AMD's New Low-Power CPUs

illumina+us writes "AMD has released a new family of CPUs targeted at the portable computing market. The new CPUs, collectively named Alchemy, consume less than 1Watt of power. The CPUs have already been named the CPU of choice for Tivo's new Tivo-To-Go technology and are powerful enugh to run DivX, WMV9, and MPEG. The AU1550 consumes just 0.5 Watts at 400 MHz and the AU1100 consumes 0.25 at the same clock speed. These processors consume so little energy they don't even need a heatsink."

Comments

imagine...

[Anonymous Coward]

A Beowulf cluster of these...

Hey, at least the power bill wouldn't kill you.

Re:imagine...

[Max Romantschuk]

Actually low power chips are gaining popularity in super computer environments. A major cost of operating a huge cluster is power and getting rid of all the heat.

Low power chips are therefore much cheaper to operate, and can be packed more densely as they require less cooling. The future of computing lies in massively distributed low power solutions, it simply makes much more sense than the alternatives.

Re:imagine...

[eh2o]

It seems to me that its about high efficiency, not low power. Merely having a low power chip does not help a supercomputer if you need that many more of them to get the same performance.

PDA's

[SlongNY]

Wonder if these will pop up on PDA's and stuff soon..

Re:PDA's

[cnettel]

OTOH, the current crop of Pocket PCs are able to decode DivX in 640x480 with ARM-based chips from Intel, even without video acceleration. It's not like this kind of performance is a revolutionary breakthrough.

Re:PDA's

[tmasssey]

Given this formfactor, I'm really suprised they didn't create a Mini-ITX format board. Then they'd have a whole slew of ready-made periphials: cases, power supplies, etc.

Re:PDA's

[yope]

I doubt they'll become very popular.
They Alchemy family is not that new actually. AFAIR they have been around for at least 2 or 3 years now, and have barely gotten some attention from the embedded developer world.

AMD has made inroads in the embedded processor bussiness before, with their Elan and embedded-K6 processors. Those have been moderately popular by those seeking x86 compatibility, since the Elan is a mocked-up 486 with chipset functionality and some periferals in one chip: Expensive, extremely power-hungry, slow and very modest on-chip periferals, but x86 compatible. They are mostly forgotten now.

The Alchemy on the other hand is based on a 32-bit MIPS core (remeber SGI? Guess where their chip developers went?). That makes the Alchemy more powerful, less power-hungry, cheaper and able to include some more amount of periferals on-chip, but they are not x86 compatible.

That leaves them pretty much out in the cold, because there are IMHO far more attractive alternatives of non-x86 embedded processors, like those based on the ARM family of cores, built by Samsung, Atmel, Philips, TI, Cirrus-Logic, Intel and many more, as well as the PowerPC based embedded processors from Motorola and IBM. Specially the Power-QUICC I and II families from Motorola cover an impressive price and performance range, offer modest to very high processing power, and unprecedented flexibility due to their second integrated RISC based communications processor and programmable bus controller.
Those are the two most popular embedded processor platforms around these days. If you need power-efficiency, there's no better than ARM. If you need high computing performance or high-bandwith data processing, go for PowerPC. AMD's Alchemy is somewhere in the middle, but until now they only cover a narrow range of applications.

Re:PDA's

[LuSiDe]

I was thinking: Perhaps its good for competition (and hence price)?

Last time i checked, the Sharp Zaurus was pretty expensive, especially the newer models. What was it again, like $700 for the newer model in Japan. I know PDAs sell like baked bread in Japan but still, why are these toys so expensive? A friend of mine has a CL 5500 and while its a very nice PDA it was also pretty expensive when he bought it. And, newer versions are more convenient.

I hope to see more competition / prices going more down since i'd love to see the GSM (as in, a telephone) integrated with the PDA (as in, basic simple office work, e-mail synced, WiFi/UMTS) with a multimedia player (preferably also Vorbis-compatible). I want 1 device which is small enough but also gives me the features i want to have without using a beast such as a laptop and without having 1 device like e.g. the GSM which can phone (what i actually want), SMS (expensive!), play retro games (boring!) without the features i also would like to have.

Re:PDA's

[iamhassi]

"It's not like this kind of performance is a revolutionary breakthrough."

No, it's not, but the fact that AMD is creeping into a market that Intel currently dominates, and AMD has already declared dominance in the gaming and server microprocessor market in 2004, so this could cause serious problems for Intel if the AMD chips turn out to perform better with less power than Intel's current offerings. Sure the processors are running at slower mhz speeds but as we all know a a slower mhz AMD processor can perform at the same level as a much faster mhz Intel processor

Obviously not for Canadians

[Anonymous Coward]

These new chips are obviously not aimed at the Canadian market, or any market that has severe winters. We use our computers to heat buildings, fry eggs and cook bacon.

And when there's no electricity, we burn them for heat.

Re:Obviously not for Canadians

[DrEldarion]

I live near Chicago, and my room used to be the coldest in the house. During the winter, frost would form on the walls.

