AMD is readying its next-gen APUs, codenamed "Godavari" for launch in May 2015, according to industry sources in Taiwan. A successor to "Kaveri," Godavari will feature updated "Excavator" architecture based CPU cores, and the latest Graphics CoreNext 1.2 based stream processors on the integrated GPU. The APU will feature PCI-Express gen 3.0 and high-speed DDR3 integrated memory controllers, just like its predecessor "Kaveri," and could be based on the existing FM2+ platform. These chips will compete against some of the entry/mainstream variants of Intel's Core "Broadwell" processors. It's likely that these chips could be built on existing 28 nm process.

It's also being reported that AMD will launch its first APUs based on the 14 nanometer fab process, codenamed "Summit Ridge," in 2016. These will be succeeded by "Raven Ridge" APUs in 2017. AMD could use Samsung and GlobalFoundries to make its 14 nm chips. Lastly, AMD is reportedly in talks with ASMedia to integrate its USB 3.1 controller logic into its new motherboard chipset, which it plans to launch in September 2015.

AMD's upcoming "Zen" architecture will see a major change in the way the company designs its CPU cores. It will be a departure from the "module" core design introduced with "Bulldozer," in which two cores with shared resources constitute the indivisible unit of a multi-core processor. A "Zen" core will have dedicated resources in a way things used to be before "Bulldozer," and only the last-level cache (L3 cache), will be shared between cores. "Zen" will also implement SMT, much in the same way as Intel processors do, with HyperThreading Technology.

The first implementation of "Zen" will be an insanely powerful APU (on paper anyway), featuring 16 physical "Zen" CPU cores, 32 logical CPUs enabled with SMT, 512 KB dedicated L2 cache per core, and 32 MB of shared L3 cache. The CPU's ISA instruction set will see a spring-cleaning, with the removal of underused instruction-sets, and the introduction of new ones. Other features on this APU are equally surprising - a quad-channel DDR4 integrated memory controller, a separate HBM (high-bandwidth memory) controller dedicated to the integrated graphics, with up to 512 GB/s bandwidth, and an integrated graphics core featuring "Greenland-class" stream processors. Given that AMD is able to build 7-billion transistor GPUs on existing 28 nm processes, building an APU with these chops doesn't sound far-fetched. The company could still have to rely on a newer fab.

AMD today announced that the AMD Embedded R-Series accelerated processing unit (APU), previously codenamed "Bald Eagle," is powering the latest set-back-box (SBB) digital media players from Samsung Electronics, Co., Ltd. With high performance, low power, and broad connectivity, the new Samsung SBB-B64DV4 is an ideal fit for demanding signage applications that transform Samsung SMART Signage Displays into inclusive digital tools for a wide range of business needs.

Using AMD's Embedded R-Series APUs, Samsung SBB media players for digital signage deliver breakthrough HD graphics performance and support multi-video stream capabilities up to two displays, all in a power efficient and ultra-compact form factor.

"Digital signage is a key vertical for the AMD Embedded business," said Scott Aylor, corporate vice president and general manager, AMD Embedded Solutions. "The AMD Embedded R-Series APU enables leading digital signage providers to harness high levels of compute and graphics performance within a low-power design envelope. AMD Embedded Solutions help designers at Samsung achieve aggressive form factor goals and drive down system costs while providing the rich multimedia their digital signage customers' demand."

Over-promising and under-delivering with its very first accelerated processing units (APU), codenamed "Llano," is coming back to haunt AMD, with a US District Court ruling that the company must face claims from investors over potential securities fraud. Launched in Q3-2012, AMD's A-series "Llano" APUs went largely unsold due to various factors including lack of product appeal, competition from Intel, forcing AMD to pull in its second-generation "Trinity" APU too soon. The related development first took shape in January 2014.

The swelling unsold "Llano" inventory forced an inventory writedown of $100 million, reducing the company's worth by nearly that much overnight, and tanking the value of the AMD stock. While AMD talked about the concept of an APU for years, Intel was the first to come out with a processor that integrates a graphics processor, with its Core i3 and Core i5 "Clarkdale" processors. The suit claims that AMD misrepresented production of "Llano" chips to its investors despite supply issues from its foundry partner GlobalFoundries, artificially inflating the value of the company in 2011-12. By the time production finally caught up, it ended up overproducing resulting in unsold inventory, and in consequence, the $100 million writeoff.

