AMD's Z-60 tablet chip, Hondo

apoppin · Posted: Wed Oct 10, 2012 11:04 am

Our mobile guys were invited to sit in on AMD's under-NDA web briefing. Unfortunately we don't have their report
:blush:

http://www.itworld.com/hardware/301601/ ... hondo-chip

Quote:

AMD's Z-60 chip is timed for the launch of Microsoft's Windows 8, which will become available in computers starting on Oct. 26. AMD-based tablets will soon follow, the company said.

A tablet with a Z-60 chip could be expected this month, said Gary Silcott, an AMD spokesman. He didn't name the company that would release the product or an expected price, saying he couldn't speak for the device makers.

Initial Windows 8 tablets and hybrids such as the Envy X2 and Lenovo's ThinkPad Tablet 2 will use Intel's x86 chips and ship at the Windows 8 launch. The ThinkPad Tablet 2 will start at $629, but AMD has said it will compete with Intel-based ultrabooks and tablets on prices.

AMD will also compete with ARM, whose processors will appear in tablets with Microsoft's Windows RT OS. Dell, Asus, Samsung are scheduled to launch tablets with RT, and ARM processors are already used in most tablets with Android and iOS operating systems. Qualcomm, Nvidia and Texas Instruments are making ARM-based chips for Windows RT tablets.

Any win is important to AMD right now, even if they are just PCs and not tablets, said Jim McGregor, principal analyst at Tirias Research.

"They are positioning Hondo as a solution between ARM and Atom and Core for mid-priced productivity tablets, which is a difficult position. Even if the segment will exist, it is not clear what price band it would occupy," McGregor said.

The Hondo chip will run at a clock speed of 1GHz and draw 4.5 watts of power, according to product slides from AMD. The chip will have 80 integrated Radeon graphics processor cores, which will give tablets high-definition video and gaming capabilities. The Radeon graphics core will support DirectX 11 and have the capability to support fill high-definition 1080p displays. Many tablets today have 1366-by-768 or 1280-by-800-pixel resolution displays.

it isn't quite the powerhouse that it is competing with Clover Trail or ARM but a Windows 8 tablet with the Z-60 will provide 10 hours of battery life on a single battery charge, eight hours of web continuous browsing, and six hours of 720p video, according to AMD. A Z-60 based tablet will boot up Windows 8 in 25 seconds and resume from sleep in just two seconds. It's based on Bobcat, which is also used in AMD's low-power C-series and E-series netbook chips.

i guess it's a start
:hello:

Ocre · **Joined:** Mon Nov 22, 2010 5:22 am **Posts:** 2103

i will reserve judgement until we can actually see these products. It is a great idea. Really a lot depends on how windows8 does in the low power world. How well it runs on ARM, and how good it will be compared to the well established tablet OS's that already exist. There is a lot of variables. If windows8 is all the rave and it runs a lot better on x86 cores then instantly AMD has a compelling product. But i am completely unsure how M$ expects to really compete in these markets they have already failed in multiple times. But who knows. exciting times are coming ahead......

BallaTheFeared · Posted: Wed Oct 10, 2012 2:15 pm

Well there is the obvious advantage of x86 OS vs ARM, software.

My question is if they can fit all this x86 power into a sleek form factor with competitive battery life/.

We just got a Kindle 7" for the baby (lol) about a week or so ago, it's not bad. He does a pretty good job messing with kid apps already it was much easier for him to work directly with the screen instead of trying to connect the mouse to the screen. It's nice also because he utterly destroys old fashion paper books.

Anyways I'm not sure why I brought this up other than that I would be more interested personally in an x86 version of this tablet that was capable of bringing the same form factor as well as the battery life while not being so limited to gimmicky "phone" applications, and that's all I feel android is really good for from what I've seen.

Ocre · **Joined:** Mon Nov 22, 2010 5:22 am **Posts:** 2103

for low powered devices is there really the x86 advantage?

