More Details On ATI's New Mobile Graphics Chips

Although Advanced Micro Devices' graphics business unit yet has to release its Mobility Radeon HD 6000-series graphics processing units (GPUs) for notebooks, the first details about the post-next-generation mobile graphics adapters - which will be sold under AMD Mobility Radeon HD 7000 brand - has been published by a web-site.

The Mobility Radeon HD 7000 family of  graphics processors is projected be made using 28nm process technology, but at this point it is unknown which of the chips will be made at Globalfoundries and which will be made at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company. It is also unclear which new features will be supported by the new line of mobile GPUs compared to the predecessors, but it can be suggested that they will use VLIW4 architecture stream cores like the Radeon HD 6900 "Cayman" does.

Some of the ATI Mobility Radeon graphics processors will enter production in Q4 2011, but some will only be ready in Q2 2012. The information seems to be in line with AMD's typical approach to start manufacturing of mobile GPUs about one quarter after desktop graphics chips with similar architecture. Potentially, this means that AMD will only be able to release some of its 28nm desktop GPUs only in Q1 2012.

Donanimhaber web-site claims that the Mobility Radeon HD 7000 family will consist of at least four graphics cores named after different places in London, England. It is noteworthy that the family, provided that the information is correct and full, will not include a low-end GPU with 64-bit memory bus. The absence of such chip is logical, given high performance of graphics processors inside AMD's accelerated processing units (APUs) that will power notebooks for performance-minded customers.

The positioning and suggested performance and TDPs look as follows:

• Wimbledon - ultra high-end mobile GPU with 256-bit memory bus and with 2GB or 4GB of GDDR5 memory on MXM 3.0 board. Thermal design power of the chip is projected to be 65W or higher. Production of the chip is expected to start in Q2 2012. The chip is projected to offer 25% higher performance compared to code-named Blackcomb product.
• Heathrow 192-bit: high-end mobile GPU with 192-bit memory bus and with 1.5GB - 3GB of GDDR5  memory on MXM 3.0 board. Thermal design power of the chip is projected to be 35W - 45W. Production of the chip is expected to start in Q4 2011. The chip is projected to offer ~30% higher performance compared to code-named Chelsea product.
• Heathrow 128-bit: high-end mobile GPU with 128-bit memory bus for GDDR5  memory. It is likely that the chip will be available both in MXM and discrete versions. Thermal design power of the chip is projected to be 35W - 45W. Production of the chip is expected to start in Q4 2011. The chip is projected to offer ~30% higher performance compared to code-named Chelsea product.
• Chelsea: performance-mainstream mobile GPU with 128-bit memory bus and with 1GB of GDDR5 memory on MXM 3.0 board. Thermal design power of the chip is projected to be 20W - 30W or higher. Production of the chip is expected to start in Q4 2011. The chip is projected to offer 30% higher performance compared to code-named Whistler product. 
• Thames: mainstream mobile GPU with 128-bit memory bus and with 1GB of GDDR5 or GDDR3 memory on MXM 3.0 board. Thermal design power of the chip is projected to be 15W - 20W. Production of the chip is expected to start in Q4 2011. The chip is projected to offer two times higher performance compared to code-named Seymour product.

AMD did not comment on the news-story.

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