AMD's Puma Laptop Platform Available in Q2 2008
AMD announced today that its new laptop platform, codenamed Puma, will be available in the second quarter of 2008. This announcement is likely in anticipation of whatever Intel President and CEO Paul Otellini will present at his keynote address later today.
Puma promises better battery life and performance than AMD’s current platform; it will build in support for Microsoft's DirectX 10 graphics, and newer, faster DDR2-800 memory. The dual cores and I/O architecture of the Griffin processor can power up and down separately based on the laptop's workload. Griffin's Power Optimized HyperTransport 3 technology is meant to transfer data faster to and from the CPU.
AMD acquired ATI Graphics in 2006 and has retained the brand name for the graphics components of Puma--ATI Avivo HD and Mobility Radeon HD Graphics. They are meant to offload graphics processing from the computer processing unit (CPU) to the graphics processing unit (GPU) and as a result improve graphics performance particularly when a laptop is operating on battery power. AMD says that Puma-based laptops will be able to play full-length Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD movies on a single battery charge.
Puma's upcoming HyperFlash technology, which will not be available until the 2008 holiday season, will allow Windows Vista laptop to store certain data in flash memory--theoretically allowing the laptop to startup and launch applications faster. The upcoming HyperFlash is AMD's answer to Intel's currently available TurboMemory Flash, an optional component of Intel's Centrino processors.
Perhaps the most interesting part of Puma is what's coming after it. AMD's roadmap for 2009 includes plans for an accelerated processing unit (APU), which will combine the traditionally separate CPU and GPU onto one chip. For more information and context on AMD and Intel processor road maps, read Better Battery Power, Mobility for Laptops.
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