AMD has demonstrated earlier today a working version of its Accelerated Processing Unit or APU technology codenamed Fusion, during an event at Computex in Taipei.
Fusion will bring together an x86 processor combined with a DirectX 11 GPU, video decoders, memory controller and system I/O interfaces. AMD will have two versions running aimed primarily at the mobile segment.Elano will target the ultra portable market and compete with Intel's CULV/i3 products while the Ontario range will square up with Intel's mainstream product family.
Intel has already started to work on a similar concept with its current generation Arrandale Core i3 and i5 processors which bring a CPU and a GPU die on the same package. The next generation, Sandy Bridge, will actually merge both together the same way as Fusion.
This will leave Nvidia as the only one without a similar product yet. It did purchase a company back in 2006 called Stexar which was apparently going to bring in some smart x86 related technology with it but 44 months down the road and still nothing in sight.
The only other potential x86 competitor could be VIA and we might see a partnership between the two given that they both have much to lose otherwise.
AMD's Fusion demo also included a 30-seconds walk through of the graphics intensive Alien vs. Predator game which showcased the capabilities of the platform. It was not as flawless as one might expect, but then, Intel's integrated graphics unit would have come up worse.