AMD says PC gaming will benefit from next generation consoles

Next generation consoles from Microsoft and Sony are just around the bend. Many have forecasted their arrival as a blow to PC gaming but according to AMD’s Matt Skynner, that simply isn’t the case. Instead, he believes PC gamers will actually benefit from the arrival of the Xbox One and PlayStation 4.

AMD next-gen Radeon 'Hawaii' graphics cards expected in October

AMD is reportedly preparing to mass ship their next generation high-end GPU codenamed Hawaii in October according to sources in the upstream supply chain as reported by DigiTimes. When you consider AMD is flying a number of journalists to Hawaii (no coincidence there) late next month for a “technical showcase,” this rumor quickly becomes much more credible.

6GB VGA Dual-GPU Radeon HD 7990

AMD is following up from the launch of its Radeon HD 7970 GHz edition graphics card, which sought to take the single-GPU performance crown from Nvidia’s GTX 680 late last month, with a new round of price cuts that will affect several of its mid- and high-end GCN based offerings. The move comes as gamers await AMD’s rumored launch of the dual-GPU HD 7990 later this month to take on Nvidia’s GTX 690.

The new prices will go into effect starting today. Among them, the 7970 will have it's price dropped from $479 to $429, the 7950 from $399 to $349, and the 7870 from $349 to $299. These represent a significant drop over the launch prices of $549, $449 and $399 respectively. Here’s the full breakdown:

GPU	Launch price	Spring MSRP	Summer MSRP
Radeon HD 7970	$549	$479	$429
Radeon HD 7950	$449	$399	$349
Radeon HD 7870	$349	$349	$299
Radeon HD 7850	$249	$249	~$239
Radeon HD 7770	$159	$139	~$119
Radeon HD 7750	$109	$109	~$99

As AnandTech notes, since AMD can’t control final card pricing beyond what they charge partners for parts, unofficially some of these prices, or even lower ones, were already available at retailers like Newegg -- right now a Radeon HD 7950 from MSI can be found for as low as $340, for example.

Later this month AMD is expected to launch its dual-GPU Radeon HD 7990, which will go head-to-head against the GeForce GTX 690. Specs will reportedly include two Tahiti XT (Radeon HD 7970) cores packing a total of 4096 stream processors clocked at 1 GHz, 6GB of GDDR5 memory (3GB per GPU) clocked at 1250 MHz, and the ability to drive 6-monitor Eyefinity configurations out-of-the-box.

The card will be launched in limited quantities. Judging by availability of the new 7970 GHz Edition it might take a few weeks until consumers can find AMD’s upcoming dual-GPU flagship in stores.

AMD slashes Q2 revenue guidance, shares slide

Shares of Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) fell as much as 9% in early trading after the chip vendor slashed its second quarter sales outlook, which is now expected to fall 11% from the first quarter. The company originally expected revenue to be flat to up as much as 6% in its prior quarterly forecast.

The difference from the old guidance to the revised guidance issued Monday is $222 million. Its full second-quarter results are due on July 19.

AMD blamed “a weaker consumer buying environment” and “softer-than-expected channel sales” in China and Europe for the decline. Indeed a slowing world economy has affected consumer sales but the magnitude of AMD’s revenue miss is worrying. According to analysts the company is more exposed to a consumer slowdown than rival Intel because a higher percentage of its sales are to consumers.

But the mounting pressure from rivals is playing its part too. On the CPU side AMD has struggled to compete with Intel’s last few processor architectures and instead focused on the value proposition of its chips — they make a good argument but that isn’t scoring them many design wins in the all-important laptop market.

Meanwhile, competition with Nvidia on the GPU front remains as strong as ever, but the later recently gained a significant edge over AMD by securing multiple deals with Apple for the MacBook Pro. Nvidia is also doing way better in the mobile space with its Tegra 3 SoC, which powers a range of tablets and smartphones, including the $199 Google Nexus 7 and the upcoming Surface tablet from Microsoft.

AMD's shares have lost 40% of their value after a year-high in March and are currently trading at $5.05.

