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Acer Aspire One 522 falls from the clouds, sporting dual-core 1GHz Ontario APU?
AMD Fusion's taken its sweet, sweet time getting here, but we're hearing you'll be able to get your hands on some Atom-beating netbook chips soon -- for instance, in this Acer Aspire One 522, which will reportedly drive its oh-so-glossy 10.1-inch, 720p screen with a 1GHz AMD C-50 Ontario APU. In case you need a brief refresher, Ontario's the chip rated at just nine watts, meaning we should expect some fairly decent battery life here, though possibly not the heroic performance of its 1.6GHz Zacate cousin. Aside from those specs, the Acer's mostly your standard netbook -- three USB ports, VGA-out, a webcam and 802.11 b/g/n WiFi -- though it does have HDMI out, something you won't find on the otherwise similar Aspire One D255. It's hard to say what it'll cost stateside, but a Thai e-tailer's ringing up a version right now with 2GB of RAM and a 500GB hard drive for 12,829 baht (about $425). Wonder if it runs Android?
Acer's 10.1-inch tablet reportedly uses AMD C-50 APU
Acer's already confirmed that its forthcoming 10.1-inch Windows 7 tablet will be AMD-powered, but it unfortunately didn't get any more specific on the matter than that. If a new DigiTimes report is to be believed, however, it looks like the tablet will use AMD's dual-core C-50 Ontario APU (or accelerated processing unit), which itself consumes just 9W of power and packs a built-in Radeon HD 6250 graphics chip. What's more, DigiTimes is also reporting that Acer's 10.1-inch Android slate rocks Tegra 2 and will, in fact, support WiFi and 3G. Wait and see.
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 will contribute 'engineering expertise' to MeeGo development project
Now here's a very positive new sign for MeeGo's future. AMD, Intel's oldest and boldest nemesis, has added its name to the list of companies actively supporting the development of the platform -- which got its start as a joint project between Intel and Nokia -- and has pledged the contribution of its "engineering expertise" to the further advancement of the open source OS. In simpler terms, AMD must be aware of the great potential of MeeGo and is seeking not to be left behind, as illustrated by Ben Bar-Haim, the company's software development VP, who expressed AMD's hope that "this operating system will help drive our embedded plans and create expanded market opportunities for our forthcoming Accelerated Processing Units." Good to know, guys, good to know. Jump past the break for the full press release.
AMD publishes CPU roadmaps through 2012, runs a quad-core Bulldozer through the laptop realm
Heard of Trinity, Krishna, Wichita and Komodo? You have now -- they're the codenames of brand-new processors that AMD plans to ship in 2012. AMD dropped preliminary details on the basic platform lineup earlier this week, and it looks like there are some sweeping changes in store -- like the fact that every single chip will have a DirectX 11 capable GPU on board in true Fusion style. Also, if you thought Bulldozer was a desktop processor and Bobcat limited to laptops, you'll be interested to know that's not at all how it's going to work -- powerhouse notebooks and mid-range towers can get the same four high-end cores in the form of a 32nm Trinity APU, while Krishna and Wichita mop up the low-end and hopefully address low power consumption scenarios with 28nm silicon. Of course, there's a little something extra for the desktop enthusiast, and that's where the octa-core Komodo will come in (picture after the break). AMD's also enacted one other very important change, and that's to provide the handy-dandy AMD Codename Decoder™ for telling all these platforms apart. You'll find it at our more coverage link. We kid you not.
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 demos next-gen Llano Fusion APU, promises consumer availability in 2011
2011 can't come soon enough, particularly if you're AMD. The company has been attempting to maintain hype behind its CPU / GPU hybrid since last century, but the newest demonstration of its Llano Accelerated Processing Unit (APU) is getting us back in the mood. For those who haven't followed the play-by-play, this here all-in-one chip is expected to hit laptops and desktops at some point in 2011, and the company's most recent demo featured a single chip simultaneously processing three separate compute-and graphics-intensive workloads. Llano was able to calculate the value of Pi to 32 million decimal places, decode HD video from a Blu-ray film and handle some other mysterious task that we may or may not ever truly find out about. Head on past the break for a promotional / informational video, and be sure to re-circle next year on your calendar. That'll be the one... just like your high school football team always thought.
