Mainboard power specs for upcoming AMD APUs?

cbn

Lifer
Mar 27, 2009
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Sorry I don't have a link to an official article for this thread.

The following is just an open question I have:

What regulations/specifications would AMD need to follow as far as max power goes for their upcoming AMD APUs?
 

Adul

Elite Member
Oct 9, 1999
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danny.tangtam.com
PCIe x16 port is spec'd to 75watts. Its not going to change anytime soon. I be more worried about a power supply providing the needed power to the card via the PCIe 6 and 8 port plugs
 

cbn

Lifer
Mar 27, 2009
12,968
221
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PCIe x16 port is spec'd to 75watts. Its not going to change anytime soon. I be more worried about a power supply providing the needed power to the card via the PCIe 6 and 8 port plugs

Xbit labs said:
http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/cpu/di...tion_of_AMD_Fusion_Chips_Due_in_2015_AMD.html

"AMD Plans to Further Fuse CPUs and GPUs in Five Years"

"Quite interestingly, after AMD acquired ATI, the CPU designer said that eventually special purpose graphics processors would not be needed and would become obsolete, just like discrete math-coprocessors (or floating point units [FPUs]) did back in the late eighties and early nineties."

So if AMD plans on obsoleting video cards, wouldn't that leave quite a bit of mainboard power circuitry for the APU? (Some consumer mainboards I have seen are capable of supporting four PCI-E cards @ 75 watts through each slot plus a 140 watt CPU. That means at least 440 watts of power is possible through the 24 pin power connector alone.)
 

Sylvanas

Diamond Member
Jan 20, 2004
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So if AMD plans on obsoleting video cards, wouldn't that leave quite a bit of mainboard power circuitry for the APU?

Fusion/APUs are not replacing discrete video cards, they are replacing on board IGP's- that is the majority of the graphics market. AMD and Intel have determined the max power envelope for CPUs and standard heatsinks is 125-140w. Any APU made in the forseeable future will fit within this envelope.