Advanced Micro Devices will try to inject new life into the lackluster desktop PC market with the first sub-$100 quad-core processor aimed at Windows 7--and Intel.
It's all about mobile computing today. But AMD's Athlon II X4 quad-core processor will give consumers something to consider on the desktop when Windows 7 ships in October. The chip is priced at $99 for "system builders," according to AMD.
"The introduction of the new AMD mainstream desktop platform coupled with Windows 7, allows...a faster, higher performing experience at an attractive price point," said Mike Ybarra, general manager of Windows Product Management at Microsoft, in a statement.
Some reviewers were quick to praise the chip. "It's often hard to get excited about low-end and mainstream hardware," wrote technology Web site Hot Hardware on Wednesday. "However, AMD's new quad-core Athlon II X4 processors are something we can definitely get excited about."
AMD is trying to create some buzz for Windows 7 desktop PCs
(Credit: AMD)"AMD didn't just deliver on price, they also managed to produce quite a competitive product that was able to keep up with more expensive processors like Intel's Q8200 and AMD's own Phenom IIs," the review said. The closest competing quad-processor from Intel is the Core 2 Quad Q8200, priced at around $150 at resellers.
Other reviews, however, were more Tepid. "The Athlon II X4 620 is just $20 cheaper than the Phenom II X3 (triple core)...in terms of performance the triple-core chip will likely be faster than the Athlon II X4 620 in most cases, as it is also clocked 200MHz higher," TechSpot wrote.
Beyond price, AMD is also claiming energy efficiency, saying that the use of the latest 45-nanometer manufacturing process allows it to draw less power than a standard 75-watt light bulb. Until this year, AMD had been building its processor on a 65-nanometer process. Typically, the smaller the geometries of a chip, the faster and more power efficient it is.
The quad-core processor is used in combination with the 785G chipset, which integrates ATI Radeon HD 4200 graphics silicon. The pricing of the chipset is separate from the processor.
Pricing for consumer-ready systems based on the Athlon II X4 processor were not immediately available.
ZT Systems will be selling systems later this month through Sears.com and Buy.com that are expected to be priced around $500, according to AMD spokesman Matt Davis. Other resellers, such as iBuypower and CyberPower, are also expected to bring out systems.
Advanced Micro Devices is trying to assert its graphics technology advantage over Intel as part of a rollout of new mobile processors.
-2-small_270x252.jpg)
HP dv2 laptop uses AMD ultrathin processor
(Credit: Hewlett-Packard)The Intel rival on Thursday introduced new processors for the mainstream laptop segment while stressing the visual prowess that its ATI graphics unit offers.
Consumers won't be left in the dark about visual features this time, according to AMD. "When you look at two systems side by side in retail, you really can't tell what kind of visual experience you're getting," Bob Grim, director of client product marketing, said in a phone interview. "You're going to see us take a sharp turn and talk less about component specifications and talk more about the usage that those technologies enable."
The AMD graphics chip-based "Vision" technology complements Microsoft's DirectX, a multimedia programming interface built into Windows 7. As an example, transcoding, in which one video format is converted to another, is done on the graphics processor for faster conversion, AMD said.
On the processor front, new processors announced Thursday as part of AMD's "2009 mainstream notebook" lineup--which range up to 2.6GHz in speed--use a 45-nanometer manufacturing process, matching the mobile chip geometries that Intel has been offering for about a year and a half.
The mainstream notebook chips offer an "active battery life" of nearly two hours (1 hour, 55 minutes) and a "resting battery life" of nearly five hours (4 hours, 55 minutes), AMD said.
And AMD now officially lists four processors for the "ultrathin" laptop segment, though some of them are already used by PC makers such as Hewlett-Packard. Processors for thin laptops typically use less power than mainstream silicon. In AMD's case, those categorized as ultrathin draw between 15 and 18 watts compared to 35 watts for the mainstream.
Notebooks featuring the 2009 AMD mainstream notebook technology became available on September 2 in certain Asian countries. Broad global availability of more than 50 designs is scheduled to coincide with the forthcoming release of Windows 7, AMD said.
Notebook PCs with Vision Technology are expected to be widely available during the holiday buying season timed to the release of the Windows 7.
Updated on August 23 at 6:45 a.m. PDT: adding updated $299 price of Toshiba laptop.
