Design firm | Advanced Micro Devices |
---|---|
Type | Dynamic frequency scaling |
AMD PowerPlay is the brand name for a set of technologies for the reduction of the energy consumption implemented in several of AMD's graphics processing units and APUs supported by their proprietary graphics device driver "Catalyst". AMD PowerPlay is also implemented into ATI/AMD chipsets which integrated graphics and into AMD's Imageon handheld chipset, that was sold to Qualcomm in 2008.
Besides the desirable goal to reduce energy consumption, AMD PowerPlay helps to lower the noise levels created by the cooling in desktop computers and extend battery life in mobile devices. AMD PowerPlay has been succeeded by AMD PowerTune. [1]
The technology was first implemented in Mobility Radeon products for notebooks, to provide a set of features to lower the power consumption of the laptop computer. The technology consists of several technologies; examples include dynamic clock adjustments when the notebook is not plugged into a power socket and allowing different backlight brightness levels of the notebook LCD monitor. The technology was updated with the release of each generation of mobile GPUs. The latest release is ATI PowerPlay 7.0. [2]
Since the release of Radeon HD 3000 Series, PowerPlay was implemented to further reduce the power consumption of desktop GPUs.
The official ATI support list [3] lists only the ATI Radeon 3800 series desktop cards, but PowerPlay is also a listed feature of all Radeon HD 3000/4000/5000 series products. Independent reviews indicated that the latter was already lower power compared to other 3D cards, so the addition of PowerPlay to that line was clearly intended to address an increasingly power, heat and noise conscious market. The ATI Radeon HD 2600 line – which does not support PowerPlay – was being phased out in favour of the 3000 series at the same price points that also support PCI Express 2.0, DirectX 10.1 and faster GDDR3 memory.
The entire ATI Radeon Xpress line is also supported for single board computers which tend to be power sensitive and used in large installations where configuration and boot image control are major concerns.
Support for "PowerPlay" was added to the Linux kernel driver "amdgpu" on November 11, 2015. [4]
The main difference between the desktop and laptop versions is that the desktop version cuts the features which are aimed at notebook usage, including variable LCD backlight brightness. The PowerPlay technology for Radeon desktop graphics features three usage scenarios: normal mode (2D mode), light gaming mode and intensive gaming mode (3D mode), replacing notebook scenarios (running on AC power or battery power). Tests indicated that the lowest core clock frequency of an RV670 GPU core can reach as low as 300 MHz with PowerPlay technology enabled. [5]
The following table shows features of AMD's APUs (see also: List of AMD accelerated processing units).
Platform | High, standard and low power | Low and ultra-low power | |||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Codename | Server | Basic | Toronto | ||||||||||||||||
Micro | Kyoto | ||||||||||||||||||
Desktop | Performance | Renoir | Cezanne | ||||||||||||||||
