While AMD kept their presence to a minimum at this years Consumer Electronic Show, they did made some announcements on their product portfolio including their current and upcoming APU lineups. AMD allowed their key partners to showcase some technologies such as Freesync enabled monitors while also showcasing the first prototype design of a Carrizo APU based laptop. An update to the Kaveri APU lineup was also made.

AMD Announces the A8-7650K Kaveri APU For $105 US

The AMD A8-7650K is the latest in the Kaveri APU lineup featuring the x86 Steamroller core architecture and GCN enabled graphics processing unit. The AMD A8-77650K features 10 compute cores (4 CPU + 6 GPU) and the quad core chip operates at 3.3 GHz base and 3.7 GHz turbo clock speed. The chip supports 4 MB of last level cache, OpenCL 2.0, AMD TrueAudio technology via hardware DSPs, AMD Mantle, AMD Configurable TDP and comes in an unlocked design allowing for overclocking support. On the graphics side, we are looking at 384 stream processors operating at 720 MHz. The A8-7650K will retain the 95W TDP design due to its unlocked nature. The AMD A8-7650K will retail at a price of just $105 US.

In a few benchmarks shown off by, the AMD A8-7650K deliver better OpenCL acceleration compared to a Intel Core i3-4360 chip in Adobe Photoshop CC, Libre Office and Sony Vegas.Similarly, the accelerated processing unit performs well in 1080P gaming in titles such as Team Fortress 2, DOTA 2, Counter Strike: Global Offensive and League of Legends against Intel's HD graphics chip on Haswell processors. The chip will be able to deliver better stability, optimization and performance in games with the latest Catalyst Omega driver which was launched last month.

AMD A8-7650K Kaveri APU Specifications:

AMD Demonstrates Carrizo APU Based Laptop At CES 2015

On the other hand, AMD showcased working Carrizo APU systems at their CES 2015 booth however they did not reveal any specifications, neither did they allow anyone to take some snaps yet sent away press pictures later on. Some details reveal that AMD's Carrizo APU supports H.265 encoding and can playback 4K H.265 video with ease as reported by Anandtech. AMD has planned to reveal more details at ISSCC 2015 and detailed their Carrizo and Carrizo-L APUs about two months ago which we detailed over here.

AMD is going to launch Carrizo in two variants, Carrizo-L will be the entry level and mainstream notebook chip while the Carrizo APU for high-performance and AIO products will be known as Carrizo. Some rumors do point to the desktop variant being called Carrizo-D but AMD didn’t even mention about the desktop platform in the video but we already have some details as to what’s it all about. Another key thing told by John was that AMD Carrizo APU and Carrizo-L APU will be platform compatible and available in BGA form factor. The main difference between with Carrizo and Carrizo-L is that Carrizo will ship with Excavator cores while Carrizo-L will feature PUMA+ Cores. The desktop part will be on FM2+. However the video did confirm that there isn’t going to be any sort of HBM or stacked DRAM technology available on Carrizo so we have to wait a bit longer to see that in action. Nevertheless, details from couple of days ago will give you a roundup of all the information we know about Carrizo so far.

The 28nm Carrizo APU will measure at 244.62 mm2 and pack 3.1 Billion transistors. For comparison, AMD’s Kaveri APU packed 2.41 Billion transistors on a 245 mm2 die and was based on a 28nmSHP process from GlobalFoundries. The increased number of the total transistors are due to three major things, the new Excavator architecture, the use of new GCN graphics technology and the addition of the FCH on Carrizo SOC. Before we go into details, do read the following note:

AMD will disclose Carrizo, an integrated processor with its latest x86 core. The 28 nm chip measures 244.62 mm2 and packs more than 3.1 billion transistors. Its new Excavator core is 23% smaller and uses 40% less power than AMD’s previous x86 core.

Details we already know about Carrizo are that the APU would become the fifth installment in the Accelerated Processing Units family which will feature the latest Excavator core architecture. Powering the CPU side, these new x86 Excavator modular cores will leverage the IPC for greater performance compared to Steamroller. The mobile platform will feature both Quad Core and Dual Core variants but right now, we are looking at a glimpse of the top-end variant which shares 2 MB L2 cache. According to the official statement, the Excavator core will be 23% smaller and consume 40% lesser power than Kaveri APU. With the CPU die being small, it will give AMD more room to increase the GCN GPU die on the APU.

“We continue to innovate and build upon our existing IP to deliver great products for our customers,” said John Byrne, senior vice president and general manager, Computing and Graphics business group, AMD. “AMD’s commitment to graphics and compute performance, as expressed by our goal to improve APU energy efficiency 25x by 2020, combines with the latest industry standards and fresh innovation to drive the design of the 2015 AMD Mobile APU family. We are excited about the experiences these new APUs will bring and look forward to sharing more details in the first half of next year.”

The flagship “Carrizo” processor will integrate the new x86 CPU core codenamed “Excavator” with next generation AMD Radeon™ graphics in the world’s first Heterogeneous Systems Architecture (HSA) 1.0 compliant SoC. The “Carrizo-L” SoC integrates the CPU codenamed “Puma+” with AMD Radeon™ R-Series GCN GPUs and is intended for mainstream configurations. In addition, an AMD Secure Processor will be integrated into the “Carrizo” and “Carrizo-L” APUs, enabling ARM®TrustZone® across the entire family for the security commercial customers and consumers expect. Utilizing a single package infrastructure for “Carrizo” and “Carrizo-L,” the 2015 AMD Mobile APU family simplifies partner designs across a broad range of commercial and consumer mobile systems.

“Carrizo” and “Carrizo-L,” are scheduled to ship in 1H 2015, with laptop and All-in-One systems based on the 2015 AMD Mobile APU family expected in market by mid-year 2015. via AMD

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AMD Carrizo APU Comparison Chart: