AMD Fusion APUs Reducing Carbon Footprint by Up to 40 Percent

Beside providing quite a good level of performance, as well as a high level of portability, AMD Fusion APU's are apparently also quite eco-friendly, a recent study by AMD reveals, managing to bring about a significant reduction in the carbon footprint of the computing systems built on this platform compared to models built on previous technologies.

So, when pitted against a previous generation product featuring an AMD Athlon Neo II Dual core processor and an ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5430 graphics processor, the Fusion-based system delivered a reduction of up to 40 percent in total carbon emissions over the life of the APU.

As AMD reveals, the study computed total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, or carbon footprint, of the systems from the silicon fabrication through the use phases of the product life cycle, the results being that AMD Fusion APU reference system generated 40.2kg CO2e of GHG emissions compared to 67.4kg CO2e of GHG emissions for the previous generation products.

What's also quite interesting to mention here is the fact, although there were some differences during the manufacturing process as well, most of the savings in terms of generated emissions are related to the actual operating of the system, the fact that a machine using the AMD E-350 APU requires less power in order to deliver a good level of performance playing quite an important part in the overall results.

That's possible due to the integration of the computing and graphics processors onto a single piece of silicon, thus eliminating the chip-to-chip linkage between CPU and GPU that can add latency to memory operations and reduce power.

"AMD's commitment to reduce our impact on the environment spans our operations, our behaviors and the products we design," said Nigel Dessau, Chief Marketing Officer, AMD, concluding that "AMD Fusion APUs are a remarkable example of how a company's business interests and environmental interests can align and result in innovative products that deliver incredible experiences, value, and significant energy and cost savings for consumers and businesses alike."