Mainstream | Llano | Trinity | Richland | Kaveri | Kaveri Refresh (Godavari) | Carrizo | Bristol Ridge | Raven Ridge | Picasso | ||||||||||
Entry | |||||||||||||||||||
Basic | Kabini | ||||||||||||||||||
Mobile | Performance | Renoir | Cezanne | ||||||||||||||||
Mainstream | Llano | Trinity | Richland | Kaveri | Carrizo | Bristol Ridge | Raven Ridge | Picasso | |||||||||||
Entry | Dalí | ||||||||||||||||||
Basic | Desna, Ontario, Zacate | Kabini, Temash | Beema, Mullins | Carrizo-L | Stoney Ridge | ||||||||||||||
Embedded | Trinity | Bald Eagle | Merlin Falcon, Brown Falcon | Great Horned Owl | Grey Hawk | Ontario, Zacate | Kabini | Steppe Eagle, Crowned Eagle, LX-Family | Prairie Falcon | Banded Kestrel | |||||||||
Released | Aug 2011 | Oct 2012 | Jun 2013 | Jan 2014 | 2015 | Jun 2015 | Jun 2016 | Oct 2017 | Jan 2019 | Mar 2020 | Jan 2021 | Jan 2011 | May 2013 | Apr 2014 | May 2015 | Feb 2016 | Apr 2019 | ||
CPU microarchitecture | K10 | Piledriver | Steamroller | Excavator | "Excavator+" [6] | Zen | Zen+ | Zen 2 | Zen 3 | Bobcat | Jaguar | Puma | Puma+ [7] | "Excavator+" | Zen | ||||
ISA | x86-64 | x86-64 | |||||||||||||||||
Socket | Desktop | High-end | N/A | N/A | |||||||||||||||
Mainstream | N/A | AM4 | |||||||||||||||||
Entry | FM1 | FM2 | FM2+ [lower-alpha 1] | N/A | |||||||||||||||
Basic | N/A | N/A | AM1 | N/A | |||||||||||||||
Other | FS1 | FS1+, FP2 | FP3 | FP4 | FP5 | FP6 | FT1 | FT3 | FT3b | FP4 | FP5 | ||||||||
PCI Express version | 2.0 | 3.0 | 2.0 | 3.0 | |||||||||||||||
Fab. (nm) | GF 32SHP (HKMG SOI) | GF 28SHP (HKMG bulk) | GF 14LPP (FinFET bulk) | GF 12LP (FinFET bulk) | TSMC N7 (FinFET bulk) | TSMC N40 (bulk) | TSMC N28 (HKMG bulk) | GF 28SHP (HKMG bulk) | GF 14LPP (FinFET bulk) | ||||||||||
Die area (mm2) | 228 | 246 | 245 | 245 | 250 | 210 [8] | 156 | 180 | 75 (+ 28 FCH) | 107 | ? | 125 | 149 | ||||||
Min TDP (W) | 35 | 17 | 12 | 10 | 4.5 | 4 | 3.95 | 10 | 6 | ||||||||||
Max APU TDP (W) | 100 | 95 | 65 | 18 | 25 | ||||||||||||||
Max stock APU base clock (GHz) | 3 | 3.8 | 4.1 | 4.1 | 3.7 | 3.8 | 3.6 | 3.7 | 3.8 | 4.0 | 1.75 | 2.2 | 2 | 2.2 | 3.2 | 3.3 | |||
Max APUs per node [lower-alpha 2] | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
Max CPU [lower-alpha 3] cores per APU | 4 | 8 | 2 | 4 | 2 | ||||||||||||||
Max threads per CPU core | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | |||||||||||||||
i386, i486, i586, CMOV, NOPL, i686, PAE, NX bit, CMPXCHG16B, AMD-V, RVI, ABM, and 64-bit LAHF/SAHF | |||||||||||||||||||
IOMMU [lower-alpha 4] | N/A | ||||||||||||||||||
BMI1, AES-NI, CLMUL, and F16C | N/A | ||||||||||||||||||
MOVBE | N/A | ||||||||||||||||||
AVIC, BMI2 and RDRAND | N/A | ||||||||||||||||||
ADX, SHA, RDSEED, SMAP, SMEP, XSAVEC, XSAVES, XRSTORS, CLFLUSHOPT, and CLZERO | N/A | N/A | |||||||||||||||||
WBNOINVD, CLWB, RDPID, RDPRU, and MCOMMIT | N/A | N/A | |||||||||||||||||
FPUs per core | 1 | 0.5 | 1 | 1 | 0.5 | 1 | |||||||||||||
Pipes per FPU | 2 | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
FPU pipe width | 128-bit | 256-bit | 80-bit | 128-bit | |||||||||||||||
CPU instruction set SIMD level | SSE4a [lower-alpha 5] | AVX | AVX2 | SSSE3 | AVX | AVX2 | |||||||||||||
3DNow! | |||||||||||||||||||
FMA4, LWP, TBM, and XOP | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | |||||||||||||||
