Details of mobile Llano A-Series CPUs surface on AMD website

In May, we published specifications of forthcoming mobile A-Series microprocessors with integrated graphics, marketed by AMD as Accelerated Processing Units (APU). At the launch, there will be 7 dual- and quad-core SKUs, clocked from 1.5 GHz to 2.1 GHz, and reaching as high as 2.6 GHz in Turbo Core mode. Two days ago "2011 AMD Notebook Platform" page, which can be seen here, was updated with information of these models. The details of A-Series processors on the "2011 AMD Notebook Platform" page do not add anything new to previously known specifications, and only confirm those:

Click on the image to zoom

All A-Series processors are built on "Llano" core, which is a die-shrink of K10 core, used in Athlon II and Phenom II families. Based on features, AMD A-Series CPUs can be broken into three subfamilies, A8-, A6- and A4-Series. A8-Series chips have 4 CPU cores, 4 MB L2 cache, and Radeon HD 6620G graphics with 400 shader units and 444 MHz clock rate. A6-Series differs from A8-Series by slower integrated HD 6520G graphics with lower 400 MHz clock rate and only 320 shaders. A4-Series microprocessors have 2 CPU cores with 2 MB L2 cache, and HD 6480G graphics with 240 shaders, clocked at 444 MHz. All A-Series APUs incorporate Turbo Core technology, and support up to DDR3-1333 memory, or up to DDR3-1600 for some "MX" models. The CPUs are produced in socket FS1 form-factor with 35 Watt Thermal Design Power for "M" parts, or 45 Watt TDP for "MX" parts. Please see the table below for detailed specifications of all 7 models:

Model	Cores	Frequency	Turbo Frequency	L2 cache	Graphics	Graphics frequency	Shaders	TDP
A4-3300M	2	1.9 GHz	2.5 GHz	2 MB	HD 6480G	444 MHz	240	35 Watt
A4-3310MX	2	2.1 GHz	2.5 GHz	2 MB	HD 6480G	444 MHz	240	45 Watt
A6-3400M	4	1.4 GHz	2.3 GHz	4 MB	HD 6520G	400 MHz	320	35 Watt
A6-3410MX	4	1.6 GHz	2.3 GHz	4 MB	HD 6520G	400 MHz	320	45 Watt
A8-3500M	4	1.5 GHz	2.4 GHz	4 MB	HD 6620G	444 MHz	400	35 Watt
A8-3510MX	4	1.8 GHz	2.5 GHz	4 MB	HD 6620G	444 MHz	400	45 Watt
A8-3530MX	4	1.9 GHz	2.6 GHz	4 MB	HD 6620G	444 MHz	400	45 Watt

At this time, there are no official benchmarks of A-Series APUs, therefore we can only speculate on their performance. We expect that raw CPU performance will be on the same level, or lower than performance of previous Danube mobile platform. As such, for serious number crunching Intel-based laptops will remain superior to AMD-based ones. AMD notebooks with A-Series CPUs may excel in another area, 3D applications and 3D gaming. HD graphics, integrated on the APUs, should perform on a par with less expensive discreet graphics cards. This should make 3D gaming on laptops much more affordable and more popular. The new family may also bode well with laptop manufacturers, as life-like looking 3D graphics and games, combined with affordable prices, could spur the sales of notebooks in the second half of this year.