New AMD A-Series Processors Bring Faster Speeds, High Core Count and AMD Radeon™ HD 7000 Series Graphics to Do-It-Yourself PC Enthusiasts and Gamers

PRESS RELEASE

With up to 4 "Piledriver" Cores, 4.2 GHz of processing speed  and the new FM2 infrastructure, the latest AMD APUs enable an immersive Microsoft Windows® 8 experience and an easy upgrade path

SUNNYVALE, Calif. - Oct. 2, 2012 - AMD (NYSE: AMD) announced retail and distribution channel availability of its second generation AMD A-Series Accelerated Processing Units (APUs) for desktop, small form-factor and home-theater PCs. These new APUs target do-it-yourself (DIY) PC builders, mainstream gamers and value-added resellers who want to upgrade their PC infrastructure with affordable performance, discrete-level graphics, multiple cores and fast processing for outstanding responsiveness.

The second generation desktop AMD A-Series APU is available at prices ranging from £44.99 - £99.99 GBP.  Compared to similarly priced competitive offerings, the new APUs offer more cores and more speed, best-in-class entertainment experiences and an easy upgrade path based on a stable socket infrastructure².  AMD APU users also gain access to the AMD App Zone and a comprehensive list of accelerated applications that leverage the full compute power of the APU.  With hardware accelerated support for DirectX^® 11 on AMD Radeon^TM graphics and AMD Eyefinity technology delivering a more immersive experience, the AMD A-Series APUs are the ideal solution for systems running the highly-anticipated Microsoft Windows^® 8 and today's Microsoft Windows^® 7 operating systems.

"The new AMD A-Series APU is ideal for anyone looking for a new desktop or home theater PC with leading performance for the dollar," said Leslie Sobon, corporate vice president, desktop and component products, AMD. "The combination of processing speed, multiple compute cores and discrete-level graphic capabilities on the second generation AMD A-Series APU make it an excellent platform for the gamer and PC enthusiast alike."

More cores, more speed and more value

The second generation AMD A-Series APU provides higher performance and capabilities over the first generation:  

• Doubled performance per watt; more than 700 GFLOPs of compute performance³
• Up to 4.2 GHz max frequency
• Unlocked Central Processing Unit (CPU) with AMD OverDrive^TM software for up to 6.5 GHz of extreme overclocking performance⁴

With CPU and Graphics Processor Unit (GPU) AMD Turbo Core 3.0 Technology, the second generation AMD A-Series APU performance is improved by allowing frequencies of the GPU and CPU cores to automatically increase. PCusers looking for the ultimate control tweaking their system can use the AMD OverDrive software application to overclock both the CPU and the GPU and also increase the memory frequency to deliver a superior gaming experience.

Better video and gaming with AMD Radeon^TM Graphics

The second generation AMD A-Series APUs include AMD Radeon^TM HD 7000 series graphics, providing high-performance discrete-class graphics. These APUs extend AMD's legacy of gaming leadership with a significant increase in both CPU and GPU performance⁵ over the previous generation and support for:

• AMD Eyefinity Technology - The only multi-monitor technology that supports a single-surface Windows^®8 experience across up to four monitors. For the first time, this immersive technology is available from an APU without the need for a discrete graphics card.
• Industry-leading, high-performance DirectX^®11 graphics architecture capable of delivering full 1080p gaming fora life-like level of detail.
• AMD Radeon^TM Dual Graphics support that delivers a performance boost of up to 75 percent when a discrete graphics card is added to the APU⁶.The AMD Radeon^TM Dual Graphics option also offers support for DirectX^®9 and 10 for older game titles, and uses new AMD CrossFire^TM Application Profiles for easier updates.

Easy upgrade path

The second generation desktop AMD A-Series APUs combine AMD's next-generation "Piledriver" CPU architecture with AMD Radeon^TM HD 7000 series graphics  on the new FM2 motherboard infrastructure to deliver a host of new features and a brilliant visual experience, all on a platform with future upgrade capability. 

Three different chipset options are available on motherboards with the FM2 socket, each with a different feature set: AMD A55, A75 and A85X. These chipsets support AMD Memory Profiles which enable graphics memory to run at 1866 MHz, with up to a 266MHz boost for faster performance.

