IT Information & News

Intel launches first six-core desktop processor, the $999 Core i7 980X Extreme Edition

2010-03-12T03:50:00.001-08:00

Intel officially launched today its first hexa-core desktop processor, the Core i7 980X Extreme Edition. The codenamed Gulftown chip features six 32nm cores clocked at 3.33GHz, reaching a maximum Turbo Boost clock speed of 3.6GHz for single-threaded operations, it has a massive 12MB L3 cache, and is capable of running 12 threads simultaneously with Intel's Hyper-threading technology.

With the exception of support for some new instructions dubbed AES-NI (Advanced Encryption Standard New Instructions), which accelerate AES encryption and decryption algorithms in hardware, everything else remains the same as Bloomfield. This means a triple channel controller supporting DDR3 memory at up to 1066MHz (although it will easily run higher speeds), and the QPI link running at a full 6.4GT/s.

Despite offering 50% more cores and 50% more cache than previous generation Bloomfield processors, the new Core i7 980X maintains the same 130W power envelope thanks to the newer 32nm process. It also shares the same LGA-1366 socket, so the chip will be fully compatible with existing X58 motherboards after a BIOS update.

The Core i7 980X will essentially replace the 45nm Core i7 975 Extreme Edition as Intel's new flagship. While the latter will still be available, the new six-core processor will be offered at the same $999 price point, making it quite simply the most powerful and advanced desktop processor money can buy. Check out some reviews at AnandTech, PC Perspective, and The Tech Report.

HIS shows its custom HD 5870s

2010-02-26T23:37:00.001-08:00

iCooler for the HD 5870

In addition to the HD 5830 card shown yesterday, HIS has launched a couple of HD 5870 cards as well, the HD 5870 iCooler V and the HD 5870 iCooler V Turbo. As the name suggests, both will use custom iCooler cooling, while the second one will have a slight factory overclock.

Both cards will feature 1600 Stream processors, dual-slot iCoooler V cooler and two DVI, HDMI and DisplayPort outputs. The first one works at reference 850MHz for the GPU and 4800 for the 1GB of GDDR5 memory, while the Turbo Edition will end up with a slight factory overclock to 875MHz for the GPU and 4900MHz for the same amount of memory. Both cards will also be available with and without a Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 voucher.

Both cards can be found listed here, with a lowest price set at €469 for the Turbo Edition and €444 for the plain one.

MSI shows its HD 5870 Lightning

2010-02-25T18:26:00.001-08:00

Officially this time

Although its been already detailed and pixellized a while back, MSI has finally announced its HD 5870 Lightning card. This special, Lightning series, HD 5870 features a custom PCB, Twin Frozr II cooler and a 15-phase VRM, so this one is built for high and most likely impressive overclocking results.

The card features a 900MHz factory overclock for the GPU and 1GB of GDDR5 memory clocked at 4800MHz. Due to the 15-phase VRM (13-phase GPU + 2-phase memory), the card needs two 8-pin PCIe power connectors. As you can see from the pictures below, the card features a quite unique PCB which is a bit higher than the normal one. MSI calls this PCB a LPL, or Lightning Power Layer, and the card features Hi-c CAPs, 100% Solid State Chokes, Proadlizer capacitor, gold plated connectors and V-Check points, something that we're used to seeing on MSI's overclocking friendly hardware.

The Twin Frozr II cooler has two 80mm fans and four 8mm SuperPipes heatpipes, while the card has all the regular outputs: dual DVI, HDMI and DisplayPort.

The card will most probably take a front stand at MSI's Cebit booth and will be available sometime in March. Unfortunately, the price tag has been left out.

Fun Facts: How Small is 32 Nanometers?

2010-02-25T02:21:00.001-08:00

Earlier this year Intel made a big splash with a new generation of Core i3 and Core i5 processors using the uber small 32 nanometer manufacturing process. Although this is eventually going to get dumped as ancient technology for an even smaller and more efficient way to produce chips, today it's state of the art.
Intel recently published a whitepaper with some amusing 32nm facts that we are reproducing here for you. If you have ever wondered how small the logic inside these chips really is in 'measurable' terms, here are some random facts to give you some perspective:

A nanometer is so small that it takes a billion of them to make a meter. A billion is a huge number. A stack of a billion sheets of paper would be 100 km high. If you could walk a billion steps, you would go around the earth 20 times.
The original transistor built by Bell Labs in 1947 was large enough that it was pieced together by hand. By contrast, more than 60 million 32nm transistors could fit onto the head of a pin.
More than 4 million 32nm transistors could fit in the period at the end of this sentence.
A 32nm transistor contains gates that are so small, you could fit 3,000 of them across the width of a human hair.
A 32nm transistor can switch on and off over 300 billion times in one second. It would take you 4000 years to flick a light switch on and off that many times.

Compared to Intel’s first microprocessor, the 4004, introduced in 1971, a 32nm CPU runs over 4000 times as fast and each transistor uses about 4000 times less energy. The price per transistor has dropped by a factor of about 100,000.
The “World’s Fastest Man,” Usain Bolt would have to take 3,125,000,000 steps in the 100 meter dash if his stride length was 32nm.
If the pace of innovation in space travel had increased at the pace of Moore’s Law since 1971, you would now be able to travel at the speed of light, 671 million miles per hour.
Intel has shipped over 200 million CPUs using high-k/metal-gate transistors – the kind used in 32nm processors -- since the technology was first put into production in November 2007. This translates to over 50,000,000,000,000,000 (50 quadrillion) transistors, or the equivalent of over 7 million transistors for every man, woman and child on earth.
The price per transistor on a chip has dropped dramatically since Intel was founded in 1968. Some people estimate that the price of a transistor is now about the same as that of one printed newspaper character.

Core i7 980 Extreme Edition crops up

2010-02-25T02:20:00.000-08:00

€1.099,-

We’ve written about this CPU on plenty of occasions, but our colleagues from TechReport have come across an EU listing of Intel’s new addition to its i7 series – the Core i7 980 Extreme Edition.