In an industry presentation on why the company is excited about Microsoft's upcoming DirectX 12 API, AMD revealed its most important feature that could impact on not only its graphics business, but also potentially revive its CPU business among gamers. DirectX 12 will make its debut with Windows 10, Microsoft's next big operating system, which will be given away as a free upgrade for _all_ current Windows 8 and Windows 7 users. The OS will come with a usable Start menu, and could lure gamers who stood their ground on Windows 7.

In its presentation, AMD touched upon two key features of the DirectX 12, starting with its most important, Multi-threaded command buffer recording; and Asynchronous compute scheduling/execution. A command buffer is a list of tasks for the CPU to execute, when drawing a 3D scene. There are some elements of 3D graphics that are still better suited for serial processing, and no single SIMD unit from any GPU architecture has managed to gain performance throughput parity with a modern CPU core. DirectX 11 and its predecessors are still largely single-threaded on the CPU, in the way it schedules command buffer.

AMD today officially announced FreeSync, an open-standard technology that makes video and games look more fluid on PC monitors, with fluctuating frame-rates. A logical next-step to V-Sync, and analogous in function to NVIDIA's proprietary G-SYNC technology, FreeSync is a dynamic display refresh-rate technology that lets monitors sync their refresh-rate to the frame-rate the GPU is able to put out, resulting in a fluid display output.

FreeSync is an evolution of V-Sync, a feature that syncs the frame-rate of the GPU to the display's refresh-rate, to prevent "frame tearing," when the frame-rate is higher than refresh-rate; but it is known to cause input-lag and stutter when the GPU is not able to keep up with refresh-rate. FreeSync works on both ends of the cable, keeping refresh-rate and frame-rates in sync, to fight both page-tearing and input-lag.

TechPowerUp released the latest version of GPU-Z, the popular video hardware information and diagnostic utility. Version 0.8.2 brings with it a vast number of changes, support for new hardware, and bug-fixes. To begin with, the user-interface of GPU-Z received a major update, with the addition of a "Lookup" button that takes you to our GPU Database page corresponding to your GPU. The app can now tell you if your drivers are WHQL-signed. GPU manufacturer logos are updated.

Among the new hardware supported includes NVIDIA GeForce TITAN-X, GTX 980M, GTX 970M, GGTX 965M, GTX 845M, GTX 760 Ti OEM, GTX 660 (960 shaders), GT 705, GT 720, GT 745M, NVS 310, and Grid; AMD Radeon R9 255, FirePro W7100, HD 8370D, AMD R9 M280X, and R9 M295X; and Intel "Broadwell" integrated graphics. Specifications are revised for GeForce GTX 970.

A large number of bugs were fixed, and overall usability improved, including notably GPU-Z now supports Windows 10. We implemented a new working way of extracting BIOS from NVIDIA GPUs on systems with WIndows 8 and higher, to avoid a system hang. A large number of bugs were fixed, and overall usability of the app improved, as detailed in the change-log.DOWNLOAD: TechPowerUp GPU-Z 0.8.2 | GPU-Z 0.8.2 ASUS ROG-themed

The Change-log follows.

AMD gave us a technical preview of its next-generation "Carrizo" APU, which is perhaps the company's biggest design leap since "Trinity." Built on the 28 nm silicon fab process, this chip offers big energy-efficiency gains over the current-generation "Kaveri" silicon, thanks to some major under-the-hood changes.

The biggest of these is the "Excavator" CPU module. 23 percent smaller in area than "Steamroller," (same 28 nm process), Excavator features a new high-density library design, which reduces die-area of the module. Most components are compacted. The floating-point scheduler is 38% smaller, fused multiply-accumulate (FMAC) units compacted by 35%, and instruction-cache controller compacted by another 35%. The "Carrizo" silicon itself uses GPU-optimized high-density metal stack, which helps with the compaction. Each "Excavator" module features two x86-64 CPU cores, which are structured much in the same way as AMD's previous three CPU core generations.

