Processors - Page 118

If you are planning on buying a new CPU from Intel's upcoming line of Ivy Bridge processors, you will be happy to hear the news that's come out today. Intel has dropped channel pricing on the chips by an average of $7-8. Channel pricing isn't directly related to retail pricing, but usually if the channel price falls, the retail price falls as well.

There is no promise that the retail price will drop by as much as the channel price has, but it certainly should drop some. Whatever you do, don't go pre-ordering these chips because they are charging quite the premium right now. The top CPU, the i7-3770K, sees a $19 decrease from the expected price of $332.

The price drops are less as you move down the list, but savings are savings, are they not? I've never really seen a company drop prices before a launch quite like this, especially when they have a pretty big dominance in the market. Hopefully Intel will finally make up its mind regarding Ivy Bridge and just get the launch over.

Intel's Ivy Bridge notebook chips have been tested, and have shown up with some impressive results. Bulgaria's Laptop.bg was given a reference notebook with an unreleased 2.3GHz Core i7-3610QM which has shown some serious power over the current 2.2GHz Core i7-2670QM.

For the CPU tests in Cinebench 10 and 11, the performance increase was eight and 22-percent, respectively. Photoshop didn't show the same improvements, but that could be because it was wanting some of that graphical power for some of its filter. The upgraded HD 4000-series graphics still isn't enough to keep up in current games, but this is an integrated solution, so it's to be expected, for now.

Gaming wasn't too bad on the HD 4000, details needed to be dropped, but that still doesn't put the HD 4000 in the box of "it can't run games", because it can. Just not amazingly well. Intel is expected to launch their first Ivy Bridge-based CPUs on April 29, with all first mobile processors to be the quad-core Core i7 models, and should hit mid- to large-size notebooks, including Apple's MacBook Pro or Dell's XPS15.

VR-Zone Chinese has leaked spec sheets on NVIDIA's upcoming system-on-a-chip (SoC) detailing the next-generation of Tegra chips codenamed "Wayne". We should expect four different Tegra 4 models in 2013, all using the same 4-PLUS-1 tech from NVIDIA.

We have two "Flagship" models, the first of which should drop in Q1 2013 dubbed "T40" and will clock in at 1.8GHz and be made from the Cortex-A15 architecture, the second Flagship model is the "T43" and clocks in at 2GHz, this is from the same Cortex-A15 tech. We then have two "Mainstream" products that should arrive in Q3 2013.

These two models are "AP40" and "SP3X", with the latter coming in between 1.2-1.8GHz, and the former arriving in 1.2-2.0GHz. They will be based off of Cortex-A15 and Cortex-A9 designs for the AP40 and SP3X, respectively. One thing to note of the SP3X chip, is that it will finally bring with it LTE connectivity in the form of LTE100/HSPA42 tech, it will also be designed for 7-inch tablets, with the other three models made for 10-inch designs.

Details are leaking for NVIDIA's next-generation Tegra, which for now is called Tegra 4. Tegra 4 is built on a 28nm process, and according to VR-Zone's tipsters, should bring with it GPGPU support to use its graphics core for boosting CUDA, OpenCL and other general-purpose tasks.

The addition would push it a few notches up the road, as it would sport a graphics core that is multiple generations newer than what is in the Tegra 3, which dates back to the 2006-era PlayStation 3. What's being thrown around as a rumor right now is that NVIDIA could opt to use the current-generation Kepler core in Tegra 4.

NVIDIA CEO Jen-Hsun Huang has already teased that Kepler would arrive in smartphones, but he didn't state whether this would be sooner rather than later. If NVIDIA's trend continued, we won't see Kepler-based cores in Tegra for years, as the current Tegra 3 only sports NV40-class cores. There are more speculative rumors, though.

After a couple of delays, it looks like Intel is on track to deliver one side of the Ivy Bridge coin on April 29 according to two different sources, Sweclockers and Donanimhaber. Both desktop and mobile IBs will be released at the same time if these reports are correct.

Just over a week from now on April 8, Intel will announce Z77, Z75, H77 and B75 chipsets. On the same day, we should see a slew of reviews for Z75- and Z77-based boards, sporting Sandy Bridge-based CPUs. Ivy Bridge processors are expected to take the stage in the fourth week of April, somewhere between April 22 and April 28.

