integrated graphics | KitGuru https://www.kitguru.net KitGuru.net - Tech News | Hardware News | Hardware Reviews | IOS | Mobile | Gaming | Graphics Cards Wed, 20 Sep 2023 23:40:21 +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 graphics | KitGuru https://www.kitguru.net 32 32 Intel Innovation 2023 – Sneak peek at the upgraded Xe iGPU for Meteor Lake https://www.kitguru.net/components/graphic-cards/matthew-wilson/intel-innovation-2023-sneak-peek-at-the-upgraded-xe-igpu-for-meteor-lake/ https://www.kitguru.net/components/graphic-cards/matthew-wilson/intel-innovation-2023-sneak-peek-at-the-upgraded-xe-igpu-for-meteor-lake/#respond Wed, 20 Sep 2023 23:40:21 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=631329 The Intel Core Ultra (Meteor Lake) line-up has not been fully unveiled yet but here at Intel Innovation 2023, we have begun learning a few new details about the upcoming chips. In a session focusing on Xe graphics, we learned about some of the upgrades coming to Intel's next generation iGPU for mobile chips, with …

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The Intel Core Ultra (Meteor Lake) line-up has not been fully unveiled yet but here at Intel Innovation 2023, we have begun learning a few new details about the upcoming chips. In a session focusing on Xe graphics, we learned about some of the upgrades coming to Intel's next generation iGPU for mobile chips, with improved performance per watt and the addition of ray-tracing accelerating hardware for the first time.

When designing the new Xe iGPU for Meteor Lake, one of the main objectives was to improve performance per watt, while making key spec improvements to better handle gaming or creative tasks like rendering. This is achieved by increasing the number of vector engines, pixel backends and samplers by 1.33X. Additionally, the Meteor Lake iGPU will include ray-tracing cores for the first time, with up to eight RT units, with the same capability as the RT units found on the discrete Intel Arc graphics cards. In a demonstration, we got to see Shadow of the Tomb Raider running on an early pre-release sample and while there was not a frame counter, it did appear to be holding a decent frame rate based on the eye test.

The new iGPU utilises the TSMC N5 node, allowing for lower minimum voltage to improve efficiency. The node also allowed Intel's graphics team to improve the frequency curve, so higher clock speeds can be achieved without a jump in power consumption. With the new design, L1 cache is no longer shared with texture cache and the available cache should be used more efficiently too.

Compared to the iGPU found in Raptor Lake, Intel cites improvements across the board, including a 2.6X increase to vertex processing and triangle draw rates and a 2.3X improvement in compute instruction rate.

Moving forward, Intel has a research team dedicated to finding ways to further optimise and improve ray-tracing and path-tracing performance across its stack. Work in this area is already being done but the high-power stuff will be saved for discrete GPUs, so we're looking forward to seeing what Arc Battlemage can bring to the table next year.

Intel's AI powered upscaler, XeSS, is a big part of the package here. Recently, Intel shipped version 1.2 with a few new improvements, such as enabling the ability to select a target frame rate and then have XeSS handle the resolution scaling behind the scenes to keep performance as close to the target frame rate as possible.

While XeSS can be implemented fairly easily, Intel does offer a data extraction API that can allow developers to train the AI for their game to reduce visual issues. Intel also offers additional development support to partners for further optimisation to improve results. One example shown was Yakuza spin-off title, Like a Dragon: Ishin, with XeSS bringing a noticeable improvement the stability of the image.

The Intel driver team is continuing to work to lower API overhead and deliver improvements. While day-0 optimisations for new games can often depend on the level of access Intel engineers have and how early they can get that access, Intel has been delivering on average around two graphics driver updates a month. Some of the bigger driver releases have included over 100 new optimisations.

With the Intel Core Ultra chips set to debut later this year, we'll get to see just how well the new iGPU holds up in a matter of months. If Intel's iGPU offering can continue to improve, it would be interesting to see if the company dives into the burgeoning handheld gaming market with a competitor to something like the Ryzen Z1.

KitGuru Says: The first Intel Core Ultra chips will be arriving in December so in just a few short months, we'll be able to see them put to the test.

