• AMD Fusion Developer Summit 2012 (Fusion12) Announced

The AMD Fusion Developer Summit 2012 (Fusion12) was announced in a press release on the 07 Dec 2011. This is available below:-

AMD (NYSE: AMD) today announced that AMD Fusion Developer Summit 2012 (Fusion12) will be held on June 11-14, 2012 in Bellevue, Washington. The company’s annual developer summit will return to the Meydenbauer Center and the Hyatt Regency in Bellevue.

This event will build on the success of the sold out AMD Fusion11 earlier this year, where more than 700 software development leaders from industry, academia, and government converged on the forefront of heterogeneous computing. The summit offers an engaging opportunity to learn more about next-generation software development and Accelerated Processing Unit (APU) technology, central processing unit (CPU) and graphics processing unit (GPU) processor technologies, and programming methods using industry-standard application programming interfaces (APIs) such as OpenCL™, OpenGL™, Microsoft DirectCompute and C++ AMP.

“AMD exceeded my expectations with their AMD Fusion Developer Summit this past June,” said Jon Peddie, principal and founder, Jon Peddie Research. “I saw an open and instructive exchange of ideas on software development, tools and APIs, free from the marketing hype that you get at many conferences.”

“As the only provider of world-class APUs, GPUs and CPUs, AMD is leading advancement of heterogeneous computing and OpenCL, both of which have reached a tipping point as demand grows for new user interfaces and immersive computing experiences,” said Manju Hegde, corporate vice president, AMD Fusion Experience Program. “AMD has a history of customer-driven innovation based on industry standards and AMD Fusion12 will be the ideal place for developers, academics and innovators to collaborate around that software innovation.”


Call for Presentation Proposals
AMD invites pioneers of next-generation software and the rapidly growing field of heterogeneous computing to share their latest work and research findings in the form of presentations. Presenters will have an opportunity to advocate new methodologies and paradigms, garner support for industry standards, and network with developers, innovators and academics who will help define the course of this technology. Presentation proposals are invited on the following topics:

• Browsers and Web Apps
• Cloud Computing – Servers and Data Center
• Gaming and Consumer Graphics
• Heterogeneous Computing
• Innovative Client Experiences
• Multimedia Processing
• Professional Graphics and Visual Computing
• Programming Languages and Models
• Programming Tools
• Security

Presentation proposals must be submitted by February 17, 2012. All proposals will be reviewed by a summit board composed of researchers, academics and practitioners in the field. Selected candidates will be notified by March 15, 2012.


Building on the Success of AMD Fusion11

Approximately 700 attendees were present at AMD Fusion11 where Microsoft first announced C++ AMP. Attendees engaged in industry keynotes, interactive technical sessions, pre-summit tutorials and hands-on labs to explore advanced parallel processing programmability and tools. The results from a post-event survey reinforced this focus with more than 80 percent of respondents saying they attended to learn about the latest advances and trends in heterogeneous computing. Moreover, when choosing an application programming interface for parallel processing, 75 percent of attendees reported that they either are deploying OpenCL now, or plan to do so in their future software development.1 AMD Fusion11 featured keynotes from Microsoft, ARM and Corel, as well as AMD. Additionally, there were many technical sessions and presentations about a range of topics including developer tools, enterprise computing, security, professional graphics and visual computing, and a roundtable discussion addressing “Why Industry Standards Foster Innovation.”

Morgan Kaufmann publishers also used AMD Fusion11 as a backdrop to promote their new book about OpenCL and application programming interfaces (APIs) titled, “Heterogeneous Computing with OpenCL,” which is now available.


Data taken from http://www.amd.com/us/press-releases/Pages/amd-announces-fusion12-2011dec07.aspx

• NVIDIA vs AMD - Clash of the GPUs

NVIDIA and AMD has been rivaling since long when it comes to graphics processing unit (GPU). Such rivalry between the GPU makers, NVIDIA and AMD, is one of the fiercest in the world of technology, especially for delivering quality graphics and videos, with both companies want their devices powering your computer’s graphics.

