Processor

Low-Power AMD Mullins and Beema APUs Arrive

 

One of the advantages offered by AMD APUs is the inclusion of a graphics integrated in the chip itself with capabilities that are more than solvents and if there are devices that can take advantage of this, those are portable devices and above all, tablets with architecture x86 capable of running full operating systems.

With that market in mind, AMD has officially introduced two new APU families, under the name of Mullins y Beema, we have two series for devices of very low consumption (Mullins), and another for devices that, while maintaining a portable format, require more power (Beema).

In both cases, we have 2 to 4 CPU cores with Puma + x86 architecture with support for memory up to DDR3-1866, accompanied by a GPU with GCN nuclei. Together we have chips capable of achieving frequencies around 50% higher, with a TDP of half.

Low-Power AMD Mullins and Beema APUs Arrive, Image 1

Inside of familia Mullins, AMD offers as the most powerful processor, the A10 Micro-6700T It has a TDP of 4.5W and a SDP (Scenario Design Power) of 2.8W, all with 4 cores running at 2.2 GHz and an R6 GPU with 128 Radeon Cores at 500 Mhz. One step below is the A4 Micro-6400T, which with the same TDP and SDM, lowers its 4 cores to 1.6 GHz, just as the 128 Radeon Cores of its R3 stay at 350 MHz.

And holding the title of lowest power processor of the Mullins family, we have at E1 Micro-6200T with 2 cores at 1.4 GHz and an R2 128 Radeon Cores at 300 MHz, this allows it to offer a TDP of 3.95W.

We now focus on the familia beema, with more power and naturally more consumption, although in no case does it exceed 15W of TDP. The most powerful model is the AMD A6-6310, with 4 cores at 2.4 GHz and an R4 graphics with 128 Radeon Cores at 800 MHz. This model supports low-voltage DDR3 memory up to 1866 MHz.

Moving down the power scale is the A4-6210, with 4 cores at 1.8 GHz and an R3 running at 600 MHz, in all cases we see how the 128 Radeon Cores are maintained. Coming down to the E series, there are two models presented, the E2-6110, with 4 cores at 1.5 GHz and an R2 at 500 MHz and the E1-6010, with 2 cores at 1.35 GHz and an R2 at 350 MHz, in this case the TDp is reduced to 10W.

According to AMD itself, the AMD A10 Micro-6700T exceeds the graphics performance of Intel’s Haswell Core i3 processors, being above the Bay Trail T platform focused on the same segment as these AMD APUs.

The family of Beema APUs improve AMD’s own Kabini SoCs by 20% as far as consumption reduction is concerned, falling below 2 W in tasks such as 1080p video playback, web browsing or even during benchmarks.

Low-Power AMD Mullins and Beema APUs Arrive, Image 3

Another highlight of these new low-power platforms is the inclusion of a core ARM Cortex A5 for the use of the so-called ARM TrustZone, a hardware-level security system that allows maintaining a safe area usable for authentication in identification systems, transactions through the network, prevention of malware infections, etc. Creating for this an execution zone isolated from the rest of the system, being able to define two zones.

This technology is integrated into both the Beema APUs and the Mullins APUs. In addition to all the improvements that AMD has worked on to achieve some APU as energy efficient as possible, getting a complete chip capable of working in devices without the need for any type of cooling. with an impressive reduction in consumption since the first models of Low Voltage Processors introduced by the company back in 2008.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Back to top button
%d bloggers like this: