AMD to challenge Centrino with Puma platform

In a web-streamed press event AMD unveiled Puma, its new third-generation mobile platform.

Puma is based on AMD’s Griffin processor (the official name for this is Turion Ultra) and the RS780M chipset. All Puma based products will be based on this hardware, along with a WiFi adaptor and an optional graphics card.  Griffin processors, which will be a dual-core offering, will be equipped with 1MB of L2 cache per core and support up to 8GB of DDR2-667 and DDR2-800 SODIMM RAM. 

Core to Puma is energy efficiency, and to help achieve a balance between efficiency and power each of the cores of a Griffin processor will be able to run at different speeds, and will be able to shift speeds while executing threads.

The RS780M chipset is fully-featured and comes with an integrated DirectX 10 graphics support which AMD claim is up to five times faster than Intel's X3100 IGP. Both HDMI and HDCP + Audio is supported, and the chipset can support two display controllers.

The platform will also feature PowerXpress technology which allows the system to switch between external and integrated graphics when changing between AC and DC power without the need for a reboot.  Also, Hybrid CrossfireX allows the integrated graphics hardware to work in tandem with the separate graphics controller to offer more power for gamers.

Puma-based notebooks will be available towards the end of Q2 and prices will range from $699 to $2,500.