FMA3 | |||||||||||||||||||
L1 data cache per core (KiB) | 64 | 16 | 32 | 32 | |||||||||||||||
L1 data cache associativity (ways) | 2 | 4 | 8 | 8 | |||||||||||||||
L1 instruction caches per core | 1 | 0.5 | 1 | 1 | 0.5 | 1 | |||||||||||||
Max APU total L1 instruction cache (KiB) | 256 | 128 | 192 | 256 | 512 | 64 | 128 | 96 | 128 | ||||||||||
L1 instruction cache associativity (ways) | 2 | 3 | 4 | 8 | 16 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |||||||||||
L2 caches per core | 1 | 0.5 | 1 | 1 | 0.5 | 1 | |||||||||||||
Max APU total L2 cache (MiB) | 4 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | |||||||||||||
L2 cache associativity (ways) | 16 | 8 | 16 | 8 | |||||||||||||||
APU total L3 cache (MiB) | N/A | 4 | 8 | 16 | N/A | 4 | |||||||||||||
APU L3 cache associativity (ways) | 16 | 16 | |||||||||||||||||
L3 cache scheme | Victim | N/A | Victim | Victim | |||||||||||||||
Max stock DRAM support | DDR3-1866 | DDR3-2133 | DDR3-2133, DDR4-2400 | DDR4-2400 | DDR4-2933 | DDR4-3200, LPDDR4-4266 | DDR3L-1333 | DDR3L-1600 | DDR3L-1866 | DDR3-1866, DDR4-2400 | DDR4-2400 | ||||||||
Max DRAM channels per APU | 2 | 1 | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
Max stock DRAM bandwidth (GB/s) per APU | 29.866 | 34.132 | 38.400 | 46.932 | 68.256 | ? | 10.666 | 12.800 | 14.933 | 19.200 | 38.400 | ||||||||
GPU microarchitecture | TeraScale 2 (VLIW5) | TeraScale 3 (VLIW4) | GCN 2nd gen | GCN 3rd gen | GCN 5th gen [9] | TeraScale 2 (VLIW5) | GCN 2nd gen | GCN 3rd gen [9] | GCN 5th gen | ||||||||||
GPU instruction set | TeraScale instruction set | GCN instruction set | TeraScale instruction set | GCN instruction set | |||||||||||||||
Max stock GPU base clock (MHz) | 600 | 800 | 844 | 866 | 1108 | 1250 | 1400 | 2100 | 2100 | 538 | 600 | ? | 847 | 900 | 1200 | ||||
Max stock GPU base GFLOPS [lower-alpha 6] | 480 | 614.4 | 648.1 | 886.7 | 1134.5 | 1760 | 1971.2 | 2150.4 | ? | 86 | ? | ? | ? | 345.6 | 460.8 | ||||
3D engine [lower-alpha 7] | Up to 400:20:8 | Up to 384:24:6 | Up to 512:32:8 | Up to 704:44:16 [10] | Up to 512:32:8 | 80:8:4 | 128:8:4 | Up to 192:?:? | Up to 192:?:? | ||||||||||
IOMMUv1 | IOMMUv2 | IOMMUv1 | ? | IOMMUv2 | |||||||||||||||
Video decoder | UVD 3.0 | UVD 4.2 | UVD 6.0 | VCN 1.0 [11] | VCN 2.1 [12] | VCN 2.2 [12] | UVD 3.0 | UVD 4.0 | UVD 4.2 | UVD 6.0 | UVD 6.3 | VCN 1.0 | |||||||
Video encoder | N/A | VCE 1.0 | VCE 2.0 | VCE 3.1 | N/A | VCE 2.0 | VCE 3.1 | ||||||||||||
AMD Fluid Motion | |||||||||||||||||||
GPU power saving | PowerPlay | PowerTune | PowerPlay | PowerTune [13] | |||||||||||||||
TrueAudio | N/A | [14] | N/A | ||||||||||||||||
FreeSync | 1 2 | 1 2 | |||||||||||||||||
HDCP [lower-alpha 8] | ? | 1.4 | 1.4 2.2 | ? | 1.4 | 1.4 2.2 | |||||||||||||
PlayReady [lower-alpha 8] | N/A | 3.0 not yet | N/A | 3.0 not yet | |||||||||||||||
Supported displays [lower-alpha 9] | 2–3 | 2–4 | 3 | 3 (desktop) 4 (mobile, embedded) | 4 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |||||||||||
/drm/radeon [lower-alpha 10] [16] [17] | N/A | N/A | |||||||||||||||||
/drm/amdgpu [lower-alpha 10] [18] | N/A | [19] | N/A | [19] |
The following table shows features of AMD/ATI's GPUs (see also: List of AMD graphics processing units).
