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A short while ago, KitGuru was invited to AMD's press event with the agenda of discussing the company's mobile products for 2013. It is clear that the mobile market is a big priority for the US-based chip maker, so read on to find out what AMD has in store for the coming months.
The three newest APU series of chips to hit AMD's flourishing mobile catalogue will be Temash, Kabini, and Richland. We'll get stuck into the details of those parts later in the article.
It was easy to see that the mobile market is very much about user experience, from AMD's point of view. The company was keen to point out its new partnerships, technologies and developments which will help to boost the versatility and user-friendliness of its mobile products.
AMD User Experience
AMD was clearly very proud about the fact that thousands of apps are now compatible with its hardware acceleration.
Battery life, hardware acceleration, and picture quality are just some of the key components that AMD has improved with its new generation of mobile products.
An interesting feature was the AMD Steady Video Technology. We didn't get chance to test this, but it works by stabilising home videos on the laptop's end, not the video camera's. This could potentially be an effective way of making low-quality home videos a more enjoyable viewing experience.
On all but the entry-level E-series and A4-series parts, AMD screen mirror technology is supported. This technology allows the computer's screen content to be ‘shared' on the big screen TV. There's nothing special about that, we know, but it's the method of sharing that had us interested – via wireless hardware.
The wireless hardware, which is to be produced by third parties and purchased separately, (with no date confirmed yet) and the technology's overall display performance is 3.9x better than Intel's competing option, according to AMD.
We had the opportunity to test a “Kabini” A4-5000-powered system with the wireless technology which transmits the computer's display signal to a receiver that connects to the TV. While we like the idea of being able to play PC games on the big screen without hassle, the lag that we experienced was on the border of unbearable. Wireless interference could be an issue, but we certainly wouldn't want to be playing a competitive or online game using the technology – we would be put at a severe disadvantage.
Further usability enhancements come in the form of gesture control and face login for the higher-end parts (such as those in the Richland line-up). AMD's Flagship A10 mobile APUs will also ship with game bundles similar to the company's Never Settle scheme.
Temash
Temash will form AMD's ultra-low power, entry-level line-up of mobile APU products. Intended to compete directly with Intel's Celeron and Pentium mobile chips that are used in notebooks, and slotting in between the Core i3 and Atom parts found in tablet devices, versatility is one of the key features of AMD's dual- and quad-core A4-12xx and A6-14xx parts.
Designed for use with small and touch screen tablet and hybrid devices, AMD is claiming that its A4 and A6 APUs have the “best graphics experience of any SOC on the planet for touch tablets, hybrids and notebooks”. While that's a pretty bold claim, and one that we can't wait to test with our hands-on coverage of future products, the entry-level APUs' specs sheets are unquestionably impressive.
The A6-1450 APU features four “Jaguar” cores, 2MB of shared L2 cache and a Radeon HD 8250 graphics processor. According to AMD's press information, “Jaguar” cores offer a performance improvement of up to 20%, in comparison to “Bobcat” cores. The chip communicates directly with the single-channel, 64-bit DDR3 memory which is capable of a maximum speed of 1333MHz (product dependant).
AMD has an interesting feature that allows the A6 to boost its clock speed from the base frequency of 1.0GHz up to 1.4GHz when used with an add-on, power-supplying dock.
The entry-level A4 APUs are both dual core parts. Sporting a slightly slower GPU than the A6 chip, AMD's A4-1250 is a cut-down part which is intended for use with large screen, portable devices such as hybrid tablets. The question of its power consumption was raised at the event, but with no conclusive answer, we wouldn't be surprised if the 9W figure is a mistake in AMD's material. AMD said that it wouldn't be surprised if the higher-wattage parts were used in enclosures with fans.
In search of a minute 3.9W power envelope, AMD's A4-1200 chip lowers its graphics processor to a HD 8100 series model.
