integrated FCH | KitGuru https://www.kitguru.net KitGuru.net - Tech News | Hardware News | Hardware Reviews | IOS | Mobile | Gaming | Graphics Cards Sun, 14 Jun 2015 11:02:18 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.3 https://www.kitguru.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/cropped-KITGURU-Light-Background-SQUARE2-32x32.png integrated FCH | KitGuru https://www.kitguru.net 32 32 AMD’s 2016 APUs to be powered by ‘Excavator’ x86 cores – slides https://www.kitguru.net/components/cpu/anton-shilov/amds-2016-apus-to-be-powered-by-excavator-x86-cores-slides-from-amd/ https://www.kitguru.net/components/cpu/anton-shilov/amds-2016-apus-to-be-powered-by-excavator-x86-cores-slides-from-amd/#comments Sat, 13 Jun 2015 21:22:58 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=254436 Advanced Micro Devices will not use its next-generation high-performance “Zen” micro-architecture for its accelerated processing units next year, if excerpts from an alleged AMD presentation published by a web-site are to be believed. While the slides reveal AMD’s intentions, they do not answer all the questions about the forthcoming chip. “Bristol Ridge”: “Zen” or “Excavator” …

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Advanced Micro Devices will not use its next-generation high-performance “Zen” micro-architecture for its accelerated processing units next year, if excerpts from an alleged AMD presentation published by a web-site are to be believed. While the slides reveal AMD’s intentions, they do not answer all the questions about the forthcoming chip.

“Bristol Ridge”: “Zen” or “Excavator” cores?

AMD’s code-named “Bristol Ridge” APU due in 2016 will rely on “Excavator” cores and “Carrizo” design with minimum changes, based on slides published by BenchLife. The presentation published by the web-site was allegedly demonstrated to AMD’s partners on the 27th of March, 2015. The presentation is fairly detailed when it comes to technical information about “Bristol Ridge” and AMD’s next-generation APU platform. However, the presentation contains a number of typos, which may indicate that the web-site has obtained a preliminary version of the document*.

amd_fusion_carrizo_bristol_ridge

The first rumours about “Excavator” cores inside “Bristol Ridge” emerged in January, which means that the document does not contradict the previously released information. However, in May, a slide from another AMD presentation (which was allegedly a preliminary presentation for the company’s financial analysts day) revealed that “Bristol Ridge” was to be based on up to four “Zen” cores.

Unfortunately, the presentation published by the Chinese web-site does not contain any proper release milestones schedule for “Bristol Ridge”, but only says that the new APU will hit the market in July, 2016. Typically, when a semiconductor company is working on a project, it sets milestones for it. There are target timeframes for tape-out, availability of engineering samples, mass production start and so on. If the milestones are not listed, it may mean that either the company’s plans are not solid or the company has issues with execution.

amd_platform_samples_schedules_zen_summit_ridge

Since slides about “Bristol Ridge” published by two different sources contradict each other, it may mean that either AMD is choosing between options regarding its next-gen desktop APUs, or the information about “Zen”-based APUs in 2016 is fake. To release “Bristol Ridge” featuring “Carrizo” architecture and “Excavator” cores, AMD needs to improve clock-rate potential of its latest APU. To launch a brand-new accelerated processing unit featuring “Excavator” cores, AMD will have to design an all-new chip from the ground up. Based on what we know about “Zen” from unofficial sources, the new APUs and CPUs will feature a layout that will be completely different when compared to today’s processors.

“Bristol Ridge”: “Carrizo” for desktops

Just like AMD’s current-gen mobile APU, the “Bristol Ridge” will integrate a basic input-output controller, which supports USB 3.0, PCI Express 3.0 x8 to connect to GPUs, PCI Express 3.0 x4 to connect to code-named “Promontory” core-logic sets, PCI Express 3.0 x2 with Serial ATA support to connect to HDDs and SSDs as well as SD, SPI, eSPI and I2S interfaces. The chip is expected to use AM4 form-factor previously known as FM3 (as the document names it). While the APU resembles “Carrizo”, it will come either in pin grid array (PGA) or land grid array (LGA) form-factor. Moreover, “Carrizo” has more advanced I/O capabilities.

amd_bristol_ridge_promontory_unofficial_slide

AMD’s “Bristol Ridge” accelerated processing unit will integrate four “Excavator” (XV) cores (two dual-core modules) with 2MB of L2 cache (1MB of cache per module, 512KB per core), AMD Radeon graphics processor with eight compute units (512 stream processors) based on the GCN 1.2 instruction set architecture, a dual-channel DDR4 memory controller, a special high-performance bus to connect x86 cores to graphics cores and DRAM as well as heterogeneous system architecture features (compatible with the HSA 1.0 specifications).

Multimedia, security and input/output capabilities of “Bristol Ridge” will remain unchanged from “Carrizo”. The APU will feature universal video decoder 6.0 (UVD6) with HEVC decoding support for ultra-high-definition (UHD) video, video encoder engine 3.1 (VCE3.1) and audio co-processor 2 (ACP2). In addition to TrustZone technology, AMD’s new chip will also support TPM 2.0, crypto acceleration and secure boot.

The upcoming desktop APU from AMD will support HDMI 2.0 output, which means it will be able to display 3840*2160 video with 120Hz refresh rate, stereo-3D UHD video and so on. The APU will support up to three displays.

amd_bristol_ridge_promontory

Just like “Carrizo”, “Bristol Ridge” will also feature advanced power management capabilities, including connected standby, adaptive voltage and frequency scaling (AVFS), clock stretcher, STAPM and so on.

“Bristol Ridge”: “Carrizo” on steroids?

Without any doubts, “Bristol Ridge” in the form described by the document is a derivative from “Carrizo”. The only question is whether the chip is actually a re-badged “Carrizo”, or a new APU tailored to work at higher clock-rates.

AMD claims that “Carrizo” was designed to be extremely energy-efficient and highly integrated, but was not developed to operate at extreme clock-rates. To maximize transistor density (integration) and lower power consumption, AMD used high-density chip design libraries (HDL) for the chip. According to the company, usage of high density libraries and automated design methods (akin to those used for graphics processing units) helped the company to reduce sizes of “Excavator” cores by 23 per cent compared to “Steamroller” cores inside “Kaveri” and reduce their power consumption by whopping 40 per cent.

When CPU makers design microprocessors that should operate at high clock-rates, they use high-performance chip design libraries, which decreases transistor density and makes chips bigger (and costlier). The companies then adjust their designs in a bid to optimize sizes, frequencies and power consumption. In general, high-performance chips differ from low-power chips, even though that difference may be negligible in some cases.

While “Carrizo” is not supposed to run at high frequencies, maximum clock-rate of such chips is actually 3.40GHz (which may or may not be enabled by a particular PC maker due to TDP limitations).

amd_bristol_ridge_expectations

According to a slide published by BenchLife, “Excavator” cores inside “Bristol Ridge” will operate at ~4GHz clock-rates, which is a significant improvement over “Carrizo”. Theoretically, it may indicate that the “Bristol Ridge” is a new chip that was partly re-designed using high-performance libraries. Thanks to higher clock-rates and 10 per cent higher IPC [instructions per clock] performance of “Excavator” vs. “Steamroller”, expect “Bristol Ridge” to be faster than “Kaveri” in general-purpose applications.

The upcoming APU will also support DDR4 memory, which may mean that the chip is different from “Carrizo”. While this is possible, it may also demonstrate that “Carrizo” also technically supports DDR4, but it is not enabled due to power consumption or cost concerns.

