Air T. IT Blog!

GDDR6 Memory Coming in 2014!

2012-06-26T22:07:00.000+02:00

If you didn't know about AMD's involvement in GDDR RAM, now is the right time!

When it comes to graphics memory it's the AMD i.e. Advanced Micro Devices company that is actually behind the creation of GDDR memory standard. Their GDDR3 memory which launched in 2004 was very successful and is still in wide use on low end graphics cards and other applications. GDDR4 never really took off, because the advantages over GDDR3 weren't great enough! GDDR5 is the current standard and can bring more than 250GB/s of achievable bandwidth. Now, the technical standards to define the next generation GDDR6 memory are currently being worked out by AMD working with memory industry standards body, JEDEC.

GDDR6 is expected to be launched in 2014 and should last beyond 2020. It's generating a lot of interest from all the usual suspects such as NVIDIA, Intel, Qualcomm, Texas Instruments, CISCO and many others. This is the field where AMD is the company in charge, and regardless for whom are you rooting for, without AMD's memory team - our present (and the future) would look significantly different.

"GDDR5 as a memory standard was designed as Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. The Single-Ended GDDR5 i.e. Dr. Jekyll was created to power the contemporary processors, while the Differential GDDR5 i.e. Mr. Hyde was designed to "murder Rambus and XDR". Ultimately, the conventional S.E. GDDR5 took off better than expected and clocked higher than anyone hoped for. While the estimates for the top standard were set at 1.5GHz QDR, i.e. 6 "effective GHz" with overclocking, we got both AMD and NVIDIA actually shipping retail parts at 1.5GHz, with overclocks as high as 1.85GHz (7.4 "GHz"). This brought us to more than 250GB/s achiveable bandwidth, meaning that the purpose of Differential GDDR5 was lost."

Just around the time of DDR4 as well. Sounds like a good combination to me! It will be interesting to see what kind of speeds and bandwidth can be achieved and if it can really last 6 plus years!

More news:

(vr-zone.com) GDDR6 memory coming in 2014

(legitreviews.com) GDDR6 to debut 2014

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By: Air T.

NVIDIA "Kepler" GeForce GTX 680 official specifications sheet leaked!

2012-03-14T03:56:00.003+01:00

The slide leaked from PCOnline.com.cn site and it seems to be the real deal. The specification list reveals already rumored and pretty much confirmed numbers of a single core flagship GeForce GTX 680.

The Nvidia GTX 680 will have a very high GPU clock at a quite impressive 1006MHz.

Specifications and price:

Kepler GK104 will have die size of 294mm^2 and 3.54 billion transistors
CUDA Cores: 1536
Base Clock: 1006MHz
Boost Clock: 1058MHz
Memory Config: 2GB of GDDR5 paired with a 256-bit memory interface and clocked at 6.0Gbps
TDP: 195W
Power Connectors: in line two 6-pin PCI-Express power connectors
Outputs: 2x DL-DVI, HDMI, DisplayPort 1.2
Bus Interface: PCI-Express 3.0 x16 bus interface

Price: MSRP of US $549
Release date of GeForce GTX 680 is set for March 22nd.

GeForce GTX 560 Ti, GTX 570 and GTX 580 are getting price cuts up to $50 (GTX 580 is already available at lower price).

Credits: (diy.pconline.com.cn)

Interesting comparison Geforce GTX 680 vs. Radeon HD 7950 / 7970

Credits: (3dcenter.org)

And some more specs:

Two pictures of GeForce GTX 680 came from Chiphell.com

Credits: (chiphell.com)

More news:

(pconline.com.cn) GeForce GTX 680 Specifications

(3dcenter.org) Nvidia GeForce GTX 680 Vs. Radeon HD 7950 / 7970 chart comparison

By: Air T.

AMD A10-5800K Black Edition is a Top Trinity with Turbo at 4.2GHz

2012-03-08T20:29:00.000+01:00

AMD’s flagship of the Trinity lineup is the A10-5800K Black Edition and it comes in early Q2!

The top of the range Trinity APU the quad-core A10-5800K Black Edition series is designed for gaming which has an HD 7660D integrated GPU with 384 Radeon cores (2.0). The GPU is running at 800Mhz while the CPU clocks at 3.8Ghz and can do 4.2Ghz in Turbo mode.

Trinity is a big thing for AMD. The company has high hopes with this chip in both mobile and desktop space. In near future we could expect quite a few interesting mobile Trinity parts, including low-voltage versions for ultrabooks.

According to road map the release date seems to be the second quarter and third quarter. All members of AX-5000 quad-cores series will appear in Q2 (April). While the double-core models will appear in Q3 (July).

For full specifications list of next AMD APU family with AMD A10-5800K, A10-5700, A8-5600K, A8-5500, A6-5400K and the A4-5300 check out the table bellow!

Credits: (donanimhaber.com)

There is no clear information about prices! But we could expect them to be released soon!

More news:
(donanimhaber.com) AMD A10 Series A10-5800K Black Edition
(cpu-world.com) AMD-A10-Series (Bulldozer) - A10-5800K
(guruht.com) AMD A10-5800K - A10-5700 - A8-5600K

By: Air T.

Nvidia GK104 PCB pictured with some unusual power connector design!

2012-03-05T00:24:00.000+01:00

First "real" Kepler (GK104) PCB shot from Asian website chiphell! They claim to be a real picture of the reference PCB.

The PCB is green in color and it's obviously an early engineering sample. The final product (branded GeForce GTX680 / GTX670 Ti) will likely have a black-colored one. The estimated length of the card is about 25 cm. On the picture we see the front side of PCB of a total 8 memory chips, which confirms the heavily rumoured 256Bit wide memory interface, with likely 2 GB of GDDR5. But it may be even 512-bit interface if the memory chips are placed also on the back side!

On the CAD drawing of NVIDIA's GeForce Kepler 104 (GK104) reference board we see that there are two SLI bridge connectors, giving it 3-way and 4-way SLI support. Two way SLI bridge interface appears only on the flagship graphics cards! It seems that NVIDIA could potentially aim with the GK104 as a high-end product to compete with AMD's flagship card Radeon HD7970!

Other connectors on the card are dual DVI, one HDMI and one DisplayPort output. The card is loaded with a 5+2 phase power design (5-phase NVVDC configuration).

On the last two pictures we see a strange double-decker power connector. External power supply has a new plug with two 6pin PCI-E + 8pin PCI-E connector!

More news, pictures on:
(Computerbase.de) Erscheint Nvidias KEPLER als GK104 grafikchip am 23.maerz
(Vr-zone.com) Nvidia GK104 PCB pictured
(Techpowerup.com) GK104 PCB Pictured in Full

By: Air T.

ASUS Maximus V Gene - mATX (intel Z77 chipset) specifications revealed!