In its an investor conference-call following its Q4-2014 and FY-2014 results, AMD stated that it will release new GPU and APU products starting Q2-2015, or only after March. "Going into the second quarter and the second half of the year with our new product launches, I think we feel very good about where we are positioned there," said Lisa Su, chief executive officer.

Q2-2015 will start off with the company's "Carrizo" line of all-in-one and notebook APUs. These chips will integrate the company's new "Excavator" CPU cores, with an integrated graphics core based on Graphics CoreNext 1.2 architecture (the same one AMD built its "Tonga" GPU on). Around the same time, AMD will launch new Opteron "Seattle" enterprise CPUs, which integrate up to eight ARM Cortex A-57 64-bit cores, targeting the ultra-dense server market. In Q2-2015, AMD will launch its latest Radeon Rx 300 series graphics processors. Its performance-segment part, the R9 380, will feature 4,096 GCN 1.2 cores, double that of its predecessor, and 4 GB of stacked HBM (high-bandwidth memory). Its mid-range chip, codenamed "Trinidad" will succeed "Curacao," and offer performance competitive to the $200-ish price-point.

MSI is excited to announce the launch of three new All-in-One PC's equipped with AMD's latest energy efficient Beema APU platform. The Adora20 5M and AE200 5M include a 19.5" anti-glare display featuring MSI Anti-Flicker & Less Blue Light Technology, to effectively reduce eyestrain and eye fatigue during long working hours. The new AE220 5M features a similar display with a 21.5" size and a compact design which blends seamlessly into modern interiors. With an ultra-slim casing (only 23mm at its thinnest point), the MSI Adora20 5M brings a new level of perfect home PC experience.

The new All-in-One PC's feature the latest E2-6110 and A4-6210 Quad Core APUs of AMD's Beema platform with a 28nm production process and SoC (System on Chip) APU processor technology. Evolved from AMD's previous Kabini platform design, the latest AMD Beema platform provides higher performance while power consumption is reduced up to 20%. The AMD Beema APUs are fitted with new AMD Radeon R2 and R3 built-in graphics, increasing exceptional rendering performance by 10% for a big boost in multimedia and 3D performance compared to previous generations. Users can now enjoy high performance and quality from a discrete graphics card without the need for a dedicated graphics solution.

2015 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) - AMD today announced the expansion of the FreeSync ecosystem as technology partners including BenQ, LG Electronics, Nixeus, Samsung, and Viewsonic showcased their upcoming commercially available FreeSync-enabled displays at the 2015 International CES.

The unveiling of new FreeSync-enabled displays demonstrates the industry's commitment to open standards-based technology that enables improved gaming by synchronizing dynamic refresh rates of the displays to the frame rate of AMD Radeon R-Series graphics cards and current generation APUs. The result greatly reduces input latency and helps reduce or eliminate visual defects during gaming and video playback. The new displays range in size between 24" to 34", supporting refresh rates of 30 to 144 Hz, and resolutions of 1080p up to Ultra HD, offering a variety of options for every gamer's needs and at virtually every price point.

BIOSTAR has released the latest mainboard based on the exclusive A70M chipset from AMD, the "A70MGP". The A70M is a value line chipset that supports FM2+ APUs, USB 3.0 and SATA3 and the BIOSTAR boards based on that chipset offer a better value versus price performance ratio compared to boards based on the A68H or A58 chipsets.

Although AMD has just recently launched the A68H chipset, which supports FM2+ APUs, because these new (exclusive to BIOSTAR) A70M boards support USD 3.0 and SATA3, they offer an upgrade level that is higher than the current entry level A58 chipset boards.

AMD (NYSE: AMD) today at its Future of Compute event announced the addition of its first high performance system-on-a-chip (SoC), codenamed "Carrizo", and a mainstream SoC codenamed "Carrizo-L" as part of the company's 2015 AMD Mobile APU family roadmap. In collaboration with hardware and software partners, these new 2015 AMD Mobile APUs are designed as complete solutions for gaming, productivity applications, and ultra high-definition 4K experiences. With support for Microsoft DirectX 12, OpenCL 2.0, AMD's Mantle API, AMD FreeSync and support for Microsoft's upcoming Windows 10 operating system, the 2015 AMD Mobile APU family enables the experiences consumers expect.

