AMD Llano has started
The manufacturer’s Fusion project has gone to the second tier, bringing more performance to users.
AMD has also officially launched the tile christened Llano, the second step in the Fusion project after Brazos. So this is another heterogeneously programmable unit, also known as an Accelerated Processing Unit (APU). Llano (named after a Texas river) is a chip that contains 2 or 4 processor cores as well as an IGP and is 228 mm wide2. The structure is very similar to Deneb which is no coincidence as Llano uses the popular STARS architecture, more specifically a modified version of it. The third-level cache has been completely phased out, while in the field of manufacturing technology, the 45 nm process has been replaced by GlobalFoundries ’32 nm production lines. Another important feature is that the processor cores each have 1 MB of L35 cache and are called Husky. One such core consists of 9,7 million transistors with an area of XNUMX mm2, the typical consumption is 10-15 watts, which can be reduced to 2,5 watts when unloaded. The instruction sets include SSE1, SSE2, SSE3, SSE4A and all 3DNow! you know the extension. The latter is not surprising since we are talking about the STARS architecture, so SSE 4.1 and 4.2 as well as AVX instruction sets are not supported. The mobile versions fit the FS1, while the desktop models fit into the FM1 socket.
The IGP mentioned earlier is also a big leap compared to Brazos, as there is much more raw power available here. The video controller called Sumo builds on the foundations of the hugely successful Evergreen series, a kind of Redwood reincarnation equipped with 400 stream processors and a 128-bit wide memory interface. It should be borne in mind that on-board memory in the classical sense does not exist for this type of product, as system memory is used for data storage. Of course, all the technologies that are also supported by the Brazos platform are present. This means we have DirectX 11, OpenGL 4.1, OpenCL 1.1, OpenGL ES 2.0, WebGL, DirectCompute 5.0 support. The UVD 3 multimedia engine is also part of the repertoire, so the hardware acceleration of H.264, VC-1, MPEG-2/4 and DivX / Xvid videos should not be an obstacle. In terms of speed, it can be put at about the level of the Radeon HD 5570, but performance varies depending on the model.
The integrated memory controller supports dual channel mode. In the case of the mobile platform, a total of 32 GB of system memory operating at up to 1.600 MHz can be packed in the two SODIMM sockets, while in the desktop version we can load 64 GB of modules in the now four UDIMM sockets, but they can run up to 1.866 MHz 1,5 , At 24 volts. The PCI-E controller can handle a total of 16 bands, of which 4 are for an external video controller, 70 for the FCH, and four more for devices that require low latency and relatively high bandwidth, such as Ethernet. It is worth mentioning the unit called FCH, or Fusion Controller Hub, which can practically be thought of as a kind of southern bridge. There will be two versions of this available for the Llan, one for the A60M and the other for the A70M. There is only one difference between the two: the A3.0M offers four USB 60 ports, while the A2.0M does not offer any, only XNUMX is available here.
Also not a negligible factor is the presence of TurboCore 2.0. This feature even came with Thuban chips and can be extraordinary forging here, as it can greatly increase the clock speed of the processor cores na of course only if the increased consumption does not exceed the maximum specified TDP limit. Using a specific example for ease of understanding: if the IGP is fully loaded, the CPU clock cannot be raised, but if we only load the UVD engine - which has negligible power consumption - TurboCore 2.0 can significantly increase Husky core clock so that the increased consumption still fits within the predefined TDP frame. This can mean up to 35 MHz extra speed on the 900-watt mobile versions. It’s also important to mention here that TurboCore 2.0 only applies to processor cores, no longer with IGP.
Closely related to this is the improved energy management, which is now able to completely disconnect components that are not in use, thus significantly reducing chip consumption.
AMD saw fit to revive the Hybrid CrossFire concept, now called Dual Graphics. This is about the fact that discrete graphics cards can be associated with the Llano IGP, so the speeds of the two add up. However, this function only works with the 6400M, 6600M and 6700M series controllers.
This week, as a first step, a mobile platform called Sabine was launched. The desktop platform, called Lynx, is expected to launch in two weeks. The technical specifications of the different models are summarized in the table below:
Mobile (Sabine) platform:
Desktop (Lynx) platform:
Since there are several types of IGP, let's have a summary table here.