Netbooks based on Intel's Atom processor faced a fresh assault this week: the $279 AMD-based Acer laptop.
Here's the $299--or this case, the $279---question: do you want a Netbook or a Notebook?
The choice: a Netbook with a 10-inch screen, an Intel Atom processor, no optical drive, and Windows XP that weighs about two pounds? Or, a notebook with a 15.6-inch screen, a higher-performance AMD or Intel processor, an optical drive, and Windows Vista that weights about six pounds?
Best Buy was selling a 15-inch Acer laptop for $279.99 on Wednesday.
(Credit: Brooke Crothers)On Wednesday, Best Buy was offering an Acer laptop (AS5516-5474) that had been previously listed at $299.
A Best Buy salesperson in a Southern California store said these deals typically last a week.
Acer $279.99 laptop
(Credit: Best Buy )The specifications: an AMD Athlon TF-20 64 processor, 15.6-inch WXGA display, 2GB DDR2 memory, DVD-RW drive, 160GB hard disk drive, ATI Radeon Xpress 1200 graphics, 802.11b/g wireless, 10/100 Ethernet LAN, and Microsoft Windows Vista Home Basic Edition.
Pretty close to basic mainstream-laptop hardware with the exception of the low-end AMD-ATI silicon and the older "g" wireless.
It weighs in at 6 pounds and measures 1.5-inches thick.
Earlier this month, Best Buy was offering a $299 Toshiba laptop sporting a 15-inch screen but then bumped the price up to $329.
Update: As of August 23, the price of the Toshiba Satellite with an Intel Celeron Processor (Onyx Blue, model: L305-S5955) had been cut to $299. The laptop showed wide availability, as of August 23.
But whether it's a $279, $299, or $329, it's a laptop design that has legs. And a real competitor to the 10-inch Netbook, which costs about the same.
And here's another question: As more of these $279-$329 deals are seen at Wal-Mart and Best Buy and as more ultra-thin laptops appear that approach $600 in price, what will happen to the popularity of the Netbook?
Best Buy has listed a 15-inch Acer laptop with relatively robust specifications for $299. But try getting your hands on one.
Though listed among the "new arrivals" on Best Buy's Web site, it is currently not available at stores or online. But there is anecdotal evidence of its existence. Very-recent user comments indicate that people have purchased the laptop and other stores, such as Wal-Mart Stores and Amazon (which shows it in stock), list it at a higher price.
Acer laptop comes with most of the fixins' for $299
(Credit: Best Buy)And the specifications? An AMD Athlon 64 processor, 15.6-inch WXGA display, 2GB DDR2 memory, DVD-RW drive, 160GB hard disk drive, ATI Radeon Xpress 1200 graphics, 802.11b/g wireless, 10/100 Ethernet LAN, and Microsoft Windows Vista Home Basic Edition. Pretty close to mainstream-laptop hardware with the exception of the low-end AMD-ATI silicon and the older "g" wireless.
When contacted by phone, a Best Buy sales representative said the reseller has fielded a number of calls already about the laptop and confirmed that it was currently unavailable.
By comparison, what do you get for $299 when buying a diminutive Netbook? An Asus Eee PC at this price comes with an Atom N270 processor, 1GB memory, 10.1-inch screen, 160GB hard disk drive, Intel 950 graphics, a Webcam, no optical drive, and Windows XP.
And there are good deals on other, more-mainstream laptops at Best Buy. A Toshiba Satellite is listed at $349 with an Intel Celeron processor, 15.4-inch display, 2GB DDR2 memory, DVD-RW drive, 160GB hard disk drive, Intel 4500MHD graphics, 802.11b/g wireless, 10/100 Ethernet LAN, and Microsoft Windows Vista Home Basic Edition.
Hewlett-Packard was one of the early trendsetters in the ultrathin laptop market with its Voodoo design. But the product has languished for more than a year. What happened--or what will happen--isn't clear.
The ultrathin laptop market is hot and one of the most visible laptop segments today. And activity in this segment has spiked recently in the wake of a raft of new, inexpensive thin laptops from MSI, Acer, and Lenovo, using low-power Intel chips.
HP's Voodoo Envy was a trendsetting ultrathin laptop but it hasn't been updated in a year.