Then I got an Athlon-650 computer in there and a 19" CRT monitor, and from then on, it was the warmest room in the house, even in the winter.

Re:Obviously not for Canadians

[__aamkky7574]

Even in Ireland (far more temperate than Canada) the bedroom is a lot more toasty in the morning if I've left the PC on downloading movies^H^H^H^H^H^H^Hperforming important calculations all night. I'd love to know how it works out cost-wise using a PC to heat a room than an actual heater.

P.

Re:Obviously not for Canadians

[InvalidError]

If your primary heat is electric, the only cost difference is in computer repairs since computers are far more likely to fail than an electric radiator.

During summer though, I keep only the PCs I need turned on and I take a break from SETI&all.

Not x86 processors

[ackthpt]

These are based upon the MIPS32 RISC processor. Remember the R4000? These are 32 bit, how about that MIPS64 ;-)

upgrade from your SGI workstation to a tablet today!

Re:Not x86 processors

[OverlordQ]

If you want x86 processors AMD already realesed their Geode line for low-power mobile solutions.

One catch

[Quasar1999]

I bet they aren't x86 compatable... cuz if they were... HOLY CRAP!

Re:One catch

[Zutfen]

Realistically, it doesn't matter much that they aren't x86. To me at least. I'm sure Linux will be running on it in no time.

Besides, they're aiming for the PDA market, which doesn't have x86 compatibilty as it stands anyhow.

I wonder if this technology will be adapted to the PC market in any way, shape or form. With such low power consumption, they are a fanless CPU, and a fanless power supply would probably be feasible I imagine. True silent computing sounds good to me... or is that doesn't sound...?

In any case, it is very cool tech, literally, and figuratively speaking.

Re:One catch

[truesaer]

They aren't. However, AMD does have a line of x86 embedded processors known as Geode. For example, I see here a 400Mhz Geode consumes 1.1 watts of power. This is part of their more general x86 everywhere plan...with x86 chips as cheap as $1.

FLOPS per Watt?

[DumbSwede]

It'd be nice to see how these stack up in FLOPS per Watt.

Perhaps these are the chips Supercomputer manufactures should be building machines with. Sounds to be low in cost to build AND low in cost to run.

Re:FLOPS per Watt?

[Ewan]

bluegene is based on that concept, 700mhz per cpu, 12 watts, i believe it achieves something like 6watts per gflop.

Re:FLOPS per Watt?

[ivan256]

Probably zero.

There's no evidence there that the MIPS32 core they used implements the (optional) floating point instructions. Of course you have to sign up for details so I can't say for sure...

Since the video capabilities are handled by an accessory processing unit, and since they were trying to cut power consumption, I'd be surprised if there was an FPU in the general purpose core.

Re:FLOPS per Watt?

[abigor]

You're entirely correct. There's no FPU in these chips, right up to and including the au1550. If you want floating point, you have to do it in software. It's gross and slow, by the way.

How fast are they really?

[jandrese]

The writeup says you can run DivX, etc... but they don't say at what resolution or framerate. I've got PXA-255 based PDAs that can run DivX/WMV...as long as it is no larger than a postage stamp and encoded at more than 15 fps. The processor is still dog slow at stuff like compiling though. The writeup nor the articles give a good impression of exactly how fast these guys are, and that's a little worrysome. I don't mind energy efficent processors, but the last thing I want is something underpowered in my media center (oh, it can't handle 640x480 DivX, yay!).

how long....

[no reason to be here]

until we can get that kind of low power consumption on desktop chips? is there something inherent in desktop applications that prevent some chip maker from making a really low-power, high-performance (~1GHz) processor?

Re:how long....

[Ironsides]

Please look at the Crusoe Processor They consume under 2 watts and I believe they have broken the Ghz barrier.

Re:how long....

[Junks Jerzey]

until we can get that kind of low power consumption on desktop chips? is there something inherent in desktop applications that prevent some chip maker from making a really low-power, high-performance (~1GHz) processor?

Super low power consumption and ultra high speed are inherently at odds with each other. It's like the memory/speed tradeoff that programmers have to deal with. (Crusoe is up around 1GHz, but they're already at twice the wattage of these chips.)

Remember, all CPUs had this kind of power consumption back in the day. You never saw heatsinks on CPUs until the mid 1990s. And processors in 8-bit home computers used milliwatts of power.

for the record:

[drinkypoo]

These processors are new but the Alchemy name is not. AMD has been selling alchemy processors for at least a year.

Mini-ITX replacement...

[B5_geek]

While I love the size and versatile nature of Via's Mini-ITX line, I have found their systems to be very unreliable.

These AMD systems would be perfect for many linux applications;

firewall, file servers, dumb-terminals, HTPC boxes, hell make a cluster out of 100 of them and they still waste less energy then a P4!

It would be cool to see how a cluster like that could handle mpeg4 encoding/decoding.

You also have CarPC's and many other options.
I want some, can ya tell?

Good chips are not the problem

[LittleLebowskiUrbanA]

Getting these things into some decent laptops is. I only issue IBMs at my company and for good reason: the Stinkpads are built like tanks.

