AMD's officially closing the gap. With the help of a slew of major manufacturers, they're putting their processors in nearly three times more notebooks than last year, expanding their Vision branding to desktops, and ramping up performance across the board.
To be clear, Intel's still the big dog here. But they've been showing some cracks lately; AMD's consistently beaten them on price, and Intel's ongoing spat with Nvidia over graphics has led even Apple to test AMD chipsets in their lab. So now's a terrific time for AMD to plant a flag.
That's essentially just what they're doing. This year you'll see AMD in 109 mainstream notebooks, 26 ultrathin notebooks, and more desktops than ever.
In terms of performance, the 2010 AMD ultralight notebook platform (featuring the 23w Turion II Neo dual core, Athlon II Neo dual core, and Athlon II Neo processors) can get up to eight hours of battery life and will support DDR3 memory, DirectX 10.1 and are compatible with ATI Radeon HD 5400 or Radeon 4200 integrated graphics. Mainstream note book processors (Athlon II dual-core, Turion II dual-core, Phenom II dual-core, and Phenom II triple- and quad-core) support Blu-ray playback, up to DirectX 11 graphics, and a reported 60% improvement in hard drive performance over competitors.
Intel's still going to get you better battery life, and by most any metric will still outperform comparable AMD processors. But if you're someone who doesn't mind an application opening a half-second slower—although around here, chances are you do—you can save yourself a decent chunk of cash going AMD. And in exchange, you'll be giving up less than ever.
PC Manufacturers Triple the Number of Platforms that Feature VISION
Technology from AMD
AMD Refreshes Notebook Platforms and Introduces VISION Technology for Desktop
PCs
Thirty Percent More Ultrathin Notebooks and 109 New Mainstream Notebooks Based
on VISION Technology Scheduled to Arrive in Time for Back-to-School Buyers2
CANNES, France - May 12, 2010 -
From the Cannes Film Festival AMD (NYSE:
AMD) today announced a complete refresh of its desktop and notebook platforms
based on VISION Technology for consumer and commercial customers. Ahead of
the biggest buying cycle of the year, the new notebook platforms offer up to eight
hours of battery life while delivering an outstanding visual experience at a great
price for the mainstream and ultrathin markets.
―With VISION Technology from AMD, we are finally connecting how people use
their PCs with the way people purchase them,‖ said Nigel Dessau, senior vice
president and chief marketing officer of AMD. ―Today, after little more than 200
days in market, our partners are introducing more VISION-based PCs than ever
before; a testament to both the competitiveness of AMD platform technology and
the simplified marketing approach.
Introduced in October 2009, VISION Technology from AMD simplifies the PC
buying process at the point of sale by focusing on how consumers use PCs, rather
than relying upon the confusing ―speeds and feeds‖ technical specifications that
many people find difficult to understand. VISION also denotes the powerful visual
experience AMD systems enable; an important feature as more consumers use their
computers as entertainment hubs for sharing photos, music and videos with friends
and family, watching TV and HD videos, and playing games.
AMD 2010 Mainstream and Ultrathin Notebook Platforms
In 2009, 96 million people worldwide bought PCs for entertainment purposes.4
The AMD 2010 Mainstream Notebook Platform lets consumers enjoy their movies,
music and games in stunning color and clarity, seamlessly connect with friends on
social networks, and edit videos and photos. The 2010 Ultrathin Notebook Platform
makes it possible for consumers to enjoy a full-featured PC experience, including
HD playback, in sleek and affordable notebooks that can deliver up to eight hours of
battery life. Examples of the benefits the platforms provide to consumers include
the following:
In testing with HQV 2.0, a VISION-based system with AMD integrated
graphics achieved a video experience score almost 2x that of a
comparable Intel-based system. Additionally, a VISION-based system
with AMD discrete graphics scored 50% better than a comparable Intel-
5
based system with Nvidia discrete graphics.
Enjoy photos with greater color, clarity and definition by cleaning up
photos up to 20 percent faster with Adobe Photoshop Elements 8 than
competing mainstream notebooks.6
Transfer entertainment fast and convert DVDs to play on game consoles
in up to 37 percent less time than a comparable competitive mainstream
notebook.7
Experience up to 80 percent smoother gaming performance in Call of
Duty® 4: Modern Warfare™, compared to a comparable competitive
mainstream system.8
AMD 2010 Desktop Platform
AMD's new mainstream and enthusiast desktop platforms are designed to
deliver superior performance while alleviating unnecessary spending associated
with competing platforms. The new platforms are enhanced with the latest graphics
technology for stunning HD digital media and immersive 3D entertainment, and
multi-core performance for seamless multi-tasking, including the new six-core AMD
Phenom™ II X6 processor. Examples of the benefits the platforms provide to
consumers include the following:
Share movies with friends 30 percent faster than with comparable
competing PCs.9
Organize digital libraries 40 percent faster, using facial recognition to
categorize photos, than competing desktop PCs.10
Build a complete AMD-based system featuring the AMD Phenom™ II X6
processor with all the necessary components and monitor for less than
the price of our competition's only six-core desktop processor.11
Systems featuring these notebook and desktop platforms with VISION
Technology from AMD will be available beginning today and through the end of the
year from original equipment manufacturers (OEM) and System Integrators
including Acer, ASUS, Dell, HP, Lenovo, MSI and Toshiba.
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