Industry Support

MSI

"Combining  second generation AMD A-Series APUs with MSI's new FM2 mainboards creates a platform that offers an unprecedented level of flexibility and gaming performance, especially with easy to use features like MSI OC Genie," said Ted Hung, MSI vice president of Mainboard Department. "We are ready to impress the market with stable, high performance products that are a great home for AMD's new APUs."

ECS

"The performance, price and upgrade options of the second generation AMD A-Series APUs should make these products wildly popular with a wide-range of PC enthusiasts who are building a new system or about to upgrade his/her system," said David Chien, vice president of ECS Channel Business Unit.  "We look forward to supplying those enthusiasts with the stability and performance features of our special gold plated, A85F2-A Golden FM2 motherboard."

GIGABYTE

"With AMD's second generation A-Series APU platform, GIGABYTE is bringing several exclusive technologies to an AMD platform for the first time, including our new Ultra Durable 5 technology and Digital Power delivery," commented Henry Kao, vice president of GIGABYTE Motherboard Business Unit. "These technologies help ensure GIGABYTE FM2 series motherboards will get the absolute maximum graphics and processing performance from AMD's new and exciting A-Series APUs."

ASRock

"The new A-Series of APUs is a perfect combination of performance and price for PC enthusiasts," said James Lee, ASRock vice president of Sales and Marketing. "The ASRock FM2 motherboards come with a complete product line supplying those enthusiasts to achieve the highest level of computing. Besides, with ASRock smart X-Boost Technology, overclocking the APU can become a one-button process."

Details and Availability

Starting today, the following AMD A-Series APUs are available from AMD's channel partners and retailers worldwide:

Supporting Resources

• Find photos and other support materials on the second generation A-Series APU landing page
• Read recent AMD news at http://blogs.amd.com/fusion/
• Check out demos of AMD APUs on the AMD YouTube Channel
• Follow all news from the AMD on Twitter at @AMD_Unprocessed

About AMD

AMD (NYSE: AMD) is a semiconductor design innovator leading the next era of vivid digital experiences with its ground breaking AMD Accelerated Processing Units (APUs) that power a wide range of computing devices. AMD's server computing products are focused on driving industry-leading cloud computing and virtualisation environments. AMD's superior graphics technologies are found in a variety of solutions ranging from game consoles, PCs to supercomputers. For more information, visit http://www.amd.com.

¹AMD suggested retail pricing

²AMD A10-5800 with 4 CPU cores running at 4.2 GHz with a suggested retail price of $122 vs. Corei3 2120 / 3220 with 2 CPU cores running at 3.3 GHz and a retail price of $124.99. Intel pricing on TigerDirect.com on 9/26/2012: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3734679&csid=_61.

³GFLOPs calculations developed by AMD performance labs measuring compute capacity for the AMD A10-5800K desktop APU which is 736 GFLOPS. AMD GFLOPs calculated using GFLOPs = CPU GFLOPs + GPU GFLOPs = CPU Core Freq. (3.8GHz) X Core Count (4) X 8 FLOPs + GPU Core Freq.(800MHz) X DirectX® 11 capable Shader Count (384) X 2 FLOPs TRD-38

⁴6.5 GHz reached on  an AMD A10-5800K with AMD Radeon^TM HD 7660D Graphics, 2x4GB DDR3 1866, Windows 7 64bit using LN2 cooling @ 1.85V.  AMD's product warranty does not cover damages caused by overclocking, even when overclocking is enabled with AMD hardware or software. 

⁵Testing conducted by AMD performance labs using  PCMark7 benchmark, the AMD A10-5800K APU with AMD Radeon^TM HD 7660D Graphics scored 4079 while the  AMD A8-3850 APU with AMD Radeon^TM HD 6550D Graphics scored 3226 . All scores rounded to the nearest whole number.

⁶Testing conducted by AMD performance labs using DiRT 3^TM@ 1280×1024, DirectX®11 under medium settings.  The AMD A10-5800K APU with an AMD Radeon^TM HD 6570 in AMD Dual Graphics mode scored and average of 92.62 fps while the AMD A10-5800K APU with only the AMD Radeon^TM HD 6570 Graphics card enabled scored an average of 52.63. Test configuration with AMD Dual Graphics enabled and disabled: Pre-production engineering sample AMD A10-5800K APU with AMD Radeon^TM HD 7660D Graphics, AMD Radeon^TM HD 6570 graphics card, 2x4GB DDR3-1866, 7200rpm Hard Drive with  Windows® 7 64 bit on AMD "Annapurna" reference design.  TRD-18.