AMD Reveals 6th Generation A-Series Processor With 12 Compute Cores, Includes HEVC Hardware Decode Support

AMD today announced its 6th Generation A-Series Processor, the world’s first high-performance Accelerated Processing Unit (APU) in a System-on-Chip (SoC) design. Previously codenamed “Carrizo”, the 6th Generation AMD A-Series Processor takes advantage of extensive AMD processor and graphics IP enabling exceptional computing experiences not possible before. It comes with number of technology firsts: the world’s first High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) hardware decode support for notebooks, the first Heterogeneous Systems Architecture (HSA) 1.0-compliant design, and the first ARM® TrustZone®-capable high-performance APU. The new processor harnesses up to 12 Compute Cores – 4 CPU + 8 GPU* – leveraging AMD “Excavator” cores and the third generation of AMD’s award-winning Graphics Core Next (GCN) architecture. The result is a groundbreaking processor that boasts more than twice the battery life of its predecessor, up to 2x faster gaming performance than competitive processors, innovative computing experiences enabled through HSA, and a premium Microsoft® Windows® 10 experience with support for DirectX® 12, adding up to an extraordinary experience for consumers.

Press Release info:

Superior Streaming Entertainment

• 6th Generation AMD A-Series Processors bring HEVC/H.265 to the notebook for the first time, enabling consumers to benefit from higher quality, lower bandwidth streaming video playback versus traditional H.264 videos.
• Enjoy superb visual quality for entertainment including support for Ultra HD resolution videos using AMD Perfect Picture with Steady Video technology.⁴
• Benefit from energy-efficient playback that allows for almost 2x more viewing on a single battery charge than its predecessor.⁵
• Power through media conversion faster with up to 5x accelerated encoding performance compared to CPU-only processing.⁶

Smooth Online Gaming

• 6th Generation AMD A-Series Processors come with discrete-class graphics built in, harnessing AMD Radeon™ Graphics Core Next (GCN) Architecture to deliver up to 2x the gaming performance of competitive processors.
• Enjoy true, playable HD notebook gaming with the most popular online titles including DoTA 2, League of Legends, and Counter Strike: Global Offensive, among others.
• Play for hours unplugged on the latest eSports titles, almost twice the duration of its predecessor.⁷
• Benefit from AMD Dual Graphics combining 6th Generation AMD Notebook Processors with select AMD Radeon™ R7 Mobile graphics to boost frame rates in games by up to 42 percent.⁸
• Enjoy smooth, stutter- and tear-free gaming with AMD FreeSync™ technology.⁹
• Be ready for the future with support for multi-threaded APIs including DirectX™ 12, Vulkan™ and AMD’s Mantle that enable the most advanced gaming technologies designed to improve performance and visual fidelity.

Innovative Computing Experiences

• 6th Generation AMD A-Series Processors punch above their weight, harnessing up to 12 Compute Cores (4 CPU + 8 GPU)* to realize up to twice the performance of competitive solutions in compute-heavy workloads.¹⁰
• AMD Gesture Control is available on mainstream notebooks, allowing users to navigate and control their notebook with a simple wave of the hand without added costs.¹¹
• For the most complete Microsoft Windows® 10 experience, 6th Generation AMD A-Series Processors accelerate video playback on the forthcoming operating system with native HEVC decode supported, and enable the latest Windows® 10 features with Secure boot and resume, Trusted Platform Module (TPM 2.0), and Drive Key Encryption using the first AMD Secure Processor for performance APUs.

 

Notebooks featuring the 6th Generation AMD A-Series Processor will be available from top OEMs starting in June.