| AMD preps low-powered Atom killer |
Aug. 22, 2008
 [Revised, Aug. 25] -- While Intel's Developer Forum hogged the limelight last week, AMD was shyly preparing to ship its own competitors to Intel's Atom. The AMD Sempron 200U and 210U will sample next month on a 3.5-inch SBC (single board computer), says Taiwanese manufacturer Ibase.
Despite its longtime association with power-sipping, low-cost x86 and MIPS-based CPUs, AMD has remained publicly aloof from the "nettop" and netbook fray. However, the blogosphere has been alive for several months with rumors of an AMD processor, reportedly code-named "Bobcat" and also referred to as the "K8 BGA" or Sempron BGA. The CPU was rumored to use AMD's Sempron core, clocked down to 1.0GHz or 1.5GHz, and offered in a 27mm x 27mm BGA (ball grid array) package for installation in low-cost devices.
As it turns out, the rumors were true -- but confirmation comes not from AMD, but from Ibase. The Taiwanese motherboard manufacturer says it has employed the 1.0GHz Sempron 200U and 1.5GHz Sempron 210U on a new SBC, the IB885, which will sample in the next month, and be available in quantity in October.
The Sempron 200U and 210U include an integrated memory controller, 128KB of L1 cache, 256KB of L2 cache, and an 800MHz HyperTransport link. The 1.0GHz 200U has an eight-Watt TDP and supports 400MHz DDR2 memory, while the 1.5GHz 210U has a fifteen-Watt TDP and supports 800MHz DDR2 RAM, according to Ibase.
None of the above has yet been officially confirmed by AMD itself, despite several queries from WindowsForDevices. One reason for the chipmaker's shyness might be that, while the new BGA-based Sempron chips might be able to compete with the Atom on size, price, and maybe even performance, they use significantly more power. For a power consumption/performance comparison between the Atom and its other rival, Via's Nano, see our earlier coverage, here.
Ibase's IB885 (front)
Source: Ibase
(Click to enlarge)
Like Ibase's recently announced IB882, which uses Intel's Atom Z5xx-series CPUs, the IB885 uses the so-called 3.5-inch SBC form-factor, which actually measures 5.75 x 4 inches, matching the dimension of 3.5-inch components such as floppy drives and memory card readers. Along with the soldered-on Sempron 200U or 210U processor, the device includes AMD's 21mm x 21mm M690E northbridge and 23mm x 23mm SB600 southbridge. The AMD processor and chipset are soldered onto the back of the board, as the photo below shows.
The back of the IB885 sports the Sempron 200U or 210U, M690E northbridge, and SB600 southbridge
(Click to enlarge)
The IB885 has a DVI port, two gigabit Ethernet ports, five-channel audio output with an S/PDIF interface, two serial ports, and four USB ports. A single SODIMM slot is provided, for memory expansion up to 1GB of DDR2 RAM, and the board also has a CompactFlash socket for memory expansion.
Features and specifications of the IB885 listed by Ibase include:- Processor -- AMD Sempron 200U clocked at 1.0GHz, or Sempron 210U clocked at 1.5GHz
- Memory -- up to 2GB of DDR2 RAM, via single SODIMM slot
- Display -- onboard DVI port, with pin headers for VGA and LVDS
- Storage -- CompactFlash Type II slot
- Networking -- 2 x gigabit Ethernet, with RJ45 connectors
- Other I/O:
- 1 x RS232
- 1 x RS232/422/485
- 1 x SATA
- 1 x IDE (Ultra DMA 100) with 44-pin connector
- 4 x USB 2.0
- Dimensions -- 5.75 x 4 inches (147 x 102mm)
Further information
According to Ibase, the IB885 will begin sampling in September. Pricing was not provided, however.
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