AMD Empowers PC Industry to Deliver Innovative Small Form Factor Solutions With DTX and New Energy-Efficient Processors

Download as PDF

Open Standards Approach Enables Aesthetically-Pleasing Platform Solutions That Combine Leading-Edge Performance With Reduced Power Consumption

TAIPEI, Taiwan--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Further advancing the availability of energy-efficient platforms, at Computex today, AMD (NYSE:AMD) announced the finalization of the DTX specification, an open standard initiated by AMD to enable the development of small form factor PCs. AMD also introduced new 45-watt energy-efficient processors based on 65nm technology, the AMD Athlon(TM) X2 dual-core processor BE-2350 and the AMD Athlon X2 dual-core processor BE-2300. These innovations help AMD deliver on its commitment to lead the world to energy efficient processing by empowering OEMs and system builders to deliver smaller, quieter computing solutions for the home or office desktop, as well as other locations throughout home.

Industry partners including Albatron, Asus, Cooler Master, ECS, Gigabyte, MSI, Silverstone, and Thermaltake are demonstrating functional DTX demonstration platforms at AMD Booth #TF1I at Computex, Hall 4 TICC with the intent to deliver systems later in 2007.

"AMD remains committed to enabling our ecosystem partners, and the ecosystem as a whole, to develop systems that are not only energy-efficient, but also visually compelling for end users," said Bob Brewer, corporate vice president and general manager, Desktop Division, AMD. "Our leadership of the DTX initiative, combined with the introduction of new energy-efficient desktop processors, demonstrates AMD's belief that an open standards approach to driving innovation is the best way to enable solutions to exceed the needs of commercial customers and consumers."

    Industry continues to rally behind energy-efficient solutions

Just six months since AMD first introduced the DTX draft guidelines, AMD has received industry support as well as functioning designs from OEMs, ODMs, component vendors and other industry stakeholders rallying around the possibilities and benefits of developing DTX-based small form factors.

"Strengthening our position as an innovative motherboard manufacturer, ASUS is proud to support AMD's vision for standardized, open components for small form factor PCs that offer system builders the ability to expand product portfolios by manufacturing specially designed DTX motherboards that fit into a DTX-compliant chassis," said Joe Hsieh, director of ASUS's Motherboard Business Department. "Launching our family of DTX motherboards in Q4 of this year will allow us to offer our customers' access to truly innovative solutions that lower system size and power consumption, while boosting aesthetics and performance."

With the release of these final guidelines, AMD is helping to empower the PC industry to develop open platforms and components with an emphasis on cost efficiency, system options and backward-compatibility.

"Enhanced proliferation of small form factor desktops can help to significantly spur growth in the overall desktop PC category. Key to any additional growth in small form factor desktops is smaller motherboards, which enable greater design flexibility and new opportunities for desktop innovation," said Richard Shim, senior research analyst, Personal Computing, IDC. "IDC believes a widely supported small motherboard specification can accelerate the adoption of small form factor desktops, starting in the commercial desktop market and extending into niches within consumer desktop."

Energy-efficient processors from AMD not only enable differentiated solutions, but are extremely conducive to developing smaller and sleeker form factors that take up less space and are designed to operate quietly. Small form factor PCs can also help cut down on energy consumed and have less impact on the environment than traditional PC form factors. Benefiting both consumers and businesses of all sizes, energy-efficient AMD Athlon X2 processors enable system designs that are capable of reduced noise and heat emissions with extended longevity, for a quieter and more pleasant computing experience in offices and homes. AMD's new line of energy-efficient 45-watt processors is particularly well suited for standardized small form factors, including those adhering to the DTX specification.

Dell, Fujitsu Siemens Computers, Lenovo, and leading system builders worldwide continue to support platforms based on energy-efficient AMD Athlon processors.

"Dell is committed to delivering the most energy-efficient desktops in the industry and AMD plays a key role in helping us deliver on that promise," said Darrel Ward, director, Dell Product Group. "With the security, reliability and manageability of Dell's award-winning OptiPlex 740, 45 watt AMD Athlon X2 processors allow us to pack performance and customer choice in a power-efficient package."

"With our energy-saving ESPRIMO Professional PCs, Fujitsu Siemens Computers continues to leverage our green product strategy and exceed even environmental standards as set by law and market conditions," said Andreas Thimmel, senior vice president Business Clients, Fujitsu Siemens Computers. "By launching the new energy-saving edition of our ESPRIMO PC, powered by 45 watt, energy-efficient AMD Athlon X2 processors, Fujitsu Siemens is pleased to offer desktop users the benefits of best-in-class performance capabilities and low power consumption. Both Fujitsu Siemens Computers and AMD have a long tradition of developing innovative solutions that combine optimal productivity with exceptional energy efficiency."

"Lenovo is committed to building the best-engineered PCs, and energy efficiency continues to play an important role in our PC design," said Tom Tobul, executive director, product marketing Lenovo. "We are pleased to support AMD's launch of its new energy-efficient AMD Athlon X2 processors as we develop innovative products that are powering businesses today."

AMD supports ENERGY STAR(R) Version 4 specification

The introduction of 45-watt AMD Athlon X2 processors is the latest effort by AMD to deliver energy-efficient platform solutions with technologies such as AMD Cool'n'Quiet(TM) technology. In March 2005, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) awarded Cool'n'Quiet technology special recognition for advancing energy-efficient computer technologies. AMD expects that systems built using energy-efficient AMD desktop processors can meet, and in many instances exceed, the new system requirements from the EPA's ENERGY STAR Version 4 computer specification, effective July 20, 2007.