Thanks to higher clock-rates and DDR4 support, graphics processing performance of “Bristol Ridge” should be higher compared to that of “Kaveri”.

The “Bristol Ridge” chip is expected to be made using an unknown 28nm fabrication process and will have up to 95W thermal design power. By contrast, “Carrizo” has maximum TDP of 35W.

Final words

AMD’s “Bristol Ridge” accelerated processing units will offer considerably higher performance than “Carrizo” thanks to higher frequencies, improved memory bandwidth and other optimizations. Moreover, the new APUs will also be faster than “Kaveri”. However, do not expect any breakthroughs from “Excavator”. The “Bulldozer” architecture is clearly outdated and AMD decided not to invest a lot in its enhancement. In fact, AMD also did not improve its integrated graphics processor anyhow compared to “Kaveri”.

If “Bristol Ridge” products arrive in the third quarter of 2016, they will face tough competition from Intel’s “Skylake” processors. Being made using more advanced process technology and featuring new micro-architectures for both general-purpose and graphics-processing cores, the new chips from Intel promise to offer high performance in all types of applications.

AMD did not comment on the news-story.

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KitGuru Says: Re-introducing “Carrizo” for desktops next year is hardly something that AMD management wants. It is obvious that the chip will be slower compared to Intel’s offerings in many, if not all, applications. The only reason why AMD may plan to introduce “Bristol Ridge” with “Excavator” cores is because its “Zen”-based APUs are not ready and AMD just cannot sell “Kaveri” for three years.

While the prospects of “Bristol Ridge” do not look exactly good, keep in mind that the information comes from unofficial sources and next year AMD may introduce something completely different.

*Note: The images originally published by BenchLife have been altered for better viewing experience.

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AMD initiates revenue shipments of ‘Carrizo’ hybrid processors https://www.kitguru.net/components/cpu/anton-shilov/amd-initiates-revenue-shipments-of-carrizo-hybrid-processors/ https://www.kitguru.net/components/cpu/anton-shilov/amd-initiates-revenue-shipments-of-carrizo-hybrid-processors/#comments Sat, 18 Apr 2015 01:42:28 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=245679 Advanced Micro Devices initiated revenue shipments of its new “Carrizo” accelerated processing unit in the first quarter of this year. The chips have been validated by PC makers and they are on-track to introduce systems powered by the latest A-series APUs in the second quarter of 2015. “We also successfully passed several key milestones in …

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Advanced Micro Devices initiated revenue shipments of its new “Carrizo” accelerated processing unit in the first quarter of this year. The chips have been validated by PC makers and they are on-track to introduce systems powered by the latest A-series APUs in the second quarter of 2015.

“We also successfully passed several key milestones in the [first] quarter as we prepared for the introduction of our new 2015 APU and GPU products, including first revenue shipments of our next-generation Carrizo family of notebook APUs in advance of system launches planned for the second quarter,” said Lisa Su, chief executive officer of AMD, in the company’s quarterly conference call with investors and financial analysts.

The company declined to reveal when exactly it started to ship its new APUs, but said the first shipments were “small” in terms of volumes. Nonetheless, it is still noteworthy that the new accelerated processing units are already in mass production and have been validated by PC makers.

amd_presentation_carrizo_7

AMD’s code-named “Carrizo” APU was developed from the ground up for ultra-thin notebooks in mind. The chip was designed using high-density libraries of elements and AMD engineers used a number of tricks to reduce leakage and cut-down power consumption. The chip is also made using a 28nm process technology optimized for minimum power consumption. In addition, “Carrizo” incorporates voltage adaptive operation, or, adaptive voltage and frequency scaling (AVFS) technology, which adjusts frequency and voltages of different parts of the APU in real-time. Finally, “Carrizo” features a new S0i3 power state, which achieves the same power level as the S3 state (standby), but can be activated on the fly under the control of power management at sub-second time frames.

amd_presentation_carrizo_2

The new “Carrizo” accelerated processing units feature four x86 cores based on the “Excavator” micro-architecture, Radeon R7 graphics processing unit with 512 stream processors featuring GCN 1.2 architecture, advanced multimedia engine with hardware 4K/UHD video decoding, a dual-channel DDR3 memory controller as well as an built-in I/O controller. The “Carrizo” is the first APU to comply with heterogeneous system architecture (HSA) 1.0 specification, therefore, eventually it will take maximum advantage of GPU-accelerated programs.

Since “Carrizo” was primarily designed with notebooks in mind, it has a number of limitations when it comes to performance as well as frequency scaling. To minimize power consumption, AMD did not enhance any component of the APU to maximize its performance. Due to low-power 28nm process technology as well as very dense design, the “Carrizo” chip will not be able to run at truly high frequencies. As a result, while the “Carrizo” may be a great APU for low-power mobile devices, it will not scale beyond that market.

amd_presentation_carrizo_1

It is unclear when exactly AMD and its partners plan to formally launch “Carrizo”-based products, but it is clear that either before or at the Computex 2014 trade show in early June.

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KitGuru Says: AMD’s “Carrizo” APU seems to be pretty impressive. It will hardly help AMD to recapture a lot of market share from Intel Corp. because the latter ships plenty of ultra-low-power system-on-chips that are probably even more energy-efficient than “Carrizo”. Nonetheless, high-profile design wins could bring AMD revenue that it badly needs. The question is, how many design wins does “Carrizo” have…

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AMD details ‘Carrizo’: High-density design, lowered power consumption https://www.kitguru.net/components/cpu/anton-shilov/amd-details-carrizo-high-density-design-lowered-power-consumption/ https://www.kitguru.net/components/cpu/anton-shilov/amd-details-carrizo-high-density-design-lowered-power-consumption/#respond Tue, 24 Feb 2015 16:02:36 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=237258 At the International Solid-State Circuits Conference 2015 Advanced Micro Devices unveiled the first official details regarding its code-named “Carrizo” accelerated processing units. As reported, the new chips are aimed specifically at notebooks and therefore were designed from the ground up to be extremely power efficient and integrate all functionality possible. AMD “Carrizo” accelerated processing units …

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At the International Solid-State Circuits Conference 2015 Advanced Micro Devices unveiled the first official details regarding its code-named “Carrizo” accelerated processing units. As reported, the new chips are aimed specifically at notebooks and therefore were designed from the ground up to be extremely power efficient and integrate all functionality possible.

AMD “Carrizo” accelerated processing units feature four x86 cores based on the “Excavator” micro-architecture, the pinnacle of “Bulldozer” family evolution, Radeon R7 graphics processing unit with 512 stream processors featuring GCN 1.2 architecture, advanced multimedia engine with hardware 4K/UHD video decoding, a dual-channel DDR3 memory controller as well as an built-in I/O controller. The “Carrizo” is the first APU to comply with heterogeneous system architecture (HSA) 1.0 specification, therefore, eventually it will take maximum advantage of GPU-accelerated programs. AMD “Carrizo” APUs contain 3.1 billion of transistors, 29 per cent more than “Kaveri”, but its die size is similar to that of the predecessor, whereas its power consumption is significantly lower. To archive that, AMD had to use a number of tricks.

amd_presentation_carrizo_1

Although both “Kaveri” and “Carrizo” are made using 28nm process technology, the former relies on GlobalFoundries’ 28SHP (28nm super high performance) fabrication tech that is designed for the highest clock-rates. In a bid to enable extreme frequencies, high-performance chip design libraries decrease transistor density, which results in bigger chips. While it is unknown which process technology is used to make “Carrizo”, it is known that AMD used high-density chip design libraries (HDL) for the chip. According to the company, usage of high density libraries and automated design methods (akin to those used for graphics processing units) helped the company to reduce sizes of “Excavator” cores by 23 per cent compared to “Steamroller” cores inside “Kaveri” and reduce their power consumption by whopping 40 per cent.

