Gizmodo: Processors

AMD Breaks Up

matt buchanan — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 10:15:00 EDT

As a former AMD fanboy, this is kind of sad news. AMD will be splitting up into two companies—one that designs chips, and another that makes 'em. The constant need to build expensive new chip plants was a big drag on AMD, which lags behind Intel on multiple fronts. Intel is now the only company left that designs and makes its own chips, a fact that will likely increase its advantage over AMD.

The new firm, known as the Foundry Company for now, will makes chips for other companies as well as AMD, who will continue to own 44 percent of it. I just hope this doesn't lead Intel into another reign of complacency and crappy chips, which is what allowed AMD's ascendancy into the solid number two position in the first place, before they started blowing it. [NYT]

FBI Alleges Intel Employee Stole Secrets Before Leaving to AMD

Mark Wilson — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 09:40:00 EDT

Biswahoman Pani worked for Intel. Claiming to miss his wife, he requested a transfer from California to Intel's Hudson facility where she worked. That same day, when the request was granted, Pani turned in his resignation and announced that he'd be taking vacation for his last two weeks at the company. His new job would be with a hedge fund.

But as an FBI document reports, Pani wasn't going to a hedge fund. He was actually hired to work at AMD. And he spent the next two weeks with his Intel-networked laptop collecting confidential designs.

Pani worked quickly and managed to assemble 13 different "top secret" company files relating to future Intel chips, spanning 100 pages of information along with 19 CAD images of the architecture. When an Intel employee learned that Pani was really heading to AMD, the company called in the FBI to investigate.

Pani claims that the files were collected to aid his wife in her new position at the Hudson facility. He has since been let go by AMD and AMD has been fully cooperative with authorities. There is no evidence that AMD requested or acquired the designs. [Boston]

Intel's Six-Core Xeon 7400 "Dunnington" Processor Shipping on September 15th

Sean Fallon — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 13:36:00 EDT

According to CNET sources, Intel's six-core "Dunnington"processor will begin rolling out to servers on September 15th under the Xeon 7400 series. The new chip is Intel's first foray beyond four cores as well as their first to fuse multiple cores on a single die. It also features 16MB of L3 cache to help boost performance. The design is the last of the Penryn-class, and if the rumors hold true, we should see Core i7 (Nehalem) by the end of the year. [CNET via Electronista]

AMD Processor Roadmap Leaked Online: Quad-Core "Deneb" Phenoms in January

Kit Eaton — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 10:45:09 EDT

AMD's immediate processor plans have been leaked in the form of a PowerPoint slide to Spanish site CHW.net. Dual-core "Brisbane" Athlons at 2.6GHz are due in October, alongside "Toliman" triple-core Phenoms. November sees the single-core "Lima" Athlon chip, obviously destined for low-power devices, since it runs at 1.6GHz and draws just 15W. Most interesting to processor fanatics will be the 45nm Phenoms slated for a January 8th launch. Both are quad-core "Deneb" chips, one running at 2.8GHz, one running at 3GHz and both drawing a chunky 125W of power. The "ultra-value client" devices scheduled for November are also intriguing: AMD's answer to Intel's Atom perhaps? [CHW.net via Reghardware]

Intel Spills More Beans on Nehalem Microarchitecture at IDF

Kit Eaton — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 07:39:00 EDT

At the Intel Developers Forum Intel itself is turning the spotlight on the upcoming Nehalem chip microarchitecture. The chips will have integrated memory controllers built directly into the processor, as we mentioned before, which will allow three-times faster memory read-write speeds than previous generations.

The chips also feature a "turbo mode" design that dynamically switches multi-cores into a "higher gear" for better performance without generating extra heat, and also allows throttling-down of unused cores to reduce power consumption when processing demands are lower. From 2009 every Intel processor will be using the Nehalem architecture, with server products being the first Nehalem chips, followed by "Havendale" and "Lynnfield" desktop chips and then "Auburndale" and "Clarksfield" mobile versions later. [Reuters, Intel and NZHerald]

Ancient AMD Athlon 64 Beats Intel Atom While Using Less Power

matt buchanan — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 18:20:00 EDT

A few years ago, AMD was the king of performance per watt with its K8 architecture, while Intel kept pushing the Pentium 4 faster and hotter, until it basically had to chunk its NetBurst architecture. So this is something of a nostalgia trip for AMD fanboys: In Tom's Hardware's tests, a 1GHz Athlon 64 2000+ using the years-old K8 architecture "beats the Intel Atom 230 in energy consumption and processing power" and "outperforms [it] in several benchmark tests" even though the Atom chip is running at 1.6GHz chip. How?

In part, because the K8 architecture is just damn good, but also because AMD's 780G desktop platform is more modern—so it has more features too—while the Intel 945GC chipset is old and busted. The AMD system is quieter too, because it doesn't even need a cooling fan. So while the 8-watt Athlon 64 2000+ processor technically uses more power, the AMD system on the whole consumes less than the Intel setup, idling or under a full load. AMD winning at something—between this minor victory and ATI's latest on top of the world, it's almost like the good ol' cutthroat days again. Almost. [Tom's Hardware]

Details Of AMD And ATI's Fusion Baby Combo Chip Leak

Matt Hickey — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 23:00:05 EDT

A few new details about AMD's mysterious Fusion CPU/GPU combo chip have leaked to the Web and they seem to confirm what some rumors have been saying, namely that AMD would be making the chip with help from the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), the world's largest chip plants. ATI, whom AMD bought two years ago, had been a long time customer of TSMC so the deal makes sense. The technical details point to the first processor under the Fusion name will launch Q1 of next year, and will be a dual-core Phenom CPU running along side an ATI RV800 as GPU at 40nm, a "half-node" size that will probably transition to 32nm within a year. It's an exciting idea, we just hope AMD can pull it off. [TG Daily]

Via's Nano Beats Intel's Atom in Apples and Oranges Test

Kit Eaton — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 08:45:00 EDT

Via's Nano and Intel's Atom low-power processors are intended for slightly different purposes, but that didn't stop HardOCP pitting them against each other in performance tests, and coming up with some interesting results. In every single benchmark, the beefier Nano beat the Atom. In particular it was 59% better in MP3 encoding tests, 37% in Divx encoding and achieved double the frame rate in Quake 4. No surprises there: the Nano is designed to draw a little more current (53W against 45W) than the Atom, so it won't make it into quite the same hand-held gizmos as Intel's chip. But the tests revealed that under normal "desktop" usage, the Nano actually drew less power when idling. Looks like Via's got a hot one in its grip: we might expect to see more of this chip. [HardOCP via BBG]

