AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Coming

As you might or might not know, AMD plan to release their Deneb processors all the way up to 4GHz stock by 2010, and so it should come as no surprise that their next processor comes in at 3.4GHz and will come with the name Phenom II X4 965, and as ASRock’s website lists it, it IS a Black Edition CPU. It will come with the same specifications as all of its other siblings, and if you don’t know they are 2MB L2 Cache, 6MB L3 Cache all on a nice tiny 45nm fabrication process. Rumors have it that AMD should be releasing this baby next week, and hopefully it will be at the same price as the 955 was at launch, knocking prices further down! If so, AMD will have a deffinate winner on their hands. Hopefully by the end of the year, with a new processor coming out every 3 or 4 months, AMD should be reaching 3.8GHz stock. 

Zune HD Incorporates Tegra Processor

Following the news that announced the Zune HD from Microsoft not too long ago, the company is now releasing that the portable music player will feature a NVIDIA Tegra processor. This decision to use NVIDIA’s processor will allow Microsoft to give consumers that much more of a digital multimedia experience, since the chip uses little energy and is fast as well. Also featured with the Tegra is graphics acceleration, so it will be interesting to see what the company decides to do with that certain aspect of the system-on-a-chip. No matter what happens though, it seems that as of right now, the move to use the NVIDIA Tegra processor is a smart one for Microsoft concerning the multimedia functionality that it hopes to deliver with the new Zune.

Intel Shows Off New Brandings

While the i7 name stunned a large number of people who first saw it, Intel is continuing the trend with the already announced i5 processors, and now, with the i3 processors. These new names mark the ongoing process of titles that the company is coming up with for its new processor lineups. The i5 chips will follow the mid-range area and probably take over most of the Core 2 Duo platform, while the i3 processors will be used for lower-end computers. Arrandale will fall under the i3 platform, while the Clarkfield mobile processors will be labeled with the i7 branding. Intel will also be cutting names such as Centrino, along with Core 2 Duo and Core 2 Quad in its recent naming scheme, though the Celeron, Pentium, and Atom names will be staying in the product lineup for the semiconductor company.

AMD Debuts New Energy Efficient Processors

AMD, manufacturer of microprocessors have now debuted ANOTHER two new processors, with more to come! This time AMD have released new energy efficient models: the AMD Phenom™ II X4 905e and the AMD Phenom™ II X3 705e. They will hit retailers soon and come with the following specifications: The new Phenom™ II X4 comes with a TDP of 65W (as do the other energy efficient parts), a frequency of 2.5GHz and the usual 2MB L2 and 6MB L3 Cache. The Phenom™ II X3 is no different, apart from one less core and due to that only 1.5MB of L2 Cache. Shortly AMD should be releasing the AMD Phenom™ II X4 900e and the AMD Phenom™ II X3 700e which are the exact same as their siblings but with 100MHz difference (2.4GHz). These new processors should be perfect for a HTPC or the conscious-minded green gamer.

AMD Phenom TWKR Edition Coming?

It seems that AMD hasn’t been resting these past few months as a new mysterious processor has appeared. AMD have dropped off what is known as the AMD Phenom II Black Edition TWKR (TWeaKeR) to Wallace Santos, CEO of Maingear. Hopefully this will be AMD’s ‘Extreme Edition’ of their Phenom II lineup, and maybe we can finally see a competitor to the Core i7? Mr. Santos will be posting results of a test, and hopefully we can get more information!

New Intel Atom Due In October

The Atom N450 chip is intended to replace the current N270, which has been the staple chip of the netbook for a good while now. Previously known to be arriving in Q4, the date has apparently been narrowed down to the early part of the that period if sources are to be believed. The N450 platform, codenamed "Pine Trail" will see the graphics subsystem and memory controller move onto the same die as the CPU, cutting the number of chips from 3 to 2. That also means a move from a six-layer to a four-layer mainboard is possible, which should reduce power consumption and cost. Performance is also set to go up, though we are yet to know by how much. As for the N270, that is supposedly set to be phased out in the first half of next year.