2012-03-04T15:01:00.002+01:00

Asus does it again! Beautiful and a lot of features on a micro ATX (mATX) motherboard for the latest Intel Core i7/i5/i3 3nd generation processors (LGA1155 socket), that even fits in compact gaming PC case! It's the ASUS Republic of Gamers motherboard based on upcoming Intel Z77 chipset.

Credits: (maximum-tech.net)

ASUS ROG Maximus V GENE LGA1155 Z77 Motherboard Details:

Specifications:

- LGA1155 socket for 3nd generation Intel Core procesor-based platform and 2nd Generation Core i7/ i5/ i3/ Pentium/ Celeron processors
- 8 phase CPU power design + 4 -phase iGPU power design Extreme Engine DIGI+ II power design
- 4 DIMM, Dual-channel DDR3 2600+ MHz (O.C.)
- 2 x PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slots
- 1 x PCI-Express 2.0 x4 slot
- 1 x mPCIe combo add-on card
- supports both NVIDIA SLi and AMD Crossfire
- 2 x SATA 3Gb/s (Black)
- 4 x SATA 6Gb/s (Red)
- 1 x eSATA 2 Gb/s
- 2 x USB 3.0 (blue)
- 4 x USB 2.0 (1 for ROG Connect)
- 1 x Clr CMOS switch
- 1 x ROG connect button
- 1 x S/PDIF out (Optical)
- Intel Gb LAN
- 7.1 channel HD audio I/O (SupremeFX III circuitry).

It comes with an HDMI and a DisplayPort for display connectivity.

One of new interesting features is called a mPCIe COMBO!

Video: How To Use The Maximus V GENE mPCIe Combo card

Finally some impressive mATX motherboard! Really like the arrangement on this motherboard. It looks much better than the Gigabyte Z77 G1. Sniper M3.

The exact pricing details and release dates are unknown, but we could expect them to be released soon!

By: Air T.

AMD is releasing three new 95W Zambezi FX CPUs in Q1

2012-02-17T20:22:00.002+01:00

AMD is apparently preparing another refresh line of FX-series dekstop CPUs

(Credits: donanimhaber.com)

According to current leaked road map, AMD is planning to add three new 95 Watt thermal design power models four, six and eight-core CPUs to its product range!

AMD's new 95W eight-core processor will be the model FX-8140 - featuring clocks of 3.2 GHz and Turbo Core up to 4.1 GHz with Turbo Core 2.0 technology. and 16MB of cache.

AMD's new 95W six-core processor will be the model FX-6120 - featuring clocks of 3.5 GHz and Turbo Core up to 4.1 GHz with Turbo Core 2.0 technology and 14MB of cache

AMD's new 95W quad-core processor will be the model FX-4150 - featuring clocks of 3.9 GHz and Turbo Core up to 4.1 GHz with Turbo Core 2.0 technology and 12MB of cache.

The exact pricing details and release dates are unknown, but we could expect them to be released in March.

Entire NVIDIA "Kepler" series GPU Specifications leaked!

2012-02-06T15:55:00.001+01:00

Nvidia Kepler specs are "finally" out! Lineup has been "fully detailed", with specifications including clock speeds, memory totals and bus bandwidth.

(Credits: lenzfire.com)

Bumping through the list, specs shows us that reference GTX680 will have just 2GB! But even with 1GB less than HD 7970, Nvidia GTX680 is able to perform 45% faster. Also GTX680 boasts double the amount of stream processors compared to GTX580. We already know that the entire Kepler series will be PCI-E 3.0 compliant and that is manufactured on TSMC’s 28nm technology. For a $100 more than HD 7970 you’ll be getting almost a 45% faster card! GTX680 is priced at $649 and will be released in April 2012.

(Credits: lenzfire.com)

The GTX 680 will apparently perform 45% better than the HD 7970. Well, this is a bold claim as AMD's new HD 7000 series cards made big performance gains over the past generations already. I’d like to see some TDP ratings as well.

Only time will tell! So i would take this specs with a grain of salt.

By: Air T.

Asus shows off X79 motherboards "LGA 2011"

2011-10-27T00:07:00.003+02:00

Asus images and some specs of motherboards that support Intel's new Sandy Bridge E chips. Asus has three of its upcoming X79 products, P9X79 DELUXE, P9X79 Pro and Rampage IV Extreme

ASUS P9X79 DELUXE

Picture source: http://www.expertreviews.co.uk

ASUS P9X79 Pro

The biggest difference between P9X79 Pro and Deluxe is the 16+2+2+2 VRM setup on the Deluxe over the 8+2+2+2 setup on the Pro. The higher amount of power phases means that overclocking ability should be a little better on the Deluxe version. The DELUXE board has Triple card SLI / CrossFireX making it that little bit more enthusiast orientated. It has another Gigabit networking port with two extra USB 3.0 ports and a new BT V3.0 GO similar to P8P67 DELUXE - BT GO V2.1.
Another interesting feature is USB 3.0 Boost. Asus claims a performance increase of up to "170%".More about USB 3.0 boost you can find here: (vr-zone.com) - Asus-launches USB 3.0 speed booster UASP support for ASMedia

ASUS RAMPAGE IV EXTREME

Picture source: http://www.tweaktown.com

The ASUS Rampage IV Extreme looks to be one of the best ROG boards to date from the company.

The Rampage IV Extreme is a overclocking motherboard and it's going to be "expensive". This is going to be one of the most hardcore options on the market and any true ROG fan is going to absolutely love what ASUS has brought to the table.

All of Asus boards will support UEFI BIOS and one-touch USB BIOS "flash" updates. It allows you to flash the BIOS of a motherboard with literally nothing in the system. It gets handy if you get a motherboard and a brand new CPU that wasn't supported on the shipping BIOS. With a USB flash drive you can get to the latest BIOS without the need of getting an older compatible CPU.

Intel's X79 brings support for four memory channels resulting in a possible eight DDR3 DIMMs, plus USB3, AMD Crossfire and Nvidia SLI support.

Intel is expected to release its Core i7 39XX range of chips in the coming weeks, which are set to replace the LGA1366 Core i7 Nehalem chips that launched the Core-series chips back in 2008. Socket LGA2011 mainboards will also support the so-called Sandy Bridge E chips, which are Core i7 processors marketed for workstations.

While pictures are out, Intel's NDA still hasn't expired so there's no official word on pricing, but expect both Asus and Gigabyte to price their X79 boards from £200, with the RoG and Assassin boards coming in at £300 or above.

More news, pictures on:

(expertreviews.co.uk) Asus-motherboards show off
(tweaktown.com) Asus P9X79 Pro and Deluxe motherboard preview
(tweaktown.com) Asus_RAMPAGE IV EXTREME_motherboard_preview

Time to get excited! Gigabyte X79 motherboards "LGA 2011"

2011-10-27T00:07:00.001+02:00

New Gigabyte images and some specs of motherboards that support Intel's new Sandy Bridge E chips. Gigabyte has four of its upcoming X79 products, G1.Assassin 2, X79-UD7, X79-UD5 and X79-UD3.