We’ll recap real quick – this is the first six core CPU for desktops and are based on 32nm Westmere architecture. It comes with HyperThreading, 12MB of L3 cache and supports turbo boost up to 3.6GHz. It features DDR3 support up to 1066MHz and its TDP will be at 130W.

The listing puts the CPU’s price at € 1.099,-, which is pretty good as the same retailer sells i7-975 Extreme Edition at only a tad lower price. The e-tailer lists availability date as March 14th.

You can find the CPU listed here. (in German)

Written by Nedim Hadzic, Fudzilla

ATI Radeon HD 5830 Review

2010-02-25T02:19:00.000-08:00

AMD has been spitting out new graphics cards like crazy since launching the Radeon HD 5000 series five months ago. With today's release that translates into almost two new graphics cards each month.

Looking at the budget and mid-range segments you'll notice that there is no more than $40 separating each card. So why the big gap between the Radeon HD 5770 and 5850? As it turns out AMD has been planning to plug this hole all along with yet another offering. The Radeon HD 5830 is expected to come in at somewhere around $250, ~15% cheaper than the 5850.

Appearance and form factors aside, what we are most excited about is having a new Radeon HD 5800 product at more affordable price tag, that is, as long as AMD has kept the value proposition and performance balance as good as it sounds on paper. Let's find out.

Read the complete review.

By Julio Franco, TechSpot.com

New Westmere Details Emerge: Power Efficiency and 4/6 Core Plans

2010-02-06T15:54:00.001-08:00

Today Intel started talking about its ISSCC plans and included in the conference call were some details on Westmere that I previously didn't know. Most of it has to do with power savings, but also some talk about 32nm quad-core Westmere derivatives!

Westmere is Intel’s 32nm Nehalem derivative. Take Nehalem with all of its inherent goodness, add AES instructions, build it using 32nm transistors and you’ve got Westmere. Westmere's Secret: Power Gated Un-Core
We just recently met the first incarnation of Westmere - Clarkdale, the dual-core processor that’s been branded the Core i3 and Core i5. Later this quarter we’ll meet Gulftown, a six-core Westmere that’ll be sold under the Core i7 label. All of that is old news, now for the new stuff.
With Nehalem Intel started power gating parts of the chip. Stick a power gate transistor in front of the supply voltage to each core and you can effectively shut off power (including leakage power) to the core when it’s not in use. This was a huge step in increasing power efficiency, something that’s evident when you look at Nehalem idle power numbers.

When you shut off a core you need to save the core’s state so that when it wakes back up it knows what to do next. Remember that power down these cores can happen dozens of times in the course of a second. The cores can’t wake up in a reboot state, they need to simply shut off when they’re not needed and wake back up to continue work when they are needed.
In Nehalem the core’s state (what instruction it’s going to work on next, data in its registers, etc...) is saved in the last level cache - L3. Unfortunately this means that the L3 cache can’t be powered down when the cores are idle, because that’s where they store their state information. Take this one step further and it also means that Nehalem’s L3 cache wasn’t power-gated.
In Westmere, Intel has added a dedicated SRAM to store core state data. Each core dumps its state information into the dedicated SRAM and then shuts off. With the state data kept out of the L3 cache, Westmere takes the next logical step and power gates the L3.
Intel lists this dedicated SRAM as a Westmere-mobile feature, there’s a chance it’s not present on the desktop chips. But it makes sense. Without a way of powering down the L3 cache, Westmere would be a very power hungry mobile CPU. Westmere appears to make it mobile-friendly.
Hex and Quad Core Westmere in 2010?
The last bits of information Intel revealed have to do with its high end desktop/workstation/server intentions with Westmere. The 6-core Westmere is a 240mm^2 chip made up of 1.17B transistors:

That’s six cores on a single die, but with 12MB of L3 cache. Remember that Nehalem/Lynnfield have 8MB and Clarkdale has 4MB. Nehalem’s chief architect, Ronak Singhal told me that he wanted to maintain at least 2MB of L3 per core on the die. A 6-core Westmere adheres to that policy.
The chip works in existing LGA-1366 sockets, so you still have three DDR3 memory channels. 6C Westmere does support both regular DDR3 (1.5V) as well as low voltage DDR3 (1.35V). This is particularly useful in servers where you’ve got a lot of memory present, power consumption should be noticeably lower.

The other big news is that Intel will be releasing 4-core variants of Westmere as well. While I originally assumed this would mean desktop and server, Intel hasn't committed to anything other than a quad-core Westmere. These parts could end up as server only or server and desktop.
The table below shows you the beauty of 32nm. Smaller die, more transistors:

CPU	Codename	Manufacturing Process	Cores	Transistor Count	Die Size
Westmere 6C	Gulftown	32nm	6	1.17B	240mm²
Nehalem 4C	Bloomfield	45nm	4	731M	263mm²
Nehalem 4C	Lynnfield	45nm	4	774M	296mm²
Westmere 2C	Clarkdale	32nm	2	384M	81mm²

It also shows that there's a definite need for Intel to build a quad-core 32nm chip. Die sizes nearing 300mm² aren't very desirable. The question is whether we'll see quad-core 32nm in 2010 desktops or if we'll have to wait for Sandy Bridge in 2011 for that.
We’ll find out soon enough.

USB 3.0: What You Need To Know

2009-12-30T05:19:00.000-08:00

The Universal Serial Bus standard has come a long way since its introduction in 1996. Backed by a consortium of companies led by Intel, Compaq and Microsoft, it offered some unheard-of features for its time, including the ability to connect peripherals without turning off the computer first and to draw power without a separate AC connection. The standard became popular with the arrival of version 1.1 in late 1998, allowing a maximum transfer rate of 12Mb/s, and as we can witness nowadays just about any device comes standard with 'Hi-Speed' USB 2.0 connectivity. USB 3.0 is the next major revision of the ubiquitous interface. Dubbed SuperSpeed USB, this new version promises a tenfold leap forward in transfer speeds as well as improved capabilities, all while maintaining compatibility with USB 2.0 devices. In the following few paragraphs we've rounded out all the relevant information that you as a consumer should know about the next-generation USB standard.

Some quick facts about USB 3.0

It's fast. The new standard breaks the 480Mb/s data transfer limit of USB 2.0 and takes it to a new theoretical maximum of 4.8Gb/s. Keep in mind that real-world performance can be considerably lower than that. USB 3.0 devices are not expected to reach their full potential at launch, but as the standard matures the USB-IF considers it reasonable to achieve a throughput of 3.2Gb/s, or just about enough to transfer a 27GB high definition movie in little over a minute rather than 15 or more with USB 2.0.
It's bi-directional. Unlike previous versions where data can only be piped in one direction at a time, USB 3.0 can read and write data simultaneously. This is achieved by adding two new lanes dedicated to transmit SuperSpeed data and another pair for receiving it, bringing the total number of connections from four on USB 2.0 (power, ground and two for sending/receiving non-SuperSpeed data) to nine counting the 3.0 ground contact.
Furthermore, the signaling method, while still host-directed, abandons device polling in favor of a new interrupt-driven protocol. This ensures that the USB host controller doesn't continually access a connected device in anticipation of a data transfer. Instead, USB 3.0 devices will send the host a signal to begin a data transfer.
It's more power efficient. The signaling method mentioned directly above also means that non-active or idle devices won't have their power drained by the host controller as it looks for active data traffic. Minimum device operating voltage is dropped from 4.4 V to 4 V. On the other hand, the USB-IF has upped the maximum bus power output from about 500 mA to 900 mA, which will enable power-hungrier devices to be bus-powered and USB hubs to support more peripherals. There's also the bonus that battery-powered devices should charge faster.
It's backwards compatible. Your existing USB 2.0 gear will work on version 3.0 ports and vice versa. You'll be able to maximize your bandwidth when using a USB 3.0 cable with USB 3.0 devices and ports, otherwise plugging a 3.0 device into a 2.0 port or a 2.0 device into 3.0 a port will get you standard USB 2.0 data rates.

Since the new interface has been carefully planned from the start to peacefully co-exist with its predecessor, the connector itself remains mostly the same with the four USB 2.0 contacts in the exact same location as before. Extra pins for the new lanes dedicated to transmit and receive SuperSpeed data are located on the back and only come into contact when mated with a proper USB 3.0 port.

The receptacle is deeper as a result of this and USB 3.0 plugs will be longer than existing ones to reach the rear contacts. Also, due to the use of additional wires the new cable will be about as thick as an Ethernet cable.

Available and upcoming products, price points

After co-creating the USB 3.0 Promoter Group more than two years ago, and being criticized for allegedly blocking hardware partners from accessing needed information, Intel finally released the Extensible Host Controller Interface in August 2008. This meant that other members of the USB 3.0 Promoter Group would be able to start developing their own solutions once the finalized spec was made available.

Unfortunately Intel itself has no plans to support the technology on their own chipsets until at least 2011, holding back mainstream adoption, but NEC has a single-chip solution on the market right now known as the µPD720200. The chip measures 10 x 10mm, consumes up to 1W and is priced at $15 in bulk quantities.
Motherboards
Several board manufacturers have been relying on NEC's host controller for adding USB 3.0 functionality to their products. Asus has four variations of the P7P55D-E for Intel LGA 1156 (Lynnfield) processors, with prices ranging from $180 to $280, as well as the $300 P6X58D Premium for Intel LGA 1366 (Bloomfield) chips. Gigabyte also has four boards currently available as part of its P55A branded series priced between $135 and $250. Also the GA-X58A-UD7 for $350 and a pair based on AMD's 790X and 790FX chipset each going for $140 and $185, respectively.

MSI is known to be working on at least one USB 3.0-equipped P55 motherboard, the P55-GD85, and another based on AMD's forthcoming 890FX chipset which is expected to arrive in the second quarter of next year.
Devices
It might take at least a couple more years until we see the market for USB 3.0 devices really explode. High-bandwidth devices will naturally be among the first to migrate to the new interface, but cost considerations, which are mainly driven by demand and volume, will restrict implementation to higher-end products for now.

As of this writing we know of only a handful of devices offering support for USB 3.0 and most of them are prohibitively priced for the average user. Super Talent, for example, has unveiled a line of thumb drives that will debut with a 64GB model priced at $400. The promised 320MB/s transfer speeds sure are tempting, though.
Buffalo's newest external hard drive, the DriveStation HD-HXU3, steps into a slightly more reasonable price point with the 1TB model to start selling for $200 and the 2TB version for a whopping $400. The company has also announced a USB 3.0, 12X Blu-ray burner which should sell in Japan at a price equivalent to $451.

We expect several other devices to be announced in little over a week at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, including an external solid-state drive from OCZ and a dual-drive RAID storage solution from LaCie, both based on a new Symwave storage controller. There will also be several USB 3.0-infused DisplayLink products at the show and a number of other products from all the usual suspects -- we'll make sure to keep you up to date in our coverage when the information becomes available (and updating this guide as required).
Adapter cards
Adapter cards will likely play an important role in driving the installed base of USB 3.0 ports up. Instead of shelling out upwards of $150 for a new USB 3.0-equipped motherboard, users would need to spend roughly $30 to $50 for a 2-port PCI Express card compatible with their current hardware.
It should be noted that Windows 7 doesn't have native support or drivers for USB 3.0, but Microsoft intends to deliver them in an upcoming update to the operating system.

Performance Expectations, Intel's Support and Light Peak

What to expect: Maximum throughput / likely real world performance

Theory and practice are rarely the same. The actual speed of the USB interface can be affected by a number of factors, from the performance of the computer a particular device is attached to and the chipset used, to protocol overhead and the interference caused by other USB devices on the same bus.
So, while USB 2.0 has a theoretical maximum of 480Mb/s (60MB/s), real-world data transfer rates are actually closer to 280Mb/s (35MB/s). It's impossible to know with absolute certainty what to expect from USB 3.0 devices without first putting a few to the test, but even if only a 25% of the maximum is attainable at launch, as some have suggested, we are still looking at an average read and write speed of 1.2Gb/s (150MB/s).

