AMD's initial product based on its Fusion initiative, codenamed Llano, is now sampling with vendors. This first iteration will combine the GPU and CPU on the same die, which will drive down power requirements and costs.
While Llano will be based off of Phenom II technology and will be paired with ATI Radeon GPU design, AMD says that its next-generation Fusion will blur the line between CPU and GPU. That next big change is planned for 2015, Leslie Sobon, vice president of marketing at AMD, told IDG.
The next Fusion will have the philosophy of full integration of both GPU and CPU, aiming to take full advantage of new standards like OpenCL.
"The second iteration [in] 2015 ... you're not going to be able to tell the difference. It's all going away," Sobon said.
While some computations will still be best for the traditional CPU architecture, software that would run more efficient on a GPU-like design is where Fusion should thrive.
"The GPU is perfect for antivirus. It's a perfect parallel-processed application. In the Fusion-based time frame that's where it needs to go," Sobon said.
Still, that's five years away. Right now Fusion is sampling to potential customers, and Dell and Apple are in the rumored bunch.
In related news, Digitimes cites sources saying that AMD will be enlisting the help of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) to fabricate its Fusion chips on the 40nm process.