These LGA 2011 boards make use of 3-way digital power technology, and have four or eight (only UD5) DDR3 memory, slots, up to ten SATA ports (both 6.0 Gbps and 3.0 Gbps), three (G1.Assassin 2, X79-UD5) or four (X79-UD7, X79-UD3) PCI-Express x16 slots, Gigabit Ethernet, 7.1 channel audio, USB 3.0 connectivity, and various other, model-specific goodies. The G1.Assassin 2 for example includes a Killer 2100 NIC and a Creative X-Fi audio processor, while the X79-UD7 boasts with two SATA port connectors and overclocking buttons.

Expect an official announcement from Gigabyte in the coming weeks.

G1.Assassin 2

GA-X79-UD7

GA-X79-UD5

GA-X79-UD3

Picture source: http://sinhardware.com

Some quick info about Gigabytes BIOS/UEFI on screenshots from (anandtech.com):First looka at Gigabytes UEFI setup on X79

I'm not an ASUS fanboy either. But if you compare these boards to ASUS! You can see an instant change. ASUS includes 8 DIMMS on every motherboard, and their SLI support increases as the boards become higher-spec. ASUS's layouts make much more sense than Gigabytes.

Facebook page:
GIGABYTE USA page:
http://www.facebook.com-Gigabyte X79

Intel's X79 brings support for four memory channels resulting in a possible eight DDR3 DIMMs, plus USB3, AMD Crossfire and Nvidia SLI support.

Intel is expected to release its Core i7 39XX range of chips in the coming weeks, which are set to replace the LGA1366 Core i7 Nehalem chips that launched the Core-series chips back in 2008. Socket LGA2011 mainboards will also support the so-called Sandy Bridge E chips, which are Core i7 processors marketed for workstations.

While pictures are out, Intel's NDA still hasn't expired so there's no official word on pricing, but expect both Asus and Gigabyte to price their X79 boards from £200, with the RoG and Assassin boards coming in at £300 or above.

AMD Radeon HD 7000 GPUs listed in leaked driver (drivers download)

2011-10-20T15:36:00.000+02:00

AMD Catalyst driver 8.91, presumably preview for 11.11, has leaked on the internet, containing references to AMD's next-gen Radeon HD 7000 family. In addition to previously leaked codenames, the 8.91 driver also lists final branding, ranging from Radeon HD 7300 to Radeon HD 7600 series

The relevant names are listed as follows:

AMD6778.1 = "AMD Radeon HD 7000 series"
AMD68FA.1 = "AMD Radeon HD 7300 Series"
AMD6850.1 = "AMD Radeon HD 7400 Series"
AMD6858.1 = "AMD Radeon HD 7400 Series"

AMD6859.1 = "AMD Radeon HD 7400 Series"

AMD677B.1 = "AMD Radeon HD 7400 Series"

AMD6772.1 = "AMD Radeon HD 7400A Series"

AMD675D.1 = "AMD Radeon HD 7500 Series"

AMD6742.1 = "AMD Radeon HD 7500/7600 Series"

AMD6841.7 = "AMD Radeon HD 7500M/7600M Series"

AMD675B.1 = "AMD Radeon HD 7600 Series"

AMD6751.1 = "AMD Radeon HD 7600A Series"

AMD6840.7 = "AMD Radeon HD 7600M Series"

AMD683B.1 = "CAPE VERDE PRO"

AMD683F.1 = "CAPE VERDE PRO"

AMD6839.1 = "CAPE VERDE XT"

AMD683D.1 = "CAPE VERDE XT"

AMD6838.1 = "CAPE VERDE XTX"

AMD682F.1 = "CHELSEA PRO"

AMD6824.1 = "CHELSEA XT"

AMD682D.1 = "CHELSEA XT"

AMD6831.1 = "GREAT WALL"

AMD6821.1 = "HEATHROW PRO"

AMD6827.1 = "HEATHROW PRO"

AMD6820.1 = "HEATHROW XT"

AMD6825.1 = "HEATHROW XT"

AMD6819.1 = "PITCAIRN PRO"

AMD6818.1 = "PITCAIRN XT"

AMD6799.1 = "SI NEW ZEALAND"

AMD679A.1 = "SI TAHITI PRO"

AMD6798.1 = "SI TAHITI XT"

AMD6830.1 = "SUMMER PALACE XT"

AMD9901.1 = "TRINITY DEVASTATOR DESKTOP"

AMD9904.1 = "TRINITY DEVASTATOR LITE DESKTOP"

AMD9903.2 = "TRINITY DEVASTATOR LITE MOBILE"

AMD9900.2 = "TRINITY DEVASTATOR MOBILE"

AMD9991.1 = "TRINITY SCRAPPER DESKTOP"

AMD9990.2 = "TRINITY SCRAPPER MOBILE"

AMD6800.1 = "WIMBLEDON XT"

There are a string of Radeon HD 7000, containing Radeon HD 7300, 7400, 7500, and 7600 Series. For notebooks, HD 7500M and HD 7600M are listed. Also mentioned are HD 7400A and HD 7600A Series for All-in-one PCs.

In addition, several codenames have been revealed. Most codenames, such as Heathrow, Chelsea, Thames, New Zealand, and Wimbledon (mobile GPUs) and Tahiti, New Zealand and Cape Verde (desktop GPUs) have been revealed before. We have two new codenames leaked with this driver - Summer Palace and Great Wall. Unlike the mobile GPU codenames which are locales in London and desktop GPUs which refer islands; these two codenames refer to monuments in China. New Zealand and Tahiti now contain the prefix "SI" or Southern Islands.

Finally, a host of integrated graphics codenames for Trinity APUs are also confirmed. We know that Trinity will be available in two forms - quad and dual core, over three segments, presumably A8, A6 and A4. Likewise, the GPU in quad-core parts are codenames Devastator, in both mobile and desktop variants. Devastator will be part of A8 while Devastator Lite will be integrated in A6 APUs, with some units disabled, like the Llano A6 APUs. The dual-core Trinity will most likely feature a scaled down GPU, codenamed Scrapper. Devastator and Scrapper fit in well with the Piledriver CPU cores in Trinity, at least linguistically.

Judging by the concrete brandings, which only go up to HD 7600, it appears AMD is following a similar strategy to NVIDIA - releasing mainstream parts before performance/enthusiast GPUs. Moreover, AMD's demonstrations have all been mainstream notebook GPUs. The die AMD recently showed off is also believed to be a mid-sized mainstream GPU. This strategy makes sense for both AMD and NVIDIA as it allows to learn the unfamiliar 28nm process before delving into complicated large die performance GPUs.

The first AMD Radeon HD 7000 GPUs are expected to release in December, while NVIDIA is aiming for Q1 2012.

Source:(VR-Zone) AMD Radeon HD 7000 GPUs listed in leaked driver

The 8.91 drivers are available from official site: http://support.amd.com or from direct link:

Win7 -Vista AMD Catalyst 11.10 preview3 - Win7 - Vista

Win XP: AMD Catalyst 11.10 preview3 - Win XP

From tweeter acount (@CatalystCreator):

CatalystCreator: Cat 11.10 V3 - will be released officially tomorrow (we wanted to do some Rage testing) - but I see that it's already out in the wild...
CatalystCreator: BattleField 3 - there will a CAP update later this week to resolve CrossFire issues - use in combination with the either V2 or V3 driver
CatalystCreator: Cat 11.10 V3 preview only includes additional Rage fixes from V2
CatalystCreator: Cat 11.10 official release will happen Oct 31 - but Catalyst 11.10 V3 is pretty much the identical driver, so use with BF3 (plus new CAP)

Release Notes from AMD site:

AMD Catalyst™ 11.10 Version 3 Preview Driver Features:

Reduces random crashing and stability encountered when playing Rage on Windows® 7 32-bit edition
Reduces object / animation flickering and texture corruption encountered when playing Rage
Reduces stuttering seen on Dual CPU and Tri CPU core systems
Improves performance in Battlefield 3 Open Beta release for both non-Anti-Aliasing and application enabled Anti-Aliasing cases on single GPU configurations using the AMD Radeon™ HD 6000 and AMD Radeon HD 5000 series of products.
Improves performance in Battlefield 3 Open Beta release for both non-Anti-Aliasing and application enabled Anti-Aliasing cases on AMD CrossFire™ configurations using the AMD Radeon HD 6000 and AMD Radeon HD 5000 series of products.
Improves performance in Rage on single GPU configurations using the AMD Radeon HD 6000, AMD Radeon HD 5000 Series and AMD Radeon HD 4000 series of products.
Reduces intermittent crashing seen loading levels in Rage
Reduces flickering of NPCs in Rage
Enables automatic Vsync for Rage
Enables support for AMD Eyefinity 5x1 display (portrait and landscape) configurations using the AMD Radeon HD 6000 and AMD Radeon HD 5000 series of products.
AMD Vision Engine Control Center: User Interface enhancements have been implemented for the AMD CrossfireX™, GPU AMD Overdrive™ and Information Center pages.

AMD Bulldozer "Zambezi" FX-8150 is here!

2011-10-12T23:57:00.000+02:00

AMD launches FX Series Bulldozer CPUs!

Today was the offical launch day for four parts, two octa-core FX-8150 and FX-8120, one hexa core, FX-6100 and one quad core, FX-4100.

AMD finally lifted the NDA veil off its FX Series desktop CPUs based on the Bulldozer architecture and 32nm manufacturing process. The entire FX Series lineup includes seven parts. The much anticipated AMD FX family of CPUs are finally here!

Suggested retail price (U.S.):

FX-8150: Eight cores, 3.6 GHz CPU base (3.9 GHz Turbo Core, 4.2 GHz Max Turbo), $245 ($345 w/ water cooler)
FX-8120: Eight cores, 3.1 GHz CPU base (3.4 GHz Turbo Core, 4.0 GHz Max Turbo), $205
FX-6100: Six cores, 3.3 GHz CPU base (3.6 GHz Turbo Core, 3.9 GHz Max Turbo), $165
FX-4100: Four cores, 3.6 GHz CPU base (3.7 GHz Turbo Core, 3.8 GHz Max Turbo), $115

Suggested retail price (EU):

FX-8150: Eight cores, 3.6 GHz CPU base (3.9 GHz Turbo Core, 4.2 GHz Max Turbo), €229
FX-8120: Eight cores, 3.1 GHz CPU base (3.4 GHz Turbo Core, 4.0 GHz Max Turbo), €189
FX-6100: Six cores, 3.3 GHz CPU base (3.6 GHz Turbo Core, 3.9 GHz Max Turbo), €162
FX-4100: Four cores, 3.6 GHz CPU base (3.7 GHz Turbo Core, 3.8 GHz Max Turbo), €115

The first four CPU models will be available the next few days. AMD advises you to combine them with AMD 9-series chipset motherboard and AMD Radeon HD 6000 series graphics cards to create the AMD “Scorpius” platform for “an astounding gaming and HD entertainment experience.

CyberPower rolls out AMD Bulldozer-powered gaming systems: www.tcmagazine.com or on official site: www.cyberpowerpc.com - AMD PCs

Reviews, overclocks:

(Fudzilla) AMD FX-8150 overclocked to 8030.15 MHz
(HotHardware) AMD FX-8150 8-Core CPU Review: Bulldozer Is Here
(Guru3D) AMD FX 8150 processor review
(HardwareHeaven) AMD FX-8150 Black Edition 8-Core Processor vs Core i7-2600K Review
(Hardware Canucks) AMD Bulldozer FX-8150 Processor Review
(KitGuru) AMD FX 8150 Black Edition 8-Core Review (with Gigabyte 990FXA-UD7
(TweakTown) AMD FX-8150 (AM3+) 3.6GHz Bulldozer CPU Review
(Legit Reviews) AMD FX-8150 Processor Review - Bulldozer Arrives
(Hexus) AMD Bulldozer FX-8150
(VR-Zone) AMD FX-8150 overclocking-review
(VR-Zone) AMD FX-8150 Memory Scaling Investigation - Feeding the Bulldozer
(Bit-tech) AMD FX-8150 Review
(Anandtech)The Bulldozer Review: AMD FX-8150 Tested
(Bjorn3d) AMD FX-8150 CPU: Bulldozer
(Bbitlabs) Bulldozer Has Arrived: AMD FX-8150 Processor Review
(Tomshardware) AMD FX-8150 Review: From Bulldozer To Zambezi To FX
(Hardocp) AMD Bulldozer / FX-8150 Desktop Performance Review
(Hardocp) AMD Bulldozer / FX-8150 Gameplay Performance Review

Some interesting comparisons when it comes to performance! AMDs high-end FX-8150 as a Core-i5 2500K beater, whereas it plays pretty evenly with Intel's Core i7-2600K with some benchmark wins and some benchmark losses. Of course this will depend quite a lot on the benchmarks. AMD FX-8150 doesn't really stand out in most of the tests! It's quite badly beaten in some tests. But in many cases, AMD's FX-8150 is able to close the gap between the Phenom II X6 and Intel's Core i5 2500K. Given the right workload, Bulldozer is actually able to hang with Intel's fastest Sandy Bridge parts.

Judging by reviews it doesn't look like the FX-series will be enough for AMD to oust Intel from the performance position in most benchmarks. Real world performance is much more important and if AMD can show that it has what it takes. Then we could see its new FX CPUs gaining some popularity. Either which way we look at it, we're getting a lot of CPU for our money.

AMD still has to work on its Bulldozer architecture to reach a full potential....

The Good
- Modern design, elegant modular architecture
- Attractive pricing
- AM3+ socket is backwards compatible

The Bad
- Not as fast as Thuban (1100T) in light-load apps
- Under-load power-draw not ideal
- Arguably still behind Intel's SB as an all-round chip

By: Air T.

AMD Socket FM1 Llano A8-3870K Black Edition and A6-3670K first official unlocked Llano models

2011-09-27T01:03:00.000+02:00

AMD is planning a major update to Fusion-A series processors. The first details emerged before, "K" series won a formality Fusion processors are unlocked multiplier.

(Credits: donanimhaber.com)

AMD A8-3870K and A6-3670K will not only have free settings for the multiplier for bus-free overclocking, the new APUs will also be the flagships of each respective category.

AMD A8-3870K will be the first Llano circuits to reach 3.0 GHz and it does it with four CPU cores and a powerful GPU with 400 Radeon cores. The GPU is still set to 600 MHz, as the TDP is set to 100 watt.

AMD A6-3670K in turn raise the clock frequency from A6-3650 to 2.7 GHz, while the GPU and TDP is maintained from the base model.

More news:
(Nordichardware.com) AMD A8-3870K and A6-3670K unlocked Llano models
(Xbitlabs.com) Advanced Micro Devices Readies “K” Unlocked A-Series APUs for Overclockers
(TechPowerUp.com) AMD Readies Two Unlocked A Series APUs

A price-performance shock from AMD! Bulldozer FX 8150 beats Core i7-980X and Core i7 2600K in benchmarks!

2011-09-25T20:55:00.000+02:00

It looks like AMD's Bulldozer shocked, Intel in price-performance war.

In the press deck of AMD FX Processor series leaked by DonanimHaber ahead of its launch, AMD claims huge performance leads over Intel. To sum it up, AMD claims that its AMD FX 8150 processor is looking Intel's Core i7-980X in the eye in game tests, even edging past it in some DirectX 11 titles.

It is performing on par with the Core i7-2600K in several popular CPU benchmarks such as WinRAR 4, X.264 pass 2, Handbrake, 7Zip, POV Ray 3.7, ABBYY OCR, wPrime 32M, and Bibble 5.0. AMD FX 8150 is claimed to be genuinely benefiting from the FMA4 instruction set that Sandy Bridge lacks, in the OCL

Performance Mandelbrot test, the FX 8150 outperforms the i7-2600K by as much as 70%.

Lastly, the pricing of the FX 8150 is confirmed to be around the $250 mark. Given this, and the fact that the Core i7-2600K is priced about $70 higher, Intel is in for a price-performance shock.

"Bulldozer - based new generation of AMD's FX traders are prepared to announce it on October 12"

if this is real..imagine what an 5GHz FX can do...then the competition in the CPU market is back!

Source: Donanimhaber.com All about Bulldozer, AMD: Processors (Google translate)

AMD Bulldozer FX-Series CPUs detailed, allegedly set for October release!

2011-07-15T03:32:00.000+02:00

AMD's highly-anticipated FX-Series processors (codename Zambezi), the first chips to be based on the Bulldozer architecture, will apparently miss the Q3 release plan, as a report is saying that the launch day of the CPUs is now scheduled for October.

Fortunately it's not all bad Bulldozer news as today we also get to contemplate on an allegedly real chart that provides details on no less than seven FX-Series models - four octo-core chips, two hexa-core and two quad-core.

Seen below, AMD's incoming FX-Series CPUs are made by GlobalFoundries on 32nm process technology, come in an AM3+ package, and have a built-in dual-channel DDR3-1866 memory controller, 1MB of L2 cache per core (so, 4/6/8MB on total), an unlocked multiplier and the Turbo Core 2.0 technology that will boost clock speed depending on load and the application running.

(Credits: donanimhaber.com)

The flagship of the FX line is supposed to be the FX-8150 which boasts a core clock of 3.6 GHz, a Turbo clock of 4.2 GHz and a TDP of 125W. This one would be followed by two versions of the FX-8120 (3.1 GHz base clocks / 4 GHz Turbo), one with a 95W TDP and one topping 125W, and the entry-level octo-core FX-8100 (2.8 GHz base / 3.7 GHz Turbo / 95W TDP).

The hexa-core FX-6120 and quad-core FX-4120 have a TDP of 95W but unknown clocks, while the FX-6100 and FX-4100 come with the same TDP and feature base/Turbo clocks of 3.3/3.9 GHz and 3.6/3.8 GHz, respectively. Given the delay until Q4 it's not surprising that there are no prices to accompany the processor models.

Source: http://www.tcmagazine.com via http://www.donanimhaber.com

More news:
(Fudzilla.com) More Bulldozer specs revealed
(neowin.net) Bulldozer prototype suggests AMD shooting for Sandy Bridge performance
(wccftech.com) amd-details-bulldozerfx-b2-revision-details-clock-speedtdp-turbo-frequencies-chart-release

AMD Radeon HD 6990M already in Alienware M18x gaming notebook

2011-07-14T02:14:00.003+02:00

AMD has gone to press with their official answer to nvidia's gtx 580m, the 6990m, to be showcased in alienware’s flagship M18x gaming notebook.

(Credits: http://game.amd.com)

"At its core, the Alienware brand is about pushing the limits and finding new extremes in gaming performance," said Arthur Lewis, Vice President and General Manager for Alienware. "By offering two AMD Radeon HD 6990M graphics processors in our flagship M18x laptop, Alienware and AMD have come together to provide gamers the ultimate mobile experience."

Just checked on the Alienware site (M17x & M18x), and HD 6990M card is pretty "cheap"! Much "cheaper" than upgrading to a GTX580M!

See it for yourself! (screenshots taken on july 13, 2011)

Alienware M17x:

Alienware M18x:

More about AMD Radeon HD 6990M you can find here: AMD Launches AMD Radeon HD 6990M - World's Fastest Single Mobile Graphics Processor

By: Air T.

AMD Launches AMD Radeon HD 6990M - World's Fastest Single Mobile Graphics Processor

2011-07-13T03:23:00.004+02:00

AMD launched the AMD Radeon HD 6990M GPU – the world's fastest single mobile graphics processor – an uncompromising GPU that delivers massive computing power to mobile users. The AMD Radeon HD 6990M GPU was measured to be up to 25% faster than any other announced notebook enthusiast GPU1. Furthermore, hardcore gamers can experience additional gaming performance through AMD CrossFireX technology.

Ultra-fast performance and portability is imperative for enthusiast mobile gamers who crave technology that helps deliver an incredible gaming experience with the latest graphic-intensive titles. With the arrival of the AMD Radeon 6990M GPU and the recently launched AMD A-Series Accelerated Processors (APU), AMD is pushing graphics capabilities to the limits for a wide range of notebook form factors and price points while enhancing the experience through technologies like AMD CrossFireX and Dual Graphics, (using a combination of AMD Radeon GPUs or an AMD Radeon GPU and an AMD APU).