This means that data transfers with external USB storage will no longer be capped by the interface at around 35MB/s but rather by the drive's performance. Unfortunately, 150MB/s may not be enough throughput to handle the fastest solid-state drives on the market at their full capacity, but keep in mind that this is all based on conjectures and in any case we expect things to improve as driver support matures.
As far as marketing claims go, Super Talent has quoted transfer speeds of up to 320MB/s using a UAS Protocol driver for its upcoming RAIDDrive USB 3.0 flash drives, while Buffalo claims 130MB/s rates for its DriveStation HD-HXU3. OCZ is keeping mum on performance details until CES. We look forward to putting these and other devices to the test once they become available over the next few weeks.
Besides storage, any high-bandwidth device that works with USB 2.0 will work better if updated with USB 3.0 support. Some possible applications include high-resolution webcams, external Blu-ray drives, large LCD monitors capable of being hooked up via a simple USB connection, digital cameras and more.

Light Peak, Intel delaying USB 3.0 support, closing thoughts

During September's IDF, Intel showcased a high-speed optical cable interface for PCs called Light Peak that promised a 10Gb/s transfer rate -- or twice the speed of USB 3.0 -- with the potential ability to scale to 100Gb/s.
Light Peak is being developed as a way to reduce the proliferation of ports on modern computers and could eventually replace the plethora of interfaces currently used, from USB itself to HDMI, DisplayPort, LAN and so on.

Around the same time it was revealed that Intel will not be packaging USB 3.0 support into its chipsets until at least 2011. This has sparked speculation that the company may be showing preference to its own optical cable interface, which is reportedly scheduled to enter mass production in early 2010.
Others attribute the delay to Intel chipset teams being more focused on supporting the current Nehalem platform, as well as transitioning to the 5GHz PCI Express 2.0 specification. Let's also remember that back when the final USB 2.0 specification was released in 2000, it was also NEC who introduced the first compatible controller, with Intel not integrating support into its own chipsets until May 2002 with the 845E, 845G and 845GL.
Whatever their plans are, replacing USB -- let alone consolidating all interfaces under a single standard -- is not something that will happen overnight. Users upgrading to one of the more expensive motherboards from the likes of Asus, Gigabyte and MSI will likely gain access to a pair of USB 3.0 ports right off the bat, while those holding on to their current systems or going for an affordable build can opt for a $30-$50 expansion card. Now let's just hope more USB 3.0 devices start hitting store shelves soon.

By Jose Vilches on December 30, 2009 Techspot

Intel's 6-core Gulftown to debut as Core i7 980X

2009-12-16T00:13:00.000-08:00

PC online has leaked an Intel published slide showing what appears to be the official branding for its upcoming six-core Gulftown processor. Long rumored to be released with the Core i9 identifier, the 32nm Westmere based chip will reportedly debut as the Core i7 980X instead, featuring 3.3GHz clock speeds and a whopping 12MB of L3 cache.

Individual cores will be able to hit up to 3.6GHz thanks to Turbo Boost, while Hyper-Threading support will allow it to juggle 12 threads in total. TDP remains constant at 130W helped by the newer fabrication process. The LGA 1366 chip will be able to drop straight into existing X58 motherboards, following a BIOS update, and should replace the Core i7 975 this March as Intel's flagship desktop product -- at the same $999 price point.

AMD's six-core Thuban processor is expected to hit around the same time as the Core i7 980X. However, in terms of performance, they are expected to compete for a completely different market, perhaps taking on Intel's Lynnfield Core i5 and i7 quad core CPUs.

By Jose Vilches, TechSpot.com

ATI Radeon HD 5970 Review: Dual-GPU Graphics

2009-11-18T04:58:00.000-08:00

As we discussed in our preliminary Radeon 5870 review, on ATI's horizon ATI was a follow-up to the Radeon HD 4870 X2, code-named "Hemlock XT", which in essence would put together a pair of Radeon HD 5870 GPUs on a single PCB.

Today AMD is officially unveiling the Hemlock as the new ATI Radeon HD 5970, hoping to expand its current dominance in single-GPU performance with the fastest single-slot graphics card on the market -- a title that until today was reserved for Nvidia's dual-GPU GeForce GTX 295.

The Radeon HD 5970 looks to be well suited for the job. The GPUs used in this card use exactly the same configuration found on the Radeon HD 5870, while core and memory frequencies match those of the Radeon HD 5850. This provides the HD 5970 with an unmatched memory bandwitch of 256GB/s.

Source: TechSpot

AMD's 2010 - 2011 Roadmaps: ~1B Transistor Llano APU, Bobcat and Bulldozer

2009-11-15T06:13:00.000-08:00

It’s got roughly one billion 32nm transistors, fabbed at Globalfoundries. Four CPU cores and a single graphics core. It’s what AMD calls an Accelerated Processing Unit (APU). And we’ll see it in 2011.
Unfortunately that’s a bit late. The APU, codenamed Llano, was originally scheduled for 2010 but got pushed back. In 2009/2010 Intel will be the first to deliver on-chip graphics with Clarkdale/Arrandale, and in late 2010 Sandy Bridge will have on-die graphics.

The first die shot of AMD's 32nm Llano APU based on 32nm Phenom II cores

Above is what I believe to be a die shot of AMD’s first APU. The CPU doesn’t use AMD’s next-generation microarchitecture, that’s only for the server and high end in 2011. The first APU will use the existing Phenom II architecture on the same die as DX11 graphics, but at 32nm. Sandy Bridge will use a brand new microprocessor architecture on 32nm but with updated Intel integrated graphics. It looks like Sandy Bridge will have the CPU advantage while Llano might have the GPU advantage, assuming Intel can't get their GPU act together by then. Llano is on schedule to debut in 2011 with OEM sampling happening before the end of the year.
Also on schedule is AMD’s next-generation microarchitecture, codenamed Bulldozer. AMD listed its client PC goals for 2010 at this year’s Financial Analyst Day, one of them is to start sampling its next-generation microprocessor next year - in 2010. If the chip is ready for OEMs by the end of 2010, that means it’ll go on sale as early as 1H 2011.

