May 23, 2007

AMD prepares Puma platform to rival Centrino

by Jan Harris

Computers & Internet

Chipmaker AMD is developing an energy-efficient laptop chip, code-named Griffin, and an associated platform called Puma, which will rival Intel’s Centrino.

AMD will start mass producing Griffin chips by the end of 2007 and Puma-based laptops featuring the chips should be available in mid-2008. Griffin is AMD’s first chip specifically for laptops.

Intel holds a larger market share in laptops than AMD, having produced chips optimised for laptops since 2003 and regularly releasing updated versions.

AMD will follow up Griffin’s release with another new chip, called Fusion, which integrates graphics into the processor core. Fusion will be available in 2009.

AMD has used a completely new architecture in its Griffin chip which should provide low-power consumption – a feature that is more important in a laptop than a desktop PC.

In Griffin, the two processing cores and the integrated memory controller are all on separate power planes. The means that two can go into deep sleep states while the last one continues to work.

The memory controller can also operate at a lower voltage and Griffin will be able to operate at slower speeds when full performance isn’t needed.

AMD chips can currently drop to 800MHz, while the cores in Griffin will be able to drop to one-eighth of the chip’s stated speed, e.g. a single core in a 2.4GHz chip will be able to drop to 300MHz to conserve power.

Griffin will also be able to shut down lanes inside of the HyperTransport 3 links connecting different processors, when not in use

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Story link: AMD prepares Puma platform to rival Centrino

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