AMD CrossFireX technology combines the output of two GPUs that helps deliver increased performance allowing gamers to immediately notice higher resolutions and greater image quality. With two AMD Radeon HD 6990M GPUs and AMD CrossFireX technology enabled, the notebook gamer can appreciate exceptional performance scaling in their favourite games.

There's always been a belief that when it comes to mobile computing you need to make performance compromises. Today AMD demolishes that myth," said Matt Skynner, corporate vice president and general manager, GPU division, AMD. "The AMD Radeon HD 6990M GPU, which not only packs AMD Eyefinity technology with unprecedented specs, also provides full Microsoft DirectX 11 and Stereo 3D support. Bottom line, this processor is epic and it's here - now."

The AMD Radeon HD 6990M also represents a significant upgrade from AMD's current gaming notebook graphics solution, the AMD Radeon HD 6970M, raising the bar from both a performance and image quality perspective. With support for DirectX 11, users can expect ultra-fast frame rates and superior image quality, which gives gamers every advantage their desktop computers once enjoyed exclusively. With AMD Eyefinity technology users can immerse themselves in an ultra-rich environment that supports up to six displays. The AMD Radeon HD 6990M graphics processor also delivers AMD App Acceleration technology, which uses the power of the GPU to improve video playback, streaming and faster web browsing with Internet Explorer 9 and Mozilla Firefox. AMD HD3D technology7 ensures mobile users aren't just watching videos or viewing pictures -- rather they become immersed in a truly stereoscopic 3D environment backed by an open ecosystem with supporting software and hardware.

"At its core, the Alienware brand is about pushing the limits and finding new extremes in gaming performance," said Arthur Lewis, Vice President and General Manager for Alienware. "By offering two AMD Radeon HD 6990M graphics processors in our flagship M18x laptop, Alienware and AMD have come together to provide gamers the ultimate mobile experience."

As the PC gaming technology leader, AMD is dedicated to delivering the fastest technology and industry support needed to help create the best possible gaming experience on the PC. Whether it's driving up frame rates, extending quality settings or pushing clock speeds8, the AMD Radeon HD 6990M GPU is the ideal notebook for hardcore gamers looking to run the industry's most demanding DirectX 11 games such as Dragon Age 2, DiRT 3 and Shogun 2.

"We're excited by the new AMD Radeon HD 6990M GPU for enthusiast Clevo notebook users, specially implemented in our X7200/P170HM/P150HM gaming product lines," said Stephen Chien, Sales and Marketing Vice President, Clevo. "With 2GB GDDR5 memory along with 1.6 teraFlops of raw compute power and 1120 stream processing units, those notebook users will reign supreme. The AMD Radeon HD 6990M will help users achieve intense effects and blazing fast frame rates for outstanding performance."

"Eurocom high performance notebooks offer exceptional performance with the addition of AMD Radeon HD 6990M graphics," said Mark Bialic, President, Eurocom. "Our customers can expect record breaking gaming with unmatched realism and blistering speeds in all Eurocom systems powered by AMD Radeon HD 6990M in both single and AMD CrossFireX configurations!"

Source: http://www.techpowerup.com

More news:
(Guru3d.com) AMD Launches AMD Radeon HD 6990M
(VR-Zone) AMD launches Radeon HD 6990
(Expreview.com) AMD Adds Radeon HD 6990M To Its Mobile Graphics Offer
(TechConnect Magazine) AMD claims performance crown in the mobile space with the Radeon HD 6990M
(AnandTech) AMD Raises the Mobile Performance Bar with Radeon HD 6990M
(Fudzilla.com) AMD rolls out Radeon HD 6990M
(The Tech Report) AMD claims mobile GPU crown with Radeon HD 6990M
(echannelline.com) Eurocom launches AMD Radeon HD 6990M GPU in high performance notebook line
(AMD product page) AMD Radeon(TM) HD 6900M Series Graphics

Preview: AMD's 8-core FX processor and test results of the Bulldozer "Zambezi" 8130P!

2011-07-11T14:18:00.002+02:00

DonanimHaber have run an AMD FX engineering sample through a battery of tests. The engineering sample is said to be a B1 stepping chip clocked at 3.2 GHz. The Turbo Core 2.0 can up the clock speed up to 3.6 GHz with all cores active, or a whopping 4.2 GHz with only 50% (i.e. 4 cores) active. Needless to say, these are likely not the final shipping clock speeds.

The sample features 2MB L2 cache per module, for a total of 8MB and 8MB L3 cache shared between all modules (and cores). The motherboard used was a Gigabye 990FXA-UD5, a high end 990 FX motherboard. The GPU paired is a GeForce GTX 580. We have compiled a table of the benchmarks as reported by DonanimHaber.

(credit VR-Zone)

In addition, it took 19.5 seconds to complete SuperPi 1M, which is much slower than Intel competition. However, in real world benchmarks, the story is rather different. In X264 Pass 1 the Bulldozer sample (henceforth mentioned as simply "BD") results a whopping 136.29 fps. To put this in perspective, Intel's fastest CPUs can only manage ~100 fps. However, it is always Pass 2 that is the real test. BD completes with 45.39 fps. The typical speed for a Core i7 2600K is ~36 fps, while Intel's 12-thread goliaths complete in the ~47 fps range. BD is clearly far superior to the 8-thread Sandy Bridge, while nearly catching up to the Gulftown champions.

Even more impressive is the 3D Mark 11. While this score depends from platform to platform, when coupled with a GTX 580, the previous 3D Mark 11 champ Core i7 2600K struggles to achieve the P6000 mark, typically. BD easily sails by with P6265. In Fritz Chess, BD overpowers Core i7 2600K yet again, with a score of 14197 kn/sec. However, it falls short of Gulftown CPUs, which are typically in the 17000-18000 range. Finaly, in Cinebench R10, BD returns a score of 24434. With this score, it slots right in between Core i7 2600K and Core i7 990X.

The results are consistent, for the most part. In multi-threaded applications, BD significantly outperforms Core i7 2600K, and almost catches up with 6-core Gulftown. In less muti-threaded applications, like 3D Mark 11 or X264 Pass 1, thanks to an incredible 1 GHz Turbo Core, BD overtakes Gulftown CPUs. In all situations, BD ended up well ahead of Core i7 2600K. In every situation, BD was massively faster than Phenom II X6 1100T - more than 50% in many cases.

