August 2, 2007

AMD reveals Falcon – first fusion processor

by Jan Harris

webservers

AMD has announced ‘Falcon’, its first “Fusion” processor. Falcon combines CPU and GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) capabilities on a single CPU die.

AMD plans to release Falcon processors in 2009. Destktop and laptop PCs with Falcon chips will be powered with ‘Bulldozer’ – AMD’s new high performance execution core.

Handheld devices with Falcon chips will be based on innovative ‘Bobcat’ mobile architecture which is set to revolutionise mobile devices.

All Falcon processor dies will include a fully DirectX-compatible GPU core, located alongside a shared cache memory pool, a shared memory controller and a 16-lane PCI Express controller.

Falcon is part of AMD’s M-SPACE initiative – a modular approach to CPU architecture. M-SPACE is designed so that AMD can specify processors with variable numbers of execution cores and other functional units customised for a particular market.

Falcon’s GPU core includes the UVD dedicated video decoding engine from graphics subsidiary ATI, making it capable of decoding both H.264 and VC-1 video content, as found on Blu-ray and HD DVD disks.

AMD’s Fusion processors pave the way for the development of extremely compact Falcon-compatible motherboards.

In the longer term this could lead to the development of ultra-compact mobile devices with the performance and functionality of today’s dual-core desktop PCs.

Questions? Discuss this in our Internet Business forums for help and advice

Story link: AMD reveals Falcon – first fusion processor

Add to Bookmarks: