We stopped by AMD at CES, who were happy to show off several netbooks and laptops powered by their Bobcat range of processors. Bobcat processors are based on the Fusion APU, where the GPU and CPU are soldered together on a single die. These processors sport a DirectX 11 GPU complex, as well as an HD Unified decoder allowing for high quality HD streaming and performance. These 40nm chips are dual core, based on the x86 architecture, and use a 512KB L2 cache.
Several series are available, including the 18 watt E-series, and the lower powered 9 watt C-Series. The C series will be primarily used in sub 10 inch netbooks, while the E series will be utilized in more mainstream desktop and laptop form factors and will meet the average needs of a consumer, including basic gaming and HD consumption. Battery life tests indicate the E series gets up to 10 hours of battery life, while the C series manages at least 12+ hours of battery life.
Another line, the A-Series will debut later this year based on the 32 nm Llano platform. The A-Series will be used for consumers craving high performance not only on desktops, but laptops as well.
OEM’s are already using the E series, while the C series will debut in models mid year.
These chips directly integrated with a mini-ITX or Micro-ITX motherboard, and will be available for system builders as well as OEM’s. As the board is so small AMD stated an HTPC using these boards can be placed in a variety of applications and form factors.
AMD also discussed their Vision tiers, where instead of using techy mumbo jumbo about clock speeds, cache, and number of core, that only serve to confuse the average consumer, they will instead showcase usage models detailing whether or not the PCs they are looking at are suitable for gaming, HD content, editing and/or function as a simple internet device. Expect Vision tiers to be marketed on AMD machines within the next few months.
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