Brazos 2.0, I am disappoint

[Zap]

http://www.computerbase.de/news/2011-10/amds-brazos-2.0-plattform-enthuellt/

As we know, E-350 to E-450 added a paltry 50MHz to the CPU, a few MHz plus a minor turbo mode for the GPU and faster memory support.

The next step seems to be the E2-1800. Compared to the E-450, it adds another 50MHz to the CPU and a few MHz to the GPU, and that's it for the entire APU.

HOWEVER, the chipset is different. On the plus side there are two native USB 3.0 ports, DisplayPort support and RAID 0/1 (FWIW). On the minus side there are fewer overall USB ports (10 versus 16?!?!) and... only two SATA 6Gbps ports instead of six.

That might not matter for a notebook or netbook, but IMO that totally kills mini ITX beyond as just a low power workstation. I have two mini ITX E-350 boards and the reason I purchased those two were because one has five and one has six internal SATA ports. Most boards implement only four.

This is not progress.

 

[VirtualLarry]

So you are saying that it only has two SATA ports total, instead of six? Not two SATA6G and four SATA2, like Intel's chipsets?

(Still, I consider Intel's chipsets crippled in that regard too, there's no reason that they couldn't have given us ALL SATA6G ports.)

 

[dma0991]

It is only a modification of the current Brazos(40nm) and this is definitely not Krishna(28nm) so I hardly expect any major improvement. However the reduction of the number of SATA ports is definitely a disappointment.

 

[Vesku]

Makes sense though, trim it down for mobile to reduce power consumption and cost. If there is demand then motherboard makers can add a third party SATA chip for m-ITX.

 

[frostedflakes]

Yeah that's not too bad considering it's still on 40nm I think. Should be better gains when they shrink to 28nm, 2-2.2GHz on the CPU side for dual core models would be nice.

And some nice features on the chipset as well, such as native USB 3.0. Note that A70M has six SATA 6Gbps and plenty of USB. This chipset is probably meant for mini ITX boards, whereas the more barebones A68M with only two SATA 6Gbps is for netbooks and ultraportables.

EDIT: Nevermind, A70M is the Llano chipset, not a new Brazos chipset (I was thinking A75 and A55 were Llano since that's what desktop boards use). They sure like to make this stuff confusing and hard to keep track of.

 

[Gigantopithecus]

Makes sense though, trim it down for mobile to reduce power consumption and cost. If there is demand then motherboard makers can add a third party SATA chip for m-ITX.

This.

Somebody call the whaaambulance!

 

[tweakboy]

This was confusing,,, Wow it has RAID 0 / 1 built in ? That is sweet, but how many hard drives does the laptop have ?

You have plenty USB 2.0 ports and when you run out by a USB hub and call it a day.

You have 2 USB 3.0 ports which is enough unless you have 3 or 4 externals lined up wanting to go RAID 5.

You have 2 6gbps ports. Are you going to connect 3 external 6gbps hard drives on this ? If not then you dont need more. Your fine. Nice collection of badtops btw.

 

[996GT2]

Two SATA 6 Gbps ports or two SATA ports, period?

Two SATA 6 Gbps ports isn't so bad if there are more SATA 3 Gbps ports. I mean, it's highly unlikely that someone would ever run more than even one fast SSD in a mini ITX Brazos box anyway. SATA 3 Gbps is perfectly fine for any hard drive.

 

[Chiropteran]

Compared to the current A50M this FCH was designed in order to decrease power consumption, so it has a series of features disabled such as the support for six SATA ports, and 14 USB 2.0 ports.

It's an intentional change to reduce power consumption.

 

[frostedflakes]

Couldn't laptop manufacturers disable those extra features to reduce power consumption, though? It's not like they need be left out of the chip by AMD.

My E-350 based X120e, for example, only had three USB, two mini PCI-e x1, a single SATA, etc. Lenovo presumably just disabled all the extra ports and functions they didn't need on the A50M to cut back on heat and power consumption. The southbridge couldn't have been using much power, because the chip didn't even have a heatsink or even a heatspreader.

 

[gevorg]

+50MHz? What is this 1998 and Pentium II?

 

[jeremyshaw]

Couldn't laptop manufacturers disable those extra features to reduce power consumption, though? It's not like they need be left out of the chip by AMD.

My E-350 based X120e, for example, only had three USB, two mini PCI-e x1, a single SATA, etc. Lenovo presumably just disabled all the extra ports and functions they didn't need on the A50M to cut back on heat and power consumption. The southbridge couldn't have been using much power, because the chip didn't even have a heatsink or even a heatspreader.

They'd be still drawing a small amount of power, if it's not voltage gated.

Intel still is doing LPM, even on desktop chipsets, now

I guess this is just the general trend towards lower power in every way possible. Of course, this might mean more AMD Fusion powered tablets in the future

 

[Olikan]

Two SATA 6 Gbps ports or two SATA ports, period?

seems to be 2 SATA 6gbps ports, period! D:

question is... it will posible to buy the new chip with the old south bridge?

+50MHz? What is this 1998 and Pentium II?

bobcat is done in LP process, reaching 2 Ghz here, is like reaching 8 Ghz on bulldozer XD

still, i may buy a wichita to replace the may old celeron 420

 

[Tuna-Fish]

The next step seems to be the E2-1800. Compared to the E-450, it adds another 50MHz to the CPU and a few MHz to the GPU, and that's it for the entire APU.

