AMD Zen now at 6W TDP: Dual Core for Education
by Dr. Ian Cutress on August 4, 2020 10:05 AM EST
At the low-end of AMD’s portfolio, the company uses Athlon Gold and Silver naming for parts that offer fewer cores and lower power consumption. These parts are still based on Zen or Zen+ microarchitecture, paired with a small amount of Vega graphics, indicating that this market is best served with something that is at a low-cost to manufacture but still of sufficient performance for the markets intended. Sitting below those Athlons, two new APUs have popped up in some new Lenovo education-focused designs today.
The two new processors dispense with the Athlon naming, as AMD gets right into it – the AMD 3015e and 3020e use the same lower case ‘e’ ending we last saw on a product line in 2011, indicating the super low power that these processors are rated for. These processors are given a TDP of 6W with two cores and Vega 3 graphics, traditionally what we see in low cost laptops but sufficient for education-style designs.
The silicon these new processors are based on, we believe, is AMD’s Dali silicon. It is the smallest of all AMD’s Zen APU silicon offerings, already in the market as AMD Athlon Mobile. These new parts come in below those specifications.
| AMD Dali-based Zen APUs | |||||||
| AnandTech | Cores Threads |
Base Freq |
Turbo Freq |
GPU | GPU Freq |
DDR4 | TDP |
| Athlon Gold 3150U | 2 / 4 | 2400 | 3300 | Vega 3 | 1000 | 2400 | 15 W |
| Athlon Silver 3050U | 2 / 2 | 2300 | 3200 | Vega 2 | 1100 | 2400 | 15 W |
| Athlon 300U | 2 / 4 | 2400 | 3300 | Vega 3 | 1000 | 2400 | 15 W |
| Athlon Silver 3050e | 2 / 4 | - | 2800 | Vega 3 | 1000 | 2400 | 6 W |
| AMD 3015e | 2 / 4 | 1200 | 2300 | Vega 3 | 600 | 1600 | 6 W |
| AMD 3020e | 2 / 2 | 1200 | 2600 | Vega 3 | 1000 | 2400 | 6 W |
If the set-up looks a bit odd, well, it is. The 3015e has simultaneous multi-threading but a much lower GPU frequency and DDR4 support compared to the 3020e. This might be the trade-off at the 6W power mode.
Lenovo is set to use the new AMD 3015e in two of its new education designs.
The Lenovo 100e 2nd Gen will use this new chip, Windows 10, Wi-Fi 6, 64 GB eMMC, 4 GB DDR4, an 11.6-inch 13x7 display (250 nits), but offer a hard wearing design suitable for bumps and scrapes as well as ~12 hours of battery life, with quick charging providing 80% power in an hour.
The Lenovo 300e 2nd Gen is a similar build but offers a 360-degree hinge, pen support, with an optional 128 GB SSD. Battery is 42 Wh, rated at ~12 hours.
The 100e will start at $219 and the 300e will start at $299, available from September. Both devices have a variety of student-focused software options focusing on teaching and security.
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Tams80 - Wednesday, August 5, 2020 - link
Those bezels aren't big enough to be impacting the display size in any meaningful way. Meanwhile, they provide better impact resistance, something to hold without activiting the display, and lower the costs.These are most likely going to be wheeled into classrooms on mobile charging trolleys, not carried around much other than from the trolley to a desk.
They are tools, not fashion accesories.
Further, pupils with sight issues are going to require far bigger displays than the extra inch you could squeeze out of these.
And even consumer electronics have gone too far with the bezels in many cases.
TheinsanegamerN - Wednesday, August 5, 2020 - link
Big bezls are more durable for students and allow for easy screen replacement. The techs who work on these (me) love these things.m3nato - Monday, February 8, 2021 - link
look up the x63 thinkpad, there areloads of laptops pre 2010 with thin bezels, and they were built properly not thin cheap plasticif they really cared about protecting the screen, then it wouldnt flex under pressure, and it would have a latch so it doesnt open in your bag
16:9 aspect ratio has always been dumb, it should have been 16:10, and 3:2 is the best modern ratio imo
nandnandnand - Tuesday, August 4, 2020 - link
I'm using a Lenovo 100e right now. I don't think the bezels matter much at this size (11.6"), and it makes it feel sturdy. Thin bezels are more important for laptops like this that you might not even close for weeks: https://www.anandtech.com/show/15794/dell-revamps-...deil - Wednesday, August 5, 2020 - link
share the insider knowledge, does 100e have a chance surviving in school ? What they replace takes ages to boot so its interesting if kids will finally get something else from lessons than loading screens.nandnandnand - Wednesday, August 5, 2020 - link
I've noticed some unwanted resistance in the hinge occasionally, which leads me to believe that could be the weak point long term. Now I'm carrying the thing around with one hand, opened up, without dropping it. What will happen if kids drop it like that? Nothing great, I'm sure. But I do see $20-$25 protective cases designed for 100e on Amazon, which is probably worth it for a school environment.The best point for me is USB-C charging. My last cheap Chromebook had a charger/tip that was almost unusable after 3-4 years. If the 100e charger dies, it should be easy to find a replacement. I got the 100e for about $70, which is only about 2-3x what a replacement charger for the old one was going to cost.
dotjaz - Wednesday, August 5, 2020 - link
Maybe you should make a bezel-less laptop for cheap and see if there are any takers. Surely the cost of ownership (price and repairs) would best Lenovo since you are the obvious genius.sonny73n - Wednesday, August 5, 2020 - link
I remember the 1st iPad with fat ass bezel but people didn’t mind waiting in a long line just to buy it. Slim bezel is just a trend same as slim phone and slim laptop.Spunjji - Wednesday, August 5, 2020 - link
In the target market they're an asset.AgnesWilliams - Thursday, August 13, 2020 - link
I think it's a handy device for education. I'm a student and use laptop from dusk till dawn searching for new information or surfing Eduzaurus platform to find good essay example. I like that https://eduzaurus.com/free-essay-samples/informati... is a reliable resource. Information technologies can really ease the process of studying.