Crazy Fast Intel Bloomfield Processor Getting Early September Release

matt buchanan — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 10:45:00 EDT

Intel's first Nehalem-based processor, Bloomfield, was originally set to launch in December, but Digitimes says these little demons will actually come out in September, hitting shelves in early October. Why the excitement? Nehalem is a brand new microarchitecture, replacing the Core one we're all familiar with. (Penryn was a shrink of Core, to make it more energy efficient.) Anandtech has a nice preview of Nehalem. To give you a taste, even on a "partly crippled, very early" platform, Nehalem smoked Penryn by 20-50 percent, while using only 10 percent more power. Yeah. [Digitimes]

Forty Years Of Intel: Interactive Timeline

Matt Hickey — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 22:30:00 EDT

This week marks the 40th anniversary of Intel, the people who likely made the CPU in your computer. To mark the occasion, the people at PC Magazine have put together a pretty comprehensive timeline showing every major generation of Intel processor from the first one to the current Core 2 Quad and Atom series processors. We've all used them at some point in our lives, and I remember my first Intel processor was a Pentium II running at a blazing 233MHz. I loved that laptop. What was your first Intel processor? Or which was your favorite? [PC Mag]

AMD CEO Hector Ruiz Flees

matt buchanan — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 18:15:34 EDT

AMD CEO Hector Ruiz is out the door. While he drove their burly competition with Intel, he's also responsible for AMD's poor acquisition of ATI and its struggles of late, like losing money for seven straight quarters, leading them to dump their handheld and DTV businesses. Taking over is Dirk Meyers, who's more chip geek than businessman. Maybe that's what they need. [Cnet]

Graphene Confirmed as the World's Strongest Known Material

Sean Fallon — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 16:10:00 EDT

The scientific community has been praising graphene as some sort of miracle material for years now—even going so far as to say that it could eventually replace silicon. Well, graphene can now add another statistic to its impressive resume now that researchers have confirmed it as the strongest material ever tested.

Two engineering professors at Columbia University tested graphene's strength at an atomic level by indenting a perfect sample of the material with a sharp probe made of diamond. The results confirm what many had suspected all along—and that will go a long way to bolster the case that graphene would be able to handle the heat produced in future ultrafast processors. [Technology Review]

Intel CEO: Atom Platform Something "Most of Us Wouldn't Use"

John Mahoney — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 15:35:41 EDT

In a quarterly conference call today, Intel CEO Paul Otellini dropped the aforementioned diss of the low-cost, low-power 45nm Atom chipset that can be found in a few current and many future netbooks, redirecting attention to the just-updated Centrino 2 and somehow-still-alive Celeron platforms as more viable for most consumers, and more profitable evidently for Intel. Otellini has also described Atom as "something for the next 2 billion computer users" in developing markets, so I guess this is a us/them, poor/rich tech classes pair of statements. This does nothing to explain the strange excitement most of us have when thinking about $200 laptops like the Asus eee, though. [Daily Tech

Giz Explains: Intel's Centrino 2

matt buchanan — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 11:00:04 EDT

Intel's Centrino 2 notebook platform officially launched yesterday, and brought an armada of new laptops with it. Centrino (2) is actually just a brand name for a mobile platform, which is really a fancy way saying a combination of Intel parts: a processor, chipset and wireless module. The latest and greatest is Montevina, which is not only energy efficient, but more powerful than the previous set, Santa Rosa. It also makes wireless N standard, puts WiMax in its future, and has graphics that can switch between integrated and discrete for battery/performance needs. In short, this year's crop of notebooks will blow last year's away.

Here's some more in-depth goods on what Montevina offers. The processor soul is the 45nm Penryn—while last year it mainly offered a battery boost, thanks to Montevina's faster 1066 front-side bus, you'll see some real performance gains this time around. (Intel says up to 50 percent). In that same vein, not only are Intel's integrated graphics faster with the new GMA 4500MHD, it'll let you switch between integrated and discrete graphics (like a card from ATI or Nvidia) on the fly, so you can pick performance when you need it and save juice when you don't. Sony and Lenovo are the first to have notebooks with this tech. On the wireless front, it makes wireless N standard with its new WiFi Link 5000 modules. WiMax is optional, and you'll see that in Centrino 2 notebooks later this year. Finally, it (and Penryn) are totally engineered to simply sip power, like an anorexic model with a venti skim half-decaf no-whip mocha (really, check out Lenovo's X200's retardedly awesome battery life).

BTW, to keep the naming deal straight (damn you, Intel), Montevina is the codename for Intel's new mobile platform, which will be marketed as Centrino 2. It's probable that the next mobile platform, Calpella, due next year, will also be known as Centrino 2 to your mom, if she's sorta tech savvy, so the codenames are still necessary for differentiation (there were actually four different chipsets to carry the Centrino brand). The original Centrino and the accompanying Pentium M processor was actually a paradigm shift in Intel's approach to notebooks, and eventually informed all of their processor designs—energy efficiency as the order of the day. (Or as my friend says, "It was Intel going, 'oh shit' and throwing out NetBurst and going back to the old P6 core design.")

That's Centrino, in a nutshell. Bottom line, it's gonna be the best year ever to buy a notebook.

Something we missed, or you still wanna know? Send any questions about Centrinos, chips, Pringles or anything else to tips@gizmodo.com, with "Giz Explains" in the subject line.

AMD Roadmap Points To Twelve-Core Procs In Two Years

Matt Hickey — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 20:20:47 EDT

Much like those involving shaving razors and social networks, the Processor Wars are escalating. That's good for us, especially gamers, but maybe things are getting ridiculous considering how hard multicore programming still is.

Take, for example, the recently unveiled 12-core processor (code-named Mangy-Cours) AMD's got planned for 2010. Not only that is it updating its chips, but AMD is releasing a new socket, called G34, made to accommodate the new processor, as well as the new 8-core (Sao Paolo), which will launch about the same time. Oh, and the new procs will include 12MB of L3 cache. Let the arms race continue! [DailyTech]

Intel's Insanely Tiny Processor Roadmap: "Clear Path" to 10nm Chips

matt buchanan — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 12:07:23 EDT

Think Intel's breakthrough 45-nanometer chips are impressive stuff? Intel thought at one time dipping below 100nm would be miraculous, but Intel exec Pat Gelsinger says that "today we see a clear way to get to under 10 nanometers," and it'll be within the next 10 years.