"We continue to innovate and build upon our existing IP to deliver great products for our customers," said John Byrne, senior vice president and general manager, Computing and Graphics business group, AMD. "AMD's commitment to graphics and compute performance, as expressed by our goal to improve APU energy efficiency 25x by 2020, combines with the latest industry standards and fresh innovation to drive the design of the 2015 AMD Mobile APU family. We are excited about the experiences these new APUs will bring and look forward to sharing more details in the first half of next year."

AMD (NYSE: AMD) today announced that for the third straight year it was awarded research grants for development of critical technologies needed for extreme-scale computing in conjunction with projects associated with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Extreme-Scale Computing Research and Development Program, known as "FastForward 2."

The two DOE awards, totaling more than $32 million, will fund research focused on exascale applications for AMD Accelerated Processing Units (APUs) based on the open-standard Heterogeneous System Architecture (HSA), as well as future memory systems to power a generation of exascale supercomputers capable of delivering 30-60 times more performance than today's fastest supercomputers.

MSI, world leading in motherboards, launches 2 new AMD A68H series FM2+/FM2 socket based motherboards, the MSI A68HM-P33 and MSI A68HM-E33. The new MSI A68H motherboards support the latest AMD Kaveri APU (7000 series) and are backwards compatible with FM2 processors (Richland and Trinity, 6000 and 5000 series). Featuring onboard LAN, PCI Express 3.0, SATA 6Gb/s, USB 3.0 and multiple display support, the MSI AMD A68H series motherboards present a rich blend of features and technologies, offering the most stable and best cost/performance solution available.

MSI A68H series motherboards are available in microATX form factor and offer a great choice in connectivity with a Dothill RAID controller, onboard LAN, PCI Express 3.0, SATA and up to 10 USB ports. When combined with today's processors featuring advanced integrated graphics, such as the AMD 7000 series APUs, MSI A68H motherboards support AMD Eyefinity. All these features come at a very attractive price point, making MSI A68H series motherboards the most comprehensive and best cost/performance solution available.

AMD today demonstrated the first network function virtualization (NFV) solution on AMD's 64-bit ARM-based SoC and announced that it is now sampling to AMD's embedded customers. The NFV demonstration is powered by a 64-bit ARM-based AMD Embedded R-Series SoC, codenamed "Hierofalcon," supported with technology from two key ecosystem partners -- Aricent for the networking software stack and Mentor Graphics for embedded Linux and tools. NFV is an innovative solution that simplifies deployment and management for network and telecommunications service providers with a fully virtualized communications infrastructure that helps maximize performance, while working to reduce costs.

At ARM TechCon, AMD specifically showcased the capabilities of an ARM-based NFV solution, virtualizing the functionality of a packet data network gateway, serving gateway, and a mobility management entity. In addition to virtualizing hardware components, AMD showcased a live traffic migration between the ARM-based AMD Embedded R-Series SoC and the x86-based second generation AMD R-Series APU. AMD's ARM-based NFV solution will be especially valuable for telecommunications network infrastructure providers interested in a flexible software-defined networking (SDN) implementation to manage networking services with configurable hardware to help reduce complexity and cost. NFV is the abstraction of numerous network devices such as routers and gateways, to enable relocation of network functions from dedicated hardware appliances to generic servers. With NFV, much of the intelligence currently built into proprietary, specialized hardware is accomplished with software running on general purpose hardware. The resulting solution is a fully virtualized communications infrastructure -- including virtual servers, storage and networks -- that simplifies deployment and management for network and telecommunications service providers. AMD is paving the way for both new and established service providers to design and deploy either x86 or ARM-based NFV infrastructure which meets their performance, cost and complexity requirements.

AMD (NYSE: AMD) today announced that AMD A-Series APUs, AMD Radeon graphics and AMD FirePro professional graphics deliver superior performance to unlock the full potential of the latest features and capabilities announced by Adobe for its flagship Adobe Creative Cloud professional video tools and workflows. New high performance AMD-powered OpenCL debayering for Phantom Cine and Canon RAW camera formats joins previously unannounced debayering of RedR3D, CinemaDNG, and Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera JPEG formats, unlocking real-time editing, effects and color grading for massive production productivity and lightning fast rendering to deliver projects on time and at high quality.

"Speed and performance are essential ingredients that ensure video producers are productive every day and successfully compete for business, engagement and client satisfaction," said Steve Belt, corporate vice president, Strategic Alliances and Platform Enablement, AMD. "Pros know that they can rely on the combination of OpenCL support in Adobe Creative Cloud and the associated AMD hardware acceleration to deliver a steady stream of advanced tools that set them apart creatively and productively."

Here are some of the first benchmarks of Intel's ambitious Core M processor, a performance-segment dual-core processor with a thermal envelope of just 4.5W, making it ideal for tablets, ultra-portables, and mainstream desktops. At IDF 2014, Intel showed off a 12.5-inch tablet running a Core M 5Y70 chip. An MCM of the CPU and PCH dies, the CPU die features two "Broadwell" 64-bit x86 cores, a large new graphics processor with 24 execution units and 192 stream engines, 4 MB of shared L3 cache, a dual-channel LPDDR3 memory controller, and a PCI-Express 3.0 root complex. The PCH die wires out the platform's various connectivity options.

The 12.5-inch Core M tablet was put through three tests, Cinebench R11.5, SunSpider 1.0.2, and 3DMark Ice Storm Unlimited. With the multi-threaded CPU-intensive Cinebench R11.5, the Core M scores a respectable 17 FPS in the GL bench, with 2.48 pts CPU. That's about 60 percent the performance of a Core i7-870. Significantly higher than anything Atom, Pentium, or AMD E-Series. With SunSpider, the Core M put out a score of 142.8, under Internet Explorer 12 running under Windows 8.1. With 3DMark IceStorm Unlimited, the Core M sprung up a surprise - 50,985 points. That over double that of a Qualcomm Snapdragon 800, and faster than the IGPs AMD E-Series APUs ship with. Color us interested.

AMD today introduced the new AMD A10-7800 Accelerated Processing Unit (APU) to the component channel. This 4th generation A-Series APU with 12 Compute Cores (4CPU + 8 GPU) unlocks the APU potential with Heterogeneous System Architecture (HSA) features, and boasts powerful AMD Radeon R7 Series graphics for outstanding performance across applications. Combined with AMD's acclaimed Mantle API, the AMD A10-7800 APU can enable accelerated performance across select AMD Gaming Evolved partner titles.

"The AMD A-Series APUs bring a superior level of gaming and compute experiences to the desktop PC," said Bernd Lienhard, corporate vice president and general manager, Client Business Unit, AMD. "With support for AMD's acclaimed Mantle API that simplifies game optimizations for programmers and developers to unlock unprecedented levels of gaming performance transforming the world of game development to help bring better, faster games to the PC."

AMD unveiled a new mid-range APU to take on Intel's Core i3 "Haswell" processors, the A10-7800 (model: AD7800YBI44JA). Based on the 28 nm "Kaveri" silicon, and built in the socket FM2+ package, this part differs from the A10-7850K in lacking an unlocked CPU base clock multiplier, and a rated TDP of just 65W (compared to the former's 95W). The A10-7800 features four x86-64 cores based on the "Steamroller" micro-architecture, spread across two modules, featuring 4 MB (2x 2 MB) of L2 cache; clocked at 3.50 GHz, with a TurboCore frequency of 3.90 GHz. Also featured is Radeon R7 Series integrated GPU featuring 512 GCN2 cores, with support for AMD Mantle and DirectX 11.2. Its uncore component features a dual-channel DDR3 integrated memory controller, with support for DDR3-1866 MHz, and a PCI-Express gen 3.0 root complex. It's expected to be priced between US $140 and $150.

