AMD is starting to make a name for itself with low power, moderate performance chips that are showing up in netbooks and ultraportable notebooks including the Acer Aspire One 521 and Dell Inspiron M101z. But the company’s not done pumping out chips for the budget ultraportable market. In fact, AMD is just getting started.

Today AMD unveiled new details about its upcoming Bobcat platform for small, low power devices such as netbooks, nettops, and tablets. Bobcat is the processor core that will show up in the Ontario chips due out in early 2011.

AMD says Bobcat is capable of operating on less than a watt of energy, but it’s an x86 processor with out0of-order execution, which means it should be more than capable of powering Windows and other complex operating systems. According to AMD, the Bobcat core offers 90% of the power you expect from a mainstream chip today, while using less than half the silicon area.

Ontario chips will combine the Bobcat CPU with a graphics processor and high speed bus to offer a complete chipset. Of course, we won’t really know how the Ontario chipset compares with existing technology such as Intel’s Atom or ULV platforms or the AMD Neo chips available today until the new chips are released early next year. And by that time, Intel will likely have launched its next-generation Oak Trail platform for mobile devices. The march of progress never stops.

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3 replies on “AMD unveils Bobcat low power CPU details”

  1. After about 15 years of trying to get the fastest cpu for my money, I am know doing an about face. I really like the low power cpu’s and both my main computers run them. They are powerful enough for most takes and I can see the difference in my light bill. I am trying to be green, it is important an besides I have not seen anything new in the high end cpu’s past dual core. Intel has the atom but could do much more but prfit is there main motive.AMD will be the winner in the low power and decent running cpu. They already are with the ATI 4330 graphics adapter.

    1. ARM already does low power designs, and Intel (with Moorestown design) will be doing it too. AMD is just joining the movement to low power. However, should not be just the focus of mobile devices, but also netbooks, notebooks, desktops, etc (including servers) as well.
      GREEN is GOOD.

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