The next die shrink is the 32nm Westmere chips next year, followed by 14nm a few years later and then the crazy sub-10nm chips after that. But they're probably going to have to make use of something like carbon nanotubes or spintronics to get below 10. The result of all that processing power, says Gelsinger, will be "a dramatic restructuring of the user interface." Yes! I've always wanted true 3D computing goggles. [CRN]

Intel Silicon Photonics Chip Is World's Fastest (and Prettiest)

matt buchanan — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 11:29:03 EDT

MIT's Tech Review has the scoop that Intel's wizards have come upwith a new chip entirely made out of silicon that "can encode 200 gigabits of data per second on a beam of light" versus the measly 100 Gbps that the fastest optical networks currently churn at—which aren't made of silicon. Which means they can't scale nearly as fast or cheaply as Intel's silicon wonder. And this is all on the way to making a fingernail-sized chip that can crunch a terabit of data. Here's how this photonics business works.

Intel's chippy takes a beam of light and karate chops it into eight channels, each of which has a modulator that encodes data onto light. These data-ified beams are then recombined, and boom. This all at happens at a rate of 25Gbps per modulator. This stuff is the building blocks of a computer future where copper is replaced by beams of light. But before that happens, Intel wants to cram 25 modulators onto a single chip, with each one running at 40Gbps, maybe with hybrid lasers built onto the chip to toss light at the modulator instead of an optical fiber.

Time to market? Three to five years. Fingers crossed. [MIT Tech Review]

AMD's Phenom X4 9950 Processor has Green 9350e, 9150e Siblings

Kit Eaton — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 05:47:00 EDT

Technically, the trio of new processors from AMD are pretty much the same: they have the same core, and similar feature sets. But while the 9950 Black Edition is a 140W, 2.6GHz overclockable monster (the most power-hungry Phenom AMD has made) the 9350 (2GHz) and 9150 (1.8GHz) are selectively binned and draw just 65W TDP. This makes them the most "power friendly" quadcore processors there are. The 9950 will cost $235 and at HotHardware.com they think it compares with Intel's Core 2 Quad Q6600. While the 9350 and 9150 will cost $195 and $175 respectively, meaning that "eco-friendliness" won't save you many dollars in the chip price, but will cost you a chunk of clock speed. [HotHardware and UberGizmo]

Dual Core Atoms Delayed, World Weeps

Mark Wilson — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 11:48:00 EDT

Intel's tiny, cheap, power-efficient Atom chips are performing every bit as well as we could have hoped. So you know what should be even better? Intel's dual core Atom chips. Unfortunately, product shortages on the Atom 220 (original) are delaying production on the 330 (dual core)—Intel's original Atom is simply selling too well to justify releasing a better product yet. So whereas we'd expected to see new chips in July, we could be waiting until September...or later. Damn. [Register Hardware]

Giz Explains: Mac OS 10.6 Snow Leopard Parallel Processing and GPU Computing

matt buchanan — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 14:00:00 EDT

As you've probably heard, the next version of OS X, Snow Leopard, will not wow us with a crazy circus of features like Time Machine and Boot Camp. So why would Apple spend a year programming an OS that they can't boast has over 300 new features? Here's a quick rundown of how Apple is totally rebuilding OS X to take advantage of Core 2 Duos, graphics cards and parallel processing, in order to deliver serious performance gains. And yes, that is a big deal.

This is not going to be a super technical breakdown of parallel computing for the super nerdy, just a rough overview for my mom. Basically, parallel processing is what it sounds like: Multiple computations or processes or um, just "things," are carried out or done simultaneously, in parallel (at the same time!). Multi-core processors like Intel's ubiquitous Core 2 Duo have quickly become mainstream. They're really good are doing several things at once, since each processor core can crunch away on something—more cores, more simultaneous Captain Crunching, more faster. A brilliant consumer taste of this was actually Rosetta on OS X—on a dual-core system, one core would be "translating" the code from the PPC version, while the other ran the program (roughly speaking).

Sounds gravy right? Well, as Steve alluded in his explanation of Snow Leopard, parallel programs ain't easy to write—they're harder than sequential ones for sure, 'cause it requires the kind of math that can be broken up into little parts you can solve independently and then put back together again. Artificial intelligence, for instance, is not cakey for this. On the other hand, something like tomography—a technique for creating 3D images—totally is, because it's highly vectorizable. Or video stuff (cause you can easily divvy up the chores), videogame graphics and physics, generally.

No surprise that modern graphics cards are actually really good at parallel processing, 'cause of the way they're architected and because they usually have a buttload of cores—Nvidia's latest high-end GeForce card, the GTX 280, has 240. (It's why they're suitable for cheap supercomputers.) Nvidia, for instance, showed me some of the insane physics jujitsu the GTX 280 can pull off, it and ATI both have crazy new graphics cards (FireStream 9250 and Tesla 10P) built for "general purpose" supercomputing. Sony's Cell is sorta like this with multiple cores, but none of these are very good general processors the way stuff is designed now. (You don't see any computers running on an ATI Radeon CPU, or Cell handling the main workload on Toshiba's new laptops, do you?)

You'll note that part of Snow Leopard's feature list is OpenCL, an easy way for developers to tap the parallel processing power of graphics cards, in addition to being optimized for multiple cores courtesy of its "Grand Central" tech set. So Snow Leopard is pretty much all about parallel processing. (Microsoft hasn't been overly vocal about Windows and parallel computing.)

From what Apple has said—and the whole "Grand Central" deal (it "takes full advantage by making all of Mac OS X multicore aware and optimizing it for allocating tasks across multiple cores and processors")—it's clear that Apple is totally re-architecting Snow Leopard around parallel processing, with Grand Central acting much like the real one, organizing, assigning and scheduling a whole bunch of tasks/trains along a bunch of different paths/tracks. It's a major undertaking—Intel and Microsoft are throwing a ton of money at parallel computing themselves—and we're pretty curious about Apple is going to make parallel programming easier for programmers in a way supposedly no one's done before.

Something we missed, or you still wanna know? Send any questions about processors, prostates, Bananas or anything else to tips@gizmodo.com, with "Giz Explains" in the subject line.

AMD Developing Low Power CPU for Tiny Cheap Laptops

matt buchanan — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 20:30:00 EDT

The cheap, low power processor space for stuff like lil' notebooks is just about the hottest one around, so AMD would be silly to pass it up, especially when it preached the benefits of efficiency long before Intel came around to that school of thought. (Oh, those were the days.) A leaked slide shows AMD might have one up its sleeves—64-bit, 1GHz, and an 8W thermal power design, which puts in more in range of Via's Nano processors than Intel's Atom, meaning it's not quite ultra-ultraportable appropriate. Course, it could be (and very probably is) just one a family, meaning there might be more sprightly versions. [EeePCNews.de via Electronista]

Intel Tech Chief Reveals Secret Origins of the MacBook Air's Super Small Chip, Disses WiMax

matt buchanan — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 14:00:00 EDT

Here's something you didn't know about the MacBook Air's infamously tiny CPU: The shrinkage tech behind it had been collecting dust on Intel's shelf for a couple years since no PC manufacturer was interested in it. When Apple put in the call for a dwarven chip, Intel originally thought what Apple wanted was years away on their roadmap before re-discovering the concept—a year later they had it refreshed and ready to go. Which is the usual breakneck speed Apple moves, Intel's CTO Justin Rattner told Fortune. He also dished that they're collaborating on more breakthrough stuff that's "equally aggressive."

Besides chatting about how Intel and Apple are now BFF and love working together, delivering super cool crazy tech to the masses, he said something fairly odd about WiMax, considering how much money they've been pumping into it. Basically, he said Intel pushed WiMax hard because at the time it was the best and easiest way to deliver broadband everywhere. Now there are alternatives, and their view is that "if WiMax succeeds, we'll have the bandwidth. If others succeed, we'll have the bandwidth." Does that smell like a vote of confidence to you, or ambivalence, sprinkled with hints of regret? [Fortune]

Intel Launching Cheap Quad Core Processors to Battle Budget AMD Triple Cores

matt buchanan — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 14:10:00 EDT

Digitimes is reporting that Intel is about to pop a series of cheap quad core processors (Q8000) to slap back at AMD's budget triple core offerings. The first will be the Core 2 Quad 8200, which'll run at 2.33GHz with a 4MB L2 cache, supporting a front-side bus of up to 1333MHz for around $200. Difference between these and standard Q9000 series is that these don't support Intel's Trusted Execution or Virtualization Technology.

These seem kinda redundant, since you can pick up a Core 2 Quad 6600 for that much (or the newer 45nm Q9300 for not a whole lot more), both of which trounced AMD's fastest quad core in benchmarks. And AMD's triple cores ain't exactly anything to sing about to begin with. [DigiTimes via Tech Report]

Steve Jobs Explains OS X Snow Leopard in Three Easy Steps

Jason Chen — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 15:03:18 EDT

The NY Times has a good interview with Steve Jobs in which Apple's CEO lets fly with very quotable, very understandable quotes about OS X 10.6. We already heard the details, but it was still hard to wrap our head around why Apple would make an operating system without many visible features and just go and change architecture around. He explains that they're doing it because programmers don't know WTF is going on with parallel processing.

The way the processor industry is going is to add more and more cores, but nobody knows how to program those things. I mean, two, yeah; four, not really; eight, forget it.

Jobs claims that Apple's made a "breakthrough" in parallel-programming called Grand Central, which he alluded to in his keynote yesterday. He didn't, however, go into details about how it works and why it's going to revolutionize dividing up tasks into multiple processors in ways that other operating systems haven't yet.

What's also interesting is the ability to bring the GPU (your graphics card) into the processing role to help out your CPU. Apple's calling this newly proposed standard OpenCL (Open Compute Library).

Basically it lets you use graphics processors to do computation. It’s way beyond what Nvidia or anyone else has, and it’s really simple.

It's vaguely similar to the way that Photoshop CS 4 will use your graphics card to help process image manipulation and help out in rendering 3D models as well.

Will there be more features like Time Machine? Not according to Jobs.
3.

“We’ve added over a thousand features to Mac OS X in the last five years,” he said Monday in an interview after his presentation. “We’re going to hit the pause button on new features.”

Seems to us that Snow Leopard won't be heavy on the features, but it will increase processing speeds for people who are heavy on the processing in their daily computing and have more than just a few cores—a place we're all heading to in the next few years. [NYT]

IBM Developing Water-cooled, '3D' Semiconductors

Adrian Covert — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 19:46:14 EDT

Straight out of IBM's Zurich R&D labs are these concepts for semiconductor chips that are stacked on top of eachother and allow enough space in between for water cooling. Developed jointly with the Fraunhofer Institute in Berlin, the '3D' stacking of these chips not only uses less space and allows for greater speed, but the water cooling technique could potentially take the generated heat and reuse it for other purposes. IBM says the water cooling structure is as thin as 50 microns and equal in complexity to the system of nerves and blood vessels in the human brain. Crazy stuff.[IBM via TG Daily via Engadget]

AMD's Puma Platform Officially Pounces, But Can It Pwn?

Wilson Rothman — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 09:15:43 EDT

Today AMD officialized its Puma notebook platform—AMD Turion X2 Ultra dual-core mobile processors with ATI Radeon HD 3000 graphics—"for superior 3D performance and HD image quality, with industry-leading wireless for greater throughput and range." As we've noted in the past, it's a consumer-grade laptop play, and performance-wise it's aimed a bit lower than the upcoming but delayed Centrino 2 from Intel. But it's here and backed by Acer, Asus, Clevo, Fujitsu, Fujitsu Siemens Computers, HP, MSI, NEC and Toshiba. Odds are it will be an option on your next PC buying mission. Want to know more? Take a gander at the long-winded press release below.

AMD Delivers the Ultimate HD Visual Performance on the Go with Next-Generation Notebook Platform

Balanced Notebook Platform Achieves Superior 3D Performance and HD-Image Quality with Increased Energy Efficiency
TAIPEI, Taiwan —(Business Wire)— Jun. 4, 2008 AMD (NYSE: AMD) today announced the availability of its next-generation notebook platform, delivering the ultimate HD visual performance and increased energy efficiency on the go. The platform features new AMD Turion(TM) X2 Ultra Dual-Core Mobile Processors with ATI Radeon(TM) HD 3000 Series Graphics for superior 3D performance and HD image quality, with industry-leading wireless for greater throughput and range. AMD customers overwhelmingly embrace the new platform, as evidenced by more than double the number of design wins compared to the last major AMD Turion processor introduction. These new notebook designs come from leading OEMs including Acer, Asus, Clevo, Fujitsu, Fujitsu Siemens Computers, HP, MSI, NEC and Toshiba.

This next-generation AMD notebook platform also serves as the foundation for new AMD Business Class, AMD GAME! and AMD LIVE!(TM) notebook solutions.

"AMD is uniquely positioned to deliver balanced platform solutions that tightly couple computing and graphics capabilities for a visually rich user experience," said Dirk Meyer, president and COO, AMD. "Our next-generation AMD notebook platform contains a host of interrelated innovations that together deliver enhanced business productivity and the ultimate in HD visual performance on the go."

