AMD Reveals Ultrathin Prototype, Roadmaps
In addition to revealing its 2012 and 2013 roadmaps, AMD sported an ultrathin form factor packed with its Trinity APU.
Thursday during AMD's Financial Analysis Day, Engadget spotted an "ultrathin" ODM reference unit from Compal featuring AMD's upcoming Trinity APU. The chip was believed to be one of the lower variants -- either 17W or 25W -- housed within an 18-mm form factor. This particular model was reportedly one of many prototypes currently being shopped around to OEMs.
According to the site, the prototype featured plenty of connectivity onboard including two USB 3.0 ports, mini-DisplayPort and HDMI mounted on the left, and audio jacks, another USB port, Ethernet and power mounted along the right. AMD is looking to sell the final product at half the price of Intel's ultrabook form factor, ranging from $500 to $600 USD.
On Thursday AMD also revealed its desktop and mobile roadmaps for 2012 and 2013. Later this year AMD will replace the Bulldozer line with the 32-nm performance-driven Vishera series which will contain 4 to 8 "Piledriver" cores. Also slated for 2012 will be the mainstream 32-nm 2nd-generation A-Series APUs codenamed Trinity with 2 to 4 "Piledriver" cores and a 2nd-generation DirectX 11 GPU, and the low-power, 40-nm E-Series APUs codenamed Brazos 2.0 with 2 "Bobcat" cores and a DirectX 11-capable GPU.
On the 2012 mobile front, AMD is releasing the Trinity APUs with both standard (35W) and Low Voltage (17 to 25W) options. The E-Series APUs will be accompanied by the C-Series with power options ranging between 9 to 18W. For the tablet and fanless ultra low power sector, AMD will introduce the Z-Series APU codenamed Hondo sporting 1 to 2 x86 cores, ultra low voltage (4 to 5W) and a DirectX 11-capable GPU.
As for 2013, AMD will release the 2nd-generation 32-nm FX desktop CPUs codenamed "Vishera" on the performance front, sporting 4 to 8 "Piledriver" cores. AMD will also launch the 28-nm 3rd-generation "Kaveri" APU with 2 to 4 "Steamroller" x86 cores, a Graphics Core Next GPU and HSA application support for the mainstream sector, and the 28-nm Kabini APU with 2 to 4 "Jaguar" x86 cores and a Graphics Core Next GPU for the low-power "essential" end.
AMD's 2013 mobile assault will include the 28-nm Kaveri APU with 2 to 4 "Steamroller" x86 cores, a Graphics Core Next GPU and HSA Application support. For both the mainstream and essential markets, AMD will release the 28-nm Kabini APU with 2 to 4 "Jaguar" x86 cores and a Graphics Core Next GPU. The tablet and fanless ultra low power sector will receive the 28-nm Tamesh APU with 2 "Jaguar" x86 cores and a Graphics Core Next GPU.
In a separate slide, AMD revealed that in 2012 it will launch the discrete 28-nm Southern Islands GPU with Graphics Core Next and DirectX 11 support. Then in 2013 AMD will launch the discrete Sea Islands GPU sporting a new architecture and HSA features.
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"AMD's strategy capitalizes on the convergence of technologies and devices that will define the next era of the industry," said Rory Read, president and CEO, AMD, on Thursday. "The trends around consumerization, the Cloud and convergence will only grow stronger in the coming years. AMD has a unique opportunity to take advantage of this key industry inflection point. We remain focused on continuing the work we began last year to re-position AMD. Our new strategy will help AMD embrace the shifts occurring in the industry, marrying market needs with innovative technologies and become a consistent growth engine."
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irish_adam i think these next 18months are going to make or break AMD. If they really can sell those ultrathin laptops at half the price of intels (or just 30%) then i think they could sell alot of these.Reply
On the CPU side of things windows 8 will be with us soon and i think they are hoping that they will see some big improvements in benchmarks to make up for the abysmal showing bulldozer had. Also with piledriver on its way at the end of this year lets hope they've found out what happened to all that power they promised.
As for the GPU side, they have always done well here since they acquired ATI -
erunion When AMD said they weren't going to compete with intel anymore they really meant they were going to focus on the laptop market?Reply -
pharoahhalfdead I don't understand the difference between Piledriver and Vishera. How can Vishera be 2nd gen when Piledriver is next in line? Is Vishera another completely different architecture then?Reply -
msgun98 I wonder if this APU just ends up being a slightly souped up netbook or will it actually compete with today's SB ULV processors.Reply -
coder543 ha.. they aren't going to compete anymore. They're going to win!Reply
ok.. kidding. They may very well do that, but they did say there weren't interested in the competition anymore. -
JOSHSKORN AMD should've joined the mobile market. I think they'll become a sitting duck in 2 years.Reply -
A Bad Day Would be nice if AMD added some memory to their APU, like 256 or 512 MB. Rarely do you find mainstream laptops with RAM that have higher than 1066 or 1333 MHz, and such slow RAM is bound to kneecap any integrated GPU.Reply
erunionWhen AMD said they weren't going to compete with intel anymore they really meant they were going to focus on the laptop market?
I think AMD meant they had no interest in headbutting Intel over who can market the most powerful CPU. -
danwat1234 I think when AMD shrinks down to 14nm/16nm, I'll buy an ultrabook based off of their hardware. I'm happy with my Core 2 duo gaming laptop for now and I can wait 5 years or so. I'm sure the Integrated graphics in the AMD chip will be much better than the Nvidia 9800gs chipset I have right now and like a 10th the power consumption.Reply -
Achoo22 I honestly can't wait to see the full specifications for these new AMD ultrabooks. News sites were awash in vendor complaints about reaching the $1,000 target set by Intel for months, and the $30-$100 difference in chip price doesn't explain how AMD is hitting a $500 floor. I'm guessing that there are going to be major compromises in multiple areas (maybe display and storage). As long as the devices manage to keep a healthy price delta between similarly equipped ultrabooks, this could be a great scene for AMD. If, however, the price of the AMD-branded ultrabooks encroaches on the Intel models after choosing all the trim upgrades, I don't see any reason to go near it.Reply -
_Pez_ On Graphics side they are already Impressive, But I do not know why I can breakout with Nvidia maybe is cuda ...Reply