AMD+ATI = Better Mobile Performance?

It’s official! AMD and ATI have announced AMD’s acquisition of the graphics chip manufacturer. Among the benefits that the two companies promise would be for better mobile computing, namely in terms of power efficiency.

Mobile Computing
As a combined company, AMD and ATI will advance mobile computing by delivering integrated platforms that are designed to extend battery life while optimizing graphics and media processing.

This is something pretty exciting, especially for those seeking for a good balance between sheer graphics processing power and energy efficiency. Today, having discrete graphics adaptors in laptops (i.e., not integrated into the main system board) would usually mean increased power consumption. This is why the Intel Centrino platform has become so popular. The Intel processor + graphics chipset + WiFi chipset combination hits the performance-power efficiency balance so well. However, people looking for more graphics capabilities tend to look elsewhere, usually sacrificing battery life along the way.

While the need for powerful graphics processing capabilities has traditionally been only felt by serious gamers and video/graphic design professionals, next year’s much-anticipated arrival of Windows Vista would mean that everyone would be wanting powerful graphics chips.

The AMD+ATI deal would do well in enhancing the no. 2 chipmaker’s position in the processor market if it hits that sweet spot in terms of power and price, with the impending release of Vista in mind.

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