Hasta La Gadget!

AMD might still have no actual Fusion product to sell us, but it’s added a fresh new codename to the stable of future CPU/GPU hybrids. The Zacate Accelerated Processing Unit is a Bobcat derivative, much like the Ontario, but it operates at a higher TDP of 18W and is intended for ultrathin and mainstream laptops along with power-sipping desktops and all-in-ones. Both it and the Ontario APU will offer two Bobcat cores allied to Radeon graphics capable of performing DirectX 11 instructions, though the Ontario dips all the way down to 9W with the stated aim of punching up netbook and small form factor pc performance. Just for reference, that’ll have to compete against Intel’s own dual-core solution, the 1.5GHz Atom N550, which scrapes by on just an 8.5W TDP… though, of course, it doesn’t integrate the same graphics processing prowess that Ontario promises. The two chips, Ontario and Zacate, will ride AMD’s Brezos platform when they finally debut early next year. Until then, enjoy the technicolor die shot after the break.

Continue reading AMD names second Bobcat APU Zacate, shows off Ontario die size

AMD names second Bobcat APU Zacate, shows off Ontario die size originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 08 Sep 2010 09:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  AMD Blogs  | Email this | Comments

We weren’t particularly impressed with the IdeaPad U160 when we recently reviewed it, giving it a score of five out of 10 thanks to disappointing battery life and a high price. Lenovo, it seems, looking to bridge that gap to a perfect score has announced the U165, which is apparently five more. It ditches the U160’s Intel internals, going for AMD Athlon II processors and ATI Radeon HD 4225 graphics. Other specs remain similar, including the 11.6-inch, 1366 x 768 display, up to 4GB of DDR3 memory, 802.11n WiFi, and Bluetooth. The U165 is shipping now, but curiously it appears to be only available in the Czech Republic, where it’s selling for 9990 CZK — about $520. Compared to the $1,149 U160 that seems like a smoking deal to us.

Lenovo launches AMD-packing IdeaPad U165 ultraportable in Czech Republic, nowhere else? originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 01 Sep 2010 10:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink netbooknews.com  |  Lenovo  | Email this | Comments

ATI, the Canadian graphics-chip company born back in 1985, is dead. After being acquired by AMD in 2006, and spending the intervening four years locked in the Californian chip-maker’s cellar, forced to try on dresses that “make it look purty”, the deed has finally been done: the ATI name has been erased from all products.

The acquisition brought one of the Big Two GPU-makers (the other is NVIDIA) into the AMD’s CPU business, but ATI managed to keep its name on its inventions until today. From now on, there will still be Radeon and FirePro cards, but they’ll be called AMD Radeon and AMD FirePro.

Why? AMD is moving firmly into combined CPU-GPU systems, which put everything together for energy and space savings. Think of the Intel GMA 950 which was used in MacBooks and Mac Minis, along with PC hardware. These “integrated graphics” systems share the main RAM with the CPU, further saving money but also offering lesser performance. AMD decided that these combined systems would be too confusing with all the different branding, and dropped ATI like the hot girl drops the dork with a car after they arrive together at the school prom.

Best of all, AMD has redesigned the stickers for its chips, and there are actually two sets. One drops all mention of even the AMD name, replacing it with the word “graphics” so when its discrete graphics cards ship in Intel boxes, the names won’t clash. So goes the complex corporate maze that lies behind those ugly stickers found on all PCs.

AMD jettisons ATI brand name, makes Radeon its own [The Tech Report]

See Also:

• ATI
• AMD's ATI Uber Graphics Card, DirectX 10 Delayed
• Intel Pays AMD $1.25 billion To Settle All Disputes
• AMD

Follow us for real-time tech news: Charlie Sorrel and Gadget Lab on Twitter.

Keep your eyes tuned to this post — because at 8:00 PM ET, we’ll be starting The Engadget Show live, with Samsung CSO Omar Khan, Rick Karr, Rock Band 3! Nilay’s on vacation, but Josh and Paul are on hand with Joanna Stern and Ross Miller, plus we’ll have music from Zen Albatross and visuals from invaderbacca and much, much, more! You seriously don’t want to miss it! Check out the live stream after the break!

Continue reading The Engadget Show Live! with Omar Khan, Rock Band 3, and more!

The Engadget Show Live! with Omar Khan, Rock Band 3, and more! originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 27 Aug 2010 19:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

One of these days AMD is gonna have to stop talking about its Atom-killing Bobcat and Xeon-ending Bulldozer cores and finally release them. But, until that happy moment arrives in 2011 (fingers crossed), we’ll have to content ourselves with more presentation slides. First up, the Bobcat core is AMD’s long overdue play for the netbook/ultrathin market. Pitched as having 90 percent of the performance of current-gen, K8-based mainstream chips, AMD’s new mobility core will require “less than half the area and a fraction of the power” of its predecessors. That sounds like just the recipe to make the company relevant in laptop purchasing decisions again, while a touted ability for the core to run on less than one watt of power (by lowering operating frequencies and voltages, and therefore performance) could see it appear in even smaller form factors, such as MIDs. The Bobcat’s now all set to become the centerpiece of the Ontario APU — AMD’s first Fusion chip, ahead of Llano — which will be ramping up production late this year, in time for an early 2011 arrival.

The Bulldozer also has a future in the Fusion line, but it’s earliest role will be as a standalone CPU product for servers and high-end consumer markets. The crafty thing about its architecture is that every one Bulldozer module will be counted as two cores. This is because AMD has split its internal processing pipelines into two (while sharing as many internal components as possible), resulting in a sort of multicore-within-the-core arrangement. The way the company puts it, it’s multithreading done right. Interlagos is the codename of the first Opteron chips to sport this new core, showing up at some point next year in a 16-core arrangement (that’s 8 Bulldozers, if you’re keeping score at home) and promising 50 percent better performance than the current Magny-Cours flagship. Big words, AMD. Now let’s see you stick to a schedule for once.

Continue reading AMD’s Bobcat and Bulldozer, 2011 flagship CPU cores, detailed today

AMD’s Bobcat and Bulldozer, 2011 flagship CPU cores, detailed today originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 24 Aug 2010 00:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments