In a somewhat odd turn of events, AMD has today completely revamped its mobile VISION platform with the launch of 17 new processors it doesn't seem to want to talk about.
Arriving hot on the heels of a desktop refresh, the new mobile parts arrive as part of the company's Nile and Danube platforms, targeting ultrathin and mainstream notebooks, respectively.
With AMD opting to publicise the 2010 VISION platform from an end-system point of view, not much is being made of the processors at the heart of the platforms, so we're here to shed a little light on what could be AMD's strongest mobile launch to date.
Starting with ultrathin notebooks, AMD's 2010 refresh is codenamed Nile and consists of Turion II, Athlon II and V-series processors - all of which are themselves codenamed Geneva.
| 2010 AMD Ultrathin Notebook Platform (codenamed Nile) | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Processor | Clock Speed | Cores | Process | Total L2 cache | TDP | FPU | Max bandwidth | HT link |
| Turion II Neo K665 | 1.7GHz | 2 | 45nm | 2MB | 15W | 128-bit | 17GB/s | 3.2GT/s |
| Turion II Neo K625 | 1.5GHz | 2 | 45nm | 2MB | 15W | 128-bit | 17GB/s | 3.2GT/s |
| Athlon II Neo K325 | 1.3GHz | 2 | 45nm | 2MB | 15W | 64-bit | 17GB/s | 2.0GT/s |
| Athlon II Neo K125 | 1.7GHz | 1 | 45nm | 1MB | 12W | 64-bit | 17GB/s | 2.0GT/s |
| V Series V105 | 1.2GHz | 1 | 45nm | 512KB | 9W | 64-bit | 17GB/s | 2.0GT/s |
Introduced as a step up from last year's Congo, the Nile platform is gunning for the ultra-portable space and is headed by 45nm dual-core processors that are positioned as direct competitors to Intel's CULV parts.
At the bottom of the range, a new 1.2GHz single-core V Series V105 CPU features a 9W TDP and will be hoping to take a slice of the Intel Atom pie.
| 2010 AMD Mainstream Notebook Platform (codenamed Danube) | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Processor | Clock Speed | Cores | Process | Total L2 cache | TDP | FPU | Max bandwidth | HT link |
| Phenom II Black Edition X920 | 2.3GHz | 4 | 45nm | 2MB | 45W | 128-bit | 21.3GB/s | 3.6GT/s |
| Phenom II Black Edition X620 | 3.1GHz | 2 | 45nm | 2MB | 45W | 128-bit | 21.3GB/s | 3.6GT/s |
| Phenom II N930 | 2.0GHz | 4 | 45nm | 2MB | 35W | 128-bit | 21.3GB/s | 3.6GT/s |
| Phenom II P920 | 1.6GHz | 4 | 45nm | 2MB | 25W | 128-bit | 21.3GB/s | 3.6GT/s |
| Phenom II N830 | 2.1GHz | 3 | 45nm | 1.5MB | 35W | 128-bit | 21.3GB/s | 3.6GT/s |
| Phenom II P820 | 1.8GHz | 3 | 45nm | 1.5MB | 25W | 128-bit | 21.3GB/s | 3.6GT/s |
| Phenom II N620 | 2.8GHz | 2 | 45nm | 2MB | 35W | 128-bit | 21.3GB/s | 3.6GT/s |
| Turion II N530 | 2.5GHz | 2 | 45nm | 2MB | 35W | 128-bit | 17GB/s | 3.6GT/s |
| Turion II P520 | 2.3GHz | 2 | 45nm | 2MB | 25W | 128-bit | 17GB/s | 3.6GT/s |
| Athlon II N330 | 2.3GHz | 2 | 45nm | 1MB | 35W | 64-bit | 17GB/s | 3.6GT/s |
| Athlon II P320 | 2.1GHz | 2 | 45nm | 1MB | 25W | 64-bit | 17GB/s | 3.6GT/s |
| V Series V120 | 2.2GHz | 1 | 45nm | 512KB | 25W | 64-bit | Unspecified | 3.6GT/s |
The mainstream space, moving on from last year's Tigris, has been refreshed with 12 new processors - codenamed Champlain - that arrive as part of the Danube platform.
Featuring a range of single-core, dual-core, triple-core and quad-core parts, the line up extends from the entry-level single-core 2.2GHz V Series V120 up to the high-end 2.3GHz quad-core Phenom II X920 Black Edition. There's enough here to pose a threat to Intel's mobile Core i3, Core i5 and Core i7 solutions, we reckon.
Paired with AMD's M880G chipset, both the ultrathin and mainstream platforms are now able to offer DX10.1-compliant ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4200-series graphics and support for DDR3 memory.
Comparing the 2009 Congo credentials with 2010's Nile, AMD reckons the transition to a 45nm CPU and a more efficient chipset will help deliver up to eight hours of battery life.
Considering that mobile battery life has in recent years proven to be AMD's Achilles' heel, it's imperative that the 2010 ultrathin platform lives up to its eight-hour billing.
What's interesting to note, however, is that whilst AMD's recent VISION platforms - including the likes of Yukon, Congo and Tigris - have largely failed to have an impact on the market, the company is already touting 135 design wins for the 2010 refresh. The likes of Acer, ASUS, Dell, HP and Lenovo are all said to be on board, and we can expect to see at least 109 mainstream notebooks based on Danube and 26 ultrathin notebooks based on Nile launched in the coming months.
Looking ahead, AMD's notebook credentials are set to be given a major boost in 2011 with the launch of the 32nm Llano Fusion APU. A little birdie tells us the CPU+GPU chip might be on show behind closed doors at next month's Computex.