Compared to the previous generation AMD C-70 chip, the Temash APUs offer a performance per watt increase of more than 200%, in certain scenarios. AMD also says that Temash-based products are capable of a battery life of up to 12 hours and can wake from sleep mode in as little as 1.6 seconds.
AMD's Elite Mobility APUs support resolutions of up to 2560×1600 pixels, and sport an impressive feature set that includes USB 3, DirectX 11 support, and up to 8GB of memory. According to AMD, Temash-based products could allow OEMs to reach the iPad's price point with their large-screen tablet devices.
Kabini
Kabini forms AMDs mainstream APU platform. Split between the quad-core A-series and dual-core E-series APUs, Kabini looks to offer users and OEMs a product that is good for all-round usage.
Designed for use with small screen and entry-level notebooks, AMD's Kabini APUs aim to compete with Intel's Core i3, Pentium and Celeron mobile parts.
Four Jaguar cores and 2MB of L2 cache will be present on the A6-5200 and A4-5000 APUs. The E-series chips will feature half the cache and cores. Platform support includes 10 USB ports, 2 of which can be USB 3, 2 SATA ports and one x4 PCIe 2.0 link for discrete GPUs.
The main differences between the two parts are the A6's HD 8400 GPU versus the A4's HD 8330, and the 500MHz CPU clock speed increase for the 5200. The A6 also increases power consumption from the A4's 15W up to 25W.
The entry-level E-series chips slash the L2 cache size and number of cores in half. Slower-clocked Radeon HD 8200 series GPUs are also used to reduce costs. The E-series chips' CPU frequencies range from 1.0 to 1.65GHz.
All of the Kabini APUs support memory of DDR3-1333MHz speed or greater.
AMD claims a greater than 100% performance per watt boost over the previous generation, in certain scenarios. It also claims that the Kabini APUs will be up to 25% more power efficient than their predecessors, resulting in battery lives of up to 11 hours.
Richland
AMD's elite performance mobile platform will be formed by Richland APUs, a follow-on from Trinity. Built for performance ultrathin notebooks and targeting Intel's Core i3 and i5 mobile chips, Richland APUs will be available in dual- and quad- core varieties.
AMD claims an overall performance improvement of up to 19% for its Richland parts. The quoted battery life of up to 13 hours could be an important feature for many consumers. Gamers will also be interested by the “39-72% better gaming performance than the competition”, according to AMD. Certain Richland chips have 71% better GPU performance than the Core i5, according to AMD.
With 4MB of L2 cache and HD 8500 and 8600 graphics processors for the high-end quad core parts, it is clear that AMD is targeting mobile users who desire all-round power and console-quality gaming performance.
Lower power parts, such as the A6-5345M and A4-5145M could be strong contenders in the ‘ultrabook' form factor market with their 17W TDPs.
The Richland APU platform's key features include; Temperature-smart AMD Turbo Core, a configurable TDP, and media-orientated power optimisation. Broader motherboard flexibility for OEMs could be a key point from which AMD may obtain additional success.
Richland parts will be used in high-end gaming laptops as well as mid-range all-round notebooks.
Judging by what we learned from our time at AMD's press event, a look at some of the upcoming products equipped with AMD's mobile hardware, and a hands-on with some bold technologies, the mobile market is one that AMD is fighting hard to conquer.
AMD's 2013 line-up of mobile products is focused on all-round versatility and general ease-of-use, with enhanced power efficiency and performance.
Unfortunately, one thing we did notice was AMD's lack of competition against Intel's mighty Core i7. We didn't see or hear any mention of a product that could and would compete with the performance of Intel's flagship mobile chip.
Time, reviews and consumer opinions will tell us exactly how successful AMD's 2013 mobile platforms and APUs are. Make sure to check back soon for our in-depth coverage of systems and tablets powered by AMD's new mobile products.
KitGuru says: AMD has put great emphasis on ‘hitting it big' in the mobile sector. Only time will tell how successful AMD's 2013 additions have been.
