AMD Shows Real Fusion CPU in Blog Update

[Apoptosis]

AMD posted up an interesting blog post this afternoon that is worth a look! I copied the post and it can be seen below:

Direct from Berlin and IFA 2010: Guten Tag kleine Fusion!

Translation: “Hello, little Fusion!”

Low Power AMD Fusion APU Die Shot

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I’m just completing another day of press briefings in Berlin at the IFA 2010 consumer electronics show. In the 30 or so exhibition halls, I’m surrounded by electronics of all sizes: refrigerators and stovetops, large screen LED TVs, new 7” tablets, and smartphones (and thousands of fashion phone accessories). But the thing I’m most excited to talk about may be the smallest item to be seen here. It is the low-power AMD Fusion APU we are demonstrating, with systems based on the technology expected in Q1 2011.

How low-power and how little?

Before we talk power, let’s remember the basics of what AMD is packing into this mighty little package:

* Dual low-power CPU cores codenamed “Bobcat”, providing mainstream CPU performance in less than one-half the die area and a fraction of the power. More on AMD’s all-new low-power “Bobcat” x86 cores in Chekib Akrout’s blog here.
* DirectX11-capable GPU cores derived from the award-winning AMD Radeon™ discrete GPU. This is the GPU technology on which AMD built its position as the world leader and #1 market share for discrete GPUs.
* A new Unified Video Decoder (UVD) on-die in the APU.

AMD plans to ramp production here in 2010, with systems available in early 2011. So here at IFA 2010, we’re both demonstrating the capabilities of low-power AMD Fusion APUs, and providing a little more information on the individual products. “Brazos” is the codename for the notebook, netbook and desktop platforms that will be built from the APU. But the APU itself comes in two flavors based on performance and (low) power draw:

* An 18-watt TDP APU codenamed “Zacate” for ultrathin, mainstream, and value notebooks as well as desktops and all-in-ones.
* And a 9-watt APU codenamed “Ontario” for netbooks and small form factor desktops and devices.

Both low-power APU versions feature two “Bobcat” x86 cores and fully support DirectX11, DirectCompute (Microsoft programming interface for GPU computing) and OpenCL (cross-platform programming interface standard for multi-core x86 and accelerated GPU computing). Both also include UVD dedicated hardware acceleration for HD video including 1080p resolutions.

Low Power AMD Fusion APU Euro Coins Comparison

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We’re also showing the very small physical “footprint” of these two low-power APUs, and its die image. Check out “little” AMD Fusion in the images above, with a couple of Euro coins aside it for scale.

Taken together, this is an unbeatable combination of a full and vivid digital experience, low-power for long battery life, in small form factors. Best of all? Seeing people’s impressed faces when we show them what kleine AMD Fusion can do.