AMD's GPGPU Fusion

In an interview with Italian media, AMD Executive Giuseppe Amato, Technical Director of Sales & Marketing EMEA, discussed AMD's current market position and future products.

In the interview, Amato shed more light on the structure of AMD's upcoming Fusion processors. A misconception that Amato noteed is that Fusion processors will not only be available in single-chip flavors, but also mutli-chip formats. Two Fusion processors linked together would allow for parallel GPUs. He said that AMD has still not solidified the future plans of Fusion yet, but indicated it would be very likely to see a Fusion processor with a GPU and CPU connected through a CrossFire-like interface -- and have a total TDP of less than 120 Watts.

Amato also praised the flexibility of the Fusion processor in the interview and told Hardware Upgrade that it will allow AMD to "integrate a specific number of GPU and CPU cores depending on the customer and the uses for which they will use the chip."

"AMD isn't just a microprocessor company anymore", he stated. After the acquisition of ATI, "AMD changed from a processor company to a platform company." This is where Fusion ties in. Its high grade of flexibility will combine GPUs and CPUs into one product. Amato believes that Fusion platforms will be able to specifically match the needs of its customers.

AMD's Fusion processors will also be closely tied to GPGPU. Using a GPGPU platform based on Fusion, AMD will be able to offer HPC systems that can do all kinds of work. Code that is more suited for CPUs will be executed on the CPU part of the Fusion processor, while code more efficiently run on a GPGPU will be run on the GPU portion of the processor. To sum it up, AMD's Fusion processors will be able to do a variety of work, allowing them to better meet the needs of AMD's customers.

Amato also dispelled rumors that AMD will be going completely fabless. He blames the source of the rumor as a misinterpretation of a speech Hector Ruiz gave. However, AMD plans to stick to a fab-less manufacturing model for GPU and chipset products.