Unfortunately AMD isn’t talking much about Bulldozer architecture, I suspect we won’t see that disclosure until mid to late 2010. It’s not to keep things secret, we already have many estimates of what Bulldozer’s architecture is going to look like. And if the public already knows, then Intel is also well aware of what AMD has coming in 2011. Updated: AMD has given a high level overview of its Bulldozer and Bobcat architectures here
A major focus is going to be improving on one of AMD’s biggest weaknesses today: heavily threaded performance. Intel addresses it with Hyper Threading, AMD is throwing a bit more hardware at the problem. The dual integer clusters you may have heard of are the route AMD is taking...

AMD's 2010 - 2011 Desktop Roadmap

Today’s high end desktop platform is called Dragon. It’s what you get when you combine a Phenom II, AMD 790FX/GX chipset and a Radeon HD 4000 series graphics card. Nice, but that’s old news now.

Next year the high end platform will be called Leo. It’s made up of a Thuban CPU, which is an updated Phenom II rev sporting as many as six cores. It’s still 45nm so don’t expect much in the way of new architectural features. Graphics comes courtesy of the Radeon HD 5000 series, which we all know and love. The chipset is going to be AMD’s new 8-series, complete with a new SB850 south bridge.

In 2011 we get Bulldozer and it comes in the form of the Zambezi CPU (AMD’s codenames are such fun). You’ll see four and eight core versions of Zambezi. Both will support DDR3 and both will work in Socket-AM3. Obviously guaranteeing motherboard support this early in the game is difficult, but AMD is usually good about maintaining socket compatibility. You may be able to slip a Zambezi into your current day Socket-AM3 motherboards.
All this plus a chipset and AMD’s 6000-series graphics makes up what’s going to be called the Scorpius platform.
Moving down one notch to mainstream, today we have the Pisces/Kodiak platforms (yep, never heard them called that either). That’s made up of Athlon II CPUs and the 785G chipset with integrated graphics.
Next year we’ll have Dorado, which consists of Athlon II CPUs and next-year’s integrated graphics chipset. Unfortunately it won’t be a DX11 chipset, AMD is only listing 10.1 support in the 2010 platform. Which means that the graphics we’ll see in 2011 integrated on-die will be a derivative of the DX11 Radeon HD 5000 series we have today. Sweet.
The 2011 mainstream desktop platform is called Lynx, purr. It comes with the Llano APU, which as I mentioned before, doesn’t use Bulldozer. Instead Llano is made up of as many as four 32nm Phenom II-like cores. Llano also features an integrated DX11 GPU. Llano will require a new socket as the pinout will have to support video out just like Intel’s Clarkdale.

Source: AnandTech

Radeon HD 5970 detailed in advance

2009-11-14T18:23:00.000-08:00

While AMD is gearing up to release it, the Radeon HD 5970 card has made a stealthy appearance online, exposing its likely final specifications. Made by Sapphire, the listed Hemlock card, which is most likely an all-stock product, has two 725 MHz-clocked Cypress 40nm GPUs, each with 1600 Stream Processors, and 2GB of GDDR5 memory set at 4000 MHz, both frequencies being at HD 5850 level.

The dual-GPU, dual-slot card also has a 2x256-bit memory interface, DirectX 11 and CrossFireX support, and dual-DVI outputs plus one mini DisplayPort connector (no HDMI like for the HD 5800 cards). The Radeon HD 5970's pricing and release date are still unconfirmed.

Weekend Open Forum: Have you upgraded to Windows 7 yet? What is there to like/not?

2009-11-07T17:23:00.000-08:00

Inevitably the past few weeks have been a lot about Windows 7. We have contributed our fair share of information and resources in the process, from nifty tips and tricks for those of you coming as far back as the first public beta, to a complete round-up of information to get you up to speed if you are upgrading to Windows 7 just now.

But what makes Windows 7 different from previous releases? First of all, Windows 7 has proved in a relatively short time span that it’s no dog, and no Vista for that matter. Vista suffered all the incompatibilities and supposedly necessary transition needed to open the path for a next generation OS. In the process, the average PC also became much faster.

Furthermore, consider this… over 90% of PCs worldwide rely on Windows. A big chunk of those computers
are still running XP or even older versions. A majority of businesses didn’t go for Vista and are now showing more willingness to move to 7 eventually, which will also require more modern hardware. Finally, in the consumer end, a majority of the PCs currently running Vista came with the OS pre-installed, and that hardware is more than capable to handle 7, one less obstacle that is showing in preliminary sales statistics for retail boxed versions of the new OS.

In this edition of our weekend open forum we ask you: Have you upgraded to Windows 7 yet? If yes, what’s your favorite feature so far? If not, what’s keeping you from doing so?

By Julio Franco, TechSpot.com

Latest AV-Comparatives Test (October) Fresh !

2009-11-07T08:21:00.000-08:00

Here you find the the Removal-Test results of av-comparatives (released this month).

This tests focuses only on the malware removal/cleaning capabilities, therefore all used samples were samples that the tested Anti-Virus products were able to detect. It has nothing to do with detection rates or protection capabilities. Of course, if an Anti-Virus is not able to detect the malware, it is also not able to remove it.

The main question was if the products are able to successfully remove malware from an already infected/compromised system. The test report is aimed to normal/typical home users and not Administrators or advanced users that may have the knowledge for advanced/manual malware removal/repair procedures. A further question was if the products are able to remove what they are able to detect.