AMD lists first desktop Trinity APUs, arriving in all-in-one PCs this month

Despite rumors that the second generation Trinity APU family for traditional and all-in-one desktops had been delayed until sometime this fall, AMD has gone ahead and quietly detailed the upcoming lineup. These chips will be based on the same quad-core design as AMD's mobile Trinity APUs, complete with Piledriver CPU cores and updated Radeon graphics, and initially include A8 and A10 series models.

There are two A8- and two A10 series processors listed, each with one “K” variant featuring an unlocked clock multiplier and 100 Watt TDP, and another with a locked multiplier and 65 Watt TDP. All of them will integrate 4 CPU cores, 4 MB L2 cache, a Radeon HD 7000 series GPU, and support for DDR3 memory speeds up to 1866MHz. Below are the specs for each model asdetailed on AMD’s website:

Model	Cores	Base frequency	Turbo frequency	L2 cache	Graphics	Shader units	GPU frequency	TDP
A10-5800K	4	3.8GHz	4.2GHz	4MB	Radeon HD 7660D	384	800MHz	100W
A10-5700	4	3.4GHz	4.0GHz	4MB	Radeon HD 7660D	384	760MHz	65W
A8-5600K	4	3.6GHz	3.9GHz	4MB	Radeon HD 7560D	256	760MHz	100W
A8-5500	4	3.2GHz	3.7GHz	4MB	Radeon HD 7560D	256	760MHz	65W

AMD says these first desktop Trinity models will appear in all-in-one PCs starting this month. Although this conflicts with chatter The Tech Report has heard through multiple motherboard makers, the site speculates that big-name PC makers are getting first dibs on Trinity chips, while the retail-boxed versions won’t be available until this fall. AMD might still tweak some of the specs for the consumer versions.

AMD Radeon HD 7950 specs leaked, price still unknown

Last week, AMD launched the Radeon HD 7970 as the first member of its 'Southern Islands' GPU family based on the 28nm 'Tahiti' core. The new card is expected to hit the market in January 9 just ahead of CES with a price tag of $549. But along with the new flagship card the company is expected to bring another -- and potentially more attractive in terms of price / value -- product to the table: the Radeon HD 7950.

Whereas the Radeon HD 7970 is based on the Tahiti XT, the HD 7950 features the scaled down Tahiti Pro variant that will be the direct successor to the Cayman Pro silicon inside the Radeon HD 6950. AMD has remained tight-lipped on the upcoming card's specs, but as usual, some details have found their way online.

According a slide posted by Donanim Haber, the Radeon HD 7950 will come with 4 compute units disabled compared to the HD 7970, bringing the number of stream processors down from 2048 to 1792. These will be accompanied by 112 texture units, while the 384-bit memory interface and 3GB of GDDR5 memory remains unchanged -- though memory is clocked at at around 5,000MHz. Lastly, AMD will also maintain the same display output configuration on this card with one dual-link DVI, one HDMI 1.4a and two mini DisplayPort 1.2.

Unfortunately the core clock speed, the exact memory clock speed, and target price-point remain unknown at this point. Power consumption figures were also kept under wraps, but the card is expected to feature the same ZeroCore technology as the HD 7970 that can shut off virtually every aspect of Tahiti and bring power consumption down to under 3W when in a long idle state.

AMD announces Radeon HD 7970, claims fastest GPU title

AMD has officially announced its first ever 28nm-based graphics card: the Radeon HD 7970. The first member of the 'Southern Islands' GPU family is based on the 'Tahiti' core and utilizes a fresh architecture AMD refers to as "Graphics Core Next." The latter introduces a non-VLIW SIMD engine and is claimed to deliver a big improvement in performance per square millimeter of GPU space over the prior generation.

Spec-wise, the Radeon HD 7970 packs 2048 Stream Processors, 128 Texture Units, 32 ROPs, a core clock of 925 MHz, a 384-bit memory interface, and 3 GB of GDDR5 memory clocked at 5500 MHz. It has the highest transistor count of any GPU yet at 4.31 billion and offers massive improvements over the previous single-GPU flagship -- 3.79TFLOPs of theoretical computing performance compared to 2.7TFLOPs for the Radeon HD 6970, and 264GB/sec of memory bandwidth over the 176GB/sec of the 6970.

