AMD's Fusion Chipsets to Support USB 3.0

AMD has said that upcoming chipsets will feature support for USB 3.0, otherwise known as SuperSpeed USB.

USB 3.0 has been seen on motherboards for quite a while now, but USB-IF this week announced that the A75 and A70M Fusion chipsets from Advanced Micro Devices will be the first certified 'Superspeed USB' chipsets. USB 3.0 offers transfer rates of up to 5Gbps, quite an upgrade from the speeds offered by the ten-year-old USB 2.0.

“The integration of SuperSpeed USB into AMD’s Fusion Controller Hubs demonstrates AMD’s commitment to providing the industry’s latest, most innovative connectivity technologies,” said Chris Cloran, AMD Corporate Vice-President and General Manager, Client Group. “AMD Fusion Controller Hubs will provide competitive performance while consuming low power with active USB 3.0 traffic for high definition video and fast connectivity with the latest SuperSpeed USB devices.”

The announcement makes AMD the first company to integrate a USB 3.0 controller into its silicon. Rival Intel has yet to take the same step of integrating USB 3.0 into its own chipsets and, according to The Register, doesn’t have plans to do so until 2012. This almost definitely has something to do with Intel’s new baby, the Thunderbolt standard (previously known as Light Peak). Thunderbolt was unveiled at the same time as the new MacBook Pros, which support the interface, and though Intel has said it can exist alongside USB 3.0, the company definitely seems to have a favorite at the moment.