7.08GHz. That's the record-shattering speed an AMD Phenom II processor was overclocked to using a massive amount of liquid helium. You can watch the whole process in this documentary video set to one kickass soundtrack.
[Gizmodo via Crunchgear]
Showing posts with label CPU. Show all posts
Showing posts with label CPU. Show all posts
AMD Phenom II Breaks 7GHz Barrier [Amd]
7.08GHz. That's the record-shattering speed an AMD Phenom II processor was overclocked to using a massive amount of liquid helium. You can watch the whole process in this documentary video set to one kickass soundtrack.
[Gizmodo via Crunchgear]
100-Core Tilera TILE-Gx Processors Planned For 2011 [CPUs]
While Intel and AMD look to make a complete jump to 8-cores, Tilera (an MIT start-up) says its upcoming 100-core chip has 'at least four times the compute performance of an Intel Nehalem-Ex, while burning a third of the power.'
The 40-nanometer TILE-Gx will reportedly draw about 55W of power at full load, and though it's expected to cost between $400 and $1000 (depending on volume), it's more intended for use on Linux-based enterprise Web servers.
According to Wired, the chip isn't really geared for regular operating systems such as Windows 7—for that, you'll have to wait for Intel's 80-core processor which was demonstrated last year, and is expected in about 5 years.
[Gizmodo via Tilera via Wired]
Rumor: Intel Atom N450 (Pine Trail) to launch on January 3rd?
![pinetrail[1]](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_t9BUaodspAF05U3IQ-chbzeg6TzOqDrgrO8MbKvUwg0Vrhf1v681AoIwJs7XF6tG_fri9IrVEp5gx6nLxjP3HoKkfEi7slugVith-kPgz4X1WecL9heoxv4roE6IVVgDDNfsb6LRg=s0-d "pinetrail[1]")
Fudzilla is reporting that Intel’s new Atom N450 chipset – codenamed Pine Trail (see previous coverage here) — will officially launch on January 3rd.
Previous reports suggested that the chipset will be made available to manufacturers sometime this month, to which I speculated that we’d see Pine Trail-equipped netbooks around the holidays. If Fudzilla’s report is true, though — and the site makes no reference to any sources, so take the information with a grain of salt — then it appears these new netbooks would make an appearance just in time for CES.
Whatever the case, the 1.66GHz CPU will apparently sell for around $64, which is $20 more expensive than current N270 package. The Pine Trail platform shifts the system from a 3-chip architecture down to a 2-chip architecture in order to save physical space and, theoretically, reduces power consumption and improves performance.
New Atom N450 for netbook launch is January [CrunchGear via Fudzilla via SlashGear]
AMD’s low-voltage ‘Congo’ platform due soon?
Not content to sit back and let Intel have all the ultra low voltage fun, AMD’s low voltage Congo platform is apparently due in the coming weeks – late October or early November, according to DigiTimes.
The processors will be used in ultraportable notebooks and will consist of various dual-core Turion Neo and Althlon Neo X2 chips, as well as a single-core Athlon Neo MV-40 chip similar to the one currently found in HP’s dv2 system.
So yes, the Congo platform is already kind of here but we can apparently expect to see more and more available systems in near future.
It’ll be interesting to see how the systems are priced. With AMD traditionally undercutting Intel’s pricing and current ultra low voltage notebooks hovering in the $600 to $1000 range, if AMD were able to, say, push out some models starting near $500, things could heat up.
[CrunchGear]
New AMD processor details leak [AMD]
Oops! Looks like someone accident let some information out early. AMDs “Thuban” processors will be out next month, and there wasn’t a whole lot of information out there until recently. Turns out that somebody talked. Well, at least someone’s BIOS talked.
Gigabyte
released a couple of BIOS
updates recently, and Tech Connect spotted the news: The X6 1035T will have 6 cores, and be running at 2.6 GHz, and the X6 1055T is going to run at 2.8GHz. There was some news about the new Phenom II X6 as well; the 1075T will be clocked at 3.0 GHz, which is about 333 MHz slower then Intel’s new i7 980x
. Bummer for AMD, but we’ll see who the real winner is when the pricing comes out; Intel’s new chip sells for $999 right now.[CrunchGear]
3D chips to take Moore's Law past 2020?
Here's a technique that can keep processor density doubling every two years, keeping up with Moore's Law using a couple of clever techniques. IBM and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zürich figured out a way to stack multiple processor cores vertically instead of next to each other as they are now.
That neat trick speeds up data transfers between the cores, making them 'many times faster.' With all this extra speed comes more heat, but that's covered by a cooling system using tiny tubes that are the width of a human hair, bringing cooling water or evaporating refrigerant in between the 3D cores, keeping everything frosty.
The result? Aquasaur, the first water-cooled supercomputer of its kind, using multiple nano surfaces to keep its blinding speed from generating so much heat that the whole thing melts down into a useless blob of silicon and metal. Now if they could just fit this into an iPhone....
