AMD Reveals Radeon HD 6000M Series Of Notebook GPUs

It’s official. Finally. The AMD Fusion APU era has begun, and it couldn’t have possibly come at a better time. Intel has been able to capitalize in recent years, particularly with their Atom platform, due to having no real, shipping competition from AMD. But now, the war really begins. Today at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, AMD officially announced a new class of accelerated processor that combines more compute capabilities than any processor in the history of computing. That’s their wording to describe Fusion, a new range of Accelerated Processing Units. 

This new Fusion core incorporates a multi-core x86 CPU and a DirectX 11-capable discrete-level GPU into a single die. It’s the best of both worlds, and it’s as close as we have come to seeing a CPU and GPU truly hold hands and live together in harmony on a single die. New generations of desktop, notebook and HD netbooks are now available based on AMD Fusion APUs, and we suspect that many computer makers will be making announcements in the coming days after Fusion-based machines going on sale.

Leaked slides provide details on AMD Cayman graphics cards

AMD’s Radeon HD 6000 series is set to debut this month with the introduction of the Radeon HD 6800 (Barts) cards but the real treats, at least performance wise, are expected in November when the Cayman-based models are set to take on Nvidia’s GeForce GTX 480/470 cards.

As revealed by the slide below, AMD’s upcoming single-GPU enthusiast cards will both feature 1GB of GDDR5 memory, two DVI, one HDMI 1.4 and two mini DisplayPort 1.2 outputs, and require extra power via two connectors – 2 x 6pin for the Cayman Pro (HD 6950?) and 1 x 6pin & 1 x 8pin for the Cayman XT (HD 6970?).

The Cayman Pro card will have its memory set to 5000 MHz and a TDP of under 225W, while the Cayman XT will top 6000 MHz and a TDP of just under 300W. No word on prices and final specs yet.

 

AMD Radeon HD 6870 pictured, can control five monitors

Get your contemplating hat on and drool bucket close as a Chinese site has leaked a first press photo of AMD’s upcoming Radeon HD 6870 graphics card. Expected to be launched later this month, the new Radeon is powered by the 40nm Barts (XT) GPU and features DirectX 11 support.

The Radeon HD 6870 takes up two slots and has a 256-bit memory interface, 1GB of GDDR5 VRAM, the third-generation Unified Video Decoder (UVD), AMD HD3D technology for 3D gaming, CrossFireX support, and the Eyefinity multi-monitor solution. The card also provides no less than five display outputs – two DVI, one HDMI 1.4, two mini DisplayPort 1.2, so it seems capable of running five monitors simultaneously. Pretty sweet right?

 

Packard Bell EasyNote TM laptop embracing AMD’s VISION

Packard Bell’s EasyNote TM 15.6-inch notebook was announced a while back packing Intel’s Calpella platform but now it’s also been confirmed to come in (probably) multiple versions powered by AMD’s Danube mobile offering.

The AMD-equipped EasyNote TM will boast a 15.6-inch (1366×768) display, up to a quad-core Phenom II processor, a maximum of 640GB in storage space, a DVD or Blu-ray drive, a multi-card reader, a HDMI output, and will include a Social Networks key which enables a quick connection to friends on Facebook, YouTube and Flickr.

Packard Bell’s laptop will be pre-loaded with Windows 7, bundled with Adobe Photoshop Elements 8 and be available in four colors – NightSky Black, Silk Silver, Starlight White and Cashmere Red. The laptop is set to debut this summer at a starting price tag of £449.

New, quicker Radeon HD 5670 in the works

AMD is on the verge of introducing a quicker version of its $99 Radeon HD 5670 based on different silicon, according to a report by Inpai. The Chinese website claims the new version will be out this month with 50% more stream processors and a slightly lower core clock speed than its predecessor.

The current Radeon HD 5670 is AMD’s quickest product based on the Redwood graphics processor. Reportedly, however, the updated model will be based on the same Juniper chip that powers the Radeon HD 5770 and 5750—just with fewer stream processors. The motive behind the switch could be simple: perhaps yields of Juniper GPUs aren’t all that good, and AMD needs to sell off parts with too many faulty SPs to make the cut for the 5700 series.

Inpai’s article says the Juniper-based Radeon HD 5670 will have 640 stream processors and a 750MHz clock speed, compared to 400 SPs and a 775MHz core clock for the existing part. Both cards should have 512MB of GDDR5 RAM running through a 128-bit interface. The Radeon HD 5750, by contrast, has 720 SPs and a 700MHz speed.

There is one possible catch: Inpai claims the new 5670 will be “likely . . . only for the domestic market,” so it might not show up in North America. That could make sense if AMD doesn’t quite have enough faulty Juniper GPUs to satisfy global demand.