Cards in the 7900 series can make full use of the newest and speediest PCI Express (PCIe) 3.0 x16 bus interface, though they will retain backwards compatibility with both 1.0 and 2.0 standards.

Other enhancements include PowerTune and AMD ZeroCore Power technologies, which allow for higher performance levels while maximizing power efficiencies, App Acceleration to improve HD video playback and general performance, and an update to AMD's Eyefinity technology that brings new monitor configurations (up to 5-by-1 landscape and portrait with  2560 x 1600 monitors), flexible bezel compensation, stereoscopic 3D support across three displays and support for up to five independent audio streams.

AnandTech tested AMD's newest card and summarizes its gaming performance and power usage like this: "Depending on the game being tested it’s anywhere between 5% and 35% faster than NVIDIA’s GeForce GTX 580, averaging 15% to 25% depending on the specific resolution in use. Furthermore thanks to TSMC's 28nm process power usage is upwards of 50W lower than the GTX 580, but it’s still higher than the 6970 it replaces."

The reference AMD Radeon HD 7970 card features a dual-slot cooler which uses vapor chamber technology, has CrossFireX support, and includes four display outputs: one dual-link DVI, one HDMI 1.4a and two mini DisplayPort 1.2. It'll arrive in January 9 just ahead of CES with a price tag of $549.

AMD's mid-range Radeon HD 7770 poses for the camera

Pictures of AMD's upcoming Radeon HD 7770 mainstream graphics card have leaked online courtesy of a forum member at Rage3D. The new card is based on the 28nm Cape Verde GPU, which is a direct replacement for Juniper, and represents the first major upgrade to the Radeon HD 5770 in two years since the last generation Radeon HD 6770 was basically a rebrand based on the same GPU core as its predecessor.

The shots were not accompanied by technical specifications but there are a few things we can take away from looking at the card. The Radeon HD 7770 looks rather similar to Nvidia's GeForce GTX 460, with a dual-slot design and a large diameter fan in the middle pushing air down vertically.

The GPU itself is quite small and Fudzilla ventures to guess it should measure up at under 150mm2. The reference card includes the usual three display outputs -- DVI, HDMI and miniDisplayPort. A single 6-pin PCI-e is used to power the card, suggesting a TDP below 150W, and possibly close to 100W according to reports. There's also a single Crossfire connector for up to two-card configurations and the four GDDR5 memory chips on the exposed PCB indicate a possible 128-bit memory interface.

According to Fudzilla, the Radeon HD 7700 series is scheduled to arrive sometime around mid-February. The Cape Verde GPU powering these cards will be based on AMD's Graphics Core Next architecture, while everything below the series is expected to be rebrands of the VLIW5 HD 6000 family with few minor tweaks.

Intel set to release Core i5-2550K quad-core unlocked CPU

Intel is planning to release another Sandy Bridge CPU before Ivy Bridge is launched next year. The Core i5-2550K will feature an unlocked clock multiplier and four CPU cores, according to an investigative report from CPU World.

A new entry in the Material Declaration Data Sheets database revealed the BX80623I52550K box part number, CM8062301213000 OEM part number and SR0QH S-spec code. Because the part was just recently added to the database and the i5-2550K isn’t on Intel’s roadmap, it is believed that the decision to launch this processor was only recently made.

Aside from a slightly higher default clock speed, likely 3.4GHz, the chip will be functionally identical to a Core i5-2500K with the aforementioned unlocked multiplier, HD 3000 graphics, 6MB of L3 cache, Turbo Boost support and a 95 watt TDP. One could speculate that the 2550K will be priced slightly higher than existing 2500K models and perhaps overclock higher based on better binning.

No launch date or price has been issued yet but the CPU will likely drop around the same time as the next round of AMD FX-Series CPUs are released. Perhaps Intel didn’t get the recent memo from AMD spokesperson Mike Silverman when he went on record with the San Jose Mercury News proclaiming that AMD is no longer trying to compete with Intel. Either way, more products on the market at different price points means more options for the end user.

