14 DAY TRIAL // AMD is getting ready to transition its mobile GPUs to the new 28nm manufacturing process and, according to a leaked roadmap that made its way online, the first graphics cards to be released will come in the fourth quarter of 2011 while the company's flagship solution will arrive in the second quarter of 2012.
The new GPUs will be released as part of the Radeon HD 7000M series and will feature improved performances and lower power consumption when compared to the current HD 6000M solutions.
Making our way from top to bottom, AMD's fastest mobile graphics card is known as Wimbledon and is expected to reach the market in the second quarter of 2012.
The graphics card will support a 256-bit memory bus and can be configured with either 2GB or 4GB of GDDR5 memory.
Performance wise, the card should be about 25% better than the current Blackcomb GPU while also featuring a lower TDP, that is estimated at 65+ Watts.
Wimbledon is expected to enter production at the end of 2011 and will come to market in Q2 2012.
Slightly below Wimbledon, there's the Heathrow core that can be paired with either 1.5GB or 3GBof GDDR5 frame buffer and packs a 192-bit or a 128-bit memory interface.
Its TDP is estimated to range between 35W and 45W and the first engineering samples are scheduled to be delivered starting with the next quarter.
Next in line is the Chelsea core, which is supposed to achieve 30% better performances than Whistler.
Specs wise, the GPU can be paired with either 1GB of GDDR3 or 2GB of GDDR5 frame buffer, has a 128-bit memory bus and its TDP ranges between 20W and 30W.
The last GPU in AMD's 28nm mobile lineup is called Thames and features the same 128-bit memory bus as Chelsea, but its TDP is slightly lower (15-20W).
No details regarding AMD's desktop Radeon HD 7000 graphics card line are available at this time, but, usually, these are launched before their mobile counterparts, which could mean a late Q3 or early Q4 2011 launch. (via Donanim Haber)