amd_presentation_carrizo_2

Usage of high-density libraries and automated design decreased the number of metallic layers inside “Carrizo” from 13 to nine, which also helps to cut-down power consumption and reduce leakages. Moreover, according to AMD, it used more high Vt transistors for the GPU part of the accelerated processing unit to reduce GPU power leakage and therefore reduce power consumption of the whole chip. This is not something really surprising since high VT transistors have always been used for mobile GPUs in general, only this time we are talking about far heavier usage of them in certain parts of the APU.

amd_presentation_carrizo_3

Design methodology, high-density libraries and possible transition to a different fabrication process are not the only things that AMD has done to cut down power consumption of “Carrizo”. The new APU is the first in a series of hybrid chips that contain a number of technologies designed to make microprocessors more energy efficient.

amd_presentation_carrizo_4

First of all, “Carrizo” incorporates voltage adaptive operation, or, adaptive voltage and frequency scaling (AVFS), which, when applied to both CPU and GPU in the APU results in 19 per cent and 10 per cent power savings respectively. AVFS modules (there are ten of such modules per “Excavator” core) monitor various aspects of chip’s condition (temperature, voltage, etc.) to adjust frequency and voltages in real-time. Essentially, AVFS reduces the typical operating voltage for a given frequency by adapting to per-part and environmental conditions, which reduces leakage and active switching power. While AVFS hardly brings a lot of benefits at high TDPs, the technology helps to reduce consumption at relatively limited thermal envelopes at given performance. In short, “Carrizo” will show its best at 15W – 20W. The chip itself is unable to work at extreme frequencies and AVFS will not provide advantages at 30W and beyond.

amd_presentation_carrizo_5

Another innovation that will reduce power consumption of “Carrizo” based notebooks is a new S0i3 power state, which achieves the same power level as the S3 state (standby), but without requiring intervention of the operating system, which means that it can be activated on the fly under the control of power management at sub-second time frames. While this may not dramatically reduce power consumption, it clearly makes the APU less power hungry.

amd_presentation_carrizo_6

While the density of integration and drastic measures to improve power efficiency of “Carrizo” are nothing, but impressive, when it comes to pure performance, not everything is that rosy. The “Excavator” x86 cores deliver only 5 per cent higher IPC compared to “Steamroller”. While the cores got smaller and more power efficient, this is a result of usage of HDL, AVFS and automated design. Despite expectations several years ago, the “Excavator” continues to have a weak floating point unit (FPU) consisting of two 128-bit FMACs, which are considerably slower than Intel’s contemporary 256-bit FPU. Therefore, even if AMD decides to create a high-performance design with “Excavator” cores, such chip will hardly deliver competitive performance since the amount of performance-related improvements compared to “Steamroller” seems to be limited. While the “Carrizo” may be a great APU for low-power mobile devices, it will not scale beyond that market. Therefore, if you demand high performance from AMD, wait for the company’s  new “Zen” micro-architecture to arrive in 2016. However, if you want an AMD-based ultrabook or 2-in-1, “Carrizo” is a great thing to look at.

amd_presentation_carrizo_7

Thanks to maximum integration, AMD “Carrizo” should help notebook makers to simplify their designs and cut-down their costs. Since “Carrizo” is pin-to-pin compatible with lower-cost “Carrizo-L”, this will also increase flexibility of laptop platforms. That flexibility translates into lower prices, but not necessarily into thinner and sleeker chassis, but AMD needs to just retain its share on the market of notebooks, not bring breakthroughs. Therefore, it will not be a problem for the company if higher-end “Carrizo” ends up in chassis designed for lower-end “Carrizo-L”.

In general, AMD’s “Carrizo” looks like an interesting APU. The developer seems to pin a lot of hopes on heterogeneous system architecture (HSA) capabilities of the platform to deliver required performance to applications that really need it. In fact, AMD has pinned most of its hopes on HSA-enabled programs for a while now, which is why it has not really tried to address performance issues of “Bulldozer”, which were evident to it back in late 2010. The advances that AMD has made with its “Carrizo” show that the company still can improve its microprocessors, which is a good thing in general.

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KitGuru Says: The big question is how competitive will AMD’s “Carrizo” chips be against Intel Corp.’s chips with similar power requirements. To be precise, which 15W – 20W system-on-chip will be faster in real-world applications. That’s the question that we will be able to answer in the coming months, when AMD finally releases its “Carrizo” chips commercially.

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AMD to unify platforms for high-end FX chips, mainstream APUs https://www.kitguru.net/components/cpu/anton-shilov/amd-to-unify-platforms-for-high-end-fx-chips-mainstream-apus/ https://www.kitguru.net/components/cpu/anton-shilov/amd-to-unify-platforms-for-high-end-fx-chips-mainstream-apus/#comments Thu, 29 Jan 2015 04:03:12 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=233089 At present Advanced Micro Devices, just like Intel Corp., has two desktop platforms: socket FM2+ for mainstream accelerated processing units and socket AM3+ for high-end FX central processing units. When AMD introduces its new chips in 2016, the company will unify the two platforms, a media report claims. AMD’s forthcoming code-named “Bristol Ridge” and “Summit …

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At present Advanced Micro Devices, just like Intel Corp., has two desktop platforms: socket FM2+ for mainstream accelerated processing units and socket AM3+ for high-end FX central processing units. When AMD introduces its new chips in 2016, the company will unify the two platforms, a media report claims.

AMD’s forthcoming code-named “Bristol Ridge” and “Summit Ridge” products will use socket FM3 platforms, according to SweClockers. Mainboards with the FM3 sockets will utilize DDR4 memory, but will sport an unknown number of channels. Other peculiarities of the platform remain unknown, but given the fact that they will support both FX-series and A-series processors, expect their feature-set to be flexible.

amd_kaveri_fx_mobile

AMD’s “Bristol Ridge” APUs will feature four code-named “Excavator” cores, a Radeon graphics engine based on the GCN 1.2 or more advanced architecture and 95W thermal design power. The chip will be similar to this year’s “Carrizo”, but will be optimized for operation at high clock-rates. The APUs will be made using 28nm fabrication process.

By contrast, AMD’s “Summit Ridge” central processing units will sport up to eight next-generation “Zen” high-performance x86 cores, L3 cache and up to 95W thermal design power. The CPUs will be manufactured using 14nm manufacturing technology.

The “Bristol Ridge”, “Summit Ridge” processors as well as the FM3 mainboards will become available in the third quarter of 2016, more than 1.5 years from now. The new platforms will use I/O controllers code-named “Promontory”, which are rumoured to be developed by Asmedia.

amd_fusion_kaveri_steamroller_piledriver_excavator

The unification of the platforms has both pros and cons. On the one hand, it means that mainboard makers will not have to support two types of motherboards for AMD processors. On the other hand, it means that AMD will be unable to incorporate any exclusive features into its high-end platforms. For example, Intel’s high-end desktop (HEDT) processors integrate quad-channel memory controller and feature up to 140W of thermal design power, which allows the company to offer CPUs with unprecedented performance. Moreover, Intel's X99 platform offers considerably better I/O feature configuration than Intel's Z97 chipset.

AMD did not comment on the news-story.

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KitGuru Says: Looks like either AMD is extremely confident of its Zen architecture and it believes that it will be able to address all markets with 95W parts and mainstream platform capabilities, or it simply has no plans to address the market of high-end PCs even with its next-gen offerings.