AMD throws down gauntlet, pits Zacate netbook chip against Intel's Core i5 in City of Heroes duel (video)
We knew AMD planned to upstage Intel in San Francisco this week, but we didn't realize just how far Chipzilla's rival would go -- the company's demonstrating the power of its new Zacate APU by having it trounce an Intel Core i5-520M in a graphical superhero showdown. Though we've never really thought much of Intel's integrated graphics anyhow (though we're giving Sandy Bridge's technique the benefit of the doubt), watching a netbook part beat a 2.4GHz Core i5 at anything is truly something else. While AMD won't speak to the clockspeed or price of its new dual-core chips, it says the 18W Zacate and 9W Ontario should appear in devices with over 8 and 10 hours of battery life respectively when they likely ship to consumers early next year. Video after the break. %Gallery-102207%
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's Bobcat and Bulldozer, 2011 flagship CPU cores, detailed today
One of these days AMD is gonna have to stop talking about its Atom-killing Bobcat and Xeon-ending Bulldozer cores and finally release them. But, until that happy moment arrives in 2011 (fingers crossed), we'll have to content ourselves with more presentation slides. First up, the Bobcat core is AMD's long overdue play for the netbook/ultrathin market. Pitched as having 90 percent of the performance of current-gen, K8-based mainstream chips, AMD's new mobility core will require "less than half the area and a fraction of the power" of its predecessors. That sounds like just the recipe to make the company relevant in laptop purchasing decisions again, while a touted ability for the core to run on less than one watt of power (by lowering operating frequencies and voltages, and therefore performance) could see it appear in even smaller form factors, such as MIDs. The Bobcat's now all set to become the centerpiece of the Ontario APU -- AMD's first Fusion chip, ahead of Llano -- which will be ramping up production late this year, in time for an early 2011 arrival. The Bulldozer also has a future in the Fusion line, but it's earliest role will be as a standalone CPU product for servers and high-end consumer markets. The crafty thing about its architecture is that every one Bulldozer module will be counted as two cores. This is because AMD has split its internal processing pipelines into two (while sharing as many internal components as possible), resulting in a sort of multicore-within-the-core arrangement. The way the company puts it, it's multithreading done right. Interlagos is the codename of the first Opteron chips to sport this new core, showing up at some point next year in a 16-core arrangement (that's 8 Bulldozers, if you're keeping score at home) and promising 50 percent better performance than the current Magny-Cours flagship. Big words, AMD. Now let's see you stick to a schedule for once.%Gallery-100088%
AMD Fusion APU gets its first public demo at Computex (video)
Hey, what do you know -- the Fusion lives! AMD's CPU / GPU hybrid, which sounded so revolutionary back when it was first thought up, has finally shown off its Accelerated Processing grunt by chewing through a section of Aliens vs Predator live on stage at Computex. We can't say we were exactly bowled over by the performance -- the demo was just a leisurely walk through some leafy terrain, yet still seemed to dip below 30 frames a second at a few points, showing that the APU wasn't all that comfortable handling the DirectX 11 tasks that were put upon it. This chip is targeted at ultraportables, however, and that's a crowd with distinctly lower standards than your usual desktop gamer, so maybe there's a future for this 2011-bound slice of silicon after all. We've got video of the full AMD presentation after the break -- you'll want to skip ahead 59 minutes to see the AVP runthrough. %Gallery-94148%
AMD to finally take on netbook space with new Fusion chip... next year
We've always said AMD should go after the gaping hole between netbooks and thin-and-lights by releasing a low-power platform with solid graphics abilities, and it looks like the company's finally coming around -- AMD's John Taylor just told us that the chipmaker will be releasing a netbook-class Fusion CPU / GPU hybrid codenamed "Ontario" with integrated DX11 graphics sometime next year. If Ontario sounds familiar, it's because we've seen it leaked in the past -- it's a part of the "Brazos" platform built around the low-power Bobcat core. Of course, AMD has been promising Fusion chips of all stripes for years now without a single shipping part, so saying that a Fusion chip will get it into the netbook game in 2011 is mildly amusing -- while AMD's definitely turned things around, it's still incredibly late to the low-end party, and Intel's solidly beaten it to the hybrid CPU / GPU punch with the Core 2010 and Pine Trail Atom chips. Add in the fact that NVIDIA's Optimus-based Ion 2 chipset seemingly offers the extended battery life of Atom with the performance of a discrete GPU, and we'd say the market niche Ontario is designed to fill may not actually be so niche when it finally arrives. We'll see what happens -- a year is a long, long time. [Image via OCWorkbench]
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.