(Credit: Hewlett-Packard)The Apple MacBook Air and Dell Adamo are two of the most prominent designs. The Air has now been refreshed twice. Dell's svelte Adamo was announced in March, complementing its ultrathin business laptop, the Latitude E4200.
But the razor-thin 0.7-inch-thick Voodoo Envy 133--first announced in June 2008--has stood still. ... Read more
940 versus 940. That may be the confusing Intel-AMD processor model-number juxtaposing that consumers can look forward to next year.
A Chinese Web site has posted details of Advanced Micro Devices' upcoming Phenom II desktop processors, of which at least two are due to be launched at the Consumer Electronics Show in January.
The post on HKEPC lists more than a dozen new models due to be launched during the next eight months. AMD is now moving its chips to 45-nanometer process technology from an older 65-nanometer process. Generally, smaller geometries result in faster and more power-efficient processors.
Processors listed include the quad-core Phenom II X4 920 and Phenom II X4 940 due in January, rated at 2.8GHz and 3.0GHz, respectively.
Interestingly (and maybe not coincidentally), AMD's high-end Phenom II X4 920 and 940 model numbers match those of Intel's Core i7-920 (2.66GHz) and i7-940 (2.93GHz).
Both the AMD and Intel models are 45nm quad-core desktop processors with large caches. High-end Phenom II processors come with 8MB of cache memory. Typically, the more cache memory, the better the performance.
Other processors listed include the Phenom II X4 810 and 805, both due in February, rated at 2.6GHz and 2.5GHz, respectively, according to HKEPC. These have 6MB of cache memory.
HKEPC also lists triple-core Phenom II X3 processors and Athlon X4 processors.
The site also posted a table showing new naming scheme for the processors.
AMD will bring out its first generation of 45nm processors just as Intel is beginning commercial shipments of its second-generation 45nm product, the Core i7, which Intel officially introduced on November 17.
Updated at 9:00 p.m. with additional comments on Netbooks at bottom.
In case you missed it, Advanced Micro Devices is passing on Netbooks. At least as Intel and its partners have defined the category.
AMD thinks that ultrathin 13-inch designs such as the MacBook Air address a more viable market than what it calls mininotebooks.
(Credit: Apple)In fact, a lot of the media outlets missed this point completely, insisting that AMD is going to go head-to-head with Intel on Netbook processors--apparently because it satisfies a journalistic boilerplate that AMD must, just must, have a direct response to Intel's Atom.
Just to set the record straight, here's what AMD Chief Executive Dirk Meyer said Thursday: "We're ignoring the Netbook phenomenon--just thinking about PC form factors above that form factor."
I think that is a pretty unambiguous statement. But if that wasn't clear enough, here's what Bahr Mahony, director of notebook product marketing at AMD said: "We're going to offer the Congo and Yukon platforms as an alternative (to processors and chipsets for Netbooks). There are a fair number of people that are not satisfied with the experience they're getting on these mininotebook platforms." (AMD uses the terms Netbook and mininotebook interchangeably.)
(Note that AMD has also said it will not enter the market for mobile Internet devices, or MIDs, another sign that AMD is pursuing a different course than the one Intel has charted with Atom.)
In an effort to underscore his doubts about Netbooks, Mahony added that the dissatisfaction with Netbooks "has been exhibited by the high return rates that have been seen on these mininotebooks" in Europe.
Asus or Acer may have something to say about that, but at the very least, this offers a fresh perspective on this possibly overhyped category.
And AMD spokesman John Taylor said Thursday that AMD is specifically not targeting Netbook designs. That is, those designs with an 8- to 12-inch screen.
AMD's strategy seems solid, in my opinion. Go for a segment that is bigger and better than Netbooks. The ultraportable category (the MacBook Air being the best example) is full of attractive but expensive designs. Why not work with PC makers to offer an ultrathin, ultralight, full-featured 13-inch notebook that is priced a lot less than $1,800? Why not $600 or $700?
In addition to the conventional criticism of Netbooks (small screens, tiny keyboards), an underrated fact is that many users eventually get the feeling that they're stuck with an underpowered laptop.
And being underpowered often hinges on lackluster graphics. In a conversation Thursday with Pat Moorhead, vice president of advanced marketing at AMD, he pointed to the graphics capability of AMD's upcoming Conesus CPU, which will use ATI's RS780M graphics: better graphics and better user experience overall.