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AMD preps ‘Bristol Ridge’ APUs: ‘Carrizo’ for desktops https://www.kitguru.net/components/cpu/anton-shilov/amd-preps-bristol-ridge-apus-carrizo-for-desktops/ https://www.kitguru.net/components/cpu/anton-shilov/amd-preps-bristol-ridge-apus-carrizo-for-desktops/#comments Tue, 27 Jan 2015 21:41:53 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=232802 Although Advanced Micro Devices does not have plans to bring the code-named “Carrizo” accelerated processing units to the market of traditional desktop computers, it is expected that a similar chip will actually make it into desktops. Unfortunately, this will happen only next year and it is unlikely that it will offer very high performance. Later …

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Although Advanced Micro Devices does not have plans to bring the code-named “Carrizo” accelerated processing units to the market of traditional desktop computers, it is expected that a similar chip will actually make it into desktops. Unfortunately, this will happen only next year and it is unlikely that it will offer very high performance.

Later this year AMD intends to refresh its desktop product lineup with faster “Kaveri” APUs code-named “Godavari”. The new accelerated processing units will be barely faster than existing A-series chips from AMD, therefore, do not expect the company to improve its positions against Intel using the upcoming desktop products. Moreover, according to a report by SweClockers web-site, AMD’s next-generation APUs are pretty far away and when they hit the market, they will hardly be strong competitors.

AMD is developing is code-named “Bristol Ridge” APU, which will sport four “Excavator” cores (two dual-core modules), AMD Radeon graphics processing unit with 512 stream processors (based on the GCN 1.2 or more advanced architecture), DDR4 memory controller and heterogeneous system architecture features. The chip is set to be made using 28nm fabrication process and will have up to 95W TDP. The accelerated processing unit is, basically, a new version of AMD’s “Carrizo” optimized for operation at high clock-rates.

amd_fusion_kaveri_steamroller_piledriver_excavator

The “Bristol Ridge” APUs will offer considerably higher performance than “Carrizo” thanks to higher frequencies, improved memory bandwidth and other optimizations. Unfortunately, the new chips will become available only in the third quarter of 2016. By then Intel will have a full-range of “Skylake” processors and will be gearing up to start manufacturing of its first central processing units using 10nm fabrication technology.

Since the “Bristol Ridge” APUs will use proven x86 cores, graphics engine and design, it is likely that AMD will try to release it rather sooner than later in order to offer desktop PCs something better than “Kaveri”.

AMD did not comment on the news-story.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: If AMD rolls-out “Excavator”-based APUs for desktops in 2016, then it looks like its new micro-architecture code-named “Zen” will only be used for mainstream accelerated processing units in 2017, two years from now. Quite naturally this will negatively affect financial performance of AMD.

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AMD: We will release new APU, GPU products starting in the Q2 2015 https://www.kitguru.net/components/graphic-cards/anton-shilov/amd-we-will-release-new-products-starting-in-the-second-quarter-of-2015/ https://www.kitguru.net/components/graphic-cards/anton-shilov/amd-we-will-release-new-products-starting-in-the-second-quarter-of-2015/#comments Wed, 21 Jan 2015 17:52:42 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=231836 Advanced Micro Devices said on Tuesday that it will release new products that will help it to regain share on the markets of central processing units (CPUs) and graphics processing units (GPUs) starting in the second quarter 2015 and going into the second half of the year. The comments from AMD confirm rumours that AMD …

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Advanced Micro Devices said on Tuesday that it will release new products that will help it to regain share on the markets of central processing units (CPUs) and graphics processing units (GPUs) starting in the second quarter 2015 and going into the second half of the year. The comments from AMD confirm rumours that AMD intends to release “Carrizo” APUs as well as new Radeon graphics cards in the Q2 2015. Unfortunately, the Q1 2015 will be tough for AMD as the company is on-track to report its lowest quarterly revenue in more than a decade.

“Going into the second quarter and the second half of the year with our new product launches, I think we feel very good about where we are positioned there,” said Lisa Su, chief executive officer of AMD, during a conference call with investors and financial analysts. “Commercial will definitely be important, as well as improving our overall mix.”

amd_fusion_apu_chip_1

New APUs and CPUs

AMD stressed that it is on-track to release its highly-anticipated code-named “Carrizo” APUs for notebooks and all-in-one desktops already in the second quarter, 2015. Previously it was reported that the “Carrizo” chips would hit the market only in the late Q2 or even Q3 2015. Apparently, the company has reconsidered its plans and is now on-track to launch its new chip that it pins a lot of hopes on rather earlier than later. It remains unknown when the company intends to launch its code-named “Carrizo-L” chip commercially, but given the fact that this APU is easier to make and is less advanced than the fully-fledged “Carrizo”, it should be relatively easy for AMD to release it on time.

“We are enthusiastic about our Carrizo launch that will take place in the second quarter,” said Ms. Su.

amd_fusion_kaveri_steamroller_piledriver_excavator

Sometimes in the second quarter of the year AMD is also expected to release new APUs for desktops, which are currently known as the “Kaveri Refresh”. The new chips will operate at higher clock-rates than the currently available “Kaveri” and will increase performance of AMD’s APUs a bit. Given the fact that AMD’s current-generation desktop platforms are considerably behind Intel’s offerings both in terms of performance and feature-set, it is unlikely that it will be easy for AMD to win market share in traditional desktops using the “Kaveri Refresh” line.

amd_opteron-x86-front-back

In addition, AMD is projected to release its long-awaited ARMv8-based AMD Opteron “Seattle” processors featuring up to eight ARM Cortex-A57 cores and designed for ultra-dense server market. Do not expect the chip to revive sales of AMD, but it will still improve its bottom line.

“We will see production shipments [of AMD Opteron ‘Seattle'] in 2015,” said the chief executive officer of AMD. “But primarily we have seen a lot of ecosystem partners spending quite a bit of time on the software on our silicon.”

New GPUs incoming

AMD is also expected to release all-new graphics processing units starting the Q2 2015. It is believed that the first new GPU to be released by AMD this year will be the company’s new flagship graphics adapter currently known as the Radeon R9 380X, which will feature 4096 stream processors and 4GB of stacked high-bandwidth memory (HBM) with unprecedented bandwidth.

amd_radeon_artwork_angle_new

Another new offering from AMD is rumoured to be code-named “Trinidad”, which is designed for the mainstream market and will replace the AMD Radeon R9 270-series “Curacao” graphics processor. The “Trinidad” graphics chip will likely sport 1280 or more stream processors to deliver new levels of performance to the market segment.

Based on unofficial information, AMD’s new graphics products family is code-named “Caribbean Islands”, it will be based on the GCN 1.2 architecture and will feature a number of new multimedia and video playback technologies.

Worst quarter in over a decade?

Even though it is tremendously important for AMD to release new CPU and GPU products to boost sales and regain market share, the company will not rush new offerings to the market. AMD’s partners in the channel still have a lot of old inventory in stock and introduction of new products will not necessarily improve AMD’s positions, but will rather force it to sell them at relatively low prices to make them attractive to resellers. Therefore, in the first quarter of 2015 the company will continue to “improve channel health” and get rid of old products that are still available on the market.