The announcement will only include quad-core models, Core i7 and Core i7 Extreme families, desktop Core i7, Core i5-3570K, i5-3570T, i5-3550, i5-3550S, i5-3450 and i5-3450S. The chips that get announced should be made available for sales on April 29, with benchmarks and reviews hitting the same day. Specifications and pricing on said processors is below:

IBM have reached quite the milestone, with researchers at the company demonstrating a prototype optical chip that is capable of transmitting up to 1 terabit of data per second. Engineers managed to built the Holey Optochip using readily available components, meaning that the chip could actually be manufactured in high volumes for commercial implementation sooner, rather than later.

IBM created the Holey Optochip as part of their continued efforts to use light rather than electronics over wires to transmit huge amounts of data. Surprisingly, the Holey Optochip was created using a standard 90nm-based CMOS chip, which they then drilled 48 tiny holes through the back of it.

What this allows is for 24 receiver and 24 transmitter channels, with each capable of moving 20 gigabits of data per second. This results in a product that can move 960 gigabits (nearly 1 terabit) of data per second. For this next bit, I hope you're sitting down: this means you could transfer 30,000 HD movies in 60 seconds. 30,000 in 60 seconds.

Intel have confirmed that their next-generation, 22nm-fabbed Ivy Bridge chips will go on sale eight-to-ten weeks later than they had originally planned, according to Executive Vice-President of Intel, and chairman of Intel China, Sean Maloney.

Maloney talked about the delay in his first interview to discuss Intel's business in China, where he told the Financial Times that the start of sales that sport Ivy Bridge had been pushed back from April, where he says "I think maybe it's June now". First off you "think", Sean? How can you not know this?

Maloney said the adjustment was due to problems with the manufacturing process, and also stated that the global launch of the new Intel-powered smartphones would follow the launch of other global launches this year. An Intel-powered Lenovo-based phone would become available in other countries four to five months after it's initial launch in China. Maloney also denied reports that Ivy Bridge was pushed back due to the over-stocked inventories of Sandy Bridge-based notebooks, citing manufacturing process issues.

Samsung have teased their latest 32nm quad-core Exynos chip at the ISSCC event, which has been the first example shown of a quad-core Exynos design. The new chip still sports an ARM Cortex-A9, but is now built upon a 32nm process, which provides not only more speed, but better battery life when compared to 2011-era chips.

A new graphics core is featured with four pixel effects processors, and is expected to be around 26-percent faster, even though it uses 34- to 50-percent less power. Just like NVIDIA's Tegra 3 chip, it sports the ability to shut cores off independently to save power, and thus battery life, when a task isn't needed. Samsung's new Exynos chip can support up to dual-channel memory, with either low-power DDR2 or DDR2, to keep the chip working at full speed.

Graphics-wise, it's fast enough to render a whopping 57 million polygons per second. Samsung hasn't made made the new quad-core Exynos chip public yet, but the Mobile World Congress is next week where we're sure they'll want to show it off.

Intel Engineering Samples, back in my Celeron 300A days, those things were the thing to have. You were pretty hectic to own one of those bad boys and these days, with the likes of eBay's and mainstream (and more accepted) overclocking, it's not as cool, but it still gets my nerd juices flowing.

The latest ES sample comes in the form of Intel's Ivy Bridge-based Core i5-3570K. Henry posted two CPU pictures on the Expreview forums, where we can see the Core i5-3570K is pretty similar to the Core i5-2500K, but it's process has been shrunk to 22nm, clock speeds are up and TDP is down. We have clock speeds of 3.4GHz, and just a 77W TDP.

The IGP featured on the Core i5-3570K is Intel HD Graphics 4000, which is stamped into the K-series of processors, as well as some Ivy Bridge processors. HD Graphics reportedly sports 16 EUs, whereas the current HD Graphics 3000-series has 12 EUs.

Intel's new processor architecture codenamed "Haswell" won't see the light of day until 2013, but that doesn't stop information from leaking out onto the Internet about it. The successor to Ivy Bridge now has some more details on its embedded graphics processor, with DonanimHaber detailing the integrated GPU (iGPU) plans.

Haswell's iGPU will be DirectX 11.1 compliant, which means it will take advantage of API optimizations that improve performance, for "typical desktop usage scenarios". It also supports OpenCL 1.2, which will help in GPGPU-optimized applications, and is designed around a new stereoscopic 3D standard called Auto-Stereoscopic 3D (AS3D), which will benefit Blu-ray 3D acceleration, stereo 3D photos, and more.

