New AMD A-Series APU Offers Mobile PC Users Innovative Experiences, Elite Graphics Performance and Longer Battery Life

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Notebooks With Highest Performance AMD A-Series APUs Expected on Shelf This Month

SUNNYVALE, CA -- (Marketwire) -- 03/12/13 -- AMD (NYSE: AMD) today announced the first availability of the AMD Elite A-Series Accelerated Processing Units (APUs), codenamed "Richland." The new AMD Elite A-Series APUs deliver innovative user experiences like facial log-in and gesture recognition, improved graphics(1) and compute performance(2) over the previous generation, and enhanced power management capabilities on a single chip.

"The high performance AMD A-Series APU continues to impress with its ability to deliver stunning graphics and immersive experiences with even more battery life. Our engineers have done a superb job of increasing processor performance while decreasing power consumption," said Bernd Lienhard, corporate vice president and general manager of AMD's Client Business Unit. "With the capabilities built into our 2013 AMD Elite A-Series APUs, including new software for gesture control, facial recognition, rich entertainment and more lifelike gaming, we are delivering an ever richer experience to end users and our customers."

With faster performance(1, 2) and improved power management in the same platform architecture as its predecessor, coupled with AMD Radeon™ HD 8000 Series graphics, the 2013 AMD Elite A-Series APUs build on the award-winning history of AMD's original APU line-up to help users get the most out of their notebooks, whether at work, at home or on-the-go.

Differentiated User Experiences
The new AMD Elite A-Series APUs leverage the power of the combined compute and graphics cores to accelerate a suite of available software experiences that can dramatically expand and enhance the user experience:

  • AMD Face Login(3) - Uses facial recognition technology and a webcam to allow for quick log-in to Windows and other browser-based websites that require a log-in, like social networking sites and email services;
  • AMD Gesture Control(4) - Tracks a user's hand gestures and converts them into commands for basic functions on media players, browsers, e-readers and other popular applications leveraging a webcam, advanced image processing and machine-vision algorithms;
  • AMD Screen Mirror(5) - Wirelessly shares content like photos, videos, HD media streams and webpages from a PC or tablet based on a 2013 AMD A-Series APU with any supported TV or display with a DLNA receiver, or with other PCs. Available only on select AMD-based devices;
  • AMD Video Entertainment Features - Make your content look its very best: AMD Steady Video technology(6) gives users push-button control over shaky home video and helps stabilize the images for better viewing; AMD Quick Stream technology(7) enables smooth video streaming and a virtually interruption free streaming experience; and AMD Perfect Picture HD(8), creates rich and lifelike color on video entertainment.

This optimized-for-AMD software will come pre-loaded on select AMD Elite A-Series APU-based notebooks later this year and will be downloadable from www.amd.com next month.

Next Level Performance
Through engineering optimizations on the previous generation of the AMD A-Series APU platform architecture (formerly codenamed "Trinity") and updated graphics, the 2013 AMD Elite A-Series APUs feature significant performance increases(1, 2), along with support for high-end technologies:

  • Visual and compute performance increases over the previous generation of AMD A-Series APUs(1, 2);
  • AMD Start Now Technology(9) for tablet-like responsiveness;
  • Improved AMD Turbo CORE technology with higher boost frequencies than the previous generation, for more performance when you need it and energy conservation when you don't;
  • Support for AMD Eyefinity technology(10), AMD Radeon™ Dual Graphics(11), and DirectX®11.

Enhanced Power Management
AMD continues a power/performance leadership through the latest generation of power management technologies. These boosting and throttling technologies enable more intelligent, higher compute and graphics core performance to help enhance PC responsiveness and extend battery life. Building on the idea of AMD AllDay™ Power, the 2013 AMD Elite A-Series Platform enables up to 7.9 hours of web browsing, 5.7 hours of HD video playback and up to 10 hours of resting battery life on a 55 watt/hour battery(12, 13, 14).

