Images, Details of AMD Fusion "Llano" Mainboards Transpire

EliteGroup Computer Systems (ECS) this week officially unveiled details about its mainboards designed for AMD A-series "Fusion Llano" accelerated processing units (APUs). In addition, the first picture of a high-end ECS motherboard for A-series chips emerged on the Internet.

ECS, one of the world's largest maker of motherboards, plans to release three A75F-series mainboards with FM1 socket for AMD code-named Llano A-series APUs. All three mainboards will be based on the AMD Hudson D3 (A75) Fusion controller hub (FCH), will support dual-channel DDR3 memory, PCI Express 2.0, Serial ATA-600, USB 3.0, high-definition audion and other advantages.

One of the mainboards - A75F-A "Black Deluxe - will be in ATX form-factor and will thus be aimed at more advanced end-users. For example, ECS A75F-A has passed 50°C burn test, presenting high quality and durability. In addition, based on the image of the mainboard that emerged on the Internet, the platform supports multi-GPU ATI CrossFireX technology which allows to install several discrete graphics cards, a feature typically found on high-end multimedia systems.

^{ECS A75F-A}

The other two FM1 motherboards from ECS - A75F-M and A75F-M2 - will feature micro-ATX form-factor and will thus be aimed primarily at OEMs or system makers.

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AMD (finally) sees the light in the tablet market?

Tablet PCs are often viewed as devices to access certain content while travelling, but in a lot of cases they are used as electronic book readers or portable Internet devices at home. As they become more powerful and universal, they may become a gateway into the living room for x86 microprocessors, according to a vice president of Advanced Micro Devices.

"Tablets present a wonderful opportunity for AMD. I have been in the PC industry for over twenty years; we really have struggled to get into the living room and it is clear that tablets are finding their way into the living room, a real consumer experience," said Rick Bergman, senior vice president and general manager of products group at AMD, during a conference with analysts.

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AMD readies 5W Fusion Ontario APU for tablets

Advanced Micro Devices claims that power consumption of its code-named Ontario accelerated processing unit (APU) can be reduced to 5W. Such APU can power devices like tablets, but it is clearly a temporary solution and going forward AMD will have to introduce a special chip designed specifically for tablets.

The limited edition AMD C-350 (1GHz) dual-core accelerated processing unit with 5W thermal design power (TDP) is a typical Ontario chip with some tweaks, e.g., different operation of input/output functionality, reduced amount of supported memory modules and some other, according to claims made by AMD in an interview with PC Watch web-site. At present the chip is used inside Acer 5745G hybrid tablet/netbook, which is projected to become available later this quarter.
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AMD readies revised version of CrossFireX for their Fusion Llano APU

After a well-received launch of the Fusion "Zacate" accelerated processing unit (APU) for nettops and entry-level PCs, AMD's higher-performance APU, codenamed "Llano", is just around the corner. Llano is intended for use on mainstream desktops, business PCs, and all-in-one PCs, it is better geared for higher-resolution, visually-intensive computing. Its competitors include Intel's Core i3 and Core i5 dual-core processors. AMD is backing up this launch with a new multi-GPU technology which is both similar and different from Hybrid CrossFireX. The similar part is that the GPU embedded in the Fusion chip will work in tandem with a discrete AMD Radeon graphics card, the difference is that it can work with any HD 6000 series graphics card, and multiply the available display connectivity.

See an internal performance benchmark of the scaling impovements or read the rest of the article here.

AMD: Over One Million of Fusion APUs Shipped.

AMD: Over 35 Million of DirectX 11 Graphics Chips Supplied

Advanced Micro Devices said that it has so far shipped over one million of accelerated processing units (APUs) for entry-level notebooks as well as netbooks. In addition, the company said that the shipments of its DirectX 11-class graphics processing units (GPUs) have surpassed 35 million units.

"Industry momentum for Fusion is strong and growing. OEM adoption of Brazos is excellent. We shipped more than 1 million Brazos platforms in its debut quarter to world class OEMs including Acer, Asus, Dell, HP, Lenovo, MSI, Samsung, Sony and Toshiba," said Thomas Seifert, interim chief executive officer of AMD, during the company's fourth quarter-related conference call with financial analysts.

One million APUs is a rather significant number as AMD formally started to commercially ship its APUs in early November. The wide adoption of the new series of chips means that the there is a lot of interest towards low-power solutions with advanced graphics and video support, a clear indication that end users now pay attention on multimedia functionality like never before.

It remains to be seen whether Brazos platform as well as Ontario and Zacate APUs will help AMD to substantially increase its share on the market of notebook computers. The demand towards mobile PCs is generally growing and AMD's much larger rival Intel Corp. has a lot of very competitive offerings for various types of laptops.

The latest low-power AMD Vision and Mobile Internet platforms (previously code-named Brazos) rely on dual-core or single-core central processing unit with integrated DirectX 11 graphics processor with 80 stream processors, universal video decoder 3.0, various other special-purpose hardware as well as code-named Hudson input/output controller. These APUs feature the new x86 CPU core codenamed Bobcat, which is AMD's first new x86 core since 2003 and was designed from the ground up to deliver stellar mobile performance. AMD expects mobile computers based on the its Brazos platform to work for ten hours or even longer on a single battery charge.

In addition, the company once again reiterated its leadership with the installed base of DirectX-class graphics processors.

"We shipped over 35 million DX11-enabled GPUs to date," informed Mr. Seifert.

ATI, graphics business units of AMD, announced that it had shipped 25 million of DX11 GPUs in mid-October, about a year after the company launched the world's first DirectX 11-supporting graphics processors, ATI Radeon HD 5000.

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