AMD added to its line of A-Series (“Llano”) processors with two dual-core desktop offerings that sell for $75 or less. The A4-3300 operates at 2.5GHz (CPU) and 444MHz (GPU), while the A4-3400 operates at 2.7GHz (CPU) and 600MHz (GPU), and both feature 160 Radeon Cores and 1MB of L2 cache, according to the company.

AMD's first "Fusion" APUs (accelerated processing units) — devices that integrate CPUs with "discrete-level" GPUs on one chip — were announced in January, with single- or dual- Bobcat cores on board. These initial E-Series and C-Series products — already successful in a variety of mini-notebooks — were followed up by a passel of G-Series versions for embedded devices.

The E-Series, C-Series, and G-Series have been manufactured for AMD by TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company) using a 40nm process. But the A-Series Llano processors are produced by Globalfoundries on 32nm wafers, and incorporate a shrink of AMD's previously used "Stars" CPU core as well as a variety of GPU enhancements.

When AMD launched the A-Series in June, it emphasized mobile-oriented versions. As detailed in a chart later in this story, these have 35- or 45-Watt TDPs and range from the A4-3300M (with dual CPU cores and 240 GPU cores) to the A8-3530MX (with quad cores and 400 GPU cores).

Quad-core and triple-core counterparts aimed at desktops followed, but haven't been covered by LinuxDevices to date because we felt their above-$100 prices (plus 100- or 65-Watt TDPs) moved them out of embedded territory. Now, though, AMD has two dual-core variants which, while they still require 65 Watts, both sell for $75 or under.

According to the chipmaker, the $70 AMD A4-3300 operates at 2.5GHz (CPU) and 444MHz (GPU), with 160 Radeon Cores and 1MB of L2 cache. The $75 A4-3400 operates at 2.7GHz (CPU) and 600MHz (GPU), again with 160 Radeon Cores and 1MB of L2 cache, the company adds.

AMD says the new A4s will allow the creation of entry-level PCs that still can play back HD video and support DirectX 11 graphics. They fit into the same FM1 socket as the other Llano processors, and use the same I/O controllers, including a model that has USB 3.0 support, the chipmaker adds.

Highlighted in red in the table below, the low-end Llanos will complete with the Sandy Bridge-based Pentiums Intel announced earlier this week. As far as AMD's product line goes, they're at the opposite end of the scale from the "Bulldozer"-based, server-oriented Opteron 6200 revealed Sept. 7.

Jonathan Angel can be reached at [email protected] and followed at www.twitter.com/gadgetsense.

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