Availability and Technical Details
Performance and traditional notebooks based on these 2013 AMD Elite A-Series APUs are shipping now with availability beginning this month in select regions. Model numbers and technical details for each are as follows: 


First Quarter 2013 AMD Elite A-Series APUs
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
           AMD                             AMD
  APU    Radeon™        CPU    CPU Clock Radeon™  GPU Clock            Max
 Model    Brand  TDP   Cores  (Max/Base)  Cores  (Max/Base) L2 Cache   DDR3
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
  A10-                          3.5GHz/            720MHz/            DDR3-
 5750M  HD 8650G 35W     4      2.5GHz     384     533MHz      4MB     1866
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
  A8-                           3.1GHz/            720MHz/            DDR3-
 5550M  HD 8550G 35W     4      2.1GHz     256     515MHz      4MB     1600
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
  A6-                           3.5GHz/            720MHz/            DDR3-
 5350M  HD 8450G 35W     2      2.9GHz     192     533MHz      1MB     1600
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
  A4-                           3.3GHz/            720MHz/            DDR3-
 5150M  HD 8350G 35W     2      2.7GHz     128     514MHz      1MB     1600
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

New, low-voltage and desktop variants of AMD Elite A-Series APUs are expected to be announced and available in the first half of 2013.

Supporting Resources

About AMD
AMD (NYSE: AMD) is a semiconductor design innovator leading the next era of vivid digital experiences with its groundbreaking AMD Accelerated Processing Units (APUs) that power a wide range of computing devices. AMD's server computing products are focused on driving industry-leading cloud computing and virtualization environments. AMD's superior graphics technologies are found in a variety of solutions ranging from game consoles, PCs to supercomputers. For more information, visit www.amd.com.

This document contains forward-looking statements concerning AMD, the timing and features of AMD's future products, the ability of AMD to win in high-growth consumer segments with new APU products in 2013, the benefits from AMD's new technology partnerships and the timing of future products that incorporate AMD's products, which are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are commonly identified by words such as "would," "may," "expects," "believes," "plans," "intends," "projects," and other terms with similar meaning. Investors are cautioned that the forward-looking statements in this document are based on current beliefs, assumptions and expectations, speak only as of the date of this document and involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations. Risks include the possibility that Intel Corporation's pricing, marketing and rebating programs, product bundling, standard setting, new product introductions or other activities may negatively impact the company's plans; the company may be unable to develop, launch and ramp new products and technologies in the volumes that are required by the market at mature yields on a timely basis; that the company's third party foundry suppliers will be unable to transition its products to advanced manufacturing process technologies in a timely and effective way or to manufacture the company's products on a timely basis in sufficient quantities and using competitive technologies; the company will be unable to obtain sufficient manufacturing capacity or components to meet demand for its products or will not fully utilize its commitment with respect to GLOBALFOUNDRIES microprocessor manufacturing facilities; that customers stop buying the company's products or materially reduce their operations or demand for the company's products; that the company may be unable to maintain the level of investment in research and development that is required to remain competitive; that there may be unexpected variations in the market growth and demand for its products and technologies in light of the product mix that the company may have available at any particular time or a decline in demand; that the company will require additional funding and may be unable to raise sufficient capital on favorable terms, or at all; that global business and economic conditions will not improve or will worsen; that demand for computers will be lower than currently expected; and the effect of political or economic instability, domestically or internationally, on the company's sales or supply chain. Investors are urged to review in detail the risks and uncertainties in the company's Securities and Exchange Commission filings, including but not limited to the Annual Report on Form 10-K for the quarter ended December 29, 2012.

AMD, the AMD Arrow logo, AMD AllDay, Radeon, and combinations thereof, are trademarks of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. Windows is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and other countries. Other names are for informational purposes only and may be trademarks of their respective owners.

Footnotes:

1. Testing and projections develops by AMD Performance Labs. The score for the 2012 AMD A10-4600M on 3DMark Vantage P benchmark was 4500 and the 2012 AMD A8-4555M was 2430 while the "Richland" 2013 AMD A10-5750M was 5000and the 2013 AMD A8-5545M was 3930. PC configurations based on the "Pumori" reference design with the 2012 AMD A10-4600M with Radeon™ HD 7660G graphics, the 2012 AMD A8-4555M with AMD Radeon™ HD 7600G graphics, and the 2013 AMD A10-5750M with AMD Radeon™ HD 8650G graphics and the 2013 AMD A8-5545M with AMD Radeon™ 8510G Graphics. All configurations used 4G DDR3-1600 (Dual Channel) Memory and Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit. RIN-2

2. Testing and projections develops by AMD Performance Labs. The score for the 2012 AMD A10-4600M on the Cinebench Multi CPU benchmark was 2.0 and the 2012 AMD A8-4555M was 1.30, while the "Richland" 2013 AMD A10-5750M was 2.35 and the 2013 AMD A8-5545M was 1.55. PC configurations based on the "Pumori" reference design with the 2012 AMD A10-4600M with Radeon™ HD 7660G graphics, the 2012 AMD A8-4555M with AMD Radeon™ HD 7600G graphics, the 2013 AMD A10-5750M with AMD Radeon™ HD 8650G graphics and the 2013 AMD A8-5545M with AMD Radeon™ 8510G Graphics. All configurations used 4G DDR3-1600 (Dual Channel) Memory and Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit. RIN-3

3. AMD Face Login: AMD Face Login is designed as a convenient tool to help you log-in to Windows and many popular web sites quickly. It should not be used to protect your computer and personal information from unwanted access. Only available on upcoming AMD A10 and A8 APUs codenamed "Richland" and upcoming AMD A6 and A4 APUs codenamed "Temash." Requires a webcam, and will only operate on PCs running Windows 7 or Windows 8 operating system and Internet Explorer version 9 or 10. Internet connection is required for website login and use of other online features.

4. AMD Gesture Control: AMD Gesture Control is designed to enable gesture recognition as a tool for controlling certain applications on your PC. Only available on upcoming AMD A10 and A8 APUs codenamed "Richland" and upcoming AMD A6 and A4 APUs codenamed "Temash." Requires a web camera, and will only operate on PCs running Windows 7 or Windows 8 operating system. Supported Windows desktop apps include: Windows Media Player, Windows Photo Viewer, Microsoft PowerPoint and Adobe Acrobat Reader. Supported Windows Store apps include: Microsoft Photos, Microsoft Music, Microsoft Reader and Kindle. Performance may be degraded in low lighting or intensely-focused lighting environments.

5. AMD Screen Mirror is designed to enable the transmission and display of your PC screen on other compatible networked "mirror" devices. Only available on upcoming AMD A10, A8 and A6 APUs codenamed "Richland" and upcoming AMD A6 and A4 APUs codenamed "Temash." Compatible Digital Media Renderer (DMR) devices are listed on the Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) website (http://www.dlna.org/consumer-home/look-for-dlna/product-search) with the "'Play To' Receiver" feature and must also include H.264 and AAC support. Both PC and DMR device must be connected to a network that will permit content streaming. AMD Screen Mirror supports almost all popular image, audio and video file formats as well as applications showing on your PC screen, but will not mirror protected content. Requires minimum screen resolution of 800x600. Performance may be degraded on networks with limited bandwidth, especially with high definition content.

6. AMD Steady Video is a technology designed to eliminate shakes and jitters during the playback of home video. Users may turn on this technology via the AMD Catalyst Control Center™ or the VISION Engine Control Center application. AMD Steady Video will work with content that can run on Adobe® Flash® Player 10.2 (and later versions) or on any player which has been programmed to use AMD's decode acceleration (DXVA) engine. AMD Steady Video is not designed to (a) isolate overlays, logos or captions, or (b) improve the playback of letter boxed, premium/commercial, or interlaced content. AMD Steady Video is only recommended for use with videos that contain unwanted shakes and jitters.

7. AMD Quick Stream is a technology designed to prioritize video streaming over other activities requiring Internet bandwidth for a smooth, uninterrupted video stream. AMD Quick Stream technology is available on select PCs and requires Windows®7. Not all features may be supported on all systems -- check with your system manufacturer for specific model capabilities and supported technologies.

8. AMD Perfect Picture HD is an image, video processing and display technology that features advanced de-interlacing, dynamic contrast adjustment, color vibrancy, noise reduction and edge enhancement that provides brilliant colors and sharp images for smooth playback of Blu-ray and other HD content on your PC.