You can download here

Source: AV-Comparatives

Mozilla FireFox 3.5.5 Final

2009-11-07T00:39:00.000-08:00

Mozilla Firefox 3.5.5 - Faster, more secure, easier to use and sporting a new look, this latest Firefox release sets a new standard for web browser innovation. Mozilla Firefox project is a redesign of Mozilla’s browser component, written using the XUL user interface language and designed to be cross-platform. It is small, fast and easy to use, and offers many advantages over other web browsers, such as the tabbed browsing and the ability to block pop-up windows.

Download : Download Firefox 3.5.5 Final for Windows

Download : Firefox All Release

Toshiba announces 320GB 1.8-inch hard drive

2009-11-05T23:17:00.000-08:00

Toshiba has expanded its line of 1.8-inch hard drives today with a new dual-platter model that can hold up to 320GB of data -- a world's first in this form factor. The MK3233GSG features a 3Gbps SATA interface and 16MB cache buffer, produces just 19dB of noise during seeks and spins at 5,400 rpm for a maximum transfer rate of 830Mb/s.

The company is positioning its 1.8-inch line as more suitable for portable media devices and thin Laptop than competing 2.5-inch drives. According to Toshiba, the tiny storage devices can handle non-operational shock up to 1,500Gs and operational shock up to 500Gs, marking respective improvements of 50 percent and 25 percent. They also consume 42 percent less power when seeking than the best 5,400rpm 2.5-inch HDDs.

There's still no word on pricing but the company says the new MK3233GSG will go into mass production in December 2009. The drives will also be available in 250GB and 160GB versions.

Super Talent announces first USB 3.0 flash drive

2009-11-04T21:57:00.000-08:00

Even though Intel is expected to delay USB 3.0 support until sometime in 2011, motherboard makers have gone on their own including the new interconnect in select products via third party controllers. Naturally, compatible devices are starting to make their way onto the market as well, and now Super Talent has announced it plans to start shipping the world's first USB 3.0 flash drives as soon as next month.

Available in 32, 64 and 128GB capacities, the new RAIDDrive USB 3.0 series uses what Super Talent calls “multiple pairs of differential serial data lines technology” for optimal NAND flash performance. We can expect 200MB/s transfer rates in USB 3.0 mode and up to a whopping 320MB/s using a separate UAS Protocol driver. USB 2.0 and even 1.1 port compatibility has been preserved, albeit operating at their respective slower speeds.

To put this into perspective, filling up Super Talent's 64GB USB 3.0 flash drive would take a little over 3 minutes at top speed, whereas the same task would take nearly 30 minutes over a USB 2.0 port. There's still no word on pricing, but the company says we can expect retail availability in December from resellers worldwide.

Kingston, Paramount to deliver movies on flash drives

2009-11-03T22:50:00.001-08:00

Kingston has signed an agreement with Paramount Digital Entertainment to deliver full-length motion picture films on flash devices. The movies will be stored on Kingston's SD and USB flash memory products, and will be available to consumers for a reasonable price -- all things considered. To boot, the companies are offering Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen on a 4GB Kingston DataTraveler USB drive for $29.99

Assuming the flash drive is reusable, that's not too bad of a deal for $30. That said, being crammed on a 4GB drive naturally means that the films will be in standard definition -- a deal breaker for many, I'm sure. Perhaps HD-friendly films will be offered on larger drives at a later date, but there are few details about the companies' future plans.

It seems to me that the people who would be most interested in this offer, probably already own a Blu-ray player. Would you pay $30 for a film stored on flash memory?

VIA intros Nano 3000 Series processors

2009-11-03T22:48:00.001-08:00

VIA has announced its new Nano 3000 Series processors, which are said to offer enhanced digital media performance and less power consumption for ultrathin notebooks and all-in-one desktops. The new line brings strong competition to Intel's Atom CPU, and consists of six 64-bit Isaiah-based chips.
VIA's Nano 3000 processors are clocked between 1GHz and 2GHz with an 800MHz FSB, and feature SSE4 instructions, hardware virtualization, and Windows 7 and Linux compatibility. Along with being 20% more power efficient than current-gen Nano processors, they are also said to be capable of delivering 20% more performance, and are able to play 1080p video.

The latest Nano chips use the same NanoBGA2 package, which should allow hardware vendors to easily upgrade existing systems. Samples are currently available for OEMs and motherboard vendors, and mass production will begin in the first quarter of next year.

Product Name	Speed	VIA V4 FSB	Idle Power
L3100	2.0GHz	800MHz	500mW
L3050	1.8GHz	800MHz	500mW
U3200	1.4GHz	800MHz	100mW
U3100	1.3+GHz	800MHz	100mW
U3300	1.2GHz	800MHz	100mW
U3500	1.0GHz	800MHz	100mW

Maingear unveils enthusiast-oriented SHIFT desktop PC

2009-11-03T03:25:00.001-08:00

Maingear has unveiled the SHIFT desktop PC, which is aimed at the high-end enthusiast market. Referring to the SHIFT as an "everyday supercomputer," the company says it will "reshape the current landscape of high performance computing" -- a bold claim if I ever saw one.

Externally, the SHIFT shows a clean-cut aluminum chassis, which lacks the excessive lighting of other gaming systems. Inside is a vertical airflow system that vents air through the top of the case, and the system can be based on Intel's P55 or X58 platforms.
General hardware includes Intel's Core i7 processor, your choice of Nvidia or ATI graphics (over a dozen configurations), 3GB to 12GB of DDR3 RAM, up to 6 HDDs or 8 SSDs, a liquid cooling system, optional Blu-ray and plenty of other options, like the ability to have your system factory-overclocked.

The base P55 configuration starts at $2,199 and the X58 rig costs $400 more. Out of sheer curiosity, I maxed out the X58 system at just under 19 grand before shipping.

10 Essential Windows 7 Downloads

2009-10-31T22:37:00.000-07:00

Windows 7 may be brand spanking new, but that doesn't mean you can't find free or cheap tools to tweak its settings, add features, or smooth an upgrade from XP or Vista.We've compiled a list of ten valuable software tools -- many of them free -- that can make your Win7 experience a lot more rewarding.
(Click on each of the images for a closer look at the tool.)