Capitalizing on a Historic Market Shift

Consumers are now using their notebooks for more than just productivity, but also entertainment, such as enjoying and manipulating photos, watching videos and listening to music. Likewise, businesses are adopting Microsoft(R) Windows Vista(R) as well as applications that are more graphically intensive. Therefore, a notebook with robust graphics and video capabilities is essential to unlock the best possible experience.

"With the advent of Microsoft Windows Vista, its new graphics and multimedia features, as well as the applications that will be tailored to this operating system, discrete graphics have become a much more important part of the purchase decision," said Bob O'Donnell, Program Vice President, IDC. "With the transition from desktops to laptops, consumers and business professionals are not only seeking the portability and connectivity provided by notebook PCs, they are also unwilling to compromise on the features and performance needed to drive the latest generation operating systems and applications. This next generation of notebooks must deliver the graphics and video capabilities to address this requirement."

Superior technologies working together

As a part of the new platform, AMD today also announced a new notebook processor and chipset, which together deliver the ultimate in HD visual performance on the go. The AMD Turion X2 Ultra Dual-Core Mobile processor includes top enhancements including AMD Independent Dynamic Core Technology, a new mobile-optimized memory controller, and power-optimized HyperTransport(TM) 3.0. The new mobile AMD 7-series chipset, AMD M780G and AMD SB700, features integrated ATI Radeon HD 3200 Graphics and delivers support for Microsoft DirectX(R) 10. The integrated graphics deliver up to three times the 3D graphics performance of comparable competitor graphics and offer ATI Avivo(TM) HD Technology for smooth video playback in hi-def format.

Complementing the video capabilities to deliver a rich visual experience, the platform also offers the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3000 series discrete graphics, including the previously announced ATI Mobility Radeon 3400 and 3600 Series, and the new ATI Mobility Radeon(TM) 3800 Series, also introduced today. The 3800 Series delivers the highest levels of graphics performance in the ATI Mobility Radeon HD family, with support for PCI Express(R) 2.0, the only graphics processor with DirectX 10.1, integrated digital output support for HDMI, DVI and Display Port, and multi-monitor functionality with native support for up to 4 monitors for mainstream notebooks. When using notebooks with both integrated and discrete graphics, users can also benefit from ATI CrossFireX(TM) Technology, a feature of ATI Hybrid Graphics Technology designed to boost graphics performance up to 70 percent by running the integrated and discrete graphics together.

"Windows Vista enhances the overall performance and productivity of the personal computer, offers rich visual experiences and makes the digital lifestyle easier, safer, more entertaining and better connected than ever before," said Steven Guggenheimer, corporate vice president of the OEM division at Microsoft. "The next-generation AMD notebook platform provides optimized technologies that will provide an even richer visual experience for customers running Windows Vista and other graphically demanding applications."

Cutting-edge wireless connectivity, enhanced power efficiency

The next-generation AMD notebook platform also incorporates the latest in wireless connectivity technologies like 802.11 draft n and 3G from leading Better by Design technology partners including Atheros, Broadcom, and Ralink. These technologies provide superior range, faster data transfer and allow users to stay connected on the go.

"AMD and Broadcom are technology partners in the Better by Design program and share a common goal of helping our mutual customers create innovative, high-performance notebooks that deliver exceptional user experiences," said Thomas Lagatta, senior vice president, Global Sales, Broadcom Corporation. "The combination of our industry-leading Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and network interface controller solutions and the next-generation AMD Turion X2 Ultra Mobile Processor platform provides notebook users with a variety of ways to stay connected to the people and information that matter to them."

The next-generation AMD notebook platform also incorporates innovative power management technologies, including AMD Enhanced PowerNow!(TM) Technology and ATI PowerXpress(TM) Technology to maximize the efficient use of power for extended battery life. AMD Enhanced PowerNow! Technology provides independent and dynamic control of core performance, and the ability to shut off areas of core logic when not in use to preserve power. ATI PowerXpress Technology, in turn, provides the high performance of discrete graphics when plugged into a power source and dynamically switches to integrated graphics when unplugged, saving up to 90 minutes of battery life.

"We offer a wide range of price and performance options on our HP Pavilion notebook computers, while at the same time featuring multiple system configurations for users to choose from in order to meet their needs," said Kevin Frost, vice president and general manager, consumer notebooks, PSG. "HP welcomes the introduction of the AMD Turion X2 Ultra processor-based platform as it will add even greater visual performance, multimedia and power-efficient choices for customers."

Security and manageability features for SMBs

Business users increasingly are recognizing the need to support today's graphics-rich applications and operating systems in a more mobile business world. Small- and medium-sized businesses also recognize the ability of notebook PCs to increase productivity, and require improved security to prevent data loss. With designs that enable industry-standard security and manageability such as Trusted Platform Module and Enhanced Virus Protection(TM)(a), small- and medium-sized businesses will find the next-generation AMD notebook platform helps meet their needs.

AMD Next-Generation Notebook Platform Availability

Systems based on the next-generation AMD notebook platform and the AMD Turion X2 Ultra Dual-Core Mobile Processor and ATI Radeon HD graphics, are now available from OEM customers.

The AMD next-generation notebook platform press kit offers additional information and collateral material pertaining to this launch.

AMD at Computex

Click here to see more about AMD activities at Computex, including a live broadcast of the press conference, short videos from the show floor, a daily blog, photos and more.

About AMD

Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE: AMD) is a leading global provider of innovative processing solutions in the computing, graphics and consumer electronics markets. AMD is dedicated to driving open innovation, choice and industry growth by delivering superior customer-centric solutions that empower consumers and businesses worldwide. For more information, visit http://www.amd.com.

(a) As part of a comprehensive security program, AMD strongly recommends enabling Enhanced Virus Protection (EVP) and using up to date third party anti-virus software.

(C)2008. AMD, the AMD Arrow logo, AMD Turion, and combinations thereof, AMD Enhanced PowerNow!, AMD Live!, Enhanced Virus Protection, ATI Radeon, ATI CrossFireX, ATI PowerExpress, ATI Avivo, ATI Mobility Radeon, ATI Hybrid Graphics Technology are trademarks of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. Microsoft, Windows, DirectX and Vista are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the U.S. and other jurisdictions. HyperTransport is a licensed mark of the HyperTransport Technology Consortium. PCI Express is a trademark of the PCI-Sig. Other names are for informational purposes only and may be trademarks of their respective owners.

AMD is pleased to have support from leading OEM customers and wireless partners for the next-generation AMD notebook platform.

