We have been getting bits and pieces of information about AMD’s Llano processor for weeks now and during an event in Taiwan, AMD revealed just a bit more.  Llano was demonstrated running for the first time on their Super Sumo board – a benchmark of the AMD-stalwart Aliens vs Predator game was the demonstration of choice.

AMD showcases Llano APU In Taiwan - Processors 3
AMD’s Llano reference platform

The Llano APU demo showed three compute-intensive workloads simultaneously on Microsoft Windows® 7, including calculating the value of Pi to 32 million decimal places, and decoding HD video from a Blu-ray™ disc. Running concurrent to the CPU and HD video playback applications, Microsoft’s nBody DirectCompute application is shown achieving around 30 GFLOPS (as reported in the application) a relative measure of the available capacity to post-process video during playback, play a DirectX11 game, or assist the CPU cores to accelerate a non-graphics application. The demonstration represents a preview of Llano’s raw compute power enabling new levels of experience computing that AMD aims to bring to mainstream PC users in 2011.

Chris Cloran, Corporate Vice President and General Manager, client division at AMD was on hand to showcase the first revealed power consumption numbers of Zecate.  In this image below we see that Zecate is running the application at 19 watts while the Core i5-520M based system is pulling just over 38 watts.

AMD showcases Llano APU In Taiwan - Processors 4

That 19 watts might not sound like much, but in this case half the power consumption could equate to quite a bit of an improvement in battery life.  We’ll have to wait and see how these tasks work out in real-world computing scenarios, but AMD is obviously proud of what they have accomplished with Ontario/Zecate and we are eager to see it tested in real systems very soon.

AMD Fusion APU Codenamed “Llano” Demonstrated at 6th Annual AMD Technical Forum & Exhibition 2010

—    First public demonstration of 32nm “Llano” unveils high-performance AMD Fusion APU’s heterogeneous computing power for its Taiwan ecosystem partners   —

TAIPEI, TAIWAN — Oct. 19, 2010 — At the 6th Annual AMD Technical Forum & Exhibition (TFE) 2010, AMD today showcased for its ecosystem partners the first public demonstration of the forthcoming AMD Fusion Accelerated Processing Unit (APU) codenamed “Llano”, designed for notebook, ultrathin and desktop PCs.  AMD demonstrated the accelerated single-chip processing muscle of Llano by simultaneously processing three separate compute-and graphics-intensive workloads.

    “The serial and powerful parallel processing capability of the Llano APU has the potential to make OEMs and consumers re-think their computing experience,” said Chris Cloran, corporate vice president and general manager, client division, AMD. “The experience potential of Llano is truly incredible, and the demos we showed today on stage provide a glimpse of what this processor is capable of delivering in sleek form factors with long battery life.  Everything consumers love about their digital lifestyles today – social networking, gaming, consuming and creating media – can be enhanced with Llano, enabling a more interactive, vivid and immersive experience.”

    The Llano APU demo showed three compute-intensive workloads simultaneously on Microsoft Windows® 7, including calculating the value of Pi to 32 million decimal places, and decoding HD video from a Blu-ray™ disc. Running concurrent to the CPU and HD video playback applications, Microsoft’s nBody DirectCompute application is shown achieving around 30 GFLOPS (as reported in the application) a relative measure of the available capacity to post-process video during playback, play a DirectX11 game, or assist the CPU cores to accelerate a non-graphics application. The demonstration represents a preview of Llano’s raw compute power enabling new levels of experience computing that AMD aims to bring to mainstream PC users in 2011.

     Held annually in Taiwan, the AMD Technical Forum & Exhibition is an ecosystem partner event that focuses on addressing the world’s most complex technology challenges, and spotlighting technology breakthroughs.  Exhibitors span academia, hardware and software industries, fostering a healthy, open ecosystem for the AMD Fusion family of APUs.

For more information please visit http://fusion.amd.com.

Additional Resources

•    Video: Chris Cloran previews Llano at AMD Technical Forum and Exhibition
•    Blog: AMD and its partner ecosystem showcases AMD Fusion at TFE
•    AMD will be hosting AMD Fusion Developer Summit June 13-16, 2011 at in Seattle, WA.  Visit the conference website to learn more.

Cautionary Statement 

This release contains forward-looking statements concerning the timing of the launch and ramp of new products and technologies and the features of these products, which are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.  Forward-looking statements are generally preceded by words such as “plans,” “expects,” “believes,” “anticipates” or “intends.”  Investors are cautioned that all forward-looking statements in this release involve risks and uncertainty that could cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations, including the risk that the AMD products described herein will not be available in the mix required by the market and at mature yields on a timely basis; AMD’s technology partners will not offer these AMD products as described herein, or in sufficient quantities to address market demand;  Intel Corporation’s pricing, marketing and rebating programs, product bundling, standard setting, new product introductions or other activities targeting AMD’s business will prevent attainment of AMD’s current plans; there will be unexpected variations in market growth and demand for these AMD products; and AMD will be unable to obtain sufficient manufacturing capacity or components to meet demand for these products.  We urge investors to review in detail the risks and uncertainties in AMD’s filings with the United States Securities Exchange Commission.

About AMD

Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE: AMD) is an innovative technology company dedicated to collaborating with customers and technology partners to ignite the next generation of computing and graphics solutions at work, home and play. For more information, visit http://www.amd.com.