Windows 7 hotfix improves AMD Bulldozer performance

Still trying to cope with the disappointment of AMD's latest CPU architecture? A new hotfix from Microsoft might dull the pain. The software giant admits that its operating systems are hindering Bulldozer's performance and has released an update for Windows 7 and Server 2008 R2 users that should improve the situation. Current versions of Windows 7 and Server 2008 R2 are inefficient at handling Simultaneous Multithreading (SMT). Naturally, this update introduces the necessary optimizations.

The support page repeatedly notes that the hotfix will allow Bulldozer chips to unleash their full potential, but there's no indication on how much more performance you'll see. We wouldn't get too excited about it though. Windows 8 is more efficient at handling SMT scheduling and based on reports we've seen, Bulldozer performs about 10% quicker in the Windows 8 Developer Preview. Although we haven't run any tests yet (and there's probably no reason to), users are reporting a situational 1% to 10% boost.

Unfortunately, that's probably not enough to mend Bulldozer's tainted first impression, nor would we expect it to sway many purchasing decisions. Nonetheless, those already invested in the platform can enjoy a mild improvement. Installing the update sounds pretty straightforward. Make sure you're running the first service pack for the aforementioned Windows operating system and request the appropriate 32 or 64-bit version of the hotfix here. Feel free to share your performance results in the comments.

As a side note, we should mention that Microsoft has also unloaded a fresh round of Windows updates earlier this week. December's Patch Tuesday addresses 17 bugs via 13 security bulletins, three of which are deemed critical as they could allow remote code execution. One of the bulletins (MS11-087) resolves a publicly disclosed vulnerability in Windows's TrueType font-parsing engine. Windows Server 2003, Vista, 7, Server 2008, Server 2008 R2, Internet Explorer 6-9, and most versions of Office received fixes.

AMD releases Catalyst 11.12 WHQL, 12.1 preview drivers

AMD has graced Radeon owners with two driver updates today: one with Microsoft's blessings and another for the venturesome among us. The WHQL-certified Catalyst 11.12 drivers introduce a bevy of changes, including OpenGL 4.2 support, the ability to enable AMD HD3D when using a 3x1 Landscape Eyefinity configuration, and improved Dual Graphics controls in the Vision Engine Control Center.

Judging by the release notes, 11.12 doesn't contain the speed boosts found in the 11.11c preview driver. There are a ton of bug fixes, however. Graphical anomalies and other hiccups are resolved in Dirt 2, Dirt 3, Portal 2, Shogun 2: Total War, Lost Planet 2, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky, Tom Clancy's EndWar, Enemy Territory: Quake Wars, Doom 3, Crysis 2, Far Cry 2, Dragon Age 2, Homefront, Metro 2033, BioShock 2 and more.

Download Catalyst 11.12
Desktop: Windows XP 32-bit | Windows XP 64-bit | Windows Vista/7 32-bit | Windows Vista/7 64-bit
Mobile: Windows Vista/7 32-bit | Windows Vista/7 64-bit

Download Catalyst 12.1 Preview
Desktop: Windows XP 32/64-bit | Windows Vista/7 32/64-bit

If you want all the performance optimizations, features and bug fixes in Catalyst 11.11c and 11.12, you'll need the 12.1 preview release. In fact, AMD specifically recommends this version for gamers, who would otherwise be missing out. Not only does it contain all of the desired changes, but it offers a few additional perks, including an additional 10-15% speed boost in Skyrim for certain HD 6900-series configurations. Version 12.1 also delivers:

• Support for 1080p@30Hz displays via HD3D over HDMI 1.4 (up from 24Hz)
• Improved UI for adjusting video quality and color settings in the control panel
• A new control panel feature that lets you create application-specific profiles

AMD: It Won't Be About 'AMD vs. Intel' Anymore

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In a recent interview with the San Jose Mercury News, AMD spokesman Mike Silverman indicated that the company plans to shift its focus away from competing with long-time processor rival Intel starting in 2012. Instead, the company will likely focus on developing a solid mobile strategy while still remaining committed to the x86 architecture.

"We're at an inflection point," he said. "We will all need to let go of the old 'AMD versus Intel' mind-set, because it won't be about that anymore."

The move isn't surprising given that the company hasn't been able to gain a market share lead over Intel in years. AMD had hoped to gain some ground after Intel suffered a string of antitrust regulatory rebukes, but the processor nemesis remained vigilant, its sales booming. Last year Intel reported sales of nearly $44 billion whereas AMD only reported $6.5 billion.

Presently AMD sits at around 19-percent of the overall processor market share, down from a 23-percent share in 2006. The company has been chided for heavily depending on a PC market where the pace of growth has slowed due to the economy and emerging markets. It's recently-launched Bulldozer chips even brought in disappointing reviews, and the company just recently cut 1,400 jobs.

Given that its fight with Intel has seemingly gotten AMD nowhere, time has come for a change. "AMD is a leader in x86 microprocessor design, and we remain committed to the x86 market," AMD said in a statement this week. "Our strategy is to accelerate our growth by taking advantage of our design capabilities to deliver a breadth of products that best align with broader industry shifts toward low power, emerging markets and the cloud."

The "emerging markets" -- presumably smartphones and tablets -- is a space where both Intel and AMD will fight to survive, a space currently dominated by ARM's low-power architecture. There's also the new ultrabook market which requires low-power solutions to keep the overall prices down and battery life extended. These three markets alone are untapped veins of possible revenue for the company, and as AMD pointed out, three avenues that are currently the industry's primary focus.

Yet back in August, Rick Bergman, senior VP and general manager of AMD’s Product Group, said that the company had no plans to enter the smartphone sector. "We haven’t announced any plans to go in that handheld space," Bergman said. "We’ve got plenty of opportunities… in server, notebook and now tablets, that’s our immediate focus. But if the right circumstances come up and we can see a way to impact the market, we’ll obviously continue to look."

On the tablet front, AMD launched the Z-Series Bobcat-based APUs during Computex 2011 back in June. The first chip, the AMD Z-01, features two 1 GHz Bobcat cores, a TDP of 5.9W, 1 MB of L2 cache and AMD Radeon HD 6250 discrete-class graphics (276 MHz, 80 cores). By comparison, Nvidia just launched its ARM-based Tegra 3 SoC featuring a quad-core ARM Cortex-A9 MPCore (up to 1.4 GHz single-core mode and 1.3 GHz multi-core mode), a 12-core GeForce GPU, 1 MB of L2 cache, and a TDP of around 4W.

AMD is expected to update its strategy in February 2012, but there's a good chance we'll learn more during CES 2012 in January.

AMD-branded memory coming to the US

Advanced Micro Devices has announced that they will be bringing company-branded memory modules to the United States. The brand will be introduced with two strategic launch partners: Patriot Memory and VisionTek.

AMD has been supplying and validating memory for Radeon graphics cards for years and they feel that jumping into the volatile system memory market is a clear opportunity for the company. They have used the AMD OverDrive performance optimization tool to test and optimize DRAM in conjunction with their APUs, CPUs, GPUs and chipset platforms. Such insight is now helping them create memory modules for other manufacturers as well.

AMD hopes to take the guesswork out of selecting memory by introducing three different performance tiers. All modules will be available in 2GB, 4GB and 8GB capacities. The Entertainment level will feature 1333MHz and 1600MHz speeds designed for quiet home theater PC applications. AMD’s Performance category will support speeds up to 1600MHz in matched pairs with low latency. The top-end Radeon Edition modules will run at 1866MHz and are tuned, tested and certified for specific AMD platforms.

AMD Memory will be available through major retails including Amazon.com, Bestbuy.ca, Fry’s, Memory Express, Micro Center, NCIX, Newegg, Tiger Direct, VIP Computers (UK) and others in the near future. There’s no word on module pricing but given the state of the market, we don’t expect them to carry much of a premium (if any) over existing kits. AMD has been selling similar kits in Japandating back to August, albeit under different performance categories.

AMD DDR3 1866MHz Ram review

Advanced Micro Devices has announced that they will be bringing company-branded memory modules to the United States. The brand will be introduced with two strategic launch partners: Patriot Memory and VisionTek.
AMD has been supplying and validating memory for Radeon graphics cards for years and they feel that jumping into the volatile system memory market is a clear opportunity for the company. They have used the AMD OverDrive performance optimization tool to test and optimize DRAM in conjunction with their APUs, CPUs, GPUs and chipset platforms. Such insight is now helping them create memory modules for other manufacturers as well.