Microsoft Security Essentials

Windows 7, like its predecessors, doesn't provide built-in protection against malware such as viruses and spyware. (It does have a firewall, however.) You could pay McAfee or Symantec for this service, but why bother with their protection racket when Redmond's does the same thing for free? Microsoft Security Essentials provides solid protection for home PCs, and it's gratis. If you prefer third-party security, check out AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition instead.

Ninite

Brave souls upgrading to Windows 7 from XP must do a clean install, a tedious process that includes, among other things, reinstalling all of your apps. Why not load most of your free and open source programs all at once? Ninite does just that. First, go to the Ninite site and pick the programs you want (e.g., Firefox, iTunes, and Skype). Next, download Ninite, which installs the apps on your PC without additional crapware. Ninite is free for personal use.

Windows Live Photo Gallery

To keep Windows 7 slim and trim -- and avoid the code bloat that slowed Vista -- Microsoft left a few utilities out of its new OS.
One such app, Photo Gallery, is a free, easy to use photo manager/editor that's worth a download, particularly if you're not already using Google Picasa to organize your pics and videos.

Windows Easy Transfer

Anyone moving to Windows 7 from XP and Vista should check out this free download, which helps you copy files and settings from one PC to another. (Windows 7 comes with Easy Transfer.)
The new version of Easy Transfer adds a file explorer, which simplifies the task of selecting the exact files you want to copy. Easy Transfer won't hang if it comes across a file or setting it can't move. Rather, it'll complete the transfer and provide a report of everything it couldn't copy. The bad news: Easy Transfer won't copy your programs. For a PC-to-PC connection, you'll need an Easy Transfer Cable (about $20). Other transfer options include a USB flash drive, external hard disk, or network connection.

Ultimate Windows Tweaker v2

This free customization tool detects whether you're running Windows 7 or Vista, and offers only those tweaks that are relevant to your OS. "Ultimate" is a fitting description for this mega-tweaker, which provide dozens of configuration options for UI, network, security, and system settings. If you're all about personalizing Windows 7, this app's for you.

WinZip 14 Standard

So you're about to ask: If Windows 7 has zip compression built in, why do I need the latest version of WinZip? Well, if you seldom use zip archives, you probably don't. But zip fans will appreciate the improvements in WinZip 14 Standard, which has simplified the process of zipping and mailing archives in Win 7.
The latest version offers better compression ratios too. WinZip 14 Standard costs $30.

EnhanceMySe7en Free

Windows 7 may be easier to use than Vista or XP, but diagnostic and maintenance chores can still be tricky. EnhanceMySe7en is a handy utility for anyone doing a little system housekeeping.
This free app makes it easier to select which programs will load when Windows starts, monitor your hard drives' performance, "health," and temperature, and fiddle with the Registry -- if you dare.

Image Resizer Powertoy Clone

Need to resize pictures in Windows 7? This free utility makes it easy -- simply right-click one or more image files in Windows Explorer. You can select one of four sizes: small (640 by 480); medium (800 by 600); large (1024 by 768); or handheld PC (240 by 320). You can create your own custom sizes too.

Systerac Tools for Windows 7

This bundle of 16 tools from Systerac has everything you'll need to keep Windows 7 running smoothly. You can tweak Windows' performance and appearance, optimize memory, clean up the hard drive, cover your tracks by shredding files, and so on. The Systerac interface is aesthetically appealing, nicely organized, and easy to learn. The $20 Windows 7 version runs on Vista too.

Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor

Don't upgrade to Windows 7 before running this free utility from Microsoft. Upgrade Advisor scans your PC to see if it's ready for Win 7. If it detects any potential problems, including insufficient memory, incompatible hardware, or outdated software, it'll let you know in a brief summary report.

PCWorld

Free Tune Up Utilities 2010

2009-10-31T12:19:00.000-07:00

TuneUp Utilities is a program that can help us to make our windows operating system more quickly, comfortably and safely conduct with only a few clicks only. And all the commands that we give our windows operating system, completely secure. Because, all the changes that we do are always monitored by TuneUp Rescue Center and can be canceled at any time.

The program will also provide more choices to us. Besides can make Windows a more attractive, BY USING theme. TuneUp Utilities to clean up useless data from your hard disk and also Deleting entries from the registry useless. Not only that, TuneUp Utilities able to defragment your hard disk and registry and system settings Optimizing us to make Windows Walk faster. Most of this maintenance can be performed automatically every week by TuneUp 1-Click Maintenance.

You Can Download It HERE

DirectX11 Released For Windows Vista

2009-10-31T02:05:00.000-07:00

For those of you sticking with Vista, Microsoft has finally officially released DirectX 11 for Vista, after having spent the last couple of months in beta. This final release looks to be the same as the last beta released earlier this month.

The update is KB971512, which is being released as part of a larger Platform Update for Vista that includes a few other things that are being backported for Vista. Vista SP2 is the prerequisite, so if you aren’t already on SP2 you’ll need to update.

Google Chrome: The Fast Browser With Slow Adoption

2009-10-30T22:04:00.000-07:00

The launch of Google's Chrome browser a little over a year ago brought with it a mountain of hype and expectations, with some suggesting it could be as instantly disruptive and beneficial as Gmail was to the webmail market.
After all, here was Google opening another front against Microsoft with a big and bold move, and also turning into a competitor to its close partner Mozilla, maker of Firefox, the darling browser of techies worldwide.
Positioning itself as a reluctant entrant to the market, Google stated dramatically that it had no other choice given its deep dissatisfaction with existing browsers, specifically with their speed and performance running Web applications.

