AMD updates C-series, E-series Fusion processors

By Geoff Duncan August 22, 2011

AMD Fusion APU — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Chipmaker AMD had announced updated versions of its Fusion C-series and E-series processors, beefing up graphics and whittling down power consumption to make the chips even more appealing to makers of ultrathin notebooks, netbooks, and all-in-one desktop systems. Dubbed APUs (for Accelerated Processing Unit) rather than CPUs, AMD’s Fusion line aims to compete with offerings from Intel by offering multi-core performance and powerful integrated graphics, along with lower price points.

“Today’s PC users want stunning HD graphics and accelerated performance with all-day battery life and that’s what AMD Fusion APUs deliver,” said AMD Clint Division VP and general manager Chris Cloran, in a statement. “With these new APUs, we’re bringing premium features to entry-level products that let users get a richer computing experience.”

Formerly known under the codenames Zacate and Ontario, the new C-series APUs look to appeal to netbook and ultrathin notebook fans, with AMD claiming the chips can offer up to 12 hours of battery like on a single charge. The E-series aren’t slouches either—AMD says they’ll offer users up to 10.5 hours of battery life, plus they support DDR 1333 memory and HDMI 1.4a video output to support 3D content. Both support DirectX11 graphics for high-definition video and gaming support.

Get your weekly teardown of the tech behind PC gaming

Although AMD hasn’t named any OEM partners, the company says the new C-series and E-series Fusion chips are shipping on machines available today, and can be identified with AMD’s Vision Technology or HD Internet stickers.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

AMD

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Geoff Duncan writes, programs, edits, plays music, and delights in making software misbehave. He's probably the only member…

Computing

It’s time to stop believing these PC building myths

Hyte's Thicc Q60 all-in-one liquid cooler.

As far as hobbies go, PC hardware is neither the cheapest nor the easiest one to get into. That's precisely why you may often run into various misconceptions and myths.

These myths have been circulating for so long now that many accept them as a universal truth, even though they're anything but. Below, I'll walk you through some PC beliefs that have been debunked over and over, and, yet, are still prevalent.
Liquid cooling is high-maintenance (and scary)

Computing

AMD’s next-gen CPUs are much closer than we thought

AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D held between fingertips.

We already knew that AMD would launch its Zen 5 CPUs this year, but recent motherboard updates hint that a release is imminent. Both MSI and Asus have released updates for their 600-series motherboards that explicitly add support for "next-generation AMD Ryzen processors," setting the stage for AMD's next-gen CPUs.

This saga started a few days ago when hardware leaker 9550pro spotted an MSI BIOS update, which they shared on X (formerly Twitter). Since then, Asus has followed suit with BIOS updates of its own featuring a new AMD Generic Encapsulated Software Architecture (AGESA) -- the firmware responsible for starting the CPU -- that brings support for next-gen CPUs (spotted by VideoCardz).

Computing

AMD Zen 5: Everything we know about AMD’s next-gen CPUs

The AMD Ryzen 5 8600G APU installed in a motherboard.

AMD Zen 5 is the next-generation Ryzen CPU architecture for Team Red and is slated for a launch sometime in 2024. We've been hearing tantalizing rumors for a while now and promises of big leaps in performance. In short, Zen 5 could be very exciting indeed.

We don't have all the details, but what we're hearing is very promising. Here's what we know about Zen 5 so far.
Zen 5 release date and availability
AMD confirmed in January 2024 that it was on track to launch Zen 5 sometime in the "second half of the year." Considering the launch of Zen 4 was in September 2022, we would expect to see Zen 5 desktop processors debut around the same timeframe, possibly with an announcement in the summer at Computex.