AMD's Llano APUs Expected to be Affordable

Desktop versions of Fusion - Llano accelerated processing units (APUs) by Advanced Micro Devices are likely to be rather inexpensive, which may make them popular among PC builders as well as end-users. According to media reports, the new desktop chips will cost starting from $70.

The initial family of AMD A-series "Llano" APUs will include five chips and beside that, AMD will also offer a low-end E2-series solution featuring Llano design. The most affordable solution in FM1 form-factor will cost $70 (E2-3250), whereas the most powerful A-series chip will be priced at $170 (A8-3550P).


AMD A-series desktop APUs will have either four K10.5+/Husky x86 cores as well as Radeon HD 6000-class "BeaverCreek" (320 or 400 stream processors) graphics core or two x86 cores and "WinterPark" (160 stream processors) integrated graphics engine. The chips will support dual-channel DDR3 memory controllers, up to 4MB of cache, select processors may also feature AMD Turbo Core dynamic acceleration technology as well as a special multi-GPU graphics support.

AMD A8- and A6-series APUs set to compete against Intel Core i3-2100-series microprocessors, whereas the A4- and E2-series chips will rival Pentium and Celeron solutions.