AMD today announced its goal to deliver a 25x improvement in the energy efficiency of its Accelerated Processing Units (APUs) by 2020.1 Details including innovations that will produce the expected efficiency gains were presented today by AMD's Chief Technology Officer Mark Papermaster during a keynote at the China International Software and Information Service Fair (CISIS) conference in Dalian, China. The "25X20" target is a substantial increase compared to the prior six years (2008 to 2014), during which time AMD improved the typical use energy efficiency of its products more than 10x.

Worldwide, three billion personal computers use more than one percent of all energy consumed annually, and 30 million computer servers use an additional 1.5 percent of all electricity consumed at an annual cost of $14 billion to $18 billion USD. Expanded use of the Internet, mobile devices, and interest in cloud-based video and audio content in general is expected to result in all of those numbers increasing in future years.

To celebrate the introduction of its new 2014 AMD Performance Mobile APUs designed for ultrathin and high-performance mobile PCs, AMD yesterday launched its all-new enthusiast-class Accelerated Processing Unit (APU) for notebooks (formerly codenamed "Kaveri") to the edge of space, symbolically expanding the physical environment of mobile computing in parallel to how AMD expanded the performance envelope of mobile computing through its new APU design.

The new mobile APUs mark the debut of Heterogeneous System Architecture (HSA) features and Mantle gaming support for mobile devices, establishing these APUs as AMD's most advanced mobile computing technology to-date.

AMD (NYSE: AMD) today announced its new AMD PRO A-Series APUs, delivering rich computing experiences to commercial PCs. The innovative processor technology from AMD will enable a new class of powerful, sleek and sophisticated commercial Windows PCs that integrate seamlessly into an existing IT environment. With impressive performance, the latest AMD PRO A-Series APUs with HSA features unlock true business computing performance and deliver outstanding reliability and manageability. The AMD PRO A-Series APU is one of the processors being offered in new HP Elite 700-Series notebooks.

"With the new AMD PRO A-Series APUs, AMD is looking to revolutionize commercial computing. Built around a solid offering of increased performance over our consumer products, increased product longevity and software image stability, AMD PRO processors give customers choice and affordability to meet their specific business needs," said Bernd Lienhard, corporate vice president and general manager, Client Products. "And since every AMD PRO processor packs the latest Radeon Graphics, we are raising the bar for visual performance in business PCs."

AMD (NYSE: AMD) today introduced its new 2014 Performance Mobile APUs designed for ultrathin and high-performance mobile PCs, bringing the features and capabilities of the popular and powerful AMD A-Series APU family (codenamed "Kaveri") to power-efficient notebooks for both personal and professional use. The new mobile APUs mark the debut of Heterogeneous System Architecture (HSA) features and Graphics Core Next (GCN) Architecture for mobile devices, establishing them as AMD's most advanced mobile APUs to-date. Notebook and desktop systems powered by AMD's entire 2014 APU lineup, including systems from Acer, Asus, Dell, HP, Lenovo, Samsung, Toshiba and others also debuted at COMPUTEX TAIPEI 2014.

"AMD takes a major step forward today on our journey to transform and enhance the computing experience with the launch of the 2014 Performance Mobile APU family," said Bernd Lienhard, corporate vice president and general manager, Client Business Unit, AMD. "With a combination of superior total compute performance, stunning graphics and efficient power use alongside industry-first technologies, these new APUs set a new bar for cutting-edge consumer and commercial PCs."
The announcement of the 2014 Performance Mobile APU family features AMD's first FX-branded enthusiast-class APU for notebooks, and follows the recent introduction of AMD's 2014 Low-Power and Mainstream APUs.

AMD today announced the 2nd generation AMD Embedded R-series accelerated processing unit (APU) and CPU family (previously codenamed "Bald Eagle") for embedded applications. The new solutions are targeted at gaming machines, medical imaging, digital signage, industrial control and automation (IC&A), communications and networking infrastructure that require industry-leading compute and graphics processing technology.

"When it comes to compute performance, graphics performance and performance-per-watt, the 2nd generation AMD Embedded R-series family is unique in the embedded market," said Scott Aylor, corporate vice president and general manager, AMD Embedded Solutions. "The addition of HSA, GCN and power management features enables our customers to create a new world of intelligent, interactive and immersive embedded devices."