“From Q1 to Q2, I think the largest improvement will be around the channel health,” said Lisa Su. “We have had this channel problem for a couple of quarters, and it is important for us to correct that. We definitely reduced some inventory in Q4, and we will take significant action to reduce that inventory in Q1, and that will give us an opportunity to return to a more normal desktop channel business.”

amd_headquarters

Since AMD sees necessity to reduce inventory in the Q1 2015 as its main task for the quarter, financial woes for the company will continue in the next several months. AMD expects its revenue in Q1 2015 to decrease 15 per cent sequentially (±3 per cent) to around $1.054 billion, a decline of 24.7 per cent from the same period a year ago. If AMD’s revenue drops to levels below $1.09 billion, then it will be AMD’s lowest quarter revenue in about ten years. Major decreases of revenue affect AMD's ability to invest in research and development as well as marketing.

For the Q4 2014 the company reported revenue of $1.24 billion, down 13 per cent sequentially. Computing and Graphics segment revenue was $662 million, down 15 per cent from Q3 2014, primarily due to lower desktop processor and GPU sales. Enterprise, Embedded and Semi-Custom segment revenue was $577 million down 11 per cent sequentially, primarily due to seasonally lower semi-custom SoC sales. The company’s gross margin was 34 per cent, the net loss of AMD in the Q4 2014 was $364 million.

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KitGuru Says: As usual, AMD is talking about future products as a way to improve its revenue and profitability. While it is possible that the company will improve its results this year because of lower costs or other factors, it should be noted that AMD publicly said last November and December that its major return to the market will occur in 2016, when it rolls-out its brand-new CPUs, APUs and GPUs based on all-new Zen, K12 and post-GCN architectures.

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AMD pins hopes on ‘Carrizo’ APUs as sales of CPUs and GPUs drop https://www.kitguru.net/components/cpu/anton-shilov/amd-pins-a-lot-of-hopes-on-carrizo-apus-as-sales-of-cpus-and-gpus-drop/ https://www.kitguru.net/components/cpu/anton-shilov/amd-pins-a-lot-of-hopes-on-carrizo-apus-as-sales-of-cpus-and-gpus-drop/#comments Wed, 21 Jan 2015 06:50:47 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=231606 Advanced Micro Devices said on Tuesday that it pins a lot of hopes on its code-named “Carrizo” accelerated processing units after posting a major decline in sales of microprocessors and graphics adapters for personal computers. According to AMD, the “Carrizo” APUs will finally help it to boost PC chip market share thanks to low power …

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Advanced Micro Devices said on Tuesday that it pins a lot of hopes on its code-named “Carrizo” accelerated processing units after posting a major decline in sales of microprocessors and graphics adapters for personal computers. According to AMD, the “Carrizo” APUs will finally help it to boost PC chip market share thanks to low power consumption and decent performance.

“We plan to introduce a strong 2015 product portfolio, punctuated by the launch of Carrizo in the second quarter,” said Lisa Su, chief executive officer of AMD, during a conference call with investors and financial analysts. “Consumer and commercial design-win momentum for Carrizo continues to gain momentum because it will deliver the largest ever generational leap in performance-per-watt for our mainstream APUs.”

AMD “Carrizo” accelerated processing units sport up to four high-performance “Excavator” x86 cores, Radeon R7 graphics processing engine powered by the GCN 1.2 architecture, a dual-channel DDR3/DDR4 memory controller as well as full HSA [heterogeneous system architecture] 1.0 implementation. The “Carrizo” is pin-to-pin compatible with cheaper and more power-efficient “Carrizo-L” APUs that integrate up to four low-power Puma+ x86 cores, Radeon R-series graphics engine based on the GCN 1.0 architecture as well as a single-channel DDR3 memory controller. Both “Carrizo” and “Carrizo-L” chips for incorporate either on-package or integrated I/O controllers and use next-generation FP4 ball grid array (BGA) packaging.

amd_carrizo_apu_fusion

The chipmaker believes that improved power efficiency of the “Excavator” x86 cores, HSA features and new graphics engine will not only improve performance in various applications, but also reduce power consumption. AMD believes that the combination of Carrizo’s capabilities will help it to win multiple contracts with PC makers.

AMD did not reveal how exactly it plans to improve sales of its accelerated processing units, but keeping in mind that the design of the “Carrizo” is optimized for low manufacturing cost, it will be possible for AMD to offer very competitive prices with its new APUs.

amd_kaveri_a10_mobile

Sunnyvale, California-based AMD on Tuesday posted 2014 revenue of $5.51 billion, up 4 per cent sequentially. The company’s net loss for the year was massive $403 million, whereas gross margin totaled 33 per cent.

Computing and Graphics segment revenue was down 16 per cent from 2013, primarily due to lower chipset and desktop processor sales. Enterprise, Embedded and Semi-Custom segment revenue was up 51 per cent from 2013, primarily due to higher semi-custom SoC sales.

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KitGuru Says: AMD clearly needs to improve sales of its computer chips. At the end of the day, if AMD wants software developers to take advantage of its heterogeneous system architecture and GPU compute capabilities, it needs to ensure that its chips are popular among end-users and PC makers. Unfortunately, AMD’s PC market share has been on the decline for years.

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AMD demonstrates ‘Carrizo’-based laptop prototypes at CES 2015 https://www.kitguru.net/lifestyle/mobile/notebook/anton-shilov/amd-demonstrates-carrizo-based-laptop-prototypes-at-ces-2015/ https://www.kitguru.net/lifestyle/mobile/notebook/anton-shilov/amd-demonstrates-carrizo-based-laptop-prototypes-at-ces-2015/#comments Fri, 09 Jan 2015 23:57:36 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=229949 Advanced Micro Devices has demonstrated three laptops based on the code-named “Carrizo” accelerated processing units (APUs) at the Consumer Electronics Show 2015. The demonstrations prove that AMD already has working “Carrizo” silicon at hands; however, it is still unclear when exactly the company plans to initiate commercial shipments of the new APUs. At the trade-show, AMD …

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Advanced Micro Devices has demonstrated three laptops based on the code-named “Carrizo” accelerated processing units (APUs) at the Consumer Electronics Show 2015. The demonstrations prove that AMD already has working “Carrizo” silicon at hands; however, it is still unclear when exactly the company plans to initiate commercial shipments of the new APUs.

At the trade-show, AMD did two very simple demonstrations of the “Carrizo” functionality. It showcased one system powered by the APU playing back a 4K ultra-high-definition video encoded using the H.265/HEVC codec. According to witnesses, the playback was very smooth thanks to hardware decoder of the H.265/HEVC inside the chip. Another demonstration included a “Carrizo” APU-powered system running Lego Batman video game. The game worked without a problem too, thanks to integrated AMD Radeon graphics core based on the GCN 1.2 architecture and well-polished drivers. The third demonstration of a “Carrizo”-powered system was static.

amd_carrizo_laptop_2

Both demonstrations prove that AMD already has “Carrizo” silicon at hands and the software (drivers, third-party applications, etc.) works normally with it. What the showcases like this do not reveal is whether the chip meets performance and/or power consumption targets that AMD set for it. Keeping in mind that AMD produces its “Carrizo” APUs using a process technology that enables maximum transistor density and lowest power consumption, it is impossible to expect “Carrizo” to run at truly high clock-rates. At the same time, we have no idea what AMD’s target rates for its “Carrizo” are.