9. AMD Start Now technology is a BIOS optimized solution designed to deliver better system responsiveness by minimizing the time to wake up the system from sleep mode, boot the system to desktop and connect to a wireless local area network. Actual times will vary based on operating system, APU, driver, disk drive and memory speed. AMD Start Now technology is available with select AMD APUs when running Windows 7 or Windows 8. Check with your component or system manufacturer or retailer for specific model capabilities.

10. AMD Eyefinity technology works with applications that support non-standard aspect ratios, which is required for spanning across multiple displays. AMD Eyefinity technology can support up to 4 displays using a single enabled AMD R-Series APU or up to 6 displays using a single enabled AMD graphics card with Windows Vista or Windows 7 operating systems -- the number and type of displays may vary by board design. Some implementations may require DisplayPort 1.2 Multi-Stream Transport technology with compatible monitors and/or hubs. SLS ("Single Large Surface") functionality requires an identical display resolution on all configured displays.

11. AMD Radeon™ Dual Graphics requires an AMD "A" series APU plus an AMD Radeon™ discrete graphics configuration and is available on Windows® 7 and/or Windows 8 OS. Linux OS supports manual switching which requires restart of X-Server to engage and/or disengage the discrete graphics processor for dual graphics capabilities. With AMD Radeon™ Dual Graphics, full enablement of all discrete graphics video and display features may not be supported on all systems (e.g. AMD Eyefinity technology is not supported and OpenGL applications will run on the APU). Check with your component or system manufacturer for specific mode capabilities and supported technologies.

12. Testing conducted by AMD Performance Labs on optimized AMD reference systems. PC manufacturers may vary configuration yielding different results. The "Richland" A10 platform browsed through 20 popular Websites via Broadcom Wi-Fi antenna connection for 475 minutes (~7.9 hours). Richland data based on the "Pumori" reference design with the AMD A10-5750M with AMD Radeon™ HD 8650G graphics, 4G DDR3L-1600 (Dual Channel) Memory, 14" 1366 x 768 eDP Panel / LED Backlight set at 100 nits, HDD (SATA) -- 250GB 5400rpm, Broadcom 43228 2x2 802.11n network adapter, a 6 cell Li-Ion 55Whr battery pack at 98% utilization and Windows 8 64bit. AMD defines "all-day" battery life as 8+ hours of battery life in Screen Idle mode. RIN-18

13. Testing conducted by AMD Performance Labs on optimized AMD reference systems. PC manufacturers may vary configuration yielding different results. The 2013 AMD A10 "Richland" platform played 1080p video from the HDD for 342 minutes (~5.7 hours). Richland data based on the "Pumori" reference design with the AMD A10-5750M with AMD Radeon™ HD 8650G graphics, 4G DDR3L-1600 (Dual Channel) Memory, 14" 1366 x 768 eDP Panel / LED Backlight set at 100 nits, HDD (SATA) -- 250GB 5400rpm, a 6 cell Li-Ion 55Whr battery pack at 98% utilization and Windows 8 64bit. AMD defines "all-day" battery life as 8+ hours of battery life in Screen Idle mode. RIN-19

14. Testing conducted by AMD Performance Labs on optimized AMD reference systems. PC manufacturers may vary configuration yielding different results. The 2013 AMD A10 "Richland" platform idled for 634 minutes (~10.6 hours) in Windows 8 idle mode. Richland data based on the "Pumori" reference design with the AMD A10-5750M with AMD Radeon™ HD 8650G graphics, 4G DDR3L-1600 (Dual Channel) Memory, 14" 1366 x 768 eDP Panel / LED Backlight set at 100 nits, HDD (SATA) - 250GB 5400rpm, a 6 cell Li-Ion 55Whr battery pack at 98% utilization and Windows 8 64bit. AMD defines "all-day" battery life as 8+ hours of battery life in Screen Idle mode. RIN-17

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Contact:
Sarah Youngbauer
AMD Public Relations
(512) 602-3028
sarah.youngbauer@amd.com

Source: Advanced Micro Devices

Released March 12, 2013