AMD hopes to take the guesswork out of selecting memory by introducing three different performance tiers. All modules will be available in 2GB, 4GB and 8GB capacities. The Entertainment level will feature 1333MHz and 1600MHz speeds designed for quiet home theater PC applications. AMD’s Performance category will support speeds up to 1600MHz in matched pairs with low latency. The top-end Radeon Edition modules will run at 1866MHz and are tuned, tested and certified for specific AMD platforms.
AMD Memory will be available through major retails including Amazon.com, Bestbuy.ca, Fry’s, Memory Express, Micro Center, NCIX, Newegg, Tiger Direct, VIP Computers (UK) and others in the near future. There’s no word on module pricing but given the state of the market, we don’t expect them to carry much of a premium (if any) over existing kits. AMD has been selling similar kits in Japandating back to August, albeit under different performance categories.

AMD Catalyst 11.11a boosts Skyrim performance, more

AMD has followed up on their 11.11 release from just a few days ago. The newly relased Catalyst 11.11a"performance" driver addresses a number of performance issues as well as a couple of bugs found in 11.11.

Rage and Skyrim get most of the love from 11.11a, but Batman Arkham City and Battlefield 3 were also singled out with bug fixes. The small number of improvements listed here are in addition to a long list of changes made in 11.11. AMD has since pulled 11.11 from their downloads section and replaced it with 11.11a.

Batman Arkham City

• Improves DirectX 11 performance for single GPU and CrossFireX configurations

Rage

• Delivers AMD CrossfireX performance scaling
• Resolves a number of image / stability issues seen with the title:
• Fix geometry corruption, sometimes seen in Bash TV entrance
• Fix issues with Low-memory conditions on 32bit systems.
• Fix issue with extreme corruption with missing textures on 32bit systems.
• Fix memory leaks when deleting/reusing sync objects.
• Fix hitching and pausing, especially noticeable on some Quad Core systems when doing races and Stanley Express runs.
• Fix some missing shadows

Elder Scrolls Skyrim

• Improves performance 2-7% on single GPU configurations
• Resolve corruption seen when enabling Multi-Sample Anti-Aliasing on the AMD Radeon HD 6970 Series
• Disables CrossFireX (to resolve negative scaling and image quality issues seen when CrossFireX is enabled)
• AMD is continuing to work on a CrossFireX solution for Skyrim – as soon as it’s ready we’ll make it publicly available

Battlefield 3

• Resolves intermittent corruption seen when playing the game at specific camera angles

Noteworthy improvements from the previous 11.11 release include Flash 11 hardware acceleration, various operating system fixes, improved multi-monitor handling and a multitude of game fixes for titles like Dragon Age 2, Shogun 2, Far Cry 2, Rage, Homefront, Dead Space 2, Bulletstorm, Civilization V and more.

The 11.11a driver package can be downloaded for both 32 and 64-bit versions of Windows XP and Vista/7. AMD recommends this release for Radeon 5000 and 6000 HD owners only, however, it should install for most not-so-older chipsets as well. If you have problems getting it installed on your aging board, modded versions are already floating around the web.

Most laptops sporting a Radeon 5000 or 6000 HD series chip are compatible with 11.11a as well, although support will vary from model to model. Toshiba, Panasonic and some Sony laptops are called out specifically for their incompatibility.

Ultrabooks Will Have Hard Times Competing Against Apple MacBook Air

Advanced Micro Devices does not consider Intel Corp.'s ultrabook initiative as an imminent success. The chip designer claims that the market of expensive laptops is dominated by Apple with its MacBook series and ultrabooks will have hard times competing against them. AMD believes that its own approach to offer different chips for inexpensive ultra-slim and multimedia-rich mainstream mobile computers is a very balanced one.

Traditionally ultra low-voltage ultra-portable notebooks were aimed at business users who need long battery life amid sufficient performance and functionality. Many of such ultra-portable computers are state-of-the-art pieces of engineering and employ the latest technologies to provide excellent reliability, stability, battery life, security and other qualities that have tremendous value for those on the road. Ultrabooks should essentially pack the same amount of features, be very responsive, stylish and cost less than $1000, according to Intel’s intentions.