Arm has a well established ecosystem. There is no shortage of ARM programmers and endless dirt cheap apps for their operating systems. I am not sure that there is an x86 advantage much anymore. Or at least not one that out weighs Arms advantages. Specifically speaking on low powered devices. ARM has massive support and i think that the groundwork is already laid. The foundation is built. I just dont see how x86 can swoop in at this time and make any real impact. I could be wrong but i just am real skeptical. ARM is very established and their ecosystems are built in a very low profit - high volume market. I dont think x86 is gonna give any edge that the ultra competitive ARM market wont edge out.

Thats just me though.

BallaTheFeared · Posted: Thu Oct 11, 2012 1:46 pm

Ocre wrote:

for low powered devices is there really the x86 advantage?

Arm has a well established ecosystem. There is no shortage of ARM programmers and endless dirt cheap apps for their operating systems. I am not sure that there is an x86 advantage much anymore. Or at least not one that out weighs Arms advantages. Specifically speaking on low powered devices. ARM has massive support and i think that the groundwork is already laid. The foundation is built. I just dont see how x86 can swoop in at this time and make any real impact. I could be wrong but i just am real skeptical. ARM is very established and their ecosystems are built in a very low profit - high volume market. I dont think x86 is gonna give any edge that the ultra competitive ARM market wont edge out.

Thats just me though.

x86 isn't swooping, MS has been in the tablet market since 2002.

I don't think x86 is ready, but until recently Intel has been a massive throne in MS's side. Which is probably why Windows 8 will come on ARM based hardware as well, a big *middle finger* to Intel from MS for not seeing what they did all the way back then.

I'm interested in the Surface tablet personally.

apoppin · Posted: Thu Oct 11, 2012 1:48 pm

This may help from Peddie's site .. and Mario is going to respond sooner or later here . . .
First a review including Trinity:
http://gfxspeak.com/2012/10/08/review-a ... -notebook/

Now a market discussion:
http://gfxspeak.com/2012/10/01/how-the- ... plays-out/
http://gfxspeak.com/2012/09/18/the-tabl ... en-dwarfs/

tviceman · **Joined:** Sat Jan 16, 2010 5:02 pm **Posts:** 1127

The single only advantage x86 has in low power devices is that as of right now it's being manufactured on a more advanced process. Tit-for-tat, same process node, x86 can't compete performance per watt with ARM, and I think when A15 cores hit, even still at 28nm, ARM SoC's will beat down medfield.

BallaTheFeared · Posted: Thu Oct 11, 2012 3:13 pm

tviceman wrote:

The single only advantage x86 has in low power devices is that as of right now it's being manufactured on a more advanced process. Tit-for-tat, same process node, x86 can't compete performance per watt with ARM, and I think when A15 cores hit, even still at 28nm, ARM SoC's will beat down medfield.

I think we're talking about two different things.

x86 isn't ready for tablets as we know them, MS is releasing one with an i5 and HD graphics, it's obviously going to be faster than the Nvidia based ARM one and more robust since that one will run RT while the i5 will run the full version. There is a cost though, which is heat, weight, and battery life.

What I'm saying is I'm not ruling out Intel. The current state of tablets is niche really, small simple tasks all of which a phone can do none of which are capable of actually replacing a laptop.

Here's the problem with tablets, at least for me.

What we want: A desktop in a tablet

What we currently have: An over sized phone

Why do we want a desktop in a tablet? x86

You want your computer in a tablet, you don't want your phone as a desktop.

Sure we're going to have to draw back the time line a bit, the hardware is a major problem right now. It uses too much power, and isn't powerful enough. The i5 they're putting into the full OS version of the Surface isn't going to do it. However tech as we know moves quickly, and this is the goal. An x86 processor, running a full blown desktop OS, with the power to push real applications.

I think that is the future of tablet like devices, a future in software - which imo x86 has a huge advantage.

AMD's Z-60 tablet chip, Hondo

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