AMD's Piledriver-based 'Trinity' to Arrive in Q1 2012
A leaked processor roadmap provides a first clue about the schedule of AMD's upcoming Trinity APUs.
Trinity will replace Llano in the performance, mainstream and entry-level CPU segments with updates new A8, A6, A4 and E2-series processors. The roadmap only relates to mobile processors and offers very few details, but it appears that the upgrade to the Piledriver CPU core and London graphics core won't change the positioning of the processors in the market.
The Bobcat core will be moved upmarket and extended to the Wichita APU for entry-level and mainstream notebooks later in 2012. The Bobcat-Krishna APU will replace the Ontario APU for compact notebooks in AMD's Deccan platform. Trinity, Wichita and Krishna will use variations of the London graphics core.
Not surprisingly, AMD is also driving down the power consumption of its ultra-low power Desna APU, which is at 5.9 watts today, but will be hitting 4.5 watts in the Hondo APU (also with Bobcat cores) next year.
Trinity should become part of the Comal platform next year, which seems to be coexisting with the Sabine platform throughout 2012 in the performance and mainstream segments. Deccan will replace Brazos in the entry-level and compact notebook range, while AMD will survive 2012 in the ultra-low-power segment as Brazos T.
2013 will bring the Samara APU with Jaguar CPU cores on the very low end. It is unclear how much this roadmap has actually changed over the past few weeks, especially since the firing of CEO Dirk Meyer, who was accused of not getting AMD into attractive mobile markets, which would suggest a potential focus on tablets. We were told that AMD would have tablet processors ready in 2012, and Samara looks a lot like the processor we were told about earlier this year.
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Douglas Perry was a freelance writer for Tom's Hardware covering semiconductors, storage technology, quantum computing, and processor power delivery. He has authored several books and is currently an editor for The Oregonian/OregonLive.
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iam2thecrowe sounds interesting, AMD have some kick ass codenames. The codename of their next CPU should be "Delayed"Reply -
buzznut HAHA! I don't even know why the put out release dates. They should just, "Coming in the next year or three."Reply -
Bulldozer sucked, so they are skipping it in their APUs and moving to Piledriver it seems. I am betting those FX chips should have been named Phenom III, they wont live up to the old branding.Reply
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Tyler_767 Wow.. way to many codenames, I definitely got lost reading that article. But at least with AMD's pace I'll have a good 4 - 5 years to figure out which one comes after bulldozer.Reply -
vaughn2k iam2thecrowesounds interesting, AMD have some kick ass codenames. The codename of their next CPU should be "Delayed"... and dream on till it becomes reality...Reply -
dalethepcman For all the haters out there, you had better hope Bulldozer gives Intel a proverbial run for its money, otherwise your going to see the chips get even more insanely priced than they are now.Reply
If bulldozer sucks I can see the K series going the way of the Dodo bird and Intel going back to the Extreme series chips. Yay $999 for the same silicon that retails for $200, just the cheap one has limits placed on it. I do not miss those days. -
AbdullahG youguysmad? You should just stay away from PCs as a whole. Every CPU manufacturer has delays. The Pentium 4s were delayed due to a glitch. The Sandy Bridge Macbooks were delayed. SB even had a rocky start. Do some research before commenting. BD was delayed for a few months and it's the end of the world for most of you. You people only account for a small margin of the market. Most companies aim at the larger market of buyers. The market doesn't revolve around you guys (and this is coming from someone who has 3 Intel computers and 1 AMD).Reply
Anyway, I have high hopes for Trinity. Llano started out very well, and hopefully Trinity as well.