Next-gen AMD Scorpius and Lynx desktop platforms leak out, Fusion still coming in 2011
AMD had a little show and tell with Asian press to go along with those new Phenom II and Athlon II chips it just launched, and it revealed some of its next-gen plans along the way. In the short term, it looks like the plan is to launch the 45nm Leo platform we've heard about later this year to better compete with Intel's 32nm Clarkdale parts, and then to push forward to 32nm in 2011 with the Scorpius platform, which will feature a Bulldozer CPU called Zambezi with up to 8 cores and a "next-generation discrete graphics solution." Midrange desktops will get some "next-generation integrated graphics" of their own this year on the Dorado platform, while 2011 will see the Lynx platform launch with the long-delayed Fusion chip. (We were first supposed to see Fusion chips in late 2008, remember?) Fusion is also still on vapor-y track for laptops with scheduled 2011 launch of the previously-leaked Sabine platform, but AMD also tipped the new Brazos Fusion-based platform powered by the Ontario APU, which is "optimized for new form factors" -- potentially MID-sized, but we don't know for sure. Phew, that's a lot of codenames -- we'd say we can't wait, but we're clearly going to have to learn how.
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]
AMD releases another notebook roadmap, does not release Fusion chips
Well, well, a new AMD roadmap promising a superior hybrid CPU/GPU chip sometime in the distant future. That doesn't sound like the same old vaporware refrain we've been hearing about Fusion since 2006 at all, does it? Yep, everyone's favorite underdog is back in the paperwork game, and this time we've got a sheaf of pointy-eared details on the company's upcoming notebook plans, all culminating in the "Sabine" platform, which is wholly dependent on Sunnyvale actually shipping a mobile variant of the delayed Fusion APU in 2011 once it finds the Leprechaun City. In the meantime, look forward to a slew of forgettable laptops getting bumped to the "Danube" platform, which supports 45nm quad-core chips, DDR3-1066 memory, and an absolutely shocking 14 USB 2.0 ports. Ugh, seriously -- does anyone else think AMD should suck it up, put out a cheap Atom-class processor paired with a low-end Radeon that can do reasonable HD video output, and actually take it to Intel in booming low-end market instead of goofing around with the expensive, underperforming Neo platform and a fantasy chip it's been promising for three years now? Call us crazy.[Via PC Authority; thanks Geller]
AMD's revamped roadmap unveils APUs, Hawks, and Griffins
While we've had plenty of time to digest Intel's path forward, we've been critiquing AMD's latest efforts rather than gazing down their intriguing roadmap. Nevertheless, a (presumably yawn-inducing) four-hour presentation yielded a few noteworthy tidbits about where AMD's headed, and how it plans to arrive. The firm insinuated that Intel's gazillion-core approach was simply rehashing the megahertz race, and said it would be focusing it efforts instead on Accelerated Processing Units (APUs). Although the composition is still a bit vague, the devices will supposedly be "multi-core chips that include any mix of processor cores and other dedicated processors," such as discrete units for graphics, physics, audio, video, encoding, etc. While a dash of this has already been divulged when we heard about Fusion, it looks likes AMD's getting pretty serious about it now. Additionally, the desktop roadmap didn't deviate from what we'd previously seen, but the firm plans to unveil a new power-conscience "Hawk" processor to replace the current Turion 64 X2 and Mobile Sempron chips. Moreover, it's working on offering up a hybrid graphics solution, which would see discrete GPUs disabled when unplugged from a power source, letting the integrated graphics set take over and conserve juice. Finally, the company plans to introduce yet another mobile chip (dubbed Griffin) in late 2007 that will reportedly support split power planes and HyperTransport 3.0, hopefully meaning that it'll be based on a quad-core architecture. While we don't exactly recommend sitting through the entire webcast, those who eat, sleep, and drink circuitry can hit the read link for the full (and we do mean full) skinny.[Via TechReport, thanks Keaton]