The biggest problem I have with it is the name. It's just a minor tweak to the existing platform, waiting for 28nm and actually new chips to come.

HOWEVER, the chipset is different. On the plus side there are two native USB 3.0 ports, DisplayPort support and RAID 0/1 (FWIW). On the minus side there are fewer overall USB ports (10 versus 16?!?!) and... only two SATA 6Gbps ports instead of six.

That might not matter for a notebook or netbook, but IMO that totally kills mini ITX beyond as just a low power workstation. I have two mini ITX E-350 boards and the reason I purchased those two were because one has five and one has six internal SATA ports. Most boards implement only four.

It does matter in notebooks and netbooks. Having less reduces the power consumption. For mini ITX boards, you can still get the older chips, but this is an all-out optimization for power consumption. Netbooks really only need two ports -- one for internal storage, and one for eSata.

 

[Tuna-Fish]

seems to be 2 SATA 6gbps ports, period! D:

question is... it will posible to buy the new chip with the old south bridge?

Look at the link. They are also planning a A70M chipset, with 6 SATA 6gbps ports. The A68M is just for netbooks.

 

[Chiropteran]

+50MHz? What is this 1998 and Pentium II?

It's funny, but a 1650mhz CPU getting a 50mhz boost is a slightly larger overall boost than a 3.4ghz CPU getting a 100mhz boost.

That is, the i7-2700K.

I think it's just tough to add performance without increasing power usage. The gains seem small compared to the past because in the past it was considered okay to increase power usage as long as performance increased.

 

[Zap]

This was confusing,,,

I know, right? I'll type slower next time, and use bigger fonts.

Two SATA 6 Gbps ports or two SATA ports, period?

Two SATA ports period.

 

[Arg Clin]

Brazos 2.0 ? Do they actually call it that? I'd say it's more like Brazos 1.1

They probably just figured they could squeeze a tiny bit more out of the chip, and thought why not?!?

 

[podspi]

Yea, it is funny because in the high-end, people are bemoaning the lack of competition, and are concerned it will lead to stagnation of improvement.

Where is Brazos' competition?

I do think it is incredibly silly for them to be labeling them in the way they are, though. It implies they are something new when really they're just a small speed bump. If they had added CPU TurboCORE (say to 2ghz or something) that might have warranted such drastic changes of model numbers, imho. But there really is no accounting for AMD marketing...

 

[ShawnD1]

You have plenty USB 2.0 ports and when you run out by a USB hub and call it a day.

Lots of things don't work with USB hubs. My keyboard and game controller don't.

 

[Vesku]

Well, product naming, especially in the computer industry, is almost always a pain to the consumer. The computer makers want to seem like their latest product is leaps and bounds above the one you bought last holiday.

 

[nyker96]

E450 is just a refresh product, nothing to write home about. Don't judge it too harshly, it wasn't even launched w/ too much fan fair from amd. pretty much just a silent launch. so it's merely a small update to e350. to treat it like brazo 2.0 is over valuing it. You will surely be disppointed by doing that besides it's not a 2.0 even from amd's perspective.

 

[Zap]

But there really is no accounting for AMD marketing...

Yeah, they rebranded the graphics too.

 

[jaydee]

If the "new" Brazos reduced the price down to Atom-levels, then it's a win. With little/no engineering involved in turning Brazos 1 to Brazos 2 and reducing USB/SATA wiring, one can hope that at least the price will goes down. And mobo makers can still add another USB/SATA controller if they want (at higher cost of course), for those who want more features, no?

If you already have E350, I'm not sure why you would want to upgrade anyway, regardless of the # of SATA's. Unless you're just speaking in general.

 

[Arkadrel]

http://www.computerbase.de/news/2011-10/amds-brazos-2.0-plattform-enthuellt/

As we know, E-350 to E-450 added a paltry 50MHz to the CPU, a few MHz plus a minor turbo mode for the GPU and faster memory support.

The next step seems to be the E2-1800. Compared to the E-450, it adds another 50MHz to the CPU and a few MHz to the GPU, and that's it for the entire APU.

HOWEVER, the chipset is different. On the plus side there are two native USB 3.0 ports, DisplayPort support and RAID 0/1 (FWIW). On the minus side there are fewer overall USB ports (10 versus 16?!?!) and... only two SATA 6Gbps ports instead of six.

That might not matter for a notebook or netbook, but IMO that totally kills mini ITX beyond as just a low power workstation. I have two mini ITX E-350 boards and the reason I purchased those two were because one has five and one has six internal SATA ports. Most boards implement only four.

This is not progress.

These chips are MENT for laptops.

haveing 6x Sata 6Gbps ports is a waste on a laptop
(makes chip bigger, use more power for no reason = bad).
Thus them removeing unnessary stuff = good.

E-350, E-450, and E2-1800 all use 18w.

However DDR3-1333 (upg from 1066) and 492mhz GPU -> 680mhz has a big impact on that little GPUs performance.

When it comes to gameing at 1024x768, usually these weak APU's are GPU limited.

The E2-1800 might only be 100mhz faster (6&#37 cpu wise, but its ~39% faster GPU clock speeds are what ll make a differnce, along with the memory bandwidth from faster ram support.