It is noteworthy that those, who were offered to see the laptops based on the “Carrizo” were not allowed to take pictures of the systems or run benchmarks on the machines. While it is natural for AMD not to allow publications of benchmark results of unreleased hardware, it is surprising that the company decided to prohibit taking any pictures of the system itself.

amd_carrizo_laptop_1

AMD “Carrizo” APUs feature up to four high-performance “Excavator” x86 cores, Radeon R7 graphics engine based on the GCN 1.2 architecture, a dual-channel DDR3/DDR4 memory controller as well as full HSA [heterogeneous system architecture] 1.0 implementation. The “Carrizo” is pin-to-pin compatible with cheaper and more power-efficient “Carrizo-L” APUs that integrate up to four low-power Puma+ x86 cores, Radeon R-series graphics engine based on the GCN 1.0 architecture as well as a single-channel DDR3 memory controller. Both “Carrizo” and “Carrizo-L” APUs for mobile and all-in-one desktop PCs feature either on-package or integrated I/O controllers and use next-generation FP4 ball grid array (BGA) packaging.

amd_carrizo_apu_fusion

It is expected that AMD plans to release its “Carrizo” and “Carrizo-L” APUs commercially in the Q2 or the Q3 2015 (April – September). In general, it looks like the ramp up of notebooks featuring the new accelerated processing units will only happen in the second half of 2015, during the back-to-school season, to be precise.

Previously it was reported that the “Carrizo” APUs will not make it to mainstream and high-performance desktops, but will be aimed at notebooks and all-in-one PCs.

amd_carrizo_laptop

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KitGuru Says: While it is nice that AMD has “Carrizo” silicon at hands, it is alarming to see that AMD’s PC design cycles are getting longer. Traditionally AMD released new PC chips once  a year, but with “Kaveri” and “Carrizo” the timeframe between launches will be more than 1.5 years. This is especially upsetting, given the fact that AMD no longer spends resources on designing new high-performance Opteron or FX-series microprocessors. Perhaps, AMD is just slowly taking away resources from its PC CPU division, which results in longer development cycles

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AMD: first products made using 14nm/16nm FinFET are ‘on track’ https://www.kitguru.net/components/graphic-cards/anton-shilov/amd-first-products-made-using-14nm16nm-finfet-are-on-track/ https://www.kitguru.net/components/graphic-cards/anton-shilov/amd-first-products-made-using-14nm16nm-finfet-are-on-track/#comments Wed, 10 Dec 2014 00:00:15 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=225557 Although Advanced Micro Devices has not revealed any details about its 2015 roadmap this year, the company continues to unveil pieces of the puzzle. Last week the firm implied that it will use 20nm fabrication process for select products, but on Tuesday AMD hinted that products made using 14nm and 16nm FinFET manufacturing technologies could emerge …

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Although Advanced Micro Devices has not revealed any details about its 2015 roadmap this year, the company continues to unveil pieces of the puzzle. Last week the firm implied that it will use 20nm fabrication process for select products, but on Tuesday AMD hinted that products made using 14nm and 16nm FinFET manufacturing technologies could emerge only in 2016.

“We will continue to transition and we have our FinFET designs well underway, but we will not be the first user, the bleeding edge of any new technology node,” said Mark Papermaster, chief technology officer of AMD, at Barclays Global Technology Conference. “You will see us be a very, very fast follower, so we are right on track with our FinFET designs and what you will see next year is a really 28nm and 20nm products from AMD.”

According to publicly available information from AMD, all of the company’s upcoming accelerated processing units aimed at high-volume market – code-named “Carrizo”, “Carrizo-L”, “Kaveri”, “Seattle” and other – will be made using 28nm process technologies. AMD also said that the first system-on-chips that belong to the Skybridge product family of ARM and x86 chips will also be made using 20nm fabrication process. Finally, there is 20nm Xbox One SoC in plans as well as 20nm graphics processing units.

amd_carrizo_apu_fusion

Keeping in mind that AMD has not announced any 14nm or 16nm products, it is possible that the first commercial chips made using the aforementioned process technologies are on track to be released sometimes in 2016.

TSMC plans to start volume production of chips using 16nm FinFET process technology in late Q2 or early Q3, 2015. If AMD introduces its 20nm graphics processing units early in the year, it will have a competitive GPU lineup for several quarters. However, if the company is late with its introduction, it will not be able to enjoy any advantages of TSMC’s 20nm fabrication process. AMD's arch-rival Nvidia, who reportedly plans to skip 20nm and use 16nm FinFET instead, will rely on 28nm GPUs until the end of the third quarter of 2015. AMD should release 20nm GPUs in the Q1 2015 in order to have performance and power consumption advantage over its competitor.

GlobalFoundries plans regarding 14nm FinFET technology it licensed from Samsung are not completely clear. Samsung should be ready with 14nm manufacturing capacity even now, but the situation with GlobalFoundries is uncertain.

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KitGuru Says: Outdated process technologies may not be a big problem for AMD (even if it offers 20nm GPUs while Nvidia sells 16nm chips). A really important issue could be products that are not competitive against offerings from AMD's rivals…

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AMD’s ‘Carrizo’ processor may never make it to desktop computers https://www.kitguru.net/desktop-pc/anton-shilov/amds-carrizo-processor-may-never-make-it-to-desktop-computers/ https://www.kitguru.net/desktop-pc/anton-shilov/amds-carrizo-processor-may-never-make-it-to-desktop-computers/#comments Tue, 02 Dec 2014 00:45:27 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=224380 Although AMD’s next-generation accelerated processing unit (APU) code-named “Carrizo” employs the company’s upcoming high-performance “Excavator” x86 cores, they may never make it to high-performance desktop computers as AMD tailored its forthcoming APUs specifically for mobile devices. In order to cut-down power consumption of “Carrizo” chips compared to current-generation “Kaveri” APUs, AMD and GlobalFoundries had to …

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Although AMD’s next-generation accelerated processing unit (APU) code-named “Carrizo” employs the company’s upcoming high-performance “Excavator” x86 cores, they may never make it to high-performance desktop computers as AMD tailored its forthcoming APUs specifically for mobile devices.

In order to cut-down power consumption of “Carrizo” chips compared to current-generation “Kaveri” APUs, AMD and GlobalFoundries had to make changes to 28nm super high performance (SHP) process technology. The new wiring line of the process that is used to manufacturer AMD’s “Carrizo” APUs helps to reduce power consumption of the chip, but does not allow it to run on high frequencies and thus address the market of high-performance desktops, reports PC Watch web-site citing explanations by AMD.

amd_carrizo_excavator_fusion_1

The wiring layer of “Carrizo” is similar to that of highly-integrated low-power processors like “Beema”. This allowed AMD to increase transistor density of the chip; as a result, despite of the fact that “Carrizo” features higher transistor count compared to “Kaveri”, it has similar die size and manufacturing cost.

While AMD can alter design of “Carrizo” and make it using the “old” 28nm SHP process technology, it is a very expensive and time-consuming process. As a result, AMD could skip it and continue addressing desktop market with Kaveri APUs till 2016.

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KitGuru Says: First AMD decided to effectively withdraw from the market of high-end desktop microprocessors. The FX processors AMD sells now were introduced two years ago and are morally outdated. Now the company plans to withdraw from the market of mainstream desktop chips. What’s next?

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AMD announces ‘Carrizo’, ‘Carrizo-L’ APUs for laptops, AiO desktops https://www.kitguru.net/components/cpu/anton-shilov/amd-announces-carrizo-carrizo-l-apus-for-laptops-all-in-one-desktops/ https://www.kitguru.net/components/cpu/anton-shilov/amd-announces-carrizo-carrizo-l-apus-for-laptops-all-in-one-desktops/#comments Thu, 20 Nov 2014 15:33:39 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=222577 Advanced Micro Devices on Thursday formally announced its code-named “Carrizo” and “Carrizo-L” accelerated processing units (APUs) that integrate the company’s next-generation general-purpose and graphics processing units. The new chips will arrive in the first half of next year and will target similar-class devices, including notebooks, 2-in-1s, all-in-one desktops and some other. Although the “Carrizo” and …

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Advanced Micro Devices on Thursday formally announced its code-named “Carrizo” and “Carrizo-L” accelerated processing units (APUs) that integrate the company’s next-generation general-purpose and graphics processing units. The new chips will arrive in the first half of next year and will target similar-class devices, including notebooks, 2-in-1s, all-in-one desktops and some other.

