AMD Will Build their "Fusion" CPU on Top of the Phenoms

Chip manufacturer Advanced Micro Devices came with further details regarding the upcoming Fusion processor line. According to the company, the chip will power especially gaming computers or desktop systems targeted at the enthusiast market.

The Fusion processor is a mixed breed of chips that will combine a graphics processor and a CPU. Patrick Moorhead, vice president of advanced marketing at AMD, stated that the chip will be a redesign of the Phenom quad-core processors that are expected in the second quarter of the year. The chip will be substantially re-designed, so the functional aspects of it will be quite different as compared to the original Phenom.

The Fusion processor is currently known under the Swift codename. It will be shrunk from the current Phenom core, but it will come in a different thermal envelope, since it is targeted at the mobile sector. Therefore, the "Fusion" will feature increased graphics capabilities, but at the same time, it will be more power-efficient.

The unit that will handle graphics will be comprised of multiple "mini-cores" that will break the code into pieces and execute it simultaneously. It seems that Fusion will feature an AMD version of Intel's Larrabee multi-core graphics platform. According to Taylor, the graphics system will be built on a graphics card the company wishes to announce later.

The Fusions will be initially released as mobile dual-core CPUs, but there will also be quad-core versions to follow in a short time. While the mobile dual-core parts will kick in in the second half of 2009, the quads have not been yet scheduled for release. Moreover, Fusion CPUs will also be available for desktop systems, but this will probably happen in 2010.

The Fusions are part of the Shrike project, a next-gen computing platform that is supposed to be an upgrade to the future Puma platform. The latter can run both the integrated graphics processor and a graphics card (if present) at the same time, combining the dedicated GPU power with that of the integrated graphics processor.

The Fusion chips will be built using the company's 45-nanometer process.