The MacBook Air offers probably the best proof of this thinking. Apple (which, if you haven't noticed, doesn't offer a netbook), originally went with Intel's integrated graphics in the Air, but due to customer dissatisfaction with graphics performance, it added Nvidia GeForce 9400M graphics to its newest models.
Delivering a more powerful dual-core processor (such as AMD's Conesus) for this segment would also turn some heads and offer a more full-featured experience. Intel will be the first one to tell you that Atom is underpowered for many applications.
Are AMD customers clamoring for Netbooks like Intel customers are? "Frankly, I don't get the same answer when I talk to the customer base," AMD's Meyer said Thursday. Time will tell whether the CEO's strategy is right, but it offers a well-thought-out alternative to the Netbook as we know it.
Additional comments:
As a point of clarification. A Netbook is not a thin notebook. AMD has stated it will pursue the latter market. (Whether this pans out or not is another question. Consumer tastes and time will ultimately dictate the form factor.) Thin notebooks are typically full-featured with relatively large 12-, 13- or 14-inch screens. Netbooks, by contrast, are tiny in size (just visit a Best Buy: Asus Netbooks are almost invisible next to a standard notebook) and use low-power, low-performance Atom processors. The Netbook category now exists because of the stark difference in form factors (and price). And the market has borne this out. The Netbook category is defined, to a large extent, by the Atom processor, which is architecturally very different than the Yukon and Congo platforms that AMD will launch. That's why CEO Meyer and others at AMD are going out of their way to draw a distinction between Netbooks and the type of design that AMD will pursue.
Updated at 3:20 p.m. PST throughout with clarification of Yukon and Congo technologies
An AMD-based Netbook? Maybe, maybe not.
On Thursday at an analyst meeting, AMD disclosed "Yukon" and "Congo"--the names that AMD is giving to its silicon technology, due in 2009, that will target the "ultraportable" market. (The meeting was streamed live from the event.)
AMD is targeting Yukon at ultraportable designs like the Voodoo Envy 133 notebook
(Credit: Hewlett-Packard)The company is being very careful to parse this as a more full-featured ultraportable PC play not a strict Netbook play.
The ideal ultraportable form factor is a MacBook Air-style design: very thin with a 13-inch screen, according to AMD spokesman John Taylor.
In short, AMD is not offering an enthusiastic endorsement of the Netbook market. "The target is the slim form factor with a larger screen. Not a 10- or 11- or 12-inch screen," Taylor said. He quickly added that smaller Netbook-style designs may appear but repeated that this is not the emphasis.
Why? AMD's approach is to deliver "a full PC experience," Taylor said. "That's not what you can say about some of the Netbook-type products on the market today," he said. AMD will do this by tapping into the graphics chip technology from its ATI unit, according to Taylor.
"Customers are not satisfied with the experience on mini-notebooks," said Bahr Mahony, director, notebook product marketing at AMD, speaking during the analyst meeting on Thursday. AMD refers to Netbooks as mini-notebooks. Bahr said data shows that there are high return rates in Europe where many consumers have been snapping up Netbooks.
AMD's goal, therefore, is to offer a "more satisfying" experience on higher-performance laptop designs like the MacBook Air, Mahony said.
The tech specs that AMD is currently disclosing for Yukon/Congo are a sub 25-watt platform (processor and chipset) with single and dual-core options. Currently, its mainstream Turion processors operate at over 30 watts. (Correction: the "sub 25-watt" Yukon/Congo refers to both the processor and chipset.)
AMD also showed a Congo platform
AMD roadmap shows future Conesus and Geneva ultraportable chips
(Credit: AMD)
AMD Congo and Yukon ultraportable platforms
(Credit: AMD)AMD showed an ultraportable dual-core 65-nanometer chip dubbed "Conesus" on its road map. This will fall under the Congo platform umbrella. Huron will have one core and fall under the Yukon platform. After this, a 45-nanometer Geneva chip will debut in 2010. (Correction: Conesus falls under the Congo platform.)
Taylor also offered this thinking: Intel's Netbook strategy is somewhat restrictive in that designs are small, at least under 12 inches and--to date--usually under 10 inches. Without mentioning Intel by name, he said this restriction is to "protect segmentation of your business." In other words, if Intel delivers a chip that addresses larger designs it would cannibalize Intel's more profitable mainstream mobile processor lines.