Name of GPU series | Wonder | Mach | 3D Rage | Rage Pro | Rage 128 | R100 | R200 | R300 | R400 | R500 | R600 | RV670 | R700 | Evergreen | Northern Islands | Southern Islands | Sea Islands | Volcanic Islands | Arctic Islands/Polaris | Vega | Navi 1X | Navi 2X | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Released | 1986 | 1991 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | Apr 2000 | Aug 2001 | Sep 2002 | May 2004 | Oct 2005 | May 2007 | Nov 2007 | Jun 2008 | Sep 2009 | Oct 2010 | Jan 2012 | Sep 2013 | Jun 2015 | Jun 2016 | Jun 2017 | Jul 2019 | Nov 2020 | |||
Marketing Name | Wonder | Mach | 3D Rage | Rage Pro | Rage 128 | Radeon 7000 | Radeon 8000 | Radeon 9000 | Radeon X700/X800 | Radeon X1000 | Radeon HD 2000 | Radeon HD 3000 | Radeon HD 4000 | Radeon HD 5000 | Radeon HD 6000 | Radeon HD 7000 | Radeon Rx 200 | Radeon Rx 300 | Radeon RX 400/500 | Radeon RX Vega/Radeon VII(7nm) | Radeon RX 5000 | Radeon RX 6000 | |||
AMD support | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Kind | 2D | 3D | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Instruction set | Not publicly known | TeraScale instruction set | GCN instruction set | RDNA instruction set | |||||||||||||||||||||
Microarchitecture | TeraScale 1 | TeraScale 2 (VLIW5) | TeraScale 3 (VLIW4) | GCN 1st gen | GCN 2nd gen | GCN 3rd gen | GCN 4th gen | GCN 5th gen | RDNA | RDNA 2 | |||||||||||||||
Type | Fixed pipeline [lower-alpha 1] | Programmable pixel & vertex pipelines | Unified shader model | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Direct3D | N/A | 5.0 | 6.0 | 7.0 | 8.1 | 9.0 11 (9_2) | 9.0b 11 (9_2) | 9.0c 11 (9_3) | 10.0 11 (10_0) | 10.1 11 (10_1) | 11 (11_0) | 11 (11_1) 12 (11_1) | 11 (12_0) 12 (12_0) | 11 (12_1) 12 (12_1) | 11 (12_1) 12 (12_2) | ||||||||||
Shader model | N/A | 1.4 | 2.0+ | 2.0b | 3.0 | 4.0 | 4.1 | 5.0 | 5.1 | 5.1 6.3 | 6.4 | 6.5 | |||||||||||||
OpenGL | N/A | 1.1 | 1.2 | 1.3 | 2.1 [lower-alpha 2] [20] | 3.3 | 4.5 (on Linux: 4.5 (Mesa 3D 21.0)) [21] [22] [23] [lower-alpha 3] | 4.6 (on Linux: 4.6 (Mesa 3D 20.0)) | |||||||||||||||||
Vulkan | N/A | 1.0 (Win 7+ or Mesa 17+) | 1.2 (Adrenalin 20.1, Linux Mesa 3D 20.0) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
OpenCL | N/A | Close to Metal | 1.1 (no Mesa 3D support) | 1.2 (on Linux: 1.1 (no Image support) with Mesa 3D) | 2.0 (Adrenalin driver on Win7+) (on Linux: 1.1 (no Image support) with Mesa 3D, 2.0 with AMD drivers or AMD ROCm) | 2.0 | 2.1 [24] | ||||||||||||||||||
HSA | N/A | ? | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Video decoding ASIC | N/A | Avivo/UVD | UVD+ | UVD 2 | UVD 2.2 | UVD 3 | UVD 4 | UVD 4.2 | UVD 5.0 or 6.0 | UVD 6.3 | UVD 7 [25] [lower-alpha 4] | VCN 2.0 [25] [lower-alpha 4] | VCN 3.0 [26] | ||||||||||||