Although the “Carrizo” and the “Carrizo-L” accelerated processing units carry essentially the same code-names, the chips are poles apart and are powered by very different technologies. The “Carrizo” APUs integrate up to four high-performance “Excavator” x86 cores, Radeon R7 graphics engine based on the GCN 1.2 architecture, a dual-channel DDR3/DDR4 memory controller as well as full HSA [heterogeneous system architecture] 1.0 implementation. By contrast, the “Carrizo-L” APUs feature up to four low-power Puma+ x86 cores, Radeon R-series graphics engine based on the GCN 1.0 architecture as well as a single-channel DDR3 memory controller.

amd_carrizo_apu_fusion
AMD A-series “Carrizo” APU

Both “Carrizo” and “Carrizo-L” APUs for mobile and all-in-one desktop PCs feature either on-package or integrated I/O controllers and use next-generation FP4 ball grid array (BGA) packaging. Since the chips are pin-to-pin compatible, PC makers will be able to use them inside similar systems, which saves a lot of time and effort for them. Both chips integrate ARM TrustZone security technology, which AMD calls secure processor core.

AMD will continue to offer code-named “Mullins” system-on-chips for tablets in 2015. Although it is expected that AMD will roll-out ARM-based SoCs for tablets next year, the company still has not officially confirmed such plans.

amd_mobility_carrizo_roadmap

“We continue to innovate and build upon our existing IP to deliver great products for our customers,” said John Byrne, senior vice president and general manager of computing and graphics business group at AMD. “AMD's commitment to graphics and compute performance, as expressed by our goal to improve APU energy efficiency 25x by 2020, combines with the latest industry standards and fresh innovation to drive the design of the 2015 AMD Mobile APU family. We are excited about the experiences these new APUs will bring and look forward to sharing more details in the first half of next year.”

amd_carrizo_apu_fusion_1 amd_carrizo_apu_fusion_system

AMD “Carrizo” and “Carrizo-L” chips will be made using 28nm fabrication process. The “Carrizo” APU will integrate 3.1 billion of transistors (an increase of 28 per cent compared to the “Kaveri” chip), but will maintain rather small die size of 244.62mm2 (“Kaveri” features die size of 245mm2).

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6zX2IqBI7A']

On Thursday AMD only disclosed plans for “Carrizo” and “Carrizo-L” APUs for mobile and AiO platforms. It remains to be seen what the company plans to offer for desktops next year.

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KitGuru Says: The key thing that AMD announced on Thursday is the fact that the “Carrizo” and the “Carrizo-L” APUs will use the same FP4 BGA package, will be pin-to-pin compatible and will address the same types of devices. It is surprising that AMD has not revealed any details regarding its “Carrizo” APUs for desktops, a move that could emphasize AMD’s priorities for 2015. It looks like AMD will try to focus on multimedia notebooks, not desktops, with its APUs next year.

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AMD to reveal technical details about ‘Carrizo’ APU early next year https://www.kitguru.net/components/cpu/anton-shilov/amd-to-reveal-technical-details-about-carrizo-apu-early-next-year/ https://www.kitguru.net/components/cpu/anton-shilov/amd-to-reveal-technical-details-about-carrizo-apu-early-next-year/#comments Wed, 19 Nov 2014 03:27:13 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=222317 Advanced Micro Devices will reveal all technical details about its next-generation code-named “Carrizo” accelerated processing unit in late February, 2015, at the 2015 IEEE international Solid-State Circuits Conference (ISSCC). Although many things about the chip are already known, AMD managed to create an intrigue by squeezing in 28 per cent more transistors without changing process …

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Advanced Micro Devices will reveal all technical details about its next-generation code-named “Carrizo” accelerated processing unit in late February, 2015, at the 2015 IEEE international Solid-State Circuits Conference (ISSCC). Although many things about the chip are already known, AMD managed to create an intrigue by squeezing in 28 per cent more transistors without changing process technology or increasing die size.

Based on unofficial information, AMD “Carrizo” accelerated processing unit packs two dual-core AMD “Excavator” (XV) modules, AMD Radeon graphics based on third iteration graphics core next architecture (GCN 1.2) with eight compute units (512 stream processors in total), an integrated dual-channel DDR3 memory controller, a new special high-performance bus to connect x86 cores to graphics cores and DRAM, additional HSA [heterogeneous system architecture] enhancements, PCI Express 3.0 controller as well as all-new multimedia and input/output engines.

According to AMD’s description of the “Carrizo” silicon it plans to describe at the ISSCC, the chip will be made using 28nm process technology. Surprisingly, the APU will integrate 3.1 billion of transistors, 28 per cent more compared to the current-generation “Kaveri” APU, but maintain rather small die size of 244.62mm2 (Kaveri is 245mm2).

amd_carrizo_excavator_fusion_1

It is unclear how AMD managed to squeeze in 28 per cent more transistor into a chip made using a similar 28nm process technology without increasing its die size. Perhaps, AMD will use another 28nm fabrication process either from GlobalFoundries or from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. that has higher transistor density than GF’s 28SHP manufacturing technology.

AMD plans to formally introduce its “Carrizo” APU in the first half of 2015.

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KitGuru Says: It is rather surprising that AMD’s “Carrizo” APU will be considerably more complex than the company’s “Kaveri” chip. If AMD does not sacrifice clock-rate for transistor density and die size, then expect Excavator-based chips to be noteworthy better than the existing “Kaveri” A-series APUs.

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AMD rumoured to unveil next-gen ‘Carrizo-L’ APUs this December https://www.kitguru.net/components/cpu/anton-shilov/amd-rumoured-to-unveil-next-gen-carrizo-l-apus-this-december/ https://www.kitguru.net/components/cpu/anton-shilov/amd-rumoured-to-unveil-next-gen-carrizo-l-apus-this-december/#comments Tue, 07 Oct 2014 22:35:16 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=215423 Advanced Micro Devices reportedly plans to release its next-generation code-named Carrizo-L accelerated processing units (APUs) already in December, according to a media report. If the information is correct, AMD’s competitive positions against Intel Corp. will get significantly better early in 2015. Traditionally AMD unveils new APUs early in calendar year and gradually increases their production …

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Advanced Micro Devices reportedly plans to release its next-generation code-named Carrizo-L accelerated processing units (APUs) already in December, according to a media report. If the information is correct, AMD’s competitive positions against Intel Corp. will get significantly better early in 2015.

Traditionally AMD unveils new APUs early in calendar year and gradually increases their production to address different segments of the market. With the code-named Carrizo family of APUs AMD wants to change its approach a bit. DigiTimes claims that AMD will release its Carrizo-L APUs for the entry-level notebook segment in December 2014, which will help the company to better compete against Intel’s new Celeron and Pentium microprocessors. Unfortunately, “fully-fledged” Carrizo APUs will only be launched next March.

AMD’s Carrizo APUs are based on the next-generation Excavator x86 micro-architecture and improved AMD Radeon graphics. The new chips will offer higher performance compared to existing offerings. Unfortunately, since Carrizo and Carrizo-L are expected to be produced using 28nm process technology, they will not be as energy-efficient as Intel’s code-named Broadwell microprocessors made using 14nm technology. Still, any new chip will improve AMD’s position on the market.

amd_carrizo_excavator_fusion_1

Carrizo-L APUs are projected to replace AMD's existing Beema and Mullins APUs for entry-level notebooks and tablets, according to the report. Keeping in mind that Carrizo-L is based on high-performance micro-architecture, they should provide a significant performance increase when compared to existing offerings.