This browser wasn't a side project, Google said, but rather a serious endeavor with far-reaching implications for the future of its online services and applications.
It was an epic move: the mighty Google, like Achilles, marching into battle. The problem is, Chrome hasn't precisely turned things around as the mythical hero did, mercilessly and unequivocally, on behalf of the Greeks against the Trojans.
With a modest market share of about 4 percent, Chrome, which was launched on Sept. 1 last year, hasn't yet come close to approaching market leader Internet Explorer, nor the second-most-popular browser, Firefox.
"To date, Chrome really hasn't had the success that I suspect Google had anticipated for it," said Sheri McLeish, a Forrester analyst.
As it turns out, Chrome has more than a few Achilles heels.
For starters, it doesn't exist for Mac OS and Linux users, two camps full of technology enthusiasts and early adopters. The Mac OS and Linux versions are delayed. To make matters worse, the doors of most workplaces, particularly large enterprises, remain closed to Chrome because it lacks basic features that IT departments need.
While Google will remedy these two issues at some point, there are other obstacles to Chrome's adoption that may be harder to fix.
One is the widespread ignorance among many consumers about browsers, and their tendency to default to the one that comes with their PC. Another issue goes back to a question asked repeatedly at Chrome's launch: Does the world need another browser? Or put another way: Does Chrome offer enough of an improvement to justify switching to it?
Google certainly didn't help Chrome's chances to sprint out of the gate by releasing it as a beta product that was quite rough around the edges. Not only was Chrome unstable and buggy at first, but it didn't play well with many Web sites, including some of Google's own, because Google made its release a surprise and didn't give webmasters advance notice to adapt their sites.
While Chrome's low adoption in workplaces isn't surprising, its modest popularity among consumers is more worrisome. "We haven't seen any mass exodus from consumers to jump to Chrome from other browsers," McLeish said.
Since Chrome hasn't taken the world by storm, and considering that Microsoft, Mozilla and Apple continue to enhance their respective browsers, should Google stick with this project?
"Google should stay in the game if they think they can innovate and differentiate in the long run and put enough marketing and R&D [research and development] behind the effort," IDC analyst Al Hilwa said via e-mail.
This is Google's intention, according to Brian Rakowski, a Google group product manager in the Chrome team. "There's still a lot of work to do, but it'll be pretty great," he said.
Rakowski takes exception to the idea that Chrome lacks appeal, saying it has about 30 million active users, even though it doesn't yet fully play in the Mac OS, Linux and enterprise IT segments.
"Given the remaining chunk of market that's there, we've done pretty well in a short period of time. If you look at historical browser growth rates, it's a slow process. It takes time," Rakowski said.
A big reason why it takes time is the complacency of consumers. "Most people honestly don't know and they don't care about browsers. They just want to get on the Web," McLeish said. Even Microsoft struggles with this, as many consumers resist upgrading to newer versions of IE, she said.
Hilwa's research reflects a similar reality. Consumers have been conditioned to think of the browser as an integral part of their PC and its operating system, and thus are unlikely to switch.
"Using browsers not supplied with the machine remains the province of power-users, which creates a bit of disconnect in the strategy Google has, which is to bring browser innovation to the masses," Hilwa said. "Ultimately, this might become a war about operating system platforms again before it becomes a seriously competitive browser market again."
Aware of this, Google is planning an attack from that flank with its still-unreleased Chrome operating system, which will be deeply interwoven with the Chrome browser. In addition, Google is making moves to have the browser pre-installed on PCs, as a recent deal with Sony shows.
Still, Google, horrified at consumers' ignorance about browsers, has enlisted its marketing department to help educate people. "There's a large number of people who just don't know what a browser is. That's a huge challenge for us," Rakowski said.
In the meantime, the Chrome team keeps focusing primarily on performance improvements, which are the browser's main selling points and ultimately the key reasons for its existence.
"Everything [in the Chrome browser], from the new Javascript engine to its multiprocess architecture, is designed with heavier, more intensive Web apps in mind," Rakowski said.
While this is a valid effort, the average user cares or understands little about browser speed and performance, so this is unlikely to draw many new users.
"Most of the internal stuff is really lost on the unwashed masses of users who are not going to get into the complexity of browsers," Hilwa said.
Plus, the browser is far from the only element that affects the performance of online applications and services, McLeish said. Local network bandwidth, ISP (Internet service provider) traffic, the user's PC hardware and the landing Web site's server all play a part.
Google argues that the value of the Chrome project isn't limited to its own success. As an open-source browser, Chrome can help spur innovation in browser technology across the board, which is crucial for Google, Rakowski said.
However, it's unclear to what extent it will be feasible for other browsers to incorporate Chrome code, when one hears Rakowski explain why Google decided to build a new browser instead of simply contributing to Firefox.
"There were reasons not to build on existing technology. Some of the architectural changes we wanted to make were so different and disruptive that it would have been very hard to do in existing code base and very disruptive to existing road maps and plans of these teams," he said. "You would have had to put the entire development cycle on hold while you experimented with some of these research-y things."
What's clear is that, as Chrome enters its second year, the Chrome team is moving as fast as it can, eager to release versions for Mac OS and Linux and add enterprise IT features, as well as work its way down its long to-do list.
"As soon as we get some time to breathe we'll add those things and that'll enable us to reach a whole other set of users," Rakowski said.
And when that happens, it will be not a moment too soon.

TSMC 40nm yield issues to affect AMD and Nvidia

2009-10-30T21:51:00.001-07:00

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), the world's largest dedicated independent semiconductor foundry, recently confirmed it has run into new issues with their 40nm process technology that have sent yield rates down to 40%. Major customers for TSMC's 40nm processes include AMD, which just released its Radeon HD 5000 series, and Nvidia, who is expected to launch the GT300 series in December.

On first thought the conspiracy theorist in me found this suspiciously untimely for AMD, which for the first time in a long while had a great opportunity to capitalize on its early-to-market status. Their latest 40nm-based cards are not only the first to support DirectX 11, with Nvidia's answer arriving a few months later, but they have also been getting high marks for their performance and feature set in reviews around the web.

Then again TSMC's recent issues will reportedly impact shipping schedules for both AMD and Nvidia -- not to mention the manufacturer's financial performance. Company chairman and CEO Morris Chang pledged to get the problem fixed during the current quarter. The company had previously improved yield rates for its 40nm processes to around 60% from as low as 20-30% in the second quarter of 2009.

By Jose Vilches, TechSpot.com