Unveiled: ”Ontario” and “Zacate” – latest APUs in AMD Fusion series

Advanced Micro Devices on Friday showed off Ontario, its first mobile processor based on the Bobcat low-power x86 architecture, at the ongoing IFA 2010 in Berlin.

The next-generation chip, part of AMD’s Fusion series, is an Accelerated Processing Unit having a dual-core x86 central processing unit with a DirectX 11-capable integrated graphics processing unit. Ontario has a TDP of 9W, and comes with a very compact package – having the size of a 1 Euro coin, or half the die area (under 100 square mm).

Claiming that the chip offers “mainstream performance”, AMD said that Ontario – targeted at notebooks smaller than 11-inches – will be available for “unique small form factors,” something the firm refused to elaborate upon.

Like most other AMD chipsets, the Ontario chip – a 40nm product – can handle 1080p HD video playback. As far as design is concerned, AMD – like the Intel Atom – has deployed a ball-grid array (BGA), intended at permanently fixing the chip to the system board. Ontario is devoid of an integrated heatspreader, a feature common in AMD’s mobile Athlon/Phenom processors.

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AMD has also unveiled the Zacate 18W APU, the latest in its Fusion range, which has two Bobcat cores but will come on the Brazos chipset platform. Rated at twice the power draw of Ontario (due to the higher frequency it will run at), Zacate is expected to compete with Intel’s CULV processors, and is aimed at ultra-thin notebooks, nettops and slim all-in-one PCs. Pricing details on either Zacate or Ontario are not available.

AMD said that both the chips – not end-user products – will ship to original equipment manufacturers in the final quarter of this year. The company claimed that various leading PC makers are already testing Ontario, suggesting that new devices based on the chip could be out early next year.

Commenting on its future plans, AMD disclosed that it hopes to release its third Fusion chip – codenamed Llano, which will have four Bulldozer cores and will be targeted at high end notebooks – in the first half of 2011