It would be compared to entry-level GeForce or Radeon GPUs for acceptable performance with stereo 3D.

AMD's client roadmap has revealed Hondo, a 4.5W APU with 1-2 low voltage Bobcat cores as well as an on-die DX11 GPU built on a 40nm process. Windows 8 will be the OS to receive some of AMD's Hondo lovin'. AMD is wanting to get serious of entering the sub-2W market, with mobile being a very important path for AMD.

AMD has talked about being "ambidextrous" when it comes to architectures, implying that AMD's future products will include chips with ARM-based CPU cores for markets where it makes sense. AMD have also said they will take advantage of all sorts of ecosystems, including Windows 8 and Android.

The AMD 2013 Client Roadmap unveils some interesting things indeed, with 2013 mobile chips "Kaveri", "Kabini", and "Tamesh" being three new APUs to be introduced. Kaveri will sport 2-4 "Steamroller" CPU cores, as well as a GCN-based GPU with HSA Application support. Kabini will feature 2-4 "Jaguar" cores backed up by a GCN-based GPU, and finally, Tamesh sports 2 "Jaguar" CPU cores, and a GCN-based GPU.

Overclocking kills chips, we all know it does. It's never happened to me, because I'm l337, y0. But, it can happen and if it does, under Intel's new protection plan, you'll actually be covered. Intel already have a standard three-year warranty on its processors, but are now launching a new initiative aimed at protecting those who feel the need, the need for speed.

Intel call it the Performance Tuning Protection Plan, which gives you a free replacement CPU if you burn or blow yours up. It has started at four resellers today: CyberPower, Scan Computers, Altech Computers as well as Canada Computers and Electronics. The service is offered exclusively for K, X, and LGA2011-socketed boxed processors, with prices varying dependant on the chip.

For the i5-2500K, i7-2600K, i7-2700K, i7-3920K, and i7-3960X, it will cost you $20, $25, $25, $35, and $35, respectively. Not bad considering those chips are worth either hundreds, or over $1000 (in some countries). There are conditions, though. Intel only cover the chip for one replacement, and the failure must happen within its standard three-year warranty. You cannot rebuy the plan for the replacement chip, and you cannot buy several plans for a new processor.

Intel shook the hands of its two new partners at CES last week, with Lenovo and Motorola Mobility both at the hand-shaking end of that deal, where Intel also let ARM know its intentions of competing in the low-power consumption smartphone and tablet markets.

Lenovo went on to show off its K800 smartphone, sporting an Intel 32nm Medfield Atom Z2460 single-core processor with hyper-threading clocked at 1.6GHz. Motorola's product is currently in the final processes of preparation and is due to be delivered for carrier validation this summer.

Warren East, CEO of ARM, shrugs off Intel's attempt to strong arm them [that pun actually wasn't meant to be a pun, but I looked back and it works surprisingly well, so it stays] and says:

Microsoft have shuffled their feet a little bit and released two patches for AMD's Bulldozer platform according to the AMD Blog. AMD note that the AMD FX processors sport a unique dual-core module architecture codenamed "Bulldozer", which current versions of Windows 7 were not specifically architected to utilize.

In AMD's initial testing of the upcoming Windows 8 OS, they've seen performance improvements of up to 10-percent in some applications when compared to Windows 7. This comes down to the fact that the system correctly recognizes the AMD FX processor architecture, and cores. AMD put this down to a close collaboration between Microsoft and AMD, where Microsoft completed back-porting of some of the Windows 8 scheduler code for AMD FX processors and baked it into a hotfix, now available, for Windows 7.

If you're an owner of an AMD FX-based processor, here's some instructions to update Windows 7 and enjoy the extra performance:

It feels as though there's a launch from Intel every few months now, but I guess that's the benefits of a tick, tock-based release schedule. The latest news from Digitimes' Taiwanese sources is that the first batch of Ivy Bridge gear coming will include no less than 25 processors.

Out of these 25 processors, 17 of them will be desktop models and the remaining 8 will be notebook/ultrabook chips. 8 chipsets will also launch, (Z77, H77, Z75 and B75 for desktops, HM77, UM77, HM76 and HM75 for mobile PCs. More Ivy Bridge-based products will also launch, including the Core i5-3470T CPU and the A77, Q75, QS77 and QM77 chipsets, which are said to be launching in May.

Let's talk dollars, the upcoming CPUs should cover the same spectrum as the current Sandy Bridge-based Core models, ranging from $184 to $332, while chipsets will go from $37 for the B75 to $53 for the QS77 (the Z77 desktop 'flagship' is supposed to cost $48). If you don't already know, the Ivy Bridge CPUs are manufactured on a 22nm process technology which sports Intel's 3D Tri-Gate transistors. They'll feature DirectX 11 graphics, sport the current LGA 1155 packaging which allows them to work on current, 6-Series-based motherboards.

PCI-Express 3.0 has been here for a little while now, but it has only been with the launch of the PCI-Express 3.0-capable AMD Radeon HD 7000-series that there has been some proper testing. The world's first 28nm GPU to support PCI-e 3.0 is here, people!

PCIe 3.0 increases per-land bandwidth from 500MB/sec to 1GB/sec, this means for an x16 slot, double the bandwidth from 8GB/sec to 16GB/sec. Impressive, but will we see anything close to double the performance? Not now, and not in games. GPU compute tasks do see a difference in performance, however.

Improving bandwidth and latency between the CPU and GPU is always a good thing, but for high-performance GPU compute tasks, this is the difference between night and day. AnandTech tested AMD's AES Encrypt/Decrypt sample application. The test bed consisted of an EVGA X79 SLI motherboard, with a BIOS provided by EVGA for the PCIe 3.0 toggle on/off.

AMD have today updated their A-Series line-up of desktop and notebook APUs (Accelerated Processing Units), which include not only speed and performance improvements, but AMD Steady Video update makes this unique feature more compelling than ever. AMD have also included the ability to overclock the APU, so for the first time users can now tune both x86 and graphics settings within the single processor for boosted performance.

The new updated AMD A-Series APUs combine up to four x86 CPU cores with up to 400 Radeon cores, where it delivers DirectX 11-capable, discrete-level graphics and dedicated HD video processing, all on a single chip. The new A-Series APUs deliver a bigger performance punch when compared to the existing A-Series APUs.

AMD Steady Video, now featured in the AMD A-Series APU family, is designed to stabilize videos during playback. Any videos you have that are unsteady, or jumpy, look steady and smooth as you watch it.

There was a patch that was released by Microsoft last week (KB2592546) for Windows, where it was claimed it would improve performance of systems powered by AMD's latest processor architecture, Bulldozer.

What the patch did, was make the OS aware of the way AMD's Bulldozer cores are structured, so it could effectively make use of the parallelism at its disposal. Microsoft a few days later, pulled the patch. But, this is the Internet.

SweOverclockers' had enough time to do a "before and after" performance test of the new AMD FX-8150 processor, with the now pulled patch. The results of SweOverclockers' tests are in the picture above. "tidigare" is before, "nytt" is after, and "skillnad" is change. The chip has been put through a fair amount of tests, some synthetic CPU-intensive tasks, and real-world gaming performance tests.

Intel, in it's plot to take over the CPU world, is set to release another unlocked Core i5 processor. It will arrive in the form of the Core i5-2550K and has a retail channel part number of BX80623I52550K and OEM part number CM806230121300, the Core i5-2550K was added to the MDDS database.

The Core i5-2550K will carry the S-spec code SR0QH. Clock speeds are unknown at this time, but CPU World expect it to be 3.40GHz. The chip will be on the LGA1155 package, feature four cores, 256KB L2 cache per core, 6MB shared L3 cache, integrated dual-channel DDR3 IMC, integrated PCI-Express 2.0 root complex and a TDP of 95W.

The USB Implementers Forum announced this week that Intel's upcoming "Ivy Bridge" 7-Series Chipset, and other Intel chipsets, have achieved, finally, USB 3.0 certification. Intel's Ivy Bridge silicon, which is due to ship in Q2 2012, will have USB 3.0 as a standard feature, for the first time ever. At the moment, it has only been made available on select notebooks and desktops, and requires chips from AMD, or additional chips from NEC, and others.

General Manager of Intel's Chipset and SoC IP Group, Ahmad Zaidi, said in a statement: