AMD Trinity to be available mid-2012

Computerbase.de have published some slides that AMD revealed at CES, providing an overview of the upcoming Trinity APUs. With a look at some of the features that will be available, and some performance expectations, there are also details of a 17W low power version that targets "ultrathin" notebooks, AMD's answer to Intel's "Ultrabook" devices.

With the addition of the previously unknown 17W version, Trinity will offer three classes of APU. For the desktop market, there will be models with TDP ranging from 65W to 100W. Mainstream notebook APUs will have a TDP of 35W to 45W, and the ULV parts will have a TDP of 17W.

Trinity will have a "Piledriver" CPU core (the successor to "Bulldozer"), and is expected to have HD 6000 series graphics (although the latter has not yet been confirmed). The projected performance gains over Llano for desktop SKUs indicate up to 30% boost in processor performance, and about 30% improvement in graphics performance. For mainstream notebook devices, those figures change to 25% and 50%. Notebook benchmarks were measured using PC Mark Vantage Productivity preset for the CPU, and 3D Mark Vantage Performance preset for the GPU.

Trinity also brings new video capabilities, which may include Video Compression Engine (VCE) to compete with Intel's QuickSync. It is also optimized for use with Windows 8, and introduces Turbo Core 3.0. The projected battery life when idle (on the Windows desktop) is 12 hours, and when running 3D Mark 06 it is claimed to be 3 hours 20 minutes.

The ULV models, made possible by the improved power efficiency, make thinner products a possibility, enabling AMD to enter the ultrathin notebook market. AMD aims to push it's ultrathin notebooks into mainstream markets by offering competitive pricing. One of it's selling points is the availability of quad-core ULV SKUs, something Intel are not currently offering. Also, the 17W models are expected to provide similar performance to 35W Llano models.

Trinity is expected to be available sometime in the middle of the 2012, in direct competition with Intel's Ivy Bridge. Figures indicate that Intel will maintain the lead in CPU performance, while AMD will maintain a lead in integrated GPU performance.