Intel wants ultrabooks to employ its latest-generation microprocessors, use latest technologies available from other developers and still maintain relatively low costs. But AMD believes that there are many ways to address the market of ultra-portable mobile PCs: some may want extremely cheap netbooks with extended battery life and other may want to have powerful multimedia capabilities.

“We have been on the market with our ultra-thin strategy for some time. We have always believed there was a sweet spot in the market: the extreme sort of portability with beautiful aesthetic and very thin designs. […] We have Llano silicon solution today that delivers as good or better battery life than Intel and better all around visual experience. […] The Brazos platform [for low-cost systems] has been a runaway success for AMD,” said John Taylor, the director of client product marketing and software at AMD, in a brief interview with X-bit labs.

Ultra-thin notebook aimed at consumers is not a completely new trend. Back in 2009 Intel already proposed so-called consumer ultra low-voltage (CULV) platform that was supposed to bring ultra-thin notebooks to the masses without using the latest manufacturing technologies and expensive materials. CULV has failed on the market. Ultrabook approach includes high-end materials and precise technology processes, so it is very different.

AMD does not believe in imminent success of ultrabooks and thinks that the new PCs will end up competing against already successful products like Apple MacBook Air, which are powered by the very same Intel Core i-series “Sandy Bridge” microprocessors. Meanwhile, Apple has been dominating the market of expensive consumer PCs for some time now.

"We have to wait and see when the actual thing comes to market and when Windows 8 comes to market and how does the final product [ultrabook hardware and Windows 8 software] look like as a $1000/€1000 type device. And how will it compete against already successful Apple MacBook Air. [...] The $1000+/€1000+ PC market is completely dominated by Apple,” said Mr. Taylor.

AMD asserts that many of the features of so-called ultrabooks are to be based on Windows 8 software and will eventually migrate to mainstream systems.

“Windows 8 brings a number of capabilities that Intel would seem to be collecting under the banner of ultrabook. As well, there are a few things that they are doing with higher-end components that they are looking at that enable faster wake and sleep and this type of capabilities [in Windows 8],” claimed Mr. Taylor.

But while the ultrabook initiative may not be an imminent success, AMD may well have silicon offerings – including, but not limited to the much hyped and not-yet-available code-named Trinity accelerated processing unit – to address the market of highly-responsive and highly-portable laptops that cost less than a $1000.

"I don't want go into specifics around what we can do with Trinity silicon. But Trinity represents a step-up in x86 performance, a step up in graphics performance and a step up in some areas around video, where we are already leaders. I don't want to get too specific about our 2012 roadmaps, but we have two different types of APUs that we can bring to that ultra-thin market as we move forward to their introduction next year," concluded Mr. Taylor.

AMD has stopped Phenom II X2, X4 production

The latest rumor regarding AMD claims that the company has already pulled the proverbial plug on the production run for their budget-minded Phenom II X2 and X4 processors.

The rumor comes courtesy of Kitguru who claims to have heard “something very interesting about AMD’s traditional CPU lines”, although at the end of the article the author hints that the rumor could possibly be self-generated. Valid or not, the story brings up some very good points about the present and future of AMD’s processor lineup.

It’s extremely likely that AMD has plenty of X2 and X4 processors in inventory and the same can be said for outlets across the globe. Odds are also high that AMD could indeed halt production on these lines today and still have enough stock to feed demand and cover warranty claims. Moving production away from these aging pieces of silicon would free up resources that could be used to manufacture next generation Fusion and Bulldozer CPUs.

It's worth noting that this jives with inside sources cited by DigiTimes in late June. At the time, it was reported that Athlon II chips would drop from 70% of AMD's total processor shipments in the second quarter to 40% in the third, 30% in the fourth and the series would be retracted by early 2012. Various Phenom II chips were pegged for a similar fate with X2, X4 and X6 parts expected to disappar over the next six to eight months.

AMD Fusion APUs have been in production since 2006 when the company acquired ATI. AMD released theBrazos mobile solution in February and followed it up with Llano in June.

The 8-core Bulldozer-based FX-8130P has already been publically benchmarked last month. In general, performance seems better than Intel's top Sandy Bridge offering. Early indications point to a September 19 release date for the new FX-series processors.

