AMD has been showcasing laptops based on its upcoming Trinity processor at CES this week. The company is hoping to bring thin and light Ultrabook-style machines—though AMD calls them "ultrathins," to avoid Intel's trademarks—to market for as little as $500. This would substantially undercut Intel-powered Ultrabooks, which currently start at $800. Intel hopes to reduce the Ultrabook entry price to $700 by the end of the year.

Each Trinity chip will contain a CPU and a GPU. The CPU will be a second generation Bulldozer core, codenamed Piledriver. The GPU portion will be based on AMD's Southern Islands architecture, which made its debut late in 2011 with the launch of the Radeon HD 7970.

There will be two lines of Trinity chips; low power 17 W ones for ultrathins, and higher power 35 W ones for standard laptops. The ultrathin-oriented chips will have about the same performance as AMD's current Llano A-series chips, but with half the power draw. The high-power chips will have a 25 percent faster CPU and a 50 percent faster GPU.

AMD did not say when the chips would be released, but the company intends to disclose more about its release strategy at its financial analyst meeting in February.