14 DAY TRIAL // We've heard about combinations of CPU and GPU cores, and other hybrid products, but one constant has always been that the CPU cores are always based on the same architecture. AMD is changing that though.
The Mobile Kaveri accelerated processing unit lineup will supposedly be based on a combination of Steamroller and Excavator architecture.
This marks the first time that two different core architectures are combined, though it bears mentioning that we still don't know exactly what the hybridization consists of.
We also don't know when the Kaveri mobile lineup will debut, only that it will be “soon.” Perhaps it's Computex we have to look forward to (June 3-7).
AMD calls the architecture “revolutionary” in its presentation slides, and reveals that, like the desktop chips, there are up to 12 cores in each. Which is to say, there are four CPU cores on x86 architecture, and eight graphics processing modules.
Fortunately, while Advanced Micro Devices hasn't provided an exact explanation as to what the whole Steamroller-Excavator blend is like, the specs of the chips themselves are known.
First off, there will be an FX-7600P APU. We'd say that you won't find it in retail, but it would be somewhat redundant. It's not like laptops can be put together like a desktop after all.
Anyway, the FX-7600P will be the best of seven APUs, with a CPU core speed of 2.7 GHz and a boost maximum of 3.6 GHz.
The GPU (graphics processing unit), meanwhile, runs at 600 MHz, or 666 MHz in a pinch. Devilish number, that.
There are 512 GCN cores inside the GPU, which is a fairly high number. You should be able to play most games on it, though not at top graphical settings.
Immediately below it there is the OEM-only AMD A10-7400P, also a quad-core, but with 2.4 GHz / 3.4 GHz frequency and 384 GCN stream processors in the GPU (576 MHz / 654 MHz boost).
The specifications just go down from there, and with them so does the power consumption. All but one of the seven Kaveri mobile APUs have four cores and 4 MB cache though.
That “one” is the dual-core AMD A6-7000, with 2.2 GHz / 3 GHz clock, 192 GC-core GPU (494 MHz / 533 MHz) and 17W TDP.
All in all, the mobile Kaveri APU lineup looks pretty promising, even if AMD could have at least explained better what the whole Steamroller-Excavator merger was all about. You can see the entire APU lineup in the table below, courtesy of the folks at WCCFtech.