Intel Meshes with Cell Phones

Currently, mobile phones and other handheld devices are powered with parts that take low voltages to run, and are usually pretty efficient. The problem with this however is that performance is usually not on par with what some users expect of their electronic devices. Intel plans to change this in the future though, with the company talking about bringing its Atom chips to mobile handheld phones. The Atom processor, as of now, is found mainly in netbooks, but will possibly be making its way to cell phones within the next two years. Experts are worried about the battery consumption of the processor however, but in two years, Intel should be able to figure out a way to make their Atom chip use even less power than it does now.

Core i7 920, 940, 950 to be Phased Out by 'early next year'

Many rumors have been circulating over the last few weeks about Intel putting the Core i7 920, 940, 950 and 965EE on the chopping block in favour of the Lynfield based Socket 1156 CPUs. Bit-tech has now reported that it has seen roadmaps from all of the X58 mainboard makers which confirm that the Core i7 920, 940, 950 and 965EE will be gone by 'early next year'. Based on the motherboard manufacturers' roadmaps it looks like the 975 Extreme Edition and the upcoming six-core CPUs will be the sole users of the LGA1366 socket. LGA1366 and X58 motherboards will be reduced in production around Q3 and Q4 with the release of the Lynnfield platform on September 1, although it is unclear when the current Core i7s will be phased out.

Hardware Roundup: Intel Core i7-975 Processor Edition

The annual Computex show in Taipei always brings forth new product announcements from manufacturers. Yesterday, we saw two new processors from AMD - the Phenom II X2 550 and Athlon II X2 250 and today it is Intel's turn with the release of a pair of it's own new CPUs. There's nothing new architecture wise as Intel seems to be using Computex as a reason to announce a new flagship model with the Core i7 Extreme Edition processor which now sits at the top of the heap with its 3.33GHz clock speed. While the emphasis from Intel seems to be on the i7- 975, Intel also released the Core i7-950, a 3.06GHz mainstream CPU that gets a slight speed increase over the Core i7 940.

Intel Updates Nehalem: Core i7-975 Processor @ PC Perspective
Intel Core i7 975 Extreme Edition Processor @ HotHardware
Intel Core i7-975 Extreme Edition @ Techgage
Intel Core i7 975 3.33GHz Processor Tested @ TweakTown

Intel's Lynnfield and Clarksfield CPUs on Display

The Computex show has given Intel a chance to show off its new line of Lynnfield and Clarksfield CPUs in operation. Both of these are variations of the Core i7 line currently available. However, Intel's Francois Piednoel said that the Core i5 branding that has been rumored is incorrect. He wasn't able to say what the official branding would be, just that Core i5 was not it.

The Lynnfield CPUs are the desktop variants and will have quad-cores with eight threads. Compared to Core i7, the Lynnfield line will see cheaper processors and motherboards. The Turbo Boost feature (a feature that allows the CPU to clock individual cores higher) would be substantially better than the Core i7's implementation. Turbo Boost will allow the Lynnfield CPUs to clock individual cores higher to boost speed for single-threaded applications. The entire CPU can also clock higher as long as it stays within its power envelope. Piednoel said that the gains from the newest implementation of Turbo Boost would be astonishing.

Clarksfield is the mobile version of the new CPUs. It will be quad-core with eight threads as well. However, don't expect to see this in small, light laptops. It will likely only be found in the beefiest, highest powered laptops available.

Intel also showed off its new Nehalem-EX processor in tangible form, a new eight -core beast. The OCC article can be found here, and additional information is available here.

AMD Phenom II X2 and Athlon II X2 Released

AMD, manufacturer of microprocessors have finally released their first 45nm dual-core processors! The new processors are named the AMD Athlon II X2 250, which is based on a new architecture, while the AMD Phenom II X2 550 is a cut-down quad-core processor, with two cores either disabled or defective. The Phenom II X2 has a TDP of 80W, is AM3 only, a stock clock of 3.1GHz, 2MB of L2 Cache and 6MB of L3 Cache.  The Athlon II X2 comes with a TDP of 65W, AM3 only with a stock clock of 3GHZ and 2MB of L2 Cache. The AMD Phenom II X2 is in direct competition with the Intel Core 2 Duo E7600, and it’s just like back in the Athlon 64 FX days, where Intel and AMD trade blows. You can find reviews of the processors here.

