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AMD's mobile long-forecast
AMD's 45nm plans for the notebook unveiled

AMD's Technology Analyst Day came and went, with announcements about K8L architecture details, AMD's 4x4 enthusiast platform, fab roadmap and the company's Torrenza platform.  However, the company did leave a few other breadcrumbs that DailyTech did not cover in entirety yet.

In particular, AMD's weakest point right now is undoubtably its mobile technology.  While the company has been making great strides in the last few years with the Turion and Turion X2 processors, the notebook industry has almost unanimously supported Pentium M and Core Duo.  AMD will announce its 65nm SOI Revision G Tyler and Sherman processors next year, but for 2007 AMD anticipates another new architecture. 

The die diagram (right) claims the new mobile processor generation uses HyperTransport-3, which right now has only been reserved for AMD's K8L architecture.  However, the next generation mobile dual-core CPU shows very little resemblance to the K8L core diagram posted yesterday or the single core Revision G Orleans CPU die shot posted a few days ago.  However, like K8L, the new mobile core features individual power planes for each core and the Northbridge, meaning the ACPI layer can make a CPU core come to a full halt when not in use. 

Furthermore, AMD is working on incorporating some level of power management on the individual HyperTransport links.  HyperTransport links already allow for an "un-ganging mode," meaning a single 16-bit link can be split into two 8-bit links dynamically.  It would seem logical to assume that during low I/O situations a single 8-bit link would be ample, meaning the other 8-bit link could be shut down when not needed to save power.

The emphasis for AMD's 2007/2008 mobile CPU is clearly on power consumption.  The CPU will come with low and ultra low voltage models, similar to AMD's Energy Efficient AM2 processors and Intel's mobile offerings.  AMD's slides anticipate 45nm DDR3 processors for 2008, although the company has not released any other details for that generation yet. 

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Power?
By Alphafox78 on 6/2/2006 5:22:05 PM , Rating: 2
"The emphasis for AMD's 2007/2008 mobile CPU is clearly on power."
well, I hope so!




RE: Power?
By TomZ on 6/2/2006 5:26:33 PM , Rating: 2
Problem with that strategy is, that it doesn't give AMD any competitive advantage over Intel. Intel already has good low-power mobile processors, and will only improve them into 2007-2008. Therefore, what AMD needs is some unique architectural/performance advantages that Intel doesn't have in order to gain a footing in the mobile market.


RE: Power?
By maevinj on 6/2/2006 5:33:39 PM , Rating: 2
"the new mobile core features individual power planes for each core and the Northbridge, meaning the ACPI layer can make a CPU core come to a full halt when not in use. "
like that? I know intel can do different states but I havent heard of them shutting off individual cores


RE: Power?
By Knish on 6/2/2006 5:43:27 PM , Rating: 2
Yonah and Merom can do individual c-states. Nehalem is Intel's 45nm successor for Merom and can do individual p-states.


RE: Power?
By KristopherKubicki (blog) on 6/2/2006 5:52:41 PM , Rating: 2
Penryn is Intel's 45nm CPU between Merom and Nehalem for next year. From what I've read im pretty sure it can do individual p-states.

I'm writing an article about it now.


RE: Power?
By maevinj on 6/2/2006 5:58:31 PM , Rating: 2
Very cool. Competition is good. I'm still waiting for intel or amd to build a processor that will cook me breakfast.


RE: Power?
By ninjit on 6/2/2006 7:09:28 PM , Rating: 4
Intel already has that.

It's called the P4EE (Egg-Edition).

Just open up your case and crack an egg over the CPU, the integrated heat-spreader will ensure even cooking, and you should have your poached tasties, sunny-side up in no time.

An optional accessory replaces the dust cover filter on your power supple with a bread toaster - just pop-in a slice, and fire up your favourite FPS while you wait for your bagel to come out crisp.
Toasting at extremely high resolutions is not recommended because you may burn your food


RE: Power?
By Garreye on 6/2/2006 7:35:38 PM , Rating: 2
Hahahahaha! That's awesome!


RE: Power?
By cessation on 6/3/2006 12:41:52 AM , Rating: 3
Yeah or you could just buy one of these http://www.thinkgeek.com/stuff/41/ezbake.shtml


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