Report: AMD Quad-core Llano APUs Coming in Q3
Llano by this summer?
Are you waiting impatiently for more of AMD's Fusion CPUs? If you buy into AMD's line that the Future is Fusion, then the future can't be here soon enough. According to online reports, however, you'll have to wait until Q3 of this year before we'll be seeing some Llano product.
X-bit labs reports that AMD will be introducing in July five A-series models with 65W or 100W TDP. These APUs will either have quad CPU cores with Radeon HD 6000-class "BeaverCreek" (320 or 400 stream processors) graphics, or dual CPU cores with "WinterPark" (160 stream processors) graphics.
X-bit labs created the following table showing off all the A-series Llano APU's that AMD supposedly has planned for this year. Mind you, this is all unofficial and unconfirmed, but it's fun to see what's in the future.
And here's this video that AMD is all too proud to show off of Llano compared to Sandy Bridge:
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I wouldn't argue with the graphics comparison. The Intel graphics are pretty bad.
There are some strange things in the slide above. Here are some deductions:
The A8 and A4 have half the cores the name would suggest. But that doesn't apply to A6 and E2. What if A6 had 3 cores and E2 had one? A8 and A6 have the same amount of cache. That leads to the conclusion that A6 is a locked down A8. So for every one of there excepting the E2, it's 1MB L3 per core. Why such an anomaly? The E2 has one core locked.
Conclusion: A6 has 3 enabled cores + 1 locked and E2 has 1 enabled core + 1 locked and 1 MB of cache locked. Because of this the E2 doesn't officially support 1866MHz but in reality it does.
If the E2 is a locked A4 and the only thing that is different graphics-wise, it means that 6370 is a locked 6410. AMD did this with 6950/6970 so why wouldn't they do that now too? I noticed the clocks are the same on the winterpark as those on the beavercreek. Wouldn't that point to the ideea that some SP are locked on the A6s? It's pretty posible.
Conclusion: Both types of graphic cards may be changed with a bios change, especially the E2's.
This is how it should be: http://i55.tinypic.com/b48dty.png
Oh goodie, just when I had my mind made up to go for Sandy Brudge...
Oh goodie, just when I had my mind made up to go for Sandy Brudge...
Actually, I don't think Llano will come anywhere near Sandy Bridge - except for graphics performance, but I assume your desktop will include a discrete GPU, thus rendering that issue obsolete.
After all, Llano is not a fundamentally new architecture. Like Sandy Bridge, it's a shrunk, refined version of the previous generation.
For Intel, that means improving upon the already pretty good Lynnfield design found in all socket 1156 CPU's. For AMD, that means improving on the mediocre Phenom II design.
For the money to performance ratio, power consumption and also features like all AM2, AM2+ and AM3 coolers fitting the same sockets, I believe AMD offer the better processors. If you're simply going for performance though, yes I agree Intel are quite a way ahead.
For the money to performance ratio, power consumption and also features like all AM2, AM2+ and AM3 coolers fitting the same sockets, I believe AMD offer the better processors. If you're simply going for performance though, yes I agree Intel are quite a way ahead.
Power consumption? Seriously?
The Intel CPU's use a far more efficient architecture and are made using 32nm transistors rather than 45 for the AMD. A typical high end AMD CPU has a TDP of 95-125W. A far more powerful Intel Sandy Bridge is around 73W, including a northbridge and integrated graphics.
In a real world scenario, a Sandy Bridge CPU + motherboard consumes about 60% of what a comparable AMD consumes. Factor in Intel's better power throthling and the figure gets even better.
As to money vs performance, it's hard to say that AMD wins anymore. The SB dual cores easily outperform AMD's lower end Phenom II quads at a lower cost. The difference gets even bigger when the lower power consumption is factored in.
At the moment, AMD is second rate at best in the desktop world and laughable in the notebook world. Only its E-350 Fusion core is better than its nearest Intel equivalent, the Atom range. However, higher end netbooks are a very niche segment.