"The speed of innovation is powering an energy-efficiency revolution in the computer industry," said Bob Meyers, deputy assistant administrator for EPA's Office of Air and Radiation. "Through a new ENERGY STAR specification for computers, EPA and innovative technology partners like AMD are developing energy-efficient technologies that help build a sustainable environment for future generations."

In conjunction with the introduction of AMD's new 45-watt processors at Computex, AMD is also announcing that it is beginning a transition to a new desktop model numbering convention designed to clearly communicate product improvements and differences. The new convention, which AMD plans to apply to upcoming products, is designed to create more visible model increments representing the step function performance of multi-core processors in many usage scenarios. As new processors are introduced, the new system should be increasingly valuable in identifying and distinguishing AMD processors. For more information on AMD desktop processor model numbers, please visit http://www.amd.com/us-en/Processors/ProductInformation/ 0,,30_118_9485_13041^13076,00.html. (Due to its length, this URL may need to be copied/pasted into your Internet browser's address field. Remove the extra space if one exists.)

NOTE TO EDITORS: In the Internet address noted in this news release, there is a "caret" between 0,,30_118_9485_13041 and 13076,00.html. This symbol may not appear properly in some systems.

Pricing and availability

These energy efficient processors are available immediately, with the AMD Athlon X2 dual-core processor BE-2350 priced at $91 and AMD Athlon X2 dual-core processor BE-2300 priced at $86, both for 1K unit PIB.

About AMD

Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE:AMD) is a leading global provider of innovative processing solutions in the computing, graphics and consumer electronics markets. AMD is dedicated to driving open innovation, choice and industry growth by delivering superior customer-centric solutions that empower consumers and businesses worldwide. For more information, visit www.amd.com.

(C) 2007 Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. AMD, AMD Athlon, the AMD Arrow logo, and combinations thereof, and Cool'n'Quiet are trademarks of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. ENERGY STAR is a registered trademark of the U.S. Government. Other names are for informational purposes only and may be trademarks of their respective owners.

Quote Addendum

Customers continue to support the DTX open standard with commitments to deliver DTX motherboards and chassis, as well as demonstrations of functioning DTX systems at AMD Booth #TF1I at Computex, Hall 4 TICC.

"At Albatron, we are proud to support AMD's leadership in driving standardization for smaller, more energy efficient PCs with our leading edge motherboard engineering capability," said Darryl Chan, Product Marketing Director of Albatron. "The new open standard DTX form factor, designed to be backwards compatible with current ecosystem offerings, presents us with a powerful platform to innovate and launch a family of DTX-compatible motherboards in the fourth quarter of this year that empower compact desktop systems, combining such stellar benefits as electricity savings, quieter operation, upgraded aesthetics and reduced heat emission."

"By pioneering the development of DTX specifications, we believe that AMD has increased the momentum on the evolution of desktop systems into smaller form factors with lower thermal design power," said Roger Lin, CEO at Cooler Master. "As a leading provider of cutting-edge products with superior cooling capabilities, Cooler Master sees this standardization as a major step forward for the PC industry as a whole and intends to wholeheartedly support the widespread adoption of PCs that take up less space, are more aesthetically pleasing and reduce energy consumption."

"We applaud AMD's DTX open standard specifications that have revolutionized the small form factor market and provided end users the twin benefits of size advantage and power savings," said SF Chang, Associate VP at ECS. "As DTX brings to market an SFF standard suited for developing chassis that embrace the consumer look and feel, we look forward to launching our DTX-compliant chassis later this year and offering our customers a quieter, more pleasant computing experience in offices and homes everywhere."

"AMD's development of the DTX specification represents the future of small form factor PCs and at Gigabyte, we are proud to collaborate with AMD to help enable the broad adoption of a path breaking solution," said Bill Hong General Manager of ODM B.U. at Gigabyte. "By teaming up with AMD on yet another venture to accelerate efficiency and increase compatibility, we look forward to opening up new desktop computing possibilities for our customers with the availability of our new line of DTX motherboards that will be backward-compatible with the existing ATX infrastructure, by the end of 2007."

"As a provider of leading-edge PC hardware solutions that are easy to integrate, while boosting overall system performance, MSI is proud to support the DTX specifications being driven by AMD to pioneer the standardization of small form factor motherboards," said Charles Chiang, the R&D vice-president of MSI Corp. "Continuing our focus on supporting AMD's revolutionary products and technologies, we look forward to making our new line of DTX motherboards, capable of fitting into a DTX or ATX chassis and combining aesthetic value with stellar performance, available to our shared customers in time for the holiday season."

"We are very excited to see AMD leading the DTX form factor initiative, an open standard specification with tremendous upsides," said Joe Lee, president of SilverStone Technology. "The ability for DTX motherboards to seamlessly integrate with our current small form factor and home theater chassis now is one of its greatest strength that should enable rapid adoption by our customers. We look forward to driving the DTX popularity to new heights with a full line of DTX-compliant chassis towards the end of this year."

"Thermaltake believes that DTX offers real value to the end users, system builders and supply channels and we are pleased to support this initiative by developing a family of DTX-only chassis adhering to the DTX specifications driven by AMD, and to providing our customers exceptional energy efficiency to meet their personal or enterprise desktop computing needs," said Kenny Lin, President at Thermaltake. "By releasing our DTX-compliant solutions in the fourth quarter of this year, we welcome the opportunity to further our scope for thermal innovation and deliver optimally-designed small form factor systems that are aesthetically pleasing, consume less power and emit less noise."

Source: Advanced Micro Devices

Released June 5, 2007