"Dedicated to delivering cutting-edge notebook designs, Acer strives to offer solutions that afford exceptional experiences for all customers," said Campbell Kan, executive vice president of Notebooks WW Acer Corporation. "Consumers today want the latest in multimedia and HD entertainment, while our business users need stable, powerful systems that help them to get the job done at work or on the road. With the next-generation AMD notebook platform with AMD Turion X2 Ultra processors, Acer can offer customers the latest notebook innovations, and we plan to roll out a number of new systems across Acer Aspire and TravelMate product lines."

"ASUS is always committed to bringing customers the most advanced technologies, and we are excited to be among the first to offer systems based on the next-generation AMD notebook platform," said Henry Yeh, General Manager Notebook BU-R&D Div.2, ASUS. "The platform's improved notebook performance, dynamic power coordination and new levels of graphics processing will enable us to deliver products that provide increased business efficiency, as well as enhanced video and multimedia experiences."

"Exceptional wireless performance is a must for consumers and professionals who want anywhere, anytime access to the Web and advanced applications, and a great user experience," said Ben Naskar, vice president and General Manager of Wireless Networking Business Unit, Atheros. "Our single-chip XSPAN Wi-Fi solutions and the next-generation AMD notebook platform with AMD Turion X2 Ultra processors are optimized for 802.11n performance and power-efficiency. As a result, users will benefit from a most satisfying mobile computing experience with significantly extended battery life."

"As a leading notebook manufacturer for 25 years, Clevo strives to flexibly and efficiently meet our notebook customers' individual needs, while offering the latest technologies and superior value," said Donovan Yeh, vice president of Strategic Marketing Center, Clevo. "With the unparalleled flexibility of the next-generation AMD notebook platform featuring AMD Turion X2 Ultra Mobile Processors, Clevo can deliver the 'on the go' application performance, power-efficiency and rich visual experience our customers demand."

"Fujitsu looks forward to working with AMD and plans to incorporate the next-generation AMD notebook platform into the next-generation Fujitsu products," said Akira Nagahara, general manager, Personal Computing Division, Personal Systems Business Unit, Fujitsu Limited. "The products will provide the improved graphics capabilities, fast wireless connectivity and long battery life of the next-generation AMD notebook platform, and this collaboration will allow Fujitsu to continue to offer PCs that exceed the demands of today's consumers."

"At Fujitsu Siemens Corporation, we are increasing our focus on technological innovation giving our customers real useful benefits with the introduction of our AMILO 3000 series of products. One of the areas that needed a better solution was the increased demand for multimedia and gaming capability in notebooks without sacrificing battery life," said Bjorn Fehrm, head of Strategy and Innovation Consumer EMEA, Fujitsu Siemens Corporation. "Our technological cooperation with AMD has produced really new and exciting solutions to this problem."

"To meet the rigorous multimedia demands and expectations of today's on the go consumers, MSI continually strives to offer a wide variety of notebooks that best meet our customers' specific needs, whether they are casual gamers, video fanatics or music lovers," said Larry Wu, Global Sales VP, MSI. "MSI plans to expand the Gaming (GT730, GX730), Entertainment (EX310) and Professional (PX210, PR211) Series of notebooks with the AMD Turion X2 Ultra Platform, affording exceptional flexibility to design and deliver systems that keep pace with our customers' needs and desires."

"We believe the next-generation AMD notebook platform is the most suitable platform for the multimedia environment of the next-generation PCs, particularly with its high performance on HD content playback capability," Sakae Takatsuka, senior vice president, NEC Personal Products, Ltd. "By fully utilizing this technology, we are planning to create user-friendly products by offering many more PC usage options. With the close collaboration with AMD, NEC is dedicated to the continuous technological innovation and the growth and enrichment of the PC market which will expand the boundaries of the benefits and excitement for our customers."

"AMD and Ralink continue to deliver superior technologies to OEMs, enabling a better notebook PC experience for users around the world," said Kenny Chiu, Vice President of World Wide Business Development, Ralink. "Ralink, a member of the Better by Design program, delivers wireless LAN solutions that enable large data transfers and the consistent reliability required by today's HD entertainment applications. Next-generation AMD notebooks featuring our RT2800 and RT2700 chipsets on the next-generation AMD notebook platform deliver faster wireless data transfers and HD image quality to improve visual performance from on the go."

"As one of the world's largest laptop manufacturers, Toshiba is always looking to stay ahead of consumer mobile computing needs and desires while delivering stable, affordable and high-performance systems for business users," said Mr. Hidejiro Shimomitsu, president and CEO of Toshiba's Personal Computer & Network Company. "With the addition of AMD's next-generation platform to our Satellite line-up, we continue to deliver innovative, powerful and power-efficient mobility to end users."

Nvidia Tegra Videos Show Quake III at 35fps, 3D UI Running Like Butter

matt buchanan — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 21:00:00 EDT

Nvidia talks a big game about how awesome its mobile Tegra processors are, but paper muscles tear when wet. They've got some videos showing that there is at least some meat behind the pulp. Above the fold is Quake III running at 35fps with anti-aliasing turned on, while below is HD video output at 720p via HDMI out, and their 3D UI, which has a coverflow clone, and some nice 3D navigation stuff. These are undoubtedly optimized, but still some impressive voodoo.

[Nvidia]

Via Launches Crysis-Capable Nano Processors

matt buchanan — Thu, 29 May 2008 02:57:33 EDT

Via's next-gen Isaiah processors that they're hoping will break them into the mainstream market just got all official, going by the more consumer-friendly Nano moniker. When we talked with Via about them last week, they said that Isaiah-based processors will deliver 4x the performance of their current C7 chips (which power the OQO and Cloudbook) at the same power envelope. The press release touts the chips' ability to playback Blu-ray and run Crysis—that might be true, but we have the feeling you won't exactly want to in the latter case. Available to manufacturers now, you should start seeing Nano-powered wares in the fall. The low-power-but-decent-performance chip space is definitely getting a mite crowded.

VIA Launches VIA Nano Processor Family
Power efficient processors based on 'Isaiah' architecture designed for optimized performance for mainstream PC markets and new device types

Beijing, China, 29th May 2008 - VIA Technologies, Inc, a leading innovator of power efficient x86 platforms, today announced the new VIA Nano processor family based on the VIA Isaiah Architecture.

Building on the market-leading energy efficiency of the VIA C7 processor family, the VIA Nano processor family offers as much as four times the performance within the same power range to extend VIA's performance per watt leadership, while pin compatibility with VIA C7 processors will ensure a smooth transition for OEMs and motherboard vendors, and provides them with an easy upgrade path for current system or board designs.