In this article, we will try to see the products that these two manufacturers, NVIDIA and AMD have to offer for the following categories: high-end, mid-range, and entry- level.


NVIDIA vs AMD - Clash of the GPUs : High-end Graphics cards

When it comes to high end graphics cards (GPUs), NVIDIA presents the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 590 graphics card, while AMD comes with the AMD Radeon HD 6990. With 4 GB of GDDR5 RAM, 3 072 stream processors, an 830 MHz core clock speed and a dual-BIOS switch that will also allow users to raise clock speed up to 880 MHz, AMD Radeon HD 6990 requires much power (a minimum of a 375 W PSU is required). The AMD Radeon HD 6990 has a vapour chamber heatsink with a central blower fan for cooling purposes, which can at times be a bit noisy. Prices range from R6500 for a Club3D model, all the way up to R8700 for an Asus version. Now, as for the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 590 graphics card, it packs 1024 Nvidia CUDA architecture cores and 3 GB of GDDR5 memory, onto a single 11" dual slot monster. It sports a lower graphics clock speed of 607 MHz, but runs quieter as it features a special cooling system and dual vapour chambers. NVIDIA says that this GPU, the GeForce GTX 590 graphics card, measures in at 48 dB on the decibel scale, which is more than two times quieter than its closest competitors, when at the maximum. A Gigabyte version of the card goes for around R9650.


NVIDIA vs AMD - Clash of the GPUs : Mid-range Graphics cards

In this mid-range graphics cards (GPUs), the clash of NVIDIA and AMD revolves around NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 Ti GPU and AMD Radeon HD 6870. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 Ti GPU features 384 CUDA cores, an 822 MHz graphics clock, 1 GB of GDDR5 RAM and 1645 MHz processing clock. The price ranges from R2775 up to R3700. Sporting 1120 Stream Processors, AMD Radeon HD 6870 features a faster 900 MHz engine clock and 1 GB of GDDR5 memory. As for the pricing, AMD Radeon HD 6870 seems a better choice, ranging between R2200 - R2900. Though NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 Ti GPU provides better performance, a 2 GB version of AMD’s Radeon HD 6950 can instead be purchased with an approximately similar price, and would 6950 sport twice the GDDR5 RAM that the 560 Ti has. Well, everyone can make their own choices.


NVIDIA vs AMD - Clash of the GPUs : Entry-level Graphics cards

For the entry-level, the fight is between NVIDIA GeForce GTX 550 Ti and AMD Radeon HD 6790. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 550 Ti features 192 CUDA cores, 1800 MHz processor clock speed, 900 MHz graphics clock speed and 1 GB of GDDR5 and prices about R1600 - R2000. As for the AMD Radeon HD 6790, it sports 1 GB of GDDR5 RAM, but with a higher speed 256-bit GDDR5 memory interface, as opposed to the Nvidia’s 192-bit memory one. However, the graphics clock speed is lower than the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 550 Ti, and runs at up to 840 MHz. The price is under R1500.


So which one is better? When AMD launched its Radeon HD 6990 at the beginning of March, it claimed it was the world’s fastest GPU, receiving a score of P11865 in the industry standard 3DMark11 benchmark. When Nvidia released its 590 at the end of March it stated that its new top dog ruled the GPU roost, but didn’t give any 3DMark11 scores to back this claim up. Of course AMD called them out on this, and up to now Nvidia has not provided any official scores.

So, what is your opinion about these GPUs? And if do you think is the best GPU maker, NVIDIA or AMD? What is the best graphics card that you know, or have used from NVIDIA and/or AMD? Do not forget to share your thoughts through comments.

The motherboard schematic for Toshiba Satellite A210 (AMD, Toshiba Satellite A215 (AMD) laptop/notebook.
CPU: AMD Turion/Sempron 
North Bridge: ATi RS690MC 
South Bridge: ATi SB600 
OEM: INVENTEC 
Title: MW10A
Rev: X01 



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Satellite A210 - A215 (AMD) [527Kb]