14 DAY TRIAL // Even though they are still a long way off, AMD's upcoming generation of central processing units, or accelerated processing units (APUs) in the case of Fusion, are already the subject of rumors and reports. Each week, some new leak manages to reveal alleged traits of these chips. One of the more recent ones now suggests that their power draw will be quite low, even in the case of higher-end models. Specifically, a certain Ontario-series member will consume less than 20W during operation.
Following a string of leaks regarding NVIDIA's and ATI's upcoming cards, Fudzilla now reports that it has uncovered some information about the so-called top performing Ontario 40nm chip. Apparently, it is a dual-core unit with integrated graphics. Furthermore, it is based on the Bobcat architecture and will be faced with Intel's own Atom line. The major asset that AMD's offer will have to offer, however, is the much better graphics solution.
Nevertheless, the performance of the item is not the central part of the report. What Fudzilla says is most interesting is that, even in its fastest iteration and with on-die graphics, the Ontario will eat up just 18W of power. The implication is also made that versions with lower TDP (Thermal Design Power) will be made available over time. Unfortunately, the only other info so far known about this product, besides DDR3 support, is that it is exclusively manufactured by TSMC, since Globalfoundries does not engage in 40nm manufacturing. The latter has resolved to, instead, focus on the 28nm process node. As such, no clock speeds or other performance numbers are available at this time.
The Ontario dual-core with integrated graphics will show up in SFF (small form factor) PCs, as well as embedded systems and, naturally, mobile PCs. First official launches are scheduled to occur in 2011.