Hardware Roundup: AMD Phenom II X2 550 and Athlon II X2 250 Edition

Nothing stirs up excitement more than the release of new CPUs and the two new processors from AMD are no exceptions. Released yesterday, the Phenom II X2 550 and Athlon II X2 250 are the latest dual-core processors from AMD based on the 45nm manufacturing process. The Phenom II X2 550 is a Black Edition featuring an unlocked multiplier clocked at 3.1GHz and 6MB of shared L3 cache. The Athlon II X2 250 is not unlocked and features 1MB of L2 cache per core and a 3.0GHz clock. Both processors support AM2+ and AM3 boards for DDR2 and DDR3 memory.

AMD Phenom II X2 550 and Athlon II X2 250 Processors @ OCC
AMD's New X2s: Redeeming AMD's Dual Core Market @ PC Perspective
AMD Athlon II and Phenom II X2 Processors Debut @ HotHardware
AMD Phenom II X2 550 BE and Athlon II X2 250 @ TechSpot
AMD Athlon II X2 250 CPU and AMD Phenom II X2 550 Black Edition CPU @ Neoseeker
AMD Athlon II X2 250 and Phenom II X2 550 Processors @ Legit Reviews
Amd Phenom 2 550 & Athlon 2 250 @ Bjorn3D

New AMD Istanbul Processors Officially Announced

After being pushed forward six months, AMD, manufacturer of microprocessors have officially released their new six-core server processors. They are AMD’s first processors to use their Direct Connect Architecture with support for two, four and eight-socket servers. This means there is potential for up to 48 processing cores! The new six-core processors are said to “offer server customers superior value at every price point with unmatched platform flexibility.” We can expect leading OEM manufacturers by next month to release new servers with the new processors, including Cray, Dell, HP, IBM and Sun Microsystems. AMD should also be revealing more details about their 12-Core Magny-Cour soon as well (Two Istanbul's?).

Intel Unveils New 8 Core Xeon Processor

Intel revealed the new line of Xeon server chips on Wednesday. The Nehalem EX will be available in the second half of this year, and has the potential for 8 cores. Using the technology found in the i7 line of processors, there will be 2 threads per core on the new chips. The chip will have 2.3 billion transistors, overtaking the Tukwila iteration of the Itanium line that featured 2 billion transistors. The chip will also feature 24MB of cache and 2 integrated memory controllers to keep the processor busy. The EX will provide much more than the latest AMD offering, Istanbul, due to the Quick Path Interconnect technology that will allow up to 8 chips to be paired, resulting in 64 cores.

AMD to Reveal New CPUs in June

AMD, the second largest manufacturer of microprocessors will officially reveal their two new series of processors, and along with that, two brand new processors. The new series AMD will reveal will be the AMD Athlon II X2 and the AMD Phenom II X2. They will be announced on 2nd of June 2009. The first chip to be revealed will be the AMD Athlon II X2 250, which is a Regor based CPU and comes at a stock speed of 3GHz, 2MB L2 Cache and 65W TDP. The next CPU to be revealed will be the long awaited Phenom II X2 550 and will be AMD’s first enthusiast dual-core processor in a while! It comes at 3.1GHz, 1MB L2 Cache, 6MB L3 Cache and a TDP of 80W; this should hopefully put most, if not all of Intel’s Core2Duos to shame. They both come with a DDR2/DDR3 memory controller, and are manufactured on a 45nm fabrication process. AMD sure are making a comeback!