The first 64-bit, superscalar, speculative out-of-order processors in VIA's x86 platform portfolio, VIA Nano processors have been specifically designed to revitalize traditional desktop and notebook PC markets, delivering truly optimized performance for the most demanding computing, entertainment and connectivity applications, including Blu-ray Disc™ HD video playback and the latest PC games, such as Crysis™.

The VIA Nano processor family leverages Fujitsu's advanced 65 nanometer process technology for enhanced power efficiency, and augments that with aggressive power and thermal management features within the compact 21mm x 21mm nanoBGA2 package for an idle power as low as 100mW (0.1W), extending the reach of power efficient green and silent PCs, thin and light notebooks and mini-notes around the world.

"VIA Nano processors represent the next generation of x86 technology, providing the fundamental building blocks for a new genre of optimized computing solutions," said Wenchi Chen, President and CEO, VIA Technologies, Inc. "'Small is Beautiful' is more than a design strategy; it's our vision of where the PC market is heading and our new processors will help the market realize that dream."

VIA's 'nano' association also extends to VIA's signature silicon and platform design characteristics of power efficiency and form factor size reduction, as demonstrated by VIA's ultra compact Nano-ITX boards and the processor packaging used for the current VIA C7 processor family and the first generation of VIA Nano processors.

About the VIA Nano Processor Family

Initially to be launched in two skus, the VIA Nano L-series processors for mainstream desktop and mobile PC systems and the ultra low voltage U-series for small form factor desktop and ultra mobile devices such as mini-notes.

The VIA Nano processor family boasts the highly efficient VIA V4 bus interface and brings a host of technology firsts to VIA's processor platform line-up, including:

— 64-bit Superscalar Speculative Out-Of-Order MicroArchitecture: Supports a full 64-bit instruction set and provides for macro-fusion and micro-fusion functionality, and sophisticated branch prediction for greater processor efficiency and performance.

— High-Performance Computation and Media Processing: The high-speed, low power VIA V4 Front Side Bus starting at 800MHz, plus a high floating point unit, support for new SSE instructions, and two 64KB L1 caches and 1MB exclusive L2 cache with 16-way associativity gives a big boost to multimedia performance.

— Advanced Power and Thermal Management: Aggressive management of active power includes support for the new "C6" power state, Adaptive PowerSaver™ Technology, new circuit techniques and mechanisms for managing the die temperature, reducing power draw and improving thermal management.

— Scalable Upgrade to VIA C7™ Processor: Pin-to-pin compatibility with current VIA C7 processors enables a smooth transition for OEMs and mainboard vendors, enabling them to offer a wider range of products for different markets with a single board or system design.

— Greener Technology: In addition to full compliance with RoHS and WEEE regulations, product manufacturing will be halogen-free and lead-free at launch, helping to promote a cleaner environment and more sustainable computing.

— Enhanced VIA PadLock™ Security Engine: Industry-leading on-die hardware cryptographic acceleration and security features, including dual quantum random number generators, an AES Encryption Engine, NX-bit, and SHA-1 and SHA-256 hashing.

[VIA]

Intel Centrino 2 Delay Gets Official

matt buchanan — Wed, 28 May 2008 09:30:00 EDT

Yesterday's report that Intel's highly anticipated Centrino 2 chipset was being delayed by issues with the integrated graphics and a wireless certification boo-boo was right on the money. Intel confirmed it today, with a soft launch July 14 of the Centrino 2 sets using discrete graphics and their new mobile processors, followed by a full rollout of the whole shebang in August. [PCMag]

Question of the Day: Do You Think Computers Were Built Using Alien Technology?

Sean Fallon — Tue, 27 May 2008 17:40:00 EDT

With aliens being all the rage in the news recently, it got me thinking about the age old debate about the existence of aliens and the impact they may or may not have had on our own technological advancements. Chances are you probably have a strong opinion one way or the other about tiny green men and the incidents at Roswell, so here is a chance to air them out. So, my question to you is: Do you believe that aliens exist? And if so, do you believe that we have put some of their technology to use in our own devices?

Toshiba Bringing PS3 Innards to Notebooks, TVs

Adrian Covert — Fri, 09 May 2008 13:54:00 EDT

Its recently been revealed that Toshiba is planning to use Sony PS3 technology in its upcoming TVs and Notebooks. The OC Register's Gadgetress got her hands on the Toshiba's Qosmio notebook (shown above), which will use the SpursEngine chip, jointly developed between Toshiba and Sony around the Cell. The processor will handle much of the video and multimedia processing, taking the load off the main CPU.

According to Toshiba, HD processing that once took an hour now only takes 10 minutes. And though the SpursEngine chip can handle graphics processing for games, no PC games are currently optimized for the chip, rendering it useless. But game development built around the processor is in the works. Tentatively, the Qosmio will also feature gesture based controls via webcam, but will lack the usual Blu-ray drive, 1080p resolution and TV tuner. But it will only run for $1700, shaving about $1300 off the price.

As for the TV, it will make use of Sony's Cell microprocessor for realtime HD upscaling, recording of multiple channels, and "displaying video as if it is being viewed through opera glasses" (whatever that means). The Qosmio notebook is planned for a 2008 release while the TV will hit stores in Fall 2009. [Electronista and Gadgetress]

Department of Defense Unhappy With Apple Chip Company Purchase

matt buchanan — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 21:00:00 EDT

P.A. Semi, the chip design company Apple picked up for a song, is best known for its super-efficient PWRficient processor, a PowerPC variant. One of the big customers for the CPU is the Department of Defense, which makes use of it in programs in every major branch of the military, and they're not thrilled by the possibility of Apple ending production of the chips.

Ten defense systems, to the tune of $100 million in products over the next four years, use P.A. Semi's PWRficient processor. On Monday, P.A. Semi told its customers they were being acquired and couldn't guarantee chip supplies anymore. (Brings us back to the problem of obsolete tech in the military.)

It's possible the licensing issues could get worked out to maintain supply "on an end-of-life basis" but in that same statement, P.A. noted that their buyer (Apple) wasn't interested in their products or roadmap, just their IP and engineering skills. Which means Apple has no interest in anything their currently making or about to make, despite Blam's reasonable assumption that was the case. So it's all about their design chops, or they really are just a bargaining chip. [EETimes via GigaOM]

AMD X3 Tri-Core Processor Reviewed (Verdict: Get a Quad-Core Chip)

matt buchanan — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 00:31:00 EDT

Maximum PC has reviewed AMD's tri-core 2.4GHz Phenom X3 8750 CPU. It performs like you'd expect—in between quad and dual cores. Fine, but it's $195. You can pick up AMD's top quad core, the X4 9850 for only $235, or Intel's Q6600 (which mercilessly beat down the X4 9850 in benchmarks) for $224 now, or hell, $200 in a few weeks. So just get a quad core. Maximum PC also hints that a Core 2 Duo might keep pace with the tri-cores, but they're keeping that under wraps for now, bastards. [Maximum PC]

Question of the Day: Do You Prefer AMD or Intel CPUs?

Sean Fallon — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 19:50:07 EDT

The age-old battle between Intel and AMD is resurrected every year as the two duke it out for control of your computer. Back in the day, when I was broke and into building PCs, I often opted for AMD because of budget restrictions. After I graduated, performance was the objective which, at the time, meant a switch to Intel was in order. I took a case by case approach to the debate between Intel and AMD, but many PC builders out there have fierce loyalties to one side or the other despite their ups and downs. So the question is: Do you prefer AMD or Intel processors?

Your Computer Sucks, Get a New Graphics Card

matt buchanan — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 14:25:00 EDT

Your PC? It sucks, it doesn't have enough cores. Sure, you could get a new multi-core processor like a Phenom or Core 2 Quad, adding like 2 or 3 cores to your rig. Or! You could get a new graphics card instead and get over one hundred extra cores. And more cores = more better, right?

Actually, even though Nvidia's argument seems slightly retarded and self-serving, it has a bit of merit—as you go up in CPU price ranges, the price to performance ratio drops pretty steadily. And if you're running Windows Vista, you actually need a solid graphics card to run it without any hitches, even if you're not gaming. So instead of plowing an extra $100 into a slightly faster processor that'll net you minimal performance gains, you'd get more out of it investing in a better graphics card. [Nvidia via Pop Sci]

Intel Reveals All About Atom Processor Range

Kit Eaton — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 07:00:04 EDT

The detailed specs on Intel's upcoming small'n'cheap Atom processor are now up for grabs. From data released at the Intel Developer Forum in Shanghai, it looks like the first Atom releases will be five different CPUs, destined for a range of portable or "net-top" machines. Each chip has 512kB of on-board L2 caching and supports SSE3 instructions, but will have different processor core speeds and frontside bus speeds. Prices will run from $45 for the cheapest to $160 for the fastest CPU. For the processor fanatics among you, details below.

Z500
800MHz clock, 400 MHz frontside bus. No HyperThreading. TDP of 0.65W

Z510
1.1GHz clock, 400 MHz frontside bus. No HyperThreading. TDP of 2W

Z520
1.33GHz clock, 533MHz frontside bus. Supports HyperThreading. TDP of 2W

Z530
1.6GHz clock, 533MHz frontside bus. Supports HyperThreading. TDP of 2W

Z540
1.86GHz clock, 533MHz frontside bus. Supports HyperThreading. TDP of 2.2W

The Atom processors also are combined with the former "Paulsbo" System Controller Hub chipset and wireless adaptors into the Centrino Atom package. The SCH takes command of north and south bridges, memory control, PCI express, USB and other connectivity and an integrated GPU. This last supports Direct X9, and Intel says the top range version can also cope with HD 1080i output. That's pretty impressive for a chip that may be destined for portable gadgets.

Intel is ready to go with all these chips, and wants them to be on sale within 60 days. [Reg Hardware and Reuters]

AMD Phenom X3 Triple Core Processors Are Crippled Quad Cores in Disguise

matt buchanan — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 21:30:48 EDT

Part of AMD's multi-core Phenom blast today is the Phenom X3 8000, "the world's only triple-core x86 processor," which we heard about a few months ago. They're supposed to bargain chips for budget consumers, but they're a nicer bargain for AMD, actually, since it lets them dump bug-plagued quad-core Phenomsby disabling a core. But if performance is your top concern, you might want to steer clear of the whole Phenom batch anyway. We're still waiting for AMD's 45nm chippies, personally. [Hard OCP, Anandtech]

AMD Quad-Core Phenom X4 9850 Reviewed (Verdict: Owned by Intel Quad Cores)

matt buchanan — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 00:57:39 EDT

The Phenom X4 9850 is at the top of AMD's latest heap of quad-core Phenoms. It's free of the performance-sapping bug that plagued the first batch of Phenoms, and AMD hopes it'll claw back some ground from Intel. Maximum PC stacked it up against two quad-cores from Intel—the mid-rangeish Penryn Core 2 Quad Q9300, as well as an older Core 2 Q6600. Ouchies for AMD, the Intel pair blew past it.

The Penryn-based Q9300 "owned the night," with the Q6600 trailing, and Phenom in back of both. It wasn't "so far behind as to be dead in the water" but "it doesn't quite go head-to-head with the Penryn lite." (They call the Q9300 Penryn-lite because it has half the cache of the higher-end Penryn quad-cores.)

The 9850 X4 is the fastest AM2 chip around, however, so if you're sticking with that board "it's a pretty good upgrade." The bigger problem is that AMD still has nothing to touch Intel's top quad cores, and won't for months, at least. [Maximum PC]

Silicon Out, Graphene In?

Sean Fallon — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 20:10:46 EDT

Physicists at the University of Maryland have demonstrated that graphene, a single-atom-thick sheet of graphite, has a greater ability to conduct electricity than any other known material at room temperature. In fact, electrons can travel up to 100 times faster in graphine than silicon, making it a likely candidate to replace it as a semiconductor material in devices like computer chips and sensors.

Graphene also has a resistivity (opposition to the flow of electric current) of 1.0 microOhm-cm—which is 35% less than copper. That figure would also make graphene the lowest resistivity material at room temperature. However, impurities in graphine make it less effective than copper at transferring electrons (at least for the moment). Still, with some refinement, the future looks promising for graphene as our next "miracle material." [University of Maryland via Slashdot]

NVIDIA Wants to Buy VIA for Mobile Processor Action?

matt buchanan — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 09:49:04 EDT

In case you've been living under the rock that is your desktop PC, the mobile/UMPPC processor biz is hot shit right now. So Digitimes' report that Nvidia was in talks to pick up Via (who specializes in mobile processors, like in the OQO, or their own UMPC) makes sense, particularly with Nvidia's recent charge back into the mobile market with its low power, HD video-eating chipsets.

Supposedly the deal fell through because Via was too pricey, but since they're currently bleeding cash, it's possible they'll come back at a lower price. And it wouldn't be the first time Nvidia swallowed a chip company to digest and integrate their expertise into Nvidia's own wares. [Digitimes]