Of course, these benchmarks and comparisons should be taken with a grain of salt - especially it being an engineering sample. If previous rumours of stock clocks up to 3.8 GHz and a price tag of only $320 are true, AMD could have a real winner on their hands. Even with the engineering sample's clock of 3.2 GHz, a $320 is a bargain for a CPU of this power, wiping floors with the mighty and similarly priced Core i7 2600K. Having been delayed, FX-Series CPUs are now expected to release for desktops in the late August / early September timeline, with more information expected in the coming weeks.

Source: (vr-zone.com) purported-amd-bulldozer-benchmarks-leaked Via http://www.donanimhaber.com

More news:
(softpedia.com) AMD-FX-Bulldozer-CPU-Gets-Benchmarked-Review

Nvidia delays 28nm and 22/20nm GPUs to 2012 and 2014!

2011-07-08T21:52:00.000+02:00

Despite Nvidia CEO Huang Jen-hsun previously saying that the company is set to announce its new 28nm GPU architecture at the end of 2011 and 22/20nm in 2013, sources from graphics card makers have pointed out that Nvidia has already adjusted its roadmap and delayed 28nm Kepler and 22/20nm Maxwell to 2012 and 2014.

The sources believe that the delay is due to unsatisfactory yield rates of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company's (TSMC) 28nm process as well as lower-than-expected performance of Kepler.

TSMC originally expected its 28nm capacity at Fab15 to be available in the fourth quarter of 2011 and was set to start pilot production for its 20nm process technology in the third quarter of 2012.

However, TSMC's other major client Qualcomm, currently, still has not yet adjusted its 28nm process schedule and is set to launch three new products, 8960. 8270 and 8260A using dual-core Krait architecture in the fourth quarter of 2011.

Meanwhile, AMD will follow its original schedule and enter the 28nm era in the first half of 2012. The company's next-generation graphics chips Southern Island as well as Krishna and Wichita processors, which will replace the existing Ontraio and Zacate processors, and will all adopt a 28nm process from TSMC.

Source: http://www.digitimes.com

More news:

(legitreviews.com) NVIDIA Delays 28nm and 22/20nm GPUs to 2012 and 2014

(hw-lab.com) nvidia-shifts-back-28/22/20nm-gpu-release-plans

(vr-zone.com) foundry-delays-push-back-nvidia-kepler-launch-2012

Firefox Aurora 7 to focus on performance and memory!

2011-07-08T20:58:00.003+02:00

The latest developer's build of Firefox launched today, bringing hope to the small but vocal minority of Firefox stable users who have been plagued by the browser's persistent memory and performance problems that Mozilla is not ignoring their complaints. Firefox Aurora 7 can be downloaded for Windows, Mac, and Linux, and includes changes that Mozilla said in a blog post announcing the release will result in 30 percent less memory use "for many users."

Another big memory usage change comes to the "garbage collector" process, which, when working properly, cleans out from your system memory browser processes that are no longer running in active tabs. This, too, is expected to result in better memory management. Telemetry infrastructure has been added to Firefox in this release, so it's easier for Mozilla developers to track how their changes affect the open-source browser. Mozilla also expects people to see faster browser start-up times on all three desktop operating systems.

There are a smattering of new features included in Aurora 7. Most of these relate to support for "future-Web" technologies, and the browser includes support for a Web timing specification to measure performance of a site as it's being used; the hardware acceleration function Azure Direct2D for HTML5 Canvas; and a more elegant way to display text that has spilled out of its boundaries on a page called CSS3 Text-Overflow: ellipsis. In the new version, Firefox Sync will now synchronize bookmarks and passwords by default.

New users will be able to download Aurora 7 immediately (see links above), while existing Aurora users can force an update through Firefox's Help menu or wait for the build to be pushed to them in the next few days!

Source: http://download.cnet.com

More news:
(softpedia.com) Download-Firefox-7-Aurora-Now-Get-Ready-for-Firefox-6-Beta
(ghacks.net) firefox-7-aurora-shows-significant-memory-usage-improvements
(TechConnect Magazine) Firefox 7 goes aurora, brings memory optimizations, more speed
(techPowerUp!) Mozilla Ready with Firefox 7 Aurora Build
(PC Perspective) New Firefox 7 Aurora Build Promises To Fix Memory Leak Issues
(Legit Reviews) Our Test Shows Firefox 7 Aurora Uses Nearly 40 Percent Less Memory
(TweakTown) Mozilla outs another Firefox build - 7.0 Aurora

AMD and Point Grey Demo High-Def Video Streaming over USB 3.0

2011-07-08T20:17:00.000+02:00

AMD and Point Grey Find New Usage Models for SuperSpeed USB

Advanced Micro Devices, a developer of microprocessors and graphics technologies, and Point Grey, a designer of advanced digital camera products, have jointly demonstrated uncompressed streaming of high-definition video across USB 3.0 during an AMD event.

The live demonstration showcased the performance benefits of USB 3.0 by streaming uncompressed high definition (HD) 1080p60 video from Point Grey’s Flea3 digital video camera to an AMD Fusion A-series-based laptop computer. USB 3.0 offers ten times the bandwidth of USB 2.0, full duplex and asynchronous operation, and increased power delivery. The system featured A75 core-logice and A70M I/O controller with native USB 3.0 support.

“USB 3.0 enables the use of HD 1080p cameras, which means a new level of realism for video conferencing and other forms of tele-presence. Using Point Grey’s Flea3 we were able to give users insight into some of the other applications that are possible with SuperSpeed USB in addition to the high-speed data transfers with external storage devices that we have seen so far," said Godfrey Cheng, director of AMD’s client technology unit.

With its up to 5Gb/s transfer speeds, USB 3.0 will enable a number of other use cases apart from pure video streaming from external devices. The current demonstration show that AMD's implementation of SuperSpeed USB is fully functional and bring a real benefits.

"We are pleased to have had the opportunity to team up with AMD to demonstrate the benefits of USB 3.0." Point Grey demonstrated the world’s first SuperSpeed USB camera in September 2009. Since then we have witnessed widespread adoption of USB 3.0 in consumer devices and a huge groundswell of interest from both industrial and prosumer customers," said Michael Gibbons, product marketing manager at Point Grey.

Source: [by Anton Shilov] AMD Point Grey Demo High Def Video Streaming over USB 3.0

More news:
(villagegamer.net) point-grey-and-amd-demonstrate-hd-video-streaming-over-usb-3-0
(digdod.com) live-demonstration-showcased-the-performance-benefits-of-usb-3-0-by-streaming
(softpedia.com) AMD-and-Point-Grey-Stream-HD-Video-Over-USB-3-0
(iphone.tmcnet.com) Point Grey and AMD Demonstrate HD Video Streaming over USB 3.0

AMD Bulldozer FX-8130P Overclocked to 5.1Ghz on Air!

2011-07-04T16:20:00.003+02:00

AMD Bulldozer FX-8130P overclocked on Air with Noctua NH-D14

More stuff and news on OBROVSKYs Blog: http://obrovsky.blogspot.com

"The Bulldozer FX-8130P is an 8 Core/ 8 Thread Processor which comes with 8MB L3 Cache, Pricing and Info here. The guy managed to overclock the CPU to 5.1Ghz (1.596) volts with the help of Asus Crosshair V Formula motherboard along with 4Gigs of ram.