The Proving Grounds Extreme Overclocking Video

What do you get when your take one overclocking guru, an AMD Phenom II X4 955 processor and a pair of Gigabyte boards featuring the company's Ultra Durable 3 Technology? You get a chance to find out when overclocker Brian Mclachlan aka chew* pushes the sytems to the limit using air, dry ice and liquid nitrogen as the cooling medium. In the process, Brian was able to break 3DMark06 records for dual Radeon HD 4850’s and 4890’s in the Dual Crossfire configuration supported by these two motherboards. In the single videocard configuration Brian hit the #2 spot. To summarize the results:

#2 3DMark06 23,883
Single ATI Radeon HD 4890 Class

#1 3DMark06 28,831
Dual ATI Radeon HD 4850 Class

#1 3DMark06 Score 32,281
Dual ATI Radeon HD 4890 Class

Results on DDR3
DDR3 5-5-5-15-20 At 1443 MHz
DDR3 6-6-6-16-22 At 1636 MHz

Results on Air
4515 MHz All Core Validation
4070 MHz Extreme Stability | CPU 1.50V

Results on Dry Ice
5217 MHz All Core Validation
4717 MHz Extreme Stability | CPU 1.60V

Results on Liquid Nitrogen
6405 MHz All Core Validation
6283 MHz Benchmark PI 1M (6283) 11.078 | DDR3 9-9-9 1700
5751 MHz Extreme Stability  | CPU 1.80V

But why look at a bunch of numbers when AMD has produced a video called The Proving Grounds where you can check this out.

Intel CULV Coming to MSI Wind U200

In more recent news with motherboard and computer component manufacturer MSI, it seems that it is planning on putting a Consumer Low Voltage processor into their new U200 system. Due to the specifications and size of the computer though, it may or may not be considered a netbook by the masses, but will still boast somewhat decent specifications for its price when it releases. Along with the Celeron M low voltage processor at 1.2GHz, the U200 will come with a 250GB hard drive, a GMA 4500M IGP, 2 GB of DDR2 RAM, and a 12-inch screen with a resolution of 1366 x 768.

Intel Gets Massive Fine

The EU has decided on the amount to fine Intel, and it is no chump change. Intel was fined 1.06 billion Euros, or $1.45 billion, which makes their previous fine in 2004 of 497 million Euros pale in comparison. The fine comes after the EU found that Intel had been using anti-competitive practices, such as paying manufacturers and a retailer to sell only computers with its own chips in them. The manufacturers included Dell, HP, Acer, Lenovo and NEC, while the retailer was one of Europe's biggest consumer electronics retailers, Media Markt. Intel gave rebates to the companies for stocking only its products and also paid the companies to postpone or cancel releases of AMD technology, the commission found. On top of the fine, the commission has also ordered that Intel "cease the illegal practices immediately to the extent that they are still ongoing". Intel has said that it will appeal against the verdict.

Intel to Phase Out Core i7 940 and 965

Intel have announced that the Core i7 940 CPU will be phased out this year. The company has told partners that the 2.93GHz 940 will be unavailable for purchase after the final order date set for September 4 2009. Final shipments of the boxed version will occur on December 4 this year with the last production 940s planned for November 5 2010. Intel has not provided any reason for the discontinuation of the 940, but the most likely explanation is that they are preparing for the launch of the rumored Core i7 950 clocked at 3.06GHz: the successor to the 940. The Core i7 965 Extreme Edition CPU has also been discontinued. Final orders for the 965 will be taken on September 4 2009 and the last CPUs are scheduled to ship on May 7 2010. These announcements seems a bit out of place, as the 940 and 965 have been out for just over 6 months since their launch with the 920 late last year. Maybe 2009 will be the year of the new Nehalem with the releases of the rumored 965 EE replacement, the 975 and the 32nm Gulftown and Clarkdale series of Nehalem based processors.

Lynnfield to Come at 3GHz Max.

Intel, the largest manufacturer of processors are releasing their new Core i5 CPUs and P55 motherboards in Q3 2009. The new Core i5s are no different from the Core i7, though instead of having a triple-channel memory controller they'll have a dual-channel memory controller, oh and a new chipset, P55 which is aimed at mainstream users. Apart from that, the new processor should come in 3 doses: 2.6, 2.8 and 3GHz respectively, while going way into the i7's price territory. We’ll see what Intel does in the future, and if the Core i5 turns out to be a success.

