AMD details speed, power saving features of Fusion

Advanced Micro Devices today offered more details about its forthcoming Fusion processor, including the speed, power consumption and plans to begin shipping samples in the first half of this year.

The Fusion processor, which is code-named Llano, is due for release in 2011, said Sam Naffziger, a senior fellow at AMD. The Llano CPU is modified version of the Phenom II core, which is used in its desktop chips. It will include a quad-core CPU and run at speeds over 3.0GHz.

Fusion will be a hybrid chip that combines a graphics processor and a CPU on a single piece of silicon. The chip will initially go into mainstream laptops, Naffziger said. The integrated graphics processor will allow users to view Blu-ray movies or play 3D games. It will also work in tandem with the CPU to execute data-intensive tasks faster.

The graphics processor in Fusion will natively support Microsoft's DirectX 11 technology, which should bring improved graphics and application performance to laptops.

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