Video encoding ASIC | N/A | VCE 1.0 | VCE 2.0 | VCE 3.0 or 3.1 | VCE 3.4 | VCE 4.0 [25] [lower-alpha 4] | |||||||||||||||||||
Fluid Motion ASIC [lower-alpha 5] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Power saving | ? | PowerPlay | PowerTune | PowerTune & ZeroCore Power | ? | ||||||||||||||||||||
TrueAudio | N/A | Via dedicated DSP | Via shaders | ? | |||||||||||||||||||||
FreeSync | N/A | 1 2 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
HDCP [lower-alpha 6] | ? | 1.4 | 1.4 2.2 | 1.4 2.2 2.3 | ? | ||||||||||||||||||||
PlayReady [lower-alpha 6] | N/A | 3.0 | 3.0 | ? | |||||||||||||||||||||
Supported displays [lower-alpha 7] | 1–2 | 2 | 2–6 | ? | |||||||||||||||||||||
Max. resolution | ? | 2–6 × 2560×1600 | 2–6 × 4096×2160 @ 30 Hz | 2–6 × 5120×2880 @ 60 Hz | 3 × 7680×4320 @ 60 Hz [27] | 7680×4320 @ 60 Hz PowerColor | |||||||||||||||||||
/drm/radeon [lower-alpha 8] | N/A | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
/drm/amdgpu [lower-alpha 8] | N/A | Experimental [28] |
The AMD Accelerated Processing Unit (APU), formerly known as Fusion, is the marketing term for a series of 64-bit microprocessors from Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), designed to act as a central processing unit (CPU) and graphics processing unit (GPU) on a single die. APUs are general purpose processors that feature integrated graphics processors (IGPs).
The Radeon R700 is the engineering codename for a graphics processing unit series developed by Advanced Micro Devices under the ATI brand name. The foundation chip, codenamed RV770, was announced and demonstrated on June 16, 2008 as part of the FireStream 9250 and Cinema 2.0 initiative launch media event, with official release of the Radeon HD 4800 series on June 25, 2008. Other variants include enthusiast-oriented RV790, mainstream product RV730, RV740 and entry-level RV710.
Unified Video Decoder (UVD), previously called Universal Video Decoder, is the name given to AMD's dedicated video decoding ASIC. There are multiple versions implementing a multitude of video codecs, such as H.264 and VC-1.
The Socket FS1 is for notebooks using AMD APU processors codenamed Llano, Trinity and Richland.
The Radeon HD 7000 series, codenamed "Southern Islands", is a family of GPUs developed by AMD, and manufactured on TSMC's 28 nm process. The primary competitor of Southern Islands, Nvidia's GeForce 600 Series, also shipped during Q1 2012, largely due to the immaturity of the 28 nm process.
Socket FM1 is a CPU socket for desktop computers used by AMD early A-series APUs ("Llano") processors and Llano-derived Athlon II processors. It was released in July 2011. Its direct successors are Socket FM2 and Socket FM2+, while Socket AM1 is targeting low-power SoCs.
