AMD and Intel are standing ready to launch its first processors with graphics integrated on the transistor level, but the company able to brag about a genuine CPU/GPU chip available on the market is Microsoft, in the form of the video game console Xbox 360 Slim.
Xbox 360 Slim uses a new System-on-a-Chip (SoC) solution made with 45 technology housing both processor and graphics circuit. Byt putting both circuits on the same silicon Microsoft has managed to cut power consumption and heat development, but also manufacturing costs. Which in turns made it possible to trim the physique.
This is quite an achievement, being able to integrate CPU and GPU and maintain the same performance as the dual-chip solution that Xbox 360 was before. The chip has an internal bus that enables Microsoft to control performance and keep the systems even.
The new CPU/GPU solution will be made with 45nm technology that is 50% smaller than the two 90nm circuit that was used when Xbox 360 launched in 2005. At the same time the new SoC solution consumes 60% less power.