Socket AM2+ Phenom II chips have been in circulation since December 2008 with Socket AM3 chips finding their way to market in February 2009.

AMD to release C-60 netbook chip with Turbo Core?

AMD is already shipping four different C-Series (codenamed Ontario) and E-Series (codenamed Zacate) APUs as part of its Fusion lineup, which brings multiple x86 cores and discrete-level DirectX 11 graphics onto the same piece of silicon. The AMD C-30, C-50, E-240 and E-350 have been well received and made somewhat of a splash in the netbook and budget laptop market. Now, according to a report on Macles, a new AMD C-60 variant could be on the way.

The dual-core C-60 should bridge the gap between the C-50 and the more powerful E-240/350. It features mostly the same specs as the currently available C-50, with its two x86 Bobcat cores running at 1GHz and featuring 1MB of L2 cache all with a TDP of just 9W. But there are also two key differences: the AMD C-60 will have Radeon HD 6290 graphics instead of Radeon HD 6250 and adds support for Turbo Core technology. This means the chip's x86 cores can reach 1.33GHz during intensive tasks, while the Radeon HD 6290 graphics can go from the stock 276MHz to 400MHz in Turbo Mode.

For comparison, the E-350 runs at 1.6GHz and has a more powerful Radeon HD 6310 graphics core clocked at 492MHz. Keeping in mind that this is a slightly higher end part with a TDP of 18W, the C-60 isn't looking too bad on paper, and might enable very affordable netbook designs without sacrificing a lot of performance. AMD hasn't made any announcement regarding a new Ontario APU so for now this remains a rumor.

AMD: The Radeon HD 6790 can't be unlocked

Earlier this week AMD released the Radeon HD 6790. As previously reported, the card is based on a cut-down version of the "Barts" GPU first seen in the Radeon HD 6800 series, with 160 fewer Stream Processors than the HD 6850, 8 fewer Texture Units and half the ROPs. At the current price of $150 it's not really the best deal, but some hoped its hardware could be re-enabled via a BIOS flash to get a free speed boost. Unfortunately, that will not be the case.

The folks at X-bit labs confirmed this in talks with AMD's Evan Groenke, who said: "It is not something that should be possible on the 6790. Those SIMDs are fused off." So unlike early versions of the Radeon HD 6950, which could beturned into a 6970 with a simple tweak, it looks like the Radeon HD 6790's Barts GPU is locked at the hardware level.

At least the card is said to be a good overclocker, and with board partners implementing their own cooling solutions users should be able to squeeze some extra performance without much trouble. However, going for an Nvidia GeForce GTX 460 (768MB) at the same price or paying a just few extra bucks for the more powerful Radeon HD 6850 sounds like a better option. The cheapest 6850 costs $165 on Newegg and you can even get it for less after a mail-in rebate.

AMD starts shipping 32nm 'Llano' APUs to OEM partners

AMD yesterday had some pleasant news to share with investors and customers: the first shipment of 32nm A-Series APUs just went out to OEM partners, with the first systems carrying them expected to arrive in mid-2011 as promised. The company’s interim CEO, Thomas Seifert, made the announcement during a conference call to discuss the recent change in its supply agreement with its manufacturing partner and spinoff GlobalFoundries.

AMD is already shipping C-Series (codenamed Ontario) and E-Series (codenamed Zacate) APUs as part of the new Fusion lineup, which brings multiple x86 cores and discrete-level DirectX 11 graphics onto the same piece of silicon. But these two are low-power parts designed for smaller netbooks, budget laptops and entry-level ultrathin notebooks.

The A-Series (codenamed Llano) on the other hand is targeted at mainstream laptops and desktops, and will be the first from AMD made using a 32-nanometer manufacturing process. It's not clear which products began shipping out specifically but if roadmap leaks and past demos are any indication we expect AMD to tackle the mobile segment first.

The desktop version of Llano could ship in the third and fourth quarters of 2011, with July 20 mentioned in the most recent leaked roadmaps as the release date for the first five chips. Later on the FX-Series (codenamed Zambezi) will come into play with four, six, and eight core variants aimed at Intel's fastest Core i5 and i7 processors.