AMD Launches Carrizo: The Laptop Leap of Efficiency and Architecture Updates
by Ian Cutress on June 2, 2015 9:00 PM ESTAMD Secure Processor
One of the final pieces in the puzzle is AMD’s Secure Processor, which they seemed to have called the PSP. The concept of the security processor has evolved over time, but the premise of a locked down area to perform sensitive work that is both hidden and cryptographically sealed appeals to a particular element of the population, particularly when it comes to business.
AMD’s PSP is based around a single 32-bit ARM Cortex-A5, with its own isolated ROM and SRAM but has access to system memory and resources. It contains logic to deal with the x86 POST process but also features a cryptographic co-processor.
ARM has been promoting TrustZone for a couple of years now, and AMD has been tinkering with their Secure Processor proposition for almost as long although relatively few explanations from AMD outside ‘it is there’ have come forward.
Final Thoughts
Sometimes a name can inspire change. Carrizo isn’t one of those names, and when hearing the words ‘AMD’s notebook processor’, those words have not instilled much hope in the past, much to AMD’s chagrin no doubt. Despite this, we come away from Carrizo with a significantly positive impression because this feels more than just another Bulldozer-based update.
If you can say in a sentence ‘more performance, less power and less die area’, it almost sounds like a holy trifecta of goals a processor designer can only hope to accomplish. Normally a processor engineer is all about performance, so it takes an adjustment in thinking to focus more so on power, but AMD is promising this with Carrizo. Part of this will be down to the effectiveness of the high density libraries (which according to the slides should also mean less power or more performance for less die area) but also the implementation of the higher bandwidth encoder, new video playback pathway and optimization of power through the frequency planes. Doubling the L1 data cache for no loss in latency will have definite impacts to IPC, as well as the better prefetch and branch prediction.
Technically, on paper, all the blocks in play look exciting and every little margin can help AMD build a better APU. It merely requires validation of the results we have been presented along with a killer device to go along with it, something which AMD has lacked in the past and reviewers have had trouble getting their hands on. We are in discussions with AMD to get the sufficient tools to test independently a number of the claims, and to see if AMD’s Carrizo has potential.
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SilthDraeth - Tuesday, June 2, 2015 - link
It is sad that AMD struggles so much. I bought an HP with 1366x768, ie budget screen on most retail laptops, and an AMD A10-4600 and it plays games like Dirt 3, and stuff just fine. I haven't installed a ton of games on it. But it certainly out performs any mobile i5 or i7 that didn't have dedicated graphics card.I really hope Carrizo kicks off, and finally AMD gets some love.
meacupla - Tuesday, June 2, 2015 - link
1366x768 screens is one of the very issues that plagues AMD mobile chips.monstercameron - Tuesday, June 2, 2015 - link
So true, amd needs some kind of program to prevent oem from shipping 13*7 screens with certain socs.Penti - Tuesday, June 2, 2015 - link
1366x768 is fine in like sub 11.6-inch devices. Broadwell GT3e essentially has a stronger GPU so AMD needs to learn it's no selling point. They can't do much until they have a stronger CPU any way so both IGP and decent dGPU (switchable or whatever) makes sense with their chips. AMD chips is essentially still too weak to drive 7970m GPUs from 2012. Plus the only decent design win for mobile GCN is the new MacBook Pro 15, switchable graphics needs to be okay with Windows and Intel CPU/IGP's too. Do a shrink to 16/14 nm and make drivers that makes that happen and they should be decent enough though.BillyONeal - Wednesday, June 3, 2015 - link
1. GT3e is a 28W part; this is a 15W part. 2. GT3e is a part that costs over 3 times as much. (I'm not saying I'd buy the thing; I'm saying we need to be fair to AMD here :) )Taneli - Wednesday, June 3, 2015 - link
GT3e starts at 47W. GT3 (without Crystalwell) is available with dual core cpu in 15W (HD6000) and 28W (HD6100).Penti - Wednesday, June 3, 2015 - link
GT3 is essentially stronger without eDRAM too though.albert89 - Thursday, June 4, 2015 - link
I'd have to agree people arnt reading the stat's correctly. Broadwell beats Kaveri by a few points yet costs between one and a half and three times as much. The price of Intel APU are moving farther than the performance. And it wouldn't surprise me if Carrizo out performs Broadwell in 6 out of 10 games and that's all at 28nm !!!!!Penti - Thursday, June 4, 2015 - link
Actually when you will be able to get a Broadwell laptop (or SFF machine) for the same price, what's the point?Penti - Saturday, June 6, 2015 - link
List price for a 15W GT3 Broadwell is no more then 315 USD. Should be faster or as fast as a top-end Kaveri in game benchmarks. Is available in 370 USD NUC's barbones and soon it's in 600 dollar laptops. How much is it for a Kaveri FX-laptop? Probably a lot, and most Intel parts at least GT2+ SKU's of Haswell and Broadwell is faster than the A10 Kaveri in laptops any way. The jump from 500 to 600-700 USD just gives you a much faster notebook that's just much stronger than a Kaveri A10-device overall and even FX-7600P isn't really strong enough to game on. Carrizo doesn't really change that. AMD's numbers for 3dmark 11 on the 15W parts is on par with Iris graphics and discrete HD 7750M or 940M+ would be faster any way and is found in cheap laptops.