It is not completely clear why AMD wants to release new entry-level APUs already in December, ahead of the Consumer Electronics Show in early January. Traditionally all hardware designers roll-out their novelties at CES.

Given the fact that the information comes from unofficial sources, it is possible that AMD will begin revenue shipments of the Carrizo-L this December, but will formally introduce the new chips at the CES trade show in early 2015.

AMD did not comment on the news-story.

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KitGuru Says: It is interesting that for some reason AMD decided not to proceed with APUs based on the Puma+ low-power/low-cost microarchitecture. Perhaps, in the light of the fact that Intel’s Broadwell chips offer both high-performance and very high energy efficiency, AMD simply has to use high-performance architecture for its low-power offerings to stay competitive.

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AMD ‘Carrizo’ specifications, block-diagram get published https://www.kitguru.net/components/cpu/anton-shilov/amd-carrizo-specifications-block-diagram-gets-published/ https://www.kitguru.net/components/cpu/anton-shilov/amd-carrizo-specifications-block-diagram-gets-published/#comments Thu, 17 Jul 2014 22:59:38 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=203513 The first specifications as well as a block-diagram of AMD’s next-generation code-named “Carrizo” accelerated processing unit (APU) have been published by a web-site. Despite expectations, the “Carrizo” will not support high-bandwidth memory (HBM) technologies, at least, in its mainstream implementation. Nonetheless, the new chip will carry a fair amount of innovations compared to the current-gen …

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The first specifications as well as a block-diagram of AMD’s next-generation code-named “Carrizo” accelerated processing unit (APU) have been published by a web-site. Despite expectations, the “Carrizo” will not support high-bandwidth memory (HBM) technologies, at least, in its mainstream implementation. Nonetheless, the new chip will carry a fair amount of innovations compared to the current-gen Kaveri APU. Unfortunately, there are some cut-downs too.

The structure

Based on an excerpt from an alleged AMD’s document published by Chinese VR-Zone web-site, AMD’s “Carrizo” chip will be structurally similar to its predecessors, which means that all performance improvements will be a result of architectural enhancements, not from increases of execution units. As expected, starting from the “Carrizo” accelerated processing unit AMD will offer system-on-chips (SoC) that will place both APU and core-logic set (FCH, Fusion controller hub) onto the same piece of substrate, which will help to shrink mobile and all-in-one PC form-factors.

amd_carrizo_excavator_fusion

AMD Fusion “Carrizo” accelerated processing unit will feature two dual-core AMD “Excavator” (XV) modules with 2MB L2 cache (1MB of cache per module, 512KB of L2 cache per core), AMD Radeon graphics based on the third-generation graphics core next architecture (GCN 3.0) architecture with eight compute units (512 stream processors in total), an integrated dual-channel DDR3 memory controller, a new special high-performance bus to connect x86 cores to graphics cores and DRAM, further HSA [heterogeneous system architecture] enhancements, PCI Express 3.0 controller as well as all-new multimedia and input/output engines.

AMD’s “Carrizo” SoCs will come with integrated I/O controller that will support PCI Express, USB 3.0, Serial ATA-6Gb/s, SD, GPIO, I2S, I2C, UART, an integrated clock-generator and so on. Such system-on-chips will have thermal-design power between 12W and 35W.

The Excavator and cut-down L2 cache

According to the published slide, AMD expects its “Excavator” cores to provide 30 per cent performance increase presumably compared to the current-gen “Steamroller” cores at 15W thermal design power. Typically such predictions have little to do with reality since they are based on virtual simulations, not real tests. However, keeping in mind significant architectural enhancements of the “Excavator” compared to the “Steamroller”, it is possible that the upcoming x86 cores from AMD will perform noticeably better compared to the current ones.

For some reason AMD decided to cut-down L2 cache of the new APUs to 2MB from 4MB on the contemporary accelerated processing units (even 15W quad-core A10 “Kaveri” chips feature 4MB of L2). Cutting-down L2 cache without adding large L3 cache will almost inevitably result in performance degradation in single-threaded applications.

amd_fusion_kaveri_steamroller_piledriver_excavator

The exact reason why AMD decided to decrease L2 cache sizes is unknown. Perhaps, this was done because the “Excavator” cores are considerably larger than the “Steamroller” cores and AMD needed to keep the die size of Carrizo small enough to ensure the same manufacturing costs, which is why it decided to reduce the level-two cache size. Maybe, AMD’s new high-speed interconnections and improved memory controller somehow reduce the importance of large caches.

Hopefully, AMD knows what it is doing and the “Carrizo” APU will not be slower than the “Kaveri” chip in certain applications that require big caches.

AMD Radeon and GCN 3

The forthcoming APU will also feature a new AMD Radeon graphics engine based on the third-generation GCN architecture. The new architecture will feature a number of enhancements, including fine-grain pre-emption for context switches (should increase efficiency of heterogeneous computing by making context switches more flexible) as well as delta-color compression (an image compression technique that encodes a row of pixels by replacing their colour information with values that represent difference between subsequent pixels [e.g. if one pixel in RGB format is 255:0:0, the other one is 255:1:1, the third one is 255:2:0, then with delta compression the sequence can be represented as 255:0:0, 0:1:1, 0:1:-1].

The GCN 3 is also projected to support DirectX 12 application programming interface, but it is unclear whether it will actually support all the new capabilities of the API, or will be just compatible with the API while supporting DirectX 11.2 feature level.

Multimedia, I/O and power management

The “Carrizo” APU will also feature enhanced multimedia, security and I/O capabilities.

The new chip will come with universal video decoder 6.0 (UVD6), video encoder engine 3.1 (VCE3.1) and audio co-processor 2 (ACP2). At present there is no word about support for ultra-high-definition (UVD) video codecs, such as H.265/HEVC or VP9. Looks like decoding of 4K video will not be a strong side of the new APU from AMD.

Despite of the fact that there will be no hardware support of UHD decoding, the Carrizo will support HDMI 2.0 output (which means it will be able to display 3840*2160 video with 120Hz refresh rate, stereo-3D UHD video and so on). The APU will support up to three displays.

In addition to TrustZone technology, AMD’s new chip will also support TPM 2.0, crypto acceleration and secure boot, the first time for AMD.

As expected, the “Carrizo” will also support advanced power management capabilities, including connected standby, STAPM, PPT/TDC/EDC tracking and so on.

Some thoughts

Since AMD’s “Carrizo” accelerated processing unit will be made using the same 28nm process technology as the “Kaveri”, it was illogical to expect AMD to significantly enhance its performance by increasing the number of x86 cores or stream processors because of the manufacturing costs reason. Unfortunately, improvements on the micro-architecture levels no longer bring breakthrough performance boosts. As a result, the “Carrizo” will not change the situation on the market of microprocessors any significantly. It will be somewhat faster than the predecessor (in applications that don't take advantage of large caches), but Intel’s “Broadwell” and “Skylake” processors will also be somewhat faster than the existing “Haswell” offerings.

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KitGuru Says: For several years now AMD is trying to change the rules of the game on the market of microprocessors. Instead of rapidly advancing its x86 micro-architecture, the company is trying to persuade the industry to use GPU compute technologies everywhere. Since x86 performance remains a very important aspect, AMD’s chips are gradually losing popularity among those, who need truly high performance in all applications.

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