Socket FM2 is a CPU socket used by AMD's desktop Trinity and Richland APUs to connect to the motherboard as well as Athlon X2 and Athlon X4 processors based on them. FM2 was launched on September 27, 2012. Motherboards which feature the at the time new FM2 CPU socket also utilize AMD's at the time new A85X chipset.
The Radeon HD 8000 series is a family of computer GPUs developed by AMD. AMD was initially rumored to release the family in the second quarter of 2013, with the cards manufactured on a 28 nm process and making use of the improved Graphics Core Next architecture. However the 8000 series turned out to be an OEM rebadge of the 7000 series.
Heterogeneous System Architecture (HSA) is a cross-vendor set of specifications that allow for the integration of central processing units and graphics processors on the same bus, with shared memory and tasks. The HSA is being developed by the HSA Foundation, which includes AMD and ARM. The platform's stated aim is to reduce communication latency between CPUs, GPUs and other compute devices, and make these various devices more compatible from a programmer's perspective, relieving the programmer of the task of planning the moving of data between devices' disjoint memories.
The graphics processing unit (GPU) codenamed the Radeon R600 is the foundation of the Radeon HD 2000/3000 series and the FireGL 2007 series video cards developed by ATI Technologies.
ATI released the Radeon X300 and X600 boards. These were based on the RV370 and RV380 GPU respectively. They were nearly identical to the chips used in Radeon 9550 and 9600, only differing in that they were native PCI Express offerings. These were very popular for Dell and other OEM companies to sell in various configurations; connectors: DVI vs. DMS-59, card height: full-height vs. half-height.
AMD Excavator Family 15h is a microarchitecture developed by AMD to succeed Steamroller Family 15h for use in AMD APU processors and normal CPUs. On October 12, 2011, AMD revealed Excavator to be the code name for the fourth-generation Bulldozer-derived core.
Socket FM2+ is a CPU socket used by AMD's desktop "Kaveri" APUs (Steamroller-based) and Godavari APUs (Steamroller-based) to connect to the motherboard. The FM2+ has a slightly different pin configuration to Socket FM2 with two additional pin sockets. Socket FM2+ APUs are not compatible with Socket FM2 motherboards due to the aforementioned additional pins. However, socket FM2 APUs such as "Richland" and "Trinity" are compatible with the FM2+ socket.
Video Code Engine is AMD's video encoding application-specific integrated circuit implementing the video codec H.264/MPEG-4 AVC. Since 2012 it was integrated into all of their GPUs and APUs except Oland.
AMD Eyefinity is a brand name for AMD video card products that support multi-monitor setups by integrating multiple display controllers on one GPU. AMD Eyefinity was introduced with the Radeon HD 5000 Series "Evergreen" in September 2009 and has been available on APUs and professional-grade graphics cards branded AMD FirePro as well.
AMD's Socket FT3 or BGA-769 targets mobile devices and was designed for APUs codenamed Kabini and Temash, Beema and Mullins.
The Socket FT1 or BGA413 is a CPU socket released in January 2011 from AMD for its APUs codenamed Desna, Ontario, Zacate and Hondo. The uber name is "Brazos".
The Socket FP2 or µBGA-827 is a CPU socket for notebooks that was released in May 2012 by AMD with its APU processors codenamed Trinity and Richland.
The Socket FP3 or µBGA906 is a CPU socket for laptops that was released in June 2014 by AMD with its mobility APU products codenamed Kaveri.
AMD PowerTune is a series of dynamic frequency scaling technologies built into some AMD GPUs and APUs that allow the clock speed of the processor to be dynamically changed by software. This allows the processor to meet the instantaneous performance needs of the operation being performed, while minimizing power draw, heat generation and noise avoidance. AMD PowerTune aims to solve thermal design power and performance constraints.