AMD Fusion: Brazos Gets Previewed: Part 2, Performance

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AMD gave us an opportunity to go hands-on with its upcoming Brazos platform--the only preview you'll see before this technology surfaces in retail notebooks. Is it fast enough to compete with the Nehalem-based competition, and cool enough to trounce Atom?

AMD Roadmap Updates

AMD Roadmap Updates

AMD had its 2010 Analyst Day recently, so we felt obliged to share some of its plans for the future.

Server Market

We have said it before and we will say it again, AMD is lagging in the server market. The company knows this, and has been trying to make the point that its portfolio is growing. AMD's problem is that, Intel's Xeon 5600-series CPUs incorporate all of the same technologies that have been dominating performance metrics on the desktop. AMD is weathering the storm because it is hitting decent price points, given that this is the fourth consecutive quarter we have seen CPU prices rise. Given that server purchases tends to occur in cycles, we still feel that AMD's strongest bet is with the new Bulldozer-based processors.

Until those chips surface sometime in 2011, the Opteron 6000-series is AMD's only answer to Intel's onslaught (which now also includes a compelling Xeon 7500-series, too). Stop-gaps only go so far, so hopefully Bulldozer will be everything AMD promises it to be. AMD used to have a double-digit hold on the server market, and as of today, we are still looking at a single-digit existence.

On paper, Bulldozer looks impressive. AMD is all about cores and more cores. With the 6200-series (Interlagos), we are going to finally see AMD try and take the top spot for the server market. We're hoping AMD has learned its lesson about market timing. While it gave up socket compatibility for better performance scaling in the 6100-series, the company really needs to come back swinging in 2011 if it wants to retake chunks of the server market back from what could be considered an entrenched Intel position.

Graphics Market

Our earlier report on the Vancouver series was spot on. Prior to the 9th, there were only a handful reports on the Mobility Radeon HD 6000-series (code named "Vancouver"). If the "Blackcomb" part scales anything like the Mobility Radeon HD 5800 to its desktop brother, we are in for more treats on the performance side in 2011. Frankly, we are more interested in seeing how the "Seymour" and "Robson" parts perform.

Andrew Ku
62 Comments Comment from the forums
  • ares1214
    Looking extremely impressive AMD, where as before you were a full gen behind, now id just say half gen. Make BD a big success, and you will most definitely get back in the game, however i doubt it would be enough to take the lead.
    Reply
  • did you realize that sometime it's as fast as the i3 with 2,2ghz?
    Reply
  • frederico
    If an Intel processor and an AMD processor were exactly the same - 9 out of 10 'normal' people would choose the Intel

    The only people "in the know" are in the enthusiast segment of the market, which is a very small slice really.

    Its a constant uphill battle for AMD, but then again, if they didn't exist, we'd all be paying through the nose for slower processors
    Reply
  • vaughn2k
    Hope it will come sooner than later...
    Reply
  • I don't like when Tom's trow at us many facts from the AMD crowd to brainwash our mind. I don't like when the game is to convince the community to buy something who is not proved again.

    "The new AMD Fusion developer "trust fund" is actually a great way to start chipping away at the current CPU-heavy mentality." Yeas and we are also GPU-heavy mentality too!!!

    Reply
  • killerclick
    Who the hell plays games on a netbook? Another spectacular fail for AMD.
    Reply
  • tsnorquist
    killerclickWho the hell plays games on a netbook? Another spectacular fail for AMD.
    Probably not a lot of people, but when netbooks have the capability to play at acceptable levels for the masses, they will be great.
    Reply
  • gxpbecker
    Nifty, an the best thing about AMD making high end competition for intel is price drops lol, if AMD can pull it off.
    Reply
  • hannibal
    Even more interesting would be a tablet that can be used to play games!
    So it could mean that we can read e-mail, read e-books watch movies and internet pages and even play with tablet-PC. Netbook is just one step ahead... Yep it is not the same as Nvidia 460, even 350 or amd 5650 from the low end (gaming), but the resolution would be smaller, so it would be possible.

    Let see what we get when this is really out.
    All in all it gives people a choice. Need more CPU and very rarely GPU power... take intel... If you don't need so much CPU power, but need GPU power chose AMD. It's good to have altenatives!
    Reply
  • K2N hater
    fredericoIf an Intel processor and an AMD processor were exactly the same - 9 out of 10 'normal' people would choose the IntelThe only people "in the know" are in the enthusiast segment of the market, which is a very small slice really.Its a constant uphill battle for AMD, but then again, if they didn't exist, we'd all be paying through the nose for slower processorsThe average user either picks Intel or Apple. And when the user picks Apple the CPU manufacturer is absolutely out of question.
    Reply