AMD Announces 6th Generation A-Series APU Branding - Carrizo Due This Quarter
by Ryan Smith on May 6, 2015 2:21 PM EST- Posted in
- CPUs
- AMD
- APUs
- AMD FAD 2015
Along with AMD’s roadmap announcements today at financial analyst day, AMD has also offered a brief update on the state of Carrizo, the company’s forthcoming next-generation mobile APU. Due for launch this year, AMD has just confirmed that Carrizo is ramping well and will be launching this quarter, though SKU details are not being provided at this time.
Meanwhile, AMD is also using the opportunity to announce their intended branding for Carrizo notebooks. These products will now be known as the 6th generation A-series, and will be featuring revised AMD badges to indicate this. AMD will be retaining the current FX/A10/A8 branding, with the only real change being the inclusion of the “6th generation” branding on the badges.
Badging aside, AMD still will have to face the fact that they’re launching a 28nm notebook APU versus Intel’s 14nm notebook CPUs, the company is once again banking on their strong GPU performance to help drive sales. Coupled with the combination of low power optimizations in Carrizo and full fixed-function hardware decoding of HEVC, and AMD will be relying on Carrizo to carry them through to 2016 and Zen.
Finally, though it will come a bit later in the year, AMD’s FAD update has also briefly mentioned their plans for their AMD Pro lineup and how Carrizo will impact it. In short, AMD will be leaning on a combination of Carrizo’s power gains, and their own security technology as found in the Pro APUs.
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eanazag - Wednesday, May 6, 2015 - link
I just had to comment on that last slide. "2x the commercial client design wins" does that mean there are two laptops available now?Industry leading image stability and platform longevity is a direct result of lack of innovation and new products. They just hang around a lot longer. AMD could tout the desktop FX CPUs as having industry leading platform longevity too.
eanazag - Wednesday, May 6, 2015 - link
That knock was on AMD. This is on OEMs. No OEMs make quality machines with AMD processors. This APU gives the hint it may actually be decent competition for Intel in certain markets, but will we see a quality laptop sporting this processor - unlikely.rocketbuddha - Wednesday, May 6, 2015 - link
<quote>28nm notebook APU versus Intel’s 14nm notebook CPUs, the company is once again banking on their strong GPU performance to help drive sales.
<end quote>
That sums up the joke :D
If Broadwell + a low level NVIDIA discrete GPU can perform better than Carrizo with comparable power envelopes, Carrizo is dead.
Crunchy005 - Wednesday, May 6, 2015 - link
Only problem is that OEMs have moved away form discrete GPUs and running laptops mainly off of intel HD graphics. This for myself is very annoying because a discrete GPU will always be better and normal consumers don't get it or really need it for that matter. Facebook Machines. The likelihood of a thin laptop in the normal consumer range(not gaming or high end) with a discrete card is rare these days. So carrizo will have some nice areas to fit in and compete against intel HD. The amd APUs are not great on the CPU side but in the Facebook machine market(most everyday laptops) they are more than enough, and the added benefit of better gaming performance is a very nice plus on a budget laptop.Crunchy005 - Wednesday, May 6, 2015 - link
O also, carrizo can support 4K decoding at 30FPS, something Intel can't do yet.Taneli - Wednesday, May 6, 2015 - link
Carrizo parts won't be even near 4K panels. The devices these will be sold with will mainly have 1366x768 TN panels or at maximum 1080p. The whole 4K decoding will be useless as these will likely never be in a house with a 4K screen.Alexvrb - Wednesday, May 6, 2015 - link
That depends. I know a good few people that would plunk down lots of cash for a high-end TV, and their PC is a budget machine - almost an afterthought.Gigaplex - Wednesday, May 6, 2015 - link
People still plug external displays into laptops.assemblethelight - Thursday, May 7, 2015 - link
Seriously doubt that an Intel Broadwell with a dedicated NVIDIA GPU will perform better or on par with a AMD APU at the same or lower price. A majority would want strong GPU performance at a affordable price mainly for gaming applications. The same majority would more than likely just want to be able to play upcoming games at playable frame-rates and med-high settings. Resolution is less relevant because its a laptop. Carrizo is reported to be double the benchmarks of Kaveri which put it at GTX 860-870 levels. The current FX-7500 (Kaveri) laptop APU can play Battlefield 4 at 30fps on low settings and that's a $450 laptop. You would have to buy a NVIDIA 820M laptop to do those benchmarks which would set you at the same $450 price tag. If the claims are that Carrizo is double the benchmarks than Kaveri then the same $450 Carrizo laptop will be benchmarking at the level of a GT 840/850M which is at a +$700 price tag. That mean Carizzo wins on bang for a buck gaming laptop under $600.assemblethelight - Thursday, May 7, 2015 - link
Seriously doubt that an Intel Broadwell with a dedicated NVIDIA GPU will perform better or on par with a AMD APU at the same or lower price. A majority would want strong GPU performance at a affordable price mainly for gaming applications. The same majority would more than likely just want to be able to play upcoming games at playable frame-rates and med-high settings. Resolution is less relevant because its a laptop. Carrizo is reported to be double the benchmarks of Kaveri which put it at GTX 860-870 levels. The current FX-7500 (Kaveri) laptop APU can play Battlefield 4 at 30fps on low settings and that's a $450 laptop. You would have to buy a NVIDIA 820M laptop to do those benchmarks which would set you at the same $450 price tag. If the claims are that Carrizo is double the benchmarks than Kaveri then the same $450 Carrizo laptop will be benchmarking at the level of a GT 840/850M which is at a +$700 price tag. That mean Carizzo wins on bang for a buck gaming laptop under $600.