Inspiron M301z: Dell’s first laptop to take on AMD’s new dual-core Neo

If the words Dell and AMD excite you then lean in, we’ve got something for you. You won’t find it on Dell’s US site just yet, but Dell Singapore is showing off its first laptop to feature AMD’s new Nile-class of processors. The Inspiron M301z starts at $999 with a 1.3GHz dual-core Athlon II Neo K325 processor (optional 1.5GHz Neo K625), 2GB (up to 4GB supported) of 1,333MHz DDR3 memory and a 320GB hard disk spinning at 7,200RPM, ATi Mobility Radeon HD 4225 integrated graphics, a glossy 13.3-inch WLED display pushing 1,366×768 pixels, and a 6-cell 44WHr battery for up to 5-hours of promised life. It’s available for purchase now in Singapore and likely elsewhere just as soon as the sun begins to warm the western world.

Lenovo ThinkPad Edge 14 and 15 get AMD’s latest, start at $549

We don’t yet have much insight into the performance of the many laptops now being powered by AMD’s new mainstream CPUs, but we can say we’re big fans of the prices they’re ringing up. Starting at $549, Lenovo’s rolling out the Edge 14 and 15 with big A’s latest Athlon II X2 P320, Turion II X2 P520 and Phenom II X3 P820 processors on June 22. They won’t be available with discrete graphics options, but the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3400 IGP should at least go easy on the 4- and 6-cell battery options. Other than that the Edge is the same machine we have come to know and love over the past few months — now let’s just hope that AMD power lives up to its promise.

Acer New 7552G Notebook features AMD Vision Technology

One of the noteworthy new products ACER introduced yesterday in Cannes is this notebook, codenamed 7552G as it boasts latest AMD Vision Technology which combines AMD Phenom II Quad-Core Mobile CPU with ATI Mobility Radeon HD Graphics. To complement this appealing duo are a 17.3-inch LED-backlit HD screen with native 16:9 aspect ratio as well as a Blu-ray drive and HDMI out.

No word on pricing or availability, yet.

AMD debuts five new ATI FirePro cards

AMD has started this week by announcing a significant update to its professional graphics card offering – four new FirePro models featuring DirectX 11 support, the FirePro V7800, V5800, V4800, V3800 and 2460 Multi-View.

The FirePro V7800 is a Cypress-based single-slot card boasting 1440 Stream Processors, 2GB of GDDR5 memory, a TDP of under 150W, Eyefinity technology and DVI, plus dual DisplayPort outputs.

The V5800 is powered by the Juniper GPU and has 800 SPs, a 128–bit memory interface, 1Gb of GDDR5 VRAM, a TDP under 75W, and also DVI and dual DisplayPort connectivity. The Redwood-equipped V4800 comes with 400 SPs, 1GB of VRAM a full PCB and the same output options as the V5800, while the V3800 makes use of a half-height PCB and includes 400 Stream Processors, 512MB of DDR3 memory, and DVI/DisplayPort connectors.

Last one out, the FirePro 2460 Multi-View features a low profile, passive cooling, a power draw of under 13W, and four mini DisplayPort outputs.

“AMD’s new ATI FirePro workstation graphics cards are the world’s first workstation class graphics cards to support up to four monitors on a single card4 – enabling increased productivity for professional graphics users,” said Janet Matsuda, senior director, Professional Graphics, AMD. “Our new ATI FirePro family delivers new value at every price point.”

AMD’s five ATI FirePro cards are expected to be available very soon.

Acer Aspire One 521 netbook to featue AMD processor

AMD is reportedly preparing to launch a new 10.1 inch netbook that chucks the Intel Atom chipset for an AMD chip. Macles reports that the Acer Aspire One 521 will have a 1.2GHz AMD V105 single core processor.

The V105 is part of AMD’s Nile lineup, and it has 512KB of L2 cache, support for DDR3 memory, and a total power draw of 9 watts, which makes it pretty efficient for an AMD chip. What we won’t know until someone gets a chance to run some benchmarks is how the AMD V105 compares to an Intel Atom chip when it comes to performance.

The Aspire One 521 will also reportedly have ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4225 graphics and the AMD M880G chipset. As you can probably guess from the fact that the graphics processor has HD in the name, the netbook should be capable of HD video playback and it even has an HDMI output. I wouldn’t expect NVIDIA ION-quality 3D graphics performance here, but it seems like 720p and maybe even 1080p HD video support should be on the table.

According to Macles, the netbook will have optional Bluetooth 3 support and a compact charger with changeable plus. The battery is supposed to be good for up to 7 hours.