From the Product Briefs linked to in the article:

[grommit]

# Support for MPEG1, 2, 4, and WMV9 scaled up to 1024x768
# MPEG2 main profile/main level (720x480, 10Mbps, 30fps)
# MPEG4 advanced simple profile/level 5 (720x480, 8Mbps, 30fps)
# WMV9 main profile/medium level (720x480, 2Mbps, 30fps)

Doesn't look too bad to me. This was for the Au1200 btw.

transmeta

[Anonymouse Cownerd]

dare i say it? this makes transmeta all the more irrelevant. once a cool company with innovative technology, now they are no more than third place runner-up in the processor company race, and falling behind fast.

Well done, AMD

[masterOfTheObivous]

This might very well be AMD's next big thing. The Athlon 64 garnered a lot of attention for them, but now they've entered a new market- competing with Via's Mini-ITX series. SFF's that need the power for MPEG-4 decoding so they can be a good home theater PC would do well to be equipped with one of these. In fact, they even mention:

"AMD Alchemy(TM) Au1200(TM) Processor - is a low-power, high-performance processor solution for Personal Media Player (PMP), automotive and Digital Media Adapter (DMA) applications.

The implications of a low-power, low-heat solution with a lot power go beyond the home theater. The idea of "ubiquitous computing" (IMHO an awful blanket term that gets thrown around far too often) might become possible with a small but still powerful processor.

The one last innovation that caught my eye was the on-processor AES encryption/decryption. Anyone have any ideas of practical applications for this?

These are not new

[Weaselmancer]

I've had an Alchemy Au1100 devboard on my desk for over a year. The disk that came with the devboard is dated 1-27-2003.

There is already a very complete Linux port mostly done by Montavista.

Why Tivo would run this on the main CPU...

[Moryath]

Two words:

NO HEATSINK.

If you can get a video board that works with only a passive heatsink, and then run this thing with a minimal heatsink, you lower your heat problems.

Lower them enough, and you can get a smaller fan to cool the entire unit, or even get away without a fan entirely (though given how long a TIVO has to stay turned on, it's likely you need some minimal level of guaranteed airflow to avoid overheating the unit the same way you used to be able to overheat an NES).

But the smaller, and fewer, fans you have to put into it, the quieter it is. And living-room appliances want to be as quiet as possible, to avoid interfering with the quiet moments inside of a game/movie/TV show.

We use these (they are smokin!)

[Anonymous Coward]

We have ported eCos RTOS to Au1x00 and have used Alchemy CPUs in two embedded products. They have outstanding performance, good GNU tool support, and easy-to-understand MIPS risc goodness.

One thing to watch for: The onboard peripherals are geared more to PDAs (no real watchdog, limited-feature timers, etc). You would want to check your embedded application requirements. On the plus side, the JTAG TAP makes board support and debugging a snap.

AMD mucking around in other fields

[oboylet]

I'm always pleasantly surprised with what AMD cooks up in addition to their x86 business.

AMD is a much more interesting company that we geeks often realize. Too often we think, AMD=Athlon/Opteron, but I find their gadgety endeavors really interesting.

Apple's Airport (and maybe extreme/express, dunno) has a tiny AMD processor , and as the parent points out, now their playing with MIPS archs. A friend of mine worked at the fab in Dresden and said that a third of their operations had to do with flash.

Call me a fanboy, but I sure do like the AMD kool aid. They make neato products and deserve mucho respect.

Re:AMD mucking around in other fields

[iabervon]

Call me a fanboy, but I sure do like the AMD kool aid.

Wouldn't it be more appropriate this time to call you a nofanboy?

Re:What about *MORE* power?

[strelitsa]

Well, here's your chance.

The OCer says...

[lateralus_1024]

Can't wait for ThermalTake to make a Copper Brick heatsink for this bad boy. I'll break the 2Ghz barrier with this. So what if my PDA weighs 15lbs, can yours run AutoCad?

AMD's Geode

[dfj225]

Also of interest would be AMD's Geode line of processors, found here: http://www.amd.com/us-en/ConnectivitySolutions/Pro ductInformation/0,,50_2330_9863,00.html. It looks like these guys run on about 1 Watt and are x86 compatible.

ex DECcies strike again

[Pemdas]

This comes out of AMD's aquisition of Rich Witek's startup (named Alchemy). Rich Witek was one of the original guys working on the Alpha chip (among other projects). Alchemy originally targetted PDA's with their low power MIPS32 processors and on-chip peripheral support.

Interestingly, Dan Dobberpuhl, another Digital alumnus who was influential in the Alpha project, also founded his own company to make MIPS based processers, though for a slightly different target market. That company was SiByte, and was acquired by Broadcom in 2000 or 2001. He has since moved on to start PASemi, which seems to be in the same general business.

Digital may be gone, but it's engineers are still making waves!

low power chips often better tradeoff

[idlake]

Generally, the relationship between compute power and power consumption for a single chip is super-linear. So, for well-parallelizable problems, using more chips that are individually less powerful helps you with overall power consumption.