Advanced Micro Devices on Thursday plans to discuss its strategy for ultraportables, a market where the chipmaker is a self-professed laggard.
Whether AMD targets Netbooks specifically or a different design isn't clear. But the company must contend with the fact that Netbooks have become a market sensation during the last year. The Asus Eee PC demonstrated quickly that there was latent demand for a small, low-cost, lightweight laptop-style computer.
Every major PC maker--with the exception of Sony--followed suit, including Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Toshiba, and Acer. And Microsoft has made it clear that a version of Windows 7 will be stripped down specifically for Netbooks.
Not a Netbook, but cheap as a Netbook at $299: the eMachines eMD620-5777 uses an AMD Athlon 2650e processor.
(Credit: Best Buy)But AMD is not a player. It has effectively conceded this market to Intel, which virtually owns the Netbook market with its Atom processor.
That may change Thursday at AMD's 2008 financial analyst day. "Tomorrow we will discuss our plans to move into the ultraportable market and deliver new platforms aimed at the key areas driving the bulk of the mobile market expansion," an AMD spokesperson said Wednesday.
Ironically, AMD's Geode--one of its less-conspicuous chips in a large stable of mobile processors--was chosen for the One Laptop per Child XO laptop, which predates the Netbook market and predates Intel's Atom.
AMD's chief executive has addressed this also. "Clearly the so-called Netbook is a new form factor, a new market opportunity and one that we're not participating in right now, today," CEO Dirk Meyer said during the company's third-quarter earnings conference call last month.
"We do have strategies together with our OEMs for pushing our solutions both down into smaller form factors and lowered notebook price points, and we'll detail that next month at the analyst conference," Meyer added at that time.
AMD executives have hinted at Netbook designs via blogs, alluding to the requisite graphics capability (where AMD's ATI graphics unit would contribute), CPU performance, battery life, and even form factors: "Eight to nine hours battery life (which we know really means five to six browsing hours)...weight is a huge factor and at 1.5 to 2 lbs, this seems plenty light enough. Also, the closed height cannot exceed three-quarters of an inch."
But AMD needs to deliver the low-power processors to back up these ideas. AMD does not offer a line of ultra-low voltage dual-core mobile processors like Intel (used in the MacBook Air and Toshiba Portege, for example). One of the few low-power mobile chips its offers is the Sempron 2100+ chip that draws less than 10 watts.
HP dc5850 can be configured with Phenom triple-core and quad-core processors
(Credit: Hewlett-Packard)The Phenom processor is ready for business. On Monday, Dell and Hewlett-Packard refreshed their business desktop lineups with triple- and quad-core processors from Advanced Micro Devices, which is launching a small and medium-size business initiative.
Called "Business Class," the initiative pairs the new 780v chipset with triple-core Phenom X3, quad-core Phenom X4, or dual-core Athlon X2 processors.
Dell is refreshing its Optiplex 740 line of desktops while HP is adding two new models: the dc5850 and dx2450.
The platform supports security and manageability standards such as the Trusted Computing Group (TCG) module, which helps to lock out rogue software, and the Desktop and mobile Architecture for System Hardware (DASH) manageability standard, a suite of specifications for standards-based Web services.
Previously known by the codename "Hardcastle," Business Class taps into both AMD processor and ATI graphics technology. "One of the reasons we acquired ATI was to get the chipset and the graphics to deliver a complete commercial client platform--desktop and notebook," said Hal Speed, an AMD marketing architect.
Speed also reiterated what other AMD executives have said: That AMD has "under-penetrated" the commercial market. The Business Class strategy targets small and medium-sized business in particular, he said.
Initially, systems will not be offered with AMD's 8X50 and 9X50 series of processors that fix the outstanding "TLB" bus in silicon. (The 8450 and 9550 will, for example, replace the 8400 and 9500).
"Our customers want stability and longevity," said Speed. "They've said to us, 'I could care less about the model number. Don't break my BIOS, don't break my client image,' " Speed said, referring to difficult-to-modify corporate PC configuration settings.
AMD Business Class launch overview
(Credit: AMD)The notebook component, codenamed Puma, will be coming later this quarter, Speed said.
Puma, in fact, will likely be the more interesting platform as more notebooks replace desktops. Puma is based on the RS780M mobile chipset and the dual-core Griffin processor--now called the Turion Ultra.
