MaximumPC 2001 11

Tom Halfhill was formerly a senior editor

for Byte magazine and is now an analyst for

Microprocessor Report.

F

ully aware that its cash cows (PC

processors) are losing their status as

prize cattle, Intel is fl inging lassos in all

directions to catch new business. One project,

code-named Stellarton, was mentioned almost

as an afterthought at a recent Intel Developer

Forum. It attracted little attention but is another

step toward reconfi gurable computing.

Stellarton chips, scheduled for release in 2011,

will pair an Atom CPU with a fi eld-programmable

gate-array (FPGA) in the same chip package.

Physically, they’re similar to Intel’s Clarkdale and

Arrandale PC processors, which pair a CPU with a

GPU in the same package. The crucial difference is

that Stellarton substitutes an FPGA for the GPU.

FPGAs, also known as programmable-logic

devices (PLDs), have reconfi gurable logic gates

instead of the fi xed-function gates found in

microprocessors. They are programmable at the

hardware level, not just in software. Developers can

confi gure an FPGA to perform virtually any function.

Indeed, an FPGA can be confi gured as a general-

purpose CPU and then programmed in software,

just like any other CPU. But conventional CPUs are

better for that, so FPGAs are usually confi gured for

special-purpose processing. They can perform those

tasks much faster than conventional CPUs.

Although Intel remains mum about Stellarton,

it’s obviously designed for systems that need high-

speed specialized processing—and reconfi gurabil-

ity. See, another advantage of FPGAs is that devel-

opers can reconfi gure them even after building and

deploying a system. In fact, some systems allow

remote reconfi guration over the Internet.

Imagine if you could download something like

a fi rmware upgrade that added Intel’s latest graph-

ics extensions to your existing processor, without

having to buy a new chip. Conventional CPUs are

like sculptures in marble; FPGAs are like wet clay.

One possible application for Stellarton is cellu-

lar base stations. It’s much easier to reprogram an

FPGA remotely than to send a technician climbing

to the top of an antenna pole to install a new chip.

There are possible PC applications for reconfi gu-

rable logic, too, but prices must drop fi rst. Still,

reconfi gurable processing is a technology worth

watching. It wasn’t so long ago when microproces-

sors were also “too expensive” for mere mortals.

FAST FORWARD

Intel’s Twist on

Reconfigurable Logic

TOM HALFHILL

Family / Code-Name Brazos / Zacate Brazos / Zacate Brazos / Ontario Brazos / Ontario

Model AMD E-350 with AMD E-240 with AMD C-50 with AMD C-30 with

AMD Radeon AMD Radeon AMD Radeon AMD Radeon

HD 6310 graphics HD 6310 graphics HD 6250 graphics HD 6250 graphics

CPU Clock 1.6GHz 1.5GHz 1GHz 1.2GHz

CPU Cores 2 1 2 1

GPU Clock 500MHz 500MHz 280MHz 280MHz

GPU Cores 80 80 80 80

Max TDP 18W 18W 9W 9W

RAM Support Single-channel Single-channel Single-channel Single-channel

DDR3/1066 DDR3/1066 DDR3/1066 DDR3/

L1 / L2 Cache 128KB / 1MB 128KB / 1MB 128KB / 1MB 128KB / 1MB

SPECIFICATIONS

we used, power draw for the complete com-
puter at the socket was roughly 10 watts,
and under gaming loads it was 30 watts.
The Ontario version will consume 9 watts.
A typical Zacate-based notebook should
run in excess of seven hours and Ontario
notebooks will push 10 hours.
AMD said it was able to achieve that
through clock- and power-gating as well as a
C6 state to further reduce idle power. The fi rst
rev of Fusion is not just a server or desktop
chip chopped down to save power. AMD says
it was designed from the get-go to sip power.

SO WHERE WILL FUSION COMPETE?
AMD said Zacate, or E-series, chips will likely
be used in $450 to $500 notebooks. The main
competition will be Pentium-based notebooks

with integrated graphics. Ontario, or

C-series, chips will likely go into $300 or

lower notebooks that compete squarely

with Atom notebooks, as well as Celeron

rigs with integrated graphics.

Based on a day of benchmarking a

test rig outfi tted with an E-350, we have

to say that we’re suitably impressed. We

certainly can’t render a verdict until we

test fi nal product, but Zacate’s graphics

performance could very well give it an

edge over Intel’s current integrated graph-

ics and possibly even against the upcoming

Sandy Bridge chips.

As we said previously, we were able to

play Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 at

1280x768 resolution (the likely res

you’d play on a small wide-as-

pect-ratio notebook). What’s the

weakness? Those x86 cores.

Remember, you’re still talking

about a slightly slower-than-

Athlon 64 dual-core to push

all of your applications that

can’t leverage the GPU. While we know

an Athlon 64 certainly slays an Atom, things

would likely get ugly against a Penryn-based

Celeron or Pentium, or even a Westmere-

based Core i3.

But life is a compromise. And AMD

believes that most people carrying $500 note-

books are more concerned with consuming

video and games—not creating them. In other

words, how many people do video encoding

or editing on $300 netbooks, or sit down to

crunch a massive spreadsheet with a cheap

notebook? Probably not many.

Overall, we’re pretty excited by Fusion.

To be able to get discrete-level performance

in a sub-$500 notebook (and sub-$

netbook) is practically revolutionary. Fusion

isn’t just about netbooks, either. We’re looking

forward to a HTPC that sips 10 watts but can

accelerate higher-defi nition content. And

once we see Fusion APUs combining AMD’s

next-generation Bulldozer core in 2012, we

will truly be in a brave new world.

We tested Zacate on a notebook test rig built

by AMD for engineering purposes.

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