a pair of Bobcat modules, has been taken off the leash today, resulting in a torrent of benchmarks pouring down onto the internet. While perusing the sources below, you might think to yourself that it's not exactly a world beater, sitting somewhere in the middle of the pack on most tests, but compare it to Intel's dual-core Atom D510 -- its most immediate competition in the target sub-$500 laptop price range -- and you'll find a thoroughgoing whooping in progress. The highlight of these new Fusion APUs is that they integrate graphics processing within the CPU chip, and Zacate didn't disappoint on that front either, with marked improvements over anything else available in its class. The resulting chips might still not have quite enough grunt to earn a place in your daily workhorse mobile computer, but their power efficiency and netbook-level pricing goals sure do look delightful. Or dangerous, if you're Intel. Read - AnandTech Read - Tech Report Read - PC Perspective Read - Hot Hardware Read - Legit Reviews
AMD teases Bobcat Fusion APUs again, delivers Atom-busting performance (video)
A quick refresher: Bobcat is AMD's low-power Accelerated Processing Unit that can handle both computational and graphical duties, Ontario and Zacate are the chips built upon that core, and Brazos is the overall platform that they'll be doing their work on. Clear enough? We hope so. AMD has finally allowed a few tech pubs to get their hands on Brazos-based systems and, along with feedback about their experience, the guys have come back with some added spec notes. There'll be two initial Zacate options, the dual-core E-350 running at 1.6GHz or the single-core E-240 clocked at 1.5GHz, while Ontario will offer 1GHz dual-core and 1.2GHz single-core variants. Let's not forget that both are intended for netbooks and lithe desktop computers before writing them off as too slow -- which would be a mistake anyway as the sites that got a chance to play with the E-350 reported very respectable performance. HardOCP dared to try out Crysis and managed to get it chugging along at a resolution around 720p, whereas Hot Hardware witnessed a 1080p video clip being played back perfectly smoothly alongside an instance of Hyper Pi maxing out the CPU load. Benchmark results will have to wait for another day, but feel free to peruse the links below for a more detailed breakdown of the new architecture.
AMD names second Bobcat APU Zacate, shows off Ontario die size
AMD might still have no actual Fusion product to sell us, but it's added a fresh new codename to the stable of future CPU/GPU hybrids. The Zacate Accelerated Processing Unit is a Bobcat derivative, much like the Ontario, but it operates at a higher TDP of 18W and is intended for ultrathin and mainstream laptops along with power-sipping desktops and all-in-ones. Both it and the Ontario APU will offer two Bobcat cores allied to Radeon graphics capable of performing DirectX 11 instructions, though the Ontario dips all the way down to 9W with the stated aim of punching up netbook and small form factor pc performance. Just for reference, that'll have to compete against Intel's own dual-core solution, the 1.5GHz Atom N550, which scrapes by on just an 8.5W TDP... though, of course, it doesn't integrate the same graphics processing prowess that Ontario promises. The two chips, Ontario and Zacate, will ride AMD's Brazos platform when they finally debut early next year. Until then, enjoy the technicolor die shot after the break.
AMD Fusion sampling soon, arriving in 2011 with Llano APU
To say that we've been waiting for AMD's Fusion CPU / GPU combo for a long time would be an understatement. In fact, while AMD was busy talking about it, Intel swept in with its own Arrandale and Clarkdale chips that pack graphical and computing processing into the same chip. Lest we were discouraged, then, AMD is making a return to form with news that its first Fusion APU (Accelerated Processing Unit) is about to start sampling to manufacturers, with a now definite 2011 launch window. Codenamed Llano, this will be a quad-core beastie with intended operating speeds of more than 3Ghz and graphics parts borrowed from ATI's successful line of Evergreen GPUs. That means DirectX 11, a feature Intel is unlikely to match, whereas AMD will have everything Intel currently does and more, with a 32nm production process, on-die integration (rather than just the same chip packaging), and power gating allowing for dynamic per-core overclocking a la Turbo Boost. It's been lonely without you AMD, now just fulfill this promise and all that absenteeism will be forgiven.
AMD spells out the future: heterogeneous computing, Bulldozer and Bobcats galore
Believe it or not, it's just about time for AMD to start thinking about its future. We know -- you're still doing your best to wrap that noodle around Congos and Thubans, but now it's time to wonder how exactly Leo, Llano and Zambezi (to name a few) can fit into your already hectic schedule. At an Analyst Day event this week, the chipmaker removed the wraps on its goals for 2010 and 2011, and while it's still focusing intently on Fusion (better described as heterogeneous computing, where "workloads are divided between the CPU and GPU"), it's the forthcoming platforms that really have us worked up. For starters, AMD is looking into Accelerated Processing Unit (APU) configurations, which "represent the combined capabilities of [practically any] two separate processors." We're also told that the firm may actually introduce its Bulldozer (architecture for mainstream machines) and Bobcat (architecture for low-power, ultrathin PCs) platforms more hastily than similar ones have been rolled out in the past, which demonstrates an effort to really target the consumer market where Intel currently reigns. Frankly, we're jazzed about the possibilities, so hit the links below for a deep dive into what just might be powering your next (or next-next) PC. [Via Digitimes]