AMD's Two New Products Tomorrow

AMD, the other major microprocessor manufacturer, is releasing two new products tomorrow, the AMD Athlon 64 X2 7850 Black Edition and the ATI Radeon HD 4770.

The Athlon 64 X2 7850 is going to be the last of AMD’s dual-core K10 processors which is built on the 65nm fabrication process which will be replaced by the K10.5 processors on a 45nm fabrication process. The new CPU will come at 2.8GHz, with 1MB L2 Cache and 2MB L3 Cache. It will also be priced around €75 or $100.

The Radeon HD 4770 will be the world’s first 40nm graphics card and is targeted at the sub $100 market which includes NVIDIA’s 9800GT, which surprisingly (?) it beats hands down. Even though built on the 40nm fabrication process, ATI have made it use an external power source just in case. This new card will come with 512MB of GDDR5 memory on a 128-Bit bus, which is what keeps this card performing so great for such a low price. Let’s all see what tomorrow has in store for us!

AMD OverDrive Updates to Version 3.01

In this latest release from AMD, their OverDrive application has been updated to include a couple of new features. One of the biggest in this new release is that the company has now added native support for Windows 7, so that users can still overclock their processors within the new Windows edition using the simple software. Other things that have been added include AMD Black Edition memory profiles, as well as fan control support. The download of the application can be started from the AMD site, for those who prefer to attempt overclocking from Windows, rather than the traditional way of doing it in the motherboard BIOS.

NVIDIA Disproves Intel Core i7 Claims

Between all system builders, controversy usually plays out in picking the right components for a build. One of the most important parts in a system is the central processing unit, and another is the graphics card. Obviously the motherboard also plays a key role in the overall system performance, but a good CPU and graphics processing unit usually secures the deal. Since the release of the Core i7 processors, Intel has been claiming that gaming performance could increase by up to eighty percent over other Intel processors, which is one hefty claim. NVIDIA, being a GPU company, sees the processor as a core piece of hardware, but did not believe the claims that Intel was making with its latest processor. After a little more research, the green team came to find out that these statement of performance improvement were based on 3D Mark Vantage CPU scores, which tests pretty much the processor and not too much else. This is how Intel got its remarkable number of eighty percent. NVIDIA ran some tests itself, with a E8400, a Core i7 965, a GeForce GTS 250, and a GeForce GTX 260. What they found was that upgrading a graphics card, allowed the games tested to perform faster than a CPU upgrade alone. The hitch though is that the tests were completed at a resolution of 1920 x 1200, which is ran by mainly the GPU. So while the Core i7 doesn't really help all that much in gaming performance according to the graphics card manufacturer, small gains may be noticed at lower resolutions, where the graphics processing unit is not relied upon as much; as claimed by NVIDIA.

EC Close to Verdict on Intel Antitrust Case

The European Commission has sent a draft decision ruling to the 27 EU member states, setting the stage for a ruling in a couple of weeks. The draft is usually followed by a meeting in a week or two where the individual members give their recommendations. To date, every draft decision has been approved. Once approved, the members will meet back up in a couple of days to decide on a fine. The case, starting back in 2007, states that Intel designed a rebate program to exclude it's rival AMD from the market, and that Intel had also given money to retailers who only sold PC's based on their chips.

A Dozen New Opterons

Recently AMD has reported a $416 Million loss in Q1 2009, so they are striking back with a dozen new Opterons – from cheap, low power versions to high end number crunching monsters. They are all manufactured on 45nm and AMD has done it once more with 40W quad-core Opterons at 2.1GHz and 2.3GHz – the 2372 EE and the 2377 EE. AMD have also launched another 10 Opterons. The new CPUs are the 2.4 GHz Opteron 2379 HE ($450), the 2.4 GHz Opteron 8379 HE ($1165), the 2.5 GHz Opteron 2381 HE ($575), the 2.5 GHz Opteron 8381 HE ($1514), the standard 2.8 GHz Opteron 2387 ($873), the 2.8 GHz Opteron 8387 ($2149), the 2.9 GHz Opteron 2389 ($989), the 2.9 GHz Opteron 8389 ($2649), and the 3.1GHz Opteron SE 2393 ($1165) and the 3.1GHz Opteron 8393 SE ($2649). They ALL come with 4x512kb L2 Cache and 6MB L3 Cache on a 45nm fabrication process. Let us hope that AMD regains their lost profits and come back strong!

AMD Launching Six-Core CPUs in May

AMD is set to ship its six-core CPUs next month in a bid to boost its profits in the server market. This is mainly due to AMD's report of a Q1 $416 million loss to shareholders earlier this month. The 45nm six-core 'Istanbul' series of Opteron processors include 6MB of L3 cache, an integrated dual-channel DDR2 controller and new HyperTransport Assist feature to reduce inter-CPU traffic. The new CPUs are backwards compatible with the current 1207 pin Socket F, making it easier for companies to transition between the new and old CPUs. AMD has been offering discounts on its Istanbul CPUs with a campaign announced earlier this month, allowing consumers to receive up to 35% off when upgrading their current Opteron chips to the new generation. This is an interesting, competitive move from AMD, as Intel is due to release its 32nm six-core 'Gulftown' CPUs next year. AMD have been releasing many new products recently such as the new Callisto dual-core CPUs, and we can only hope that it can once again rise up to be a real competitor against Intel's market dominance.

The Eclipse of Callisto

AMD are release two new dual-core CPU's in Q2 2009, and they are codenamed 'Callisto'. Their specifications aren't too shabby either, coming up to a stock clock of 3.1GHz, 6MB L3 Cache and 1MB L2 Cache; it should be able to match almost any Core 2 Duo. It will also be around €100 targeting Intel's E7000 range for price, and their E8000 range for performance. AMD certainly are coming back with a bang. Callisto will become the first generation of AMD's Phenom II X2 range, coming in two different flavours  - Phenom II X2 540 and Phenom II X2 550. They will all be 45nm and should threaten Intel's Core 2 Duo range.

Intel Comments on IBM Announcement

With IBM showing that it will follow through with its publication of moving to a 28nm process, Intel is saying that it will not do the same. Supposedly, the process is actually a half node step, and will not work correctly in terms of processors and the like. Instead, Intel is going to just keep on with its 32nm product lineup, which may be seen later this year, and then move to a 22nm process down the road. This jump in processes for Intel is a full node step, allowing it to be used the right way for processors made by the manufacturer.

Core i5 Comes Out of Hiding

Core i5 will be Intel's replacement to its Core 2 lineup. These new Core i5s are very similar in specifications to the Core i7, and the higher end Core i5 actually costs more than an i7! They will be priced at $196, $284, and $562 each, which means they stumble across into the i7's territory. Intel has yet once again managed to confuse consumers. The new Core i5s come with 4 processing cores, Hyper Threading, Dual-Channel DDR3 memory controller, 8MB L3 Cache and Turbo Boost. The first three models of the i5 will come at 2.66GHz, 2.8GHz and 2.93GHz respectively. Is it me, or is the only difference the dual-channel memory controller? Let us hope that the Core i5 does not surpass the Core i7, and that the platform is much cheaper than the Core i7 platform.

Group Headed by IBM Targets 28nm Chip Technology

IBM is teaming up with a number of partners, including AMD spin-off Globalfoundries and Samsung Electronics for the development of next-gen chip technology based on a 28nm process. An IBM spokesman said that products based on the chips could be expected in the second half of 2010, and will include devices such as smartphones along with other consumer electronic products. As we already know from years of CPU developments, smaller process technologies generally allow for greater processing power and improved power efficiency, while also increasing chip yields from an equally sized silicon wafer. IBM claim a 28nm chip can provide a performance improvement of 40 percent and a 20 percent lower power requirement when compared with 45nm chips. A large customer for the new technology will be ARM, which is working to develop a design platform for 32nm and 28nm processes in collaboration with the IBM alliance.