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AMD Ryzen 9 7900 iGPU gets impressive performance boost when overclocked to 3.1GHz https://www.kitguru.net/components/graphic-cards/joao-silva/amd-ryzen-9-7900-igpu-gets-impressive-performance-boost-when-overclocked-to-3-1ghz/ https://www.kitguru.net/components/graphic-cards/joao-silva/amd-ryzen-9-7900-igpu-gets-impressive-performance-boost-when-overclocked-to-3-1ghz/#respond Thu, 23 Feb 2023 17:00:19 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=594070 It's uncommon to see overclockers pushing iGPUs to their limit, but that doesn't mean they can't do it. An overclocker has recently pushed the RDNA 2-based iGPU of an AMD Ryzen 9 7900 to new heights effortlessly, clocking it at 3.1GHz and improving its performance by up to 42%. Inside the Ryzen 7000 desktop parts, …

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It's uncommon to see overclockers pushing iGPUs to their limit, but that doesn't mean they can't do it. An overclocker has recently pushed the RDNA 2-based iGPU of an AMD Ryzen 9 7900 to new heights effortlessly, clocking it at 3.1GHz and improving its performance by up to 42%.

Inside the Ryzen 7000 desktop parts, there's an RDNA2-based integrated GPU capable of basic graphics tasks like text processing, browsing and media consumption. However, this iGPU lacks the power to deliver an even barely decent experience for gaming. After all, it only packs two CUs clocked at 2.2GHz.

Even so, that didn't stop SkatterBencher (via Wccftech) from trying it on a few games and synthetic graphics benchmarks. The overclocker ran a series of tests at stock settings using a Gigabyte B650E Aorus Tachyon motherboard to run the AMD Ryzen 9 7900 CPU. Then the tests were rerun with the chip overclocked using two OC strategies: PBO + EXPO and Curve Optimizer.

Using the PBO+ EXPO strategy, performance was slightly increased over stock, but not more than 5% on average. On the other hand, using the Curve Optimizer strategy, the overclocker registered considerable gains in most games, with some improving by up to 42%. Using this strategy, the GPU clock was pushed to 3.1GHz, and the SOC's power consumption increased to 60.6W (from 38.5W at stock). Moreover, the GPU temperature topped at 53ºC (38.4ºC at stock).

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru says: Do you own a Ryzen 7000 series desktop chip? Have you ever overclocked the iGPU?

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Intel Meteor Lake iGPU to feature ray tracing capabilities https://www.kitguru.net/components/cpu/joao-silva/intel-meteor-lake-igpu-to-feature-ray-tracing-capabilities/ https://www.kitguru.net/components/cpu/joao-silva/intel-meteor-lake-igpu-to-feature-ray-tracing-capabilities/#respond Mon, 22 Aug 2022 10:48:56 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=571545 By now, it's clear that Meteor Lake will bring many architectural changes over Raptor Lake. Unlike the latter, which is basically a revised version of Alder Lake, Meteor Lake will have new components, including a VPU (Versatile Processing Unit) for AI workloads and likely a new integrated graphics architecture. Intel has already confirmed the rumours …

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By now, it's clear that Meteor Lake will bring many architectural changes over Raptor Lake. Unlike the latter, which is basically a revised version of Alder Lake, Meteor Lake will have new components, including a VPU (Versatile Processing Unit) for AI workloads and likely a new integrated graphics architecture.

Intel has already confirmed the rumours on the VPU, but we have yet to hear anything about the new iGPU architecture. Still, rumours claim the new architecture will be a spin-off of Xe-HPG named Xe-LPG. Not much is known about it yet, but don't expect it to be just a revision of Xe-HPG, as it won't likely support DPAS (Dot Product Accumulate Systolic). Still, it seems some other features will remain.

There's still much to learn about Xe-LPG, but the recent patches introduced to the Intel Graphics Compiler (Via Coelacanth's Dream VideoCardz) suggest something quite interesting. As Meteor Lake's iGPUs are based on the same architecture used on Arc Alchemist, a good chunk of the driver's code is the same, with slight changes. However, there's no change in the part of the code regarding hardware ray tracing support, suggesting the upcoming integrated graphics unit will have it.

Assuming the iGPU will come with 192 EUs and support for ray tracing, it could end up being a very strong offering. Meteor Lake is currently expected in the second half of 2023.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru says: Meteor Lake could feature significant improvements to CPU and iGPU performance. If iGPUs can continue to advance like this, then they may become preferable to a dedicated, entry-level graphics card. 

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AMD will bring Ryzen 5000G APUs to retail later this year https://www.kitguru.net/components/cpu/matthew-wilson/amd-will-bring-ryzen-5000g-apus-to-retail-later-this-year/ https://www.kitguru.net/components/cpu/matthew-wilson/amd-will-bring-ryzen-5000g-apus-to-retail-later-this-year/#respond Thu, 15 Apr 2021 09:29:08 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=511857 Earlier this week, AMD officially announced the Ryzen 5000G series of processors with integrated Radeon graphics. For now, these processors are only going to be available to OEMs making pre-built PCs, but later this year, the DIY market should be able to get their hands on them too. Following on from the initial announcement, Anandtech …

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Earlier this week, AMD officially announced the Ryzen 5000G series of processors with integrated Radeon graphics. For now, these processors are only going to be available to OEMs making pre-built PCs, but later this year, the DIY market should be able to get their hands on them too.

Following on from the initial announcement, Anandtech reports that AMD will be making these processors available at retail later this year. This means those building their own PC will be able to buy one without having to resort to a pre-build from the likes of Dell, Lenovo, HP etc.

For those who missed the initial announcement, the Ryzen 5000G series is AMD's latest round of APUs, including up to eight Zen 3 CPU cores and up to eight ‘Radeon Graphics Cores', which are based on the Vega graphics architecture.

You can see the full specifications for each processor in the table below:

SKU Cores/Threads Base/Boost Clock Speed (GHz) Integrated Graphics TDP (W)
AMD Ryzen 7 5700G 8 / 16 3.8 / 4.6 8 Radeon Graphics Cores 65
AMD Ryzen 7 5700GE 8 / 16 3.2 / 4.6 8 Radeon Graphics Cores 35
AMD Ryzen 5 5600G 6 / 12 3.9 / 4.4 7 Radeon Graphics Cores 65
AMD Ryzen 5 5600GE 6 / 12 3.4 / 4.4 7 Radeon Graphics Cores 35
AMD Ryzen 3 5300G 4 / 8 4.0 / 4.2 6 Radeon Graphics Cores 65
AMD Ryzen 3 5300GE 4 / 8 3.6 / 4.2 6 Radeon Graphics Cores 35

We don't know how much these APUs will cost at retail yet, but we should learn more in the months to come. Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: Are any of you hoping to build a budget PC this year? Will you be waiting for AMD's new APUs to hit the retail market first?

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Intel Rocket Lake graphics drivers now available to download https://www.kitguru.net/components/graphic-cards/joao-silva/intel-rocket-lake-graphics-drivers-now-available-to-download/ https://www.kitguru.net/components/graphic-cards/joao-silva/intel-rocket-lake-graphics-drivers-now-available-to-download/#respond Tue, 06 Apr 2021 08:41:00 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=510848 After a “driverless” release, Intel has added support for Rocket Lake's iGPU with its latest graphics driver release. The driver supporting Rocket Lake's Xe graphics was issued in early March, but until recently, the description did not mention any support for the newly released Intel 11th Gen Core desktop processors.  The driver, which is available …

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After a “driverless” release, Intel has added support for Rocket Lake's iGPU with its latest graphics driver release. The driver supporting Rocket Lake's Xe graphics was issued in early March, but until recently, the description did not mention any support for the newly released Intel 11th Gen Core desktop processors. 

The driver, which is available for download HERE, had its description altered to reflect support for the “11th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) processor family (Codename Rocket Lake) (20H2+)”. It's unclear if Intel's 27.20.100.9316 graphics driver is WHQL certified for Rocket Lake-S processors, but for now, this is the best bet for those interested in enabling the iGPU.

 

Lisa Pearce, graphics software engineering director at Intel, previously stated that the official launch of the graphics driver would take a few weeks, so this turnaround was quicker than expected.

Despite the lack of an official graphics driver for Intel Rocket Lake-S processors at launch, users found workarounds to enable the UHD Graphics 750 iGPU. While some installed the 27.20.100.9316 graphics driver before receiving official support for the Rocket Lake-S, others were able to get it working by downloading a graphics driver through Windows Update.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru says: Did you try any workaround to install a Rocket Lake graphics driver? Were you able to get the iGPU working? Now that Intel has released an official driver, will you reinstall it or just leave it as it is?

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Video of Intel “Tiger Lake” Gen12 with Xe graphics running Battlefield V has surfaced https://www.kitguru.net/components/graphic-cards/joao-silva/video-of-intel-tiger-lake-gen12-with-xe-graphics-running-battlefield-v-has-surfaced/ https://www.kitguru.net/components/graphic-cards/joao-silva/video-of-intel-tiger-lake-gen12-with-xe-graphics-running-battlefield-v-has-surfaced/#respond Fri, 19 Jun 2020 07:16:09 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=472819 An Intel employee has uploaded a video to Twitter showing him playing Battlefield V on a system equipped with Intel's “Tiger Lake” Gen12 with Xe graphics. The exact device shown in the video is referred to as a “prototype Tiger Lake system”, but the manufacturer and specific SoC used have not been disclosed. In the video …

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An Intel employee has uploaded a video to Twitter showing him playing Battlefield V on a system equipped with Intel's “Tiger Lake” Gen12 with Xe graphics. The exact device shown in the video is referred to as a “prototype Tiger Lake system”, but the manufacturer and specific SoC used have not been disclosed.

In the video we see Ryan Shrout, chief performance strategist at Intel, playing Battlefield V at Full HD, with high settings, achieving around 30FPS using the DirectX 11 API. In Ryan's tweet, he states that this is “the first time” that he has seen Battlefield V “run like this” when using integrated graphics, even if the drivers/software being used are still in development.

Previous rumours have suggested the Xe iGPU within Intel's Tiger Lake SoCs will perform around same level as the Nvidia MX350, though this is still very much speculative at this point. In one of the comments that this tweet received, Shrout was asked the iGPU in that system had 96 EUs, to which he replied. “sorry, no other details from me yet!”

This tweet gives us a glimpse of what the dedicated Xe graphics might be able to achieve, and remember this is still a very early indication of the performance, so hopefully things will improve further as the software and drivers are optimised for the hardware. As Ryan Shrout commented, we expect to learn more about Intel Tiger Lake “later this year”.

Discuss on our Facebook page HERE.

KitGuru says: It will be interesting to see just how good these iGPUs are when they are officially revealed later this year.

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Ablecom launches DS-520 advanced digital signage device https://www.kitguru.net/desktop-pc/base-unit/faith/ablecom-launches-ds-520-advanced-digital-signage-device/ https://www.kitguru.net/desktop-pc/base-unit/faith/ablecom-launches-ds-520-advanced-digital-signage-device/#respond Fri, 21 Mar 2014 13:08:54 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=183675 The market for digital signage is already huge and looks set to grow at a phenomenal rate over the next 10 years. Into this fast moving market, Taiwanese based Ablecom UK is launching a brand new range of systems that it hope will win market share. KitGuru takes a walk around Piccadilly Circus to see …

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The market for digital signage is already huge and looks set to grow at a phenomenal rate over the next 10 years. Into this fast moving market, Taiwanese based Ablecom UK is launching a brand new range of systems that it hope will win market share. KitGuru takes a walk around Piccadilly Circus to see what the fuss is about.

As the use of electricity became widespread in the early 1900s, it wasn't long before pioneers in the field of marketing decided that Times Square and Piccadilly Circus needed to be awash in the neon glow of famous brands during the hours of darkness.

In December 1998, Coke experimented with a projected advert, but the market was moving fast and LEDs would become the order of the day within 5 years.

Following the changes in sign ownership gives us a quick lesson in the development of modern brands. Specifically, McDonalds kicking out BASF in 1987, Panasonic having to give up their spot to Samsung in 1994 and Hyndai replacing Sanyo in 2011.

The future of this market (albeit a nightmare scenario version) was shown clearly in the Tom Cruise hit Minority Report.

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7B96gtEP2To'] .

That's a quick look at both the past and future of public messaging, so where are we today? What's important?

Well the advent of 4K has been good for gaming and promises a better home entertainment experience when Sky finally decides to increase signal quality later this year. But for commercial enterprises, technologies like 4K could be vital.

Anyone who has upscaled a video signal will know the challenges. For example, if you've ever tried playing an old VHS film on a modern 50″ TV at 1920×1080 resolution. It's not good.  Now imagine that your target display is significantly bigger. Any additional pixels available will make the ‘exploded' version much clearer.

Ablecom-DS-520-CeBIT-2014-Digital-Signage-Gold-Silver-Craig-Connell-KitGuru

Sure, AMD has that kind of resolution built comfortably into its APUs, but with Haswell and Broadwell Intel can get into the game as well.

Other considerations for digital signage include the power draw (which needs to be low, because of how it will impact the cost of ownership), reliability (less moving parts the better – weather proofing is an advantage) and how it looks (just in case it's in a public place.

Enter the Ablecom DS-520.

Ablecom-DS-520-CeBIT-2014-Digital-Signage-Specification-Craig-Connell-KitGuru

This unit is nothing short of gorgeous looking and heavy enough to make you believe that it's ‘whole body as a cooler' will be effective. Pack atoms closer together and it's easier to draw the heat away, so heavier is normally better. Maybe not always, but generally.

In terms of its design features, the Ablecom DS-520 offers:-

  • Fanless digital signage
  • Weather proof for outdoor use
  • Supports 4K
  • Designed to run off 80w
  • Dual gigabyte ethernet
  • Wi-Fi support
  • VESA compatible

That's made possible by a core spec which includes:-

  • Intel Core i3 4330T
  • Intel Q87 chipset
  • Integrated HD4600 graphics

In terms of operating environments, straight from the box with no additional work, it will handle anything from zero degrees  through to 50 Celsius. That covers everywhere from Stockholm to Dubai, most of the year.

Ablecom-DS-520-CeBIT-2014-Digital-Signage-Fanless-Craig-Connell-KitGuru

KitGuru says: We'll be following this area a little closer in the future. We're all being touched/informed/influenced by digital signage on daily basis. It's good to know more about what's going on under the hood.

Comment below, in the KitGuru forums or join us online over at Facebook.

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AMD Fusion discussion with Bob Grim https://www.kitguru.net/components/graphic-cards/faith/amd-fusion-plans-revealed-by-amd-marketing-guru/ https://www.kitguru.net/components/graphic-cards/faith/amd-fusion-plans-revealed-by-amd-marketing-guru/#comments Wed, 22 Sep 2010 07:10:47 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=17048 We're surrounded by integrated graphics.   From Blackberries to iPhones, from netbooks to iPads. KitGuru spends more hours in a day using integrated graphics than discrete cards. As users, we represent the elite. The top 5% of users – with serious knowledge, skills and access to as much technology as we can eat. The integrated graphics …

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We're surrounded by integrated graphics.   From Blackberries to iPhones, from netbooks to iPads. KitGuru spends more hours in a day using integrated graphics than discrete cards. As users, we represent the elite. The top 5% of users – with serious knowledge, skills and access to as much technology as we can eat. The integrated graphics market is huge. Armed with Fusion, can AMD do serious long-term damage to Intel's market share? KitGuru investigates.

AMD gave the first, full and very public APU demonstration at Computex back in June, which showed it had a lead in terms of getting the new technology to market, albeit a slim one. Now Intel's started to show off its own Fusion-class processors, at IDF in San Francisco last week, we're all starting to wonder when this new APU technology will hit and how much impact it will make.

We had loads of questions.

Fortunately AMD Marketing Director, Bob Grim, was on hand to provide the answers.

Welcome to another Kitguru exclusive!

Background: A history of Fusion
We start off with a little background. When AMD bought ATI, it almost straight away started to speak about Fusion. Not just the bringing together of 2 companies, but also the next generation of products that would bring the main processor and graphics core together. Over time, things can change. We asked Bob how AMD sees Fusion right now, in the second half of 2010.

“AMD Fusion APUs represent a new type of  x86 processor design and software development”, said Bob. “This will enable breakthroughs in visual computing, performance-per-watt and device form factor. AMD Fusion APUs are engineered to deliver powerful CPU and GPU compute capabilities in a single-die processor for today’s HD video, 3D and data-intensive workloads”.

Sounds like a 1-stop-shop to us, but how long will we have to wait  until this kind of technology is in production.

Availability: When can we buy it in stores?
With Sandy Bridge expected in stores around February 2011 and just 3 full months left in 2010, Bob said “We’re gearing up for production of our Brazos-platform AMD Fusion processors, and we expect designs in the marketplace early in 2011”.

To KitGuru, it sounds as though everyone's ‘Fusion delivery roadmap' is running pretty much in parallel.

AMD's Bob Grim

Competition: How will the battle play out?

While Sandy Bridge is going to displace all of the existing Core i3, i5 and i7 product lines, Bob wasn't prepared to let us know how much of AMD's 2011 roadmap would have Fusion-power.

Feeling that Bob was happier to discuss AMD's products by comparison to Intel's, we decided to probe a little deeper.

From our discussions with Intel, a key focus seems to be offering consumers a ‘hugely powerful quad core processor, under 65w, complete with powerful graphics’. We asked Bob if he expected AMD Fusion to be able to compete with this kind of i5 processor?

“AMD believes that users don’t buy cores or clock speeds; they buy a great user experience.  With gaming, video, web browsing and rich multimedia becoming more central to the user experience, we expect AMD’s world class graphics technology to be a very compelling proposition for end users”.

With a little smile, Bob added “We’re already seeing our mainstream ‘Zacate’ processor soundly beating Core i5 in a number of real world usage scenarios”.

Confident stuff. We saw the start of this simpler messaging when the Radeon HD 5000 series launched a year ago. It fits more into the way consumers think of things that are slow, medium or fast. Basic, flexible or fully featured.

Desktop AMD Fusion APU - as revealed exclusively by KitGuru

Graphics: Who will render the most successful financials?
Given ATI's heritage, we moved onto graphics performance. Given that Intel is lining up the GT1 graphics engine for its low end processors – probably up to the i5, how well does AMD expect to compete at the entry level, in terms of graphics performance?

“We’ve always been very competitive against Intel on graphics performance, even at the entry level, and we’ll be the only vendor with state-of-the-art discrete-level DirectX11 support for entry-level PCs”. OK. What about further up the product stack?

We’re hearing that Intel has AMD’s discrete notebook market share firmly in its sites with the more powerful GT2 – are you concerned that as you win low end notebook SKUs, you will take a (market share) hit on the higher value segment?

“We are offering a wide variety of platform solutions including 3 Fusion APUs in the notebook space to address multiple segments, including our processors codenamed “Ontario”,”Zacate” and “Llano”.  We expect AMD's 2011 notebook platforms to be very competitive against Intel in each of these markets”.

DirectX 11: Will Intel and AMD both be getting in the game?
Intel’s roadmap shows no sign of DX11 – even after the die shrink in 18 months’ time. Will having DX11 support at the low end be a real benefit ? Will AMD fund sensible DevRel programmes to maximise your advantage in this area?

That's when Bob touched on something new. “Through the AMD Fusion Fund, we’re working with the ISV ecosystem to infuse parallelism into a wide range of consumer applications with the goal of enabling a massively improved end user experience including next generation user interfaces”.

Complex answer, but it sounds a lot like AMD is ploughing fresh money into software developers who want to help create new applications. Good thing, yes?

Bob explained in more detail, “Some of these applications will be based on industry standard APIs including DirectCompute11.  In addition, we expect dozens of DirectX11 games to be available by the time AMD Fusion platforms come to market in 2011. We’ve been actively engaged with developers to infuse DirectX11 features into games since early 2009”.

Will AMD's spicy Fusion be to Intel's taste?

Graphics RAM: Thanks for the memories
With graphic cards, the amount and speed of memory has an impact on performance. Recently, we've been seeing stories about Intel and DDR4, however when we psuhed our sources, they said that it was unlikely for Intel to move to a new system memory memory configuration until a future platform comes to market. That sounds like 18 months. Minimum. Unfortunately, at this stage, Bob wasn't going to be drawn on memory support options within AMD Fusion.

He did acknowledge that there is an effect, but suggested we check back closer to December for more info.

Which we will.

So there you have it, in a nutshell and straight from Bob's mouth. AMD will be gunning for serious market share with Fusion – right from launch. There are AMD Fusion-specific software development programmes already in place and full support for DX11.

As AMD's Fusion lines up against Intel's Sandy Bridge to compete for the largest slices of the market, one thing strikes you very clearly. There are only 2 players in this market. Intel already has a massive, dominating market share and AMD will try to wrestle some of those sales across to its own coffers. But there is no nVidia offering anywhere in these new markets. When you think about Fiat and Ferrari or Skoda/Seat/VW and Lamborghini, you can see that it's always the very mundane, normal, average, everyday products that sell in the mass market, which provide the finance to develop the super cars. Notoriously camera shy, we will try to discuss these matters with nVidia over the next 2 weeks. We will let you know what they say.

KitGuru says: We can't wait to get our hands on the first production models to see just how far forward this technology can push the market. It's strange the way things always come around. At first, graphics were always processed in the CPU – where else could you do it? And now, with the whole PC world evolving into the new century, graphics power is moving back into the main processor – albeit in a brand new and far more sophisticated way. Roll on December!

Love what you've heard (Fusion) or want to differ (Fission)? No matter, let us know either way – below or in the KitGuru forum.

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