AMD earlier today announced that their latest 2014 A-Series Mobile Accelerated Processing Units (APUs) are now locally available via select laptop manufacturers.
They are the first company to mainstream APU technology back in 2011. These special processors combine the data processing capabilities of CPUs and the image processing tasks of GPUs into one chip. With their newest line of APUs, AMD is promising high-performance mobile PCs that are even faster, quieter, lighter, and more energy-efficient than before.
“This latest breakthrough from AMD is a total package of superior compute performance, striking graphics, and cost-effective power use with leading technologies in the industry, making the 2014 AMD A-Series APUs a potent force in today’s computing generation,” said Ryan Sim, General Manager for AMD Far East Ltd in the ASEAN region. “This introduction of the latest line of APUs to the Philippine market is part of our vision to improve and ultimately transform the computing experience of Filipino consumers.”
According to Sonny Sy, national sales manager for AMD Philippines, AMD’s legacy in developing premiere CPUs and GPUs are the reason behind their inclusion into the spec lineup of major video game consoles and laptops, and the 2014 A-Series is the next innovative step for the company.
These contain up to 12 computer cores (4 CPU and 8 GPU) in one chip featuring their proprietary Heterogeneous System Architecture (HSA) allowing direct chip-to-software (and vice-versa) communication. This allows the CPU and GPU cores to intelligently communicate with each other and assign tasks to the appropriate cores for effective memory use.
The GPUs are AMD Radeon R7 series graphics which feature the new Graphics Core Next Architecture. This enables A-series-equipped devices to play 4K UltraHD and 1080p videos smoothly. Along with Radeon Dual Graphics (combines the power of the APU graphics core with a separate graphics card) and Mantle API (allows games to bypass the CPU and communicate with the GPUs directly), the A-series guarantees up to 50-percent better graphics performance compared to other processors.
Additionally, the 2014 AMD APUs ship with TrueAudio technology courtesy of integrated audio cores for an immersive audio experience.
Speaking in behalf of Acer Philippines was Dio Vasquez, who introduced their newest products featuring the 2014 APUs. This includes the Acer E15 E5-551G-8121 which is equipped with an AMD A8-7100 APU with Radeon R5 graphics (4 CPU + 4 GPU), discrete AMD Radeon R7 M265 with 2GB of dedicated VRAM, 4GB DDR3 RAM, 500GB HDD, and 15.6-inch LED screen. It’s tagged at PHP 29,900.
Representing Lenovo Philippines was 4P Manager Vinson Chua who discussed the all-new Lenovo IdeaPad Z50-75. It features an AMD A10-7300 APU with Radeon R6 graphics (4 CPU + 6 GPU), discrete AMD Radeon R6 M255DX with 2GB dedicated VRAM, 4GB DDR3L memory, 1TB HDD, and 15.6-inch LED display. The new IdeaPad retails for PHP 33,995.
There were test units of the Acer E15 and IdeaPad Z50 during the launch event which featured various AMD benefits including: Gesture Control; Face Login; Turbo Core Technology; Radeon Dual Graphics; TrueAudio Technology; and Project Mantle.
Other devices featuring the 2014 AMD A-Series APUs will also be launching soon.