Two benchmarks were used to check the stability of the processors overclock, The max stable overclock achieved with CineBench R11.5 was 4.83Ghz (4834.2mhz) while 5.1 (5077.6mhz) with Super Pi Run. Looks like the Bulldozer are good for massive overclocking using some good heatsinks, The user used a Noctua NH-D14 heatsink to achieve those clocks however temps and benchmarks results have not been shown."

The FX-8130P has a max TDP of 125W and FX-8110 has 95W max TDP. Detailed info from the chart below:

AMD FX-8130P – 8 Core, 3.8Ghz, Max T.C 4.2Ghz, 125W (320$)
AMD FX-8110 – 8 Core, 3.6Ghz, Max T.C 4.0Ghz, 95W (290$)
AMD FX-6110 – 6 Core, Unknown, Max T.C Unknown, 95W (240$)
AMD FX-4110 – 4 Core, Unknown, Max T.C Unknown, 95W (190$)

Source: http://wccftech.com

More news:
(KitGuru) bulldozer-engineering-sample-overclocked-to-5-1ghz-on-air

Radeon HD 7000 "AMD Southern Islands possible for September"

2011-07-04T15:33:00.004+02:00

The upcoming 28nm GPUs

According to a post over at 3DCenter.org, the early version of the Catalyst 11.7 had some interesting codenames of what appears to be at least some chips in the AMD's upcoming Southern Islands GPU lineup based on the 28nm manufacturing process. The new driver lists New Zealand, Tahiti, Thames and Lombok. The next generation of the AMD's 28nm GPUs will most probably use the VLIW4 SIMD design and, if all goes well, should appear in late Q3 or early Q4 2011.

The details regarding the new GPUs are pretty scarse, but for now it looks like Tahiti is the new high-end GPU that will be available in two versions, Tahiti Pro and Tahiti XT. New Zealand will most probably end up to be a dual-GPU variant with two Tahiti GPUs. The Thames is a bit tricky as this could end up to be either a performance chip or one of the new mobile chips. In any case, the Thames should appear in three different versions, Thames LE, Thames Pro and Thames XT/GL. The Lombok code name might be a direct successor of the Barts chip but that info is still to be confirmed and should end up with at least three different versions.

We are still pretty far away from the actual release of these chips but more info should start to appear sooner than later as AMD might try to push these to the market as soon as they can to get some headstart on the competition.

Source: http://www.fudzilla.com

More news:
(techPowerUp!) AMD Southern Islands GPU Codenames Surface
(3D Center) News of the 30th June 2011
(ivyleaguecomputing) AMD 7000, first few data on the new generation of GPU
(WCCF TEC) AMD HD7000 (Southern Islands) Series GPU’s Revealed through Catalyst 11.7
(vga.zol) HD7000 / APU Exposure To catch up the next generation of Intel and NV (Google translated)
(Semiaccurate) Globalfoundries testing 28nm

NVIDIA Prepares "KEPLER - 28nm" Next Generation “GTX680″

2011-07-04T15:16:00.000+02:00

NVIDIA Prepares 28nm Sample Chips for Next Generation “GTX680″ GPU Codenamed KEPLER

Fudzilla has got some exclusive info on Nvidia’s Next Generation GPU Architecture aka “Kepler”. According to the site, The company has already produced 28nm Samples of its new core.

The samples would be used as Entry Level Cores however come with TSMC’s High Metal gate 28nm process which could also suggest the same chips would be equipped in the rumored “GTX 680″ Graphics Cards which would be a High-End GPU. GF1x9 is the Code name being used for the chips.

The production of the chips wont start before 2H 2011 but demonstrations and architecture details of the Engineering samples would be shown off with in a few months. Global foundaries are expected to get the samples chips as early this Quarter of 2011. AMD is also preparing a revised architecture for their HD7*** Series GPU’s which you can check out here.

Keplar from Nvidia would be twice as fast as the Fermi chips and would also enhance performance per watt due to the smaller die size which would consume lesser power.

Source: http://wccftech.com

More news:
Fudzilla: kepler-28nm-to-launch-in-q1-2012

AMD's Next-Generation Opteron "Bulldozer" Chips to Feature Adjustable TDP

2011-06-30T21:06:00.001+02:00

AMD's Interlagos and Valencia to Sport TDP Power Cap Feature

Advanced Micro Devices next-generation Opteron microprocessors based on Bulldozer micro-architecture will support capability to adjust maximum thermal design power (TDP). The technology will allow customers to regulate TDPs in order to balance power consumption and performance of data centers.

Today's AMD Opteron processors allow turning off processor states in order to reduce power consumption, though that ultimately can lead to somewhat lower performance. Still, some large server users value power efficiency higher than pure performance. AMD promises that code-named Interlagos and Valencia will be able to reduce the TDP and maintain performance level of the chips.

"With today’s AMD Power Cap Manager, you can limit the processor P-states and cut power consumption although this limits the processor’s ability to get to the top frequency (which is also the most power-hungry spot on the curve as you can imagine). By essentially “locking out” the top P-state, the processor never gets into that state, even under heavy utilization, helping cut down total power to the processor," explained John Fruehe, director of product marketing for server, embedded and FireStream products at AMD.

With the new TDP Power Cap for AMD Opteron processors based on the upcoming “Bulldozer” core, customers will be able to set TDP power limits in 1W increments. This means that instead of having to choose between different TDPs for processors, one can actually buy any power range and then modulate down.
Reducing per-processor TDP slightly means that it will be possible to install more processors into pre-specified power budget without compromising performance significantly. Moreover, if a workload does not exceed the new modulated power limit, one can still get top speed because since the top P-state is unlocked and allows to reach a power level.

Source: http://www.xbitlabs.com

More news about AMD's TDP Power Cap Feature: http://www.linuxfordevices.com/

Google +1 button begins global rollout!

2011-06-29T12:18:00.004+02:00

Google's +1 button has seemingly had the result desired for the search engine, as today sees its proportion from the US to the UK, France, Germany and Japan, with the rest of the world following shortly.

The +1 button is a fairly new addition to Google's arsenal of weapons in its never-ending fight against content farms and other low-quality websites. With its launch internationally, the same results tuning that +1 has been affording to the US search results pages can now work its magic on all of Google's localised, international results pages as well.

Of course its not just Google that benefits from the better search results provided by the use of the +1 button. Sites producing quality content, and with a loyal reader base could well see their rankings improved. And as +1 users' recommendations are flagged to friends on results pages, it's possible that sites may see increased traffic, too.

Source and full article: http://www.hexus.net
More about Google +1 button goes global: http://www.seoboy.com