[DVICE via Kurzweil AI]
Intel’s new Gulftown i7-980X CPU reviews well [Core i7]
Intel cut loose some benchmarking samples of their new, top of the line CPU, the i7-980X Extreme Edition. This is not a CPU intended for the causal use, but rather aim directly at the gaming market. MSRP for the CPU all by itself is a jaw-dropping $999, and rumors are already circulating that the OEMs are already looking at coming out with systems that utilize the new processors.The reviews are looking good too. There’s just one little problem. There’s no software out there that can really take advantage of the new processor threading yet. See, the i7-980X supports up to 6 cores, which means it’s a multi-threading monster, but if the software doesn’t support it, you end up spending a grand on future proofing. Not a terrible idea, I mean it’s not like it’s worthless, but don’t expect the your brand new smoking CPU to be all it can be until the software can take advantage of it.
Don’t take my word for it, I haven’t actually seen one of these bad boys yet, but all the reviews out there are pretty much saying the same thing.
[CrunchGear]
The Swiss Army SIM: SK Telecom Squeezes Storage, CPU and Android OS Onto One Card [Android]
This magic SIM card from SK Telecom is a long way off from being commercially viable. But so help me, when someone stuffs this much information into a single SIM, I'm going to stand up and take notice.
Packed into this protoype are a processor, memory, 1GB flash storage, and Android OS. That's enough to keep your entire mobile world into one SIM, making switching phones the simplest thing in the world. You could also use it to easily switch off information between your handset and your netbook.
Of course, it also means that losing your phone would come with its own additional host of problems. Though by the time this would actually be available, it's likely that all your most important stuff would be in the cloud anyway.
I'm looking at you, AT&T SIM in my phone. I'm looking at you with equal parts pity and regret.
[Gizmodo via PC World via Engadget]
AMD's Plan to Take Back Laptops: The Llano "APU" [Processors]
If you want a laptop with graphics performance that isn't totally embarrassing, you're pretty much stuck with some combination of Intel and Nvidia gear. Now, finally, the AMD Llano, a CPU/GPU combo, or 'APU', could give us a serious alternative.
AMD running with the 'Application Processor Unit' name isn't as gimmicky as it sounds, because the Llano is genuinely unique: It's four processing cores and a DX11-capable GPU on a single processor die. In simpler terms, this means that AMD has created a tidy little system on a chip, aimed at a few portable markets. In the simplest terms, they've shrunk laptop graphics and processing into a single chip, which saves power and space.
So! Not much is known about the Llano right now, but we can pick out some broad themes. The chip's power regulation is novel, monitoring specific chip functions to gauge power draw rather than sensors. The graphics capabilities, though still generally a mystery, wouldn't have to be very good at all to trump Intel's lame integrated graphics. In other words, as Ars notes, this could be the first real baby of the still torrid AMD/ATI marriage, and the start of an ATI comeback, at least in laptops.
Or, given that we're not expected to see these processors in products until 2011, when everything could be completely different, it could be none of these things.
[Gizmodo via Ars Technica]
TI's OMAP4 Chipset Promises Insane Performance and 145 Hours Battery Life [Guts]
TI's new dual-core OMAP4 mobile chipset, the sequel to the OMAP3 series that powers the Droid and Palm Pre (among others), claims crazy performance: Three independent displays running 1080p video, for example, and an estimated 145-hour battery life for audio.
Basically, TI made up a kind of demo unit (pictured) to show what the OMAP4 can do, which is not inconsiderable. The demo unit is a portable device running Android, equipped with two screens and HDMI-out as well as a 12MP camera, pico projector, plus all the wireless protocols and sensors you can imagine. It's a fantasy device, most certainly not intended for market, but it's a pretty effective way to get our hearts racing.
The ARM A9-based chipset will be competing with the Apple A4 and Tegra 2 in tablets and smartbooks, but it's also small enough and energy-efficient enough to power handhelds—good news, since it's got some pretty serious muscle. The demo unit uses a dual-1GHz-core version, and supports 1080p video recording at 24/30fps, three simultaneous independent displays (why you'd need that is beyond me), 20MP image processing, and more memory bandwidth than the Tegra 2 (for better multitasking). Besides that, TI's built in image stabilization and "universal decoding," which means it should be able to (software permitting) play back just about any media file you throw at it. TI claims that with a 1000 mAh battery, it can hit 145 hours of audio playback, which sounds freaking insane—the current OMAP3 can only get between 30 and 40.
It's slated to hit the market either in late 2010 or early 2011, aimed first at smartphones and later possibly larger devices like ereaders or tablets. We'll report on it more as it gets closer to release, but even if the chip can only hit 75% of what it claims, it'll still be damned impressive.
[Gizmodo via Slashgear]
China's Loongson Processor Could Power First Natural-Born Chinese Supercomputer [PopSci]
The People's Republic has unveiled more details on its quest to phase U.S.-made processors from its microchip diet. China's next supercomputer will run purely on Chinese processors, possibly before the end of this year.
China has been developing its own CPUs at the state-run Institute of Computing Technology (ICT) for several years, but iterations of its chip – known as Loongson or 'Dragon Core' – have been incapable of breaking into the elite ranks of supercomputing. China's last supercomputer, the Dawning 5000a, was intended to run on Loongson processors, but was eventually constructed around AMD processors when the ICT couldn't deliver a powerful enough chip quickly enough.
The Loongson 3, under development since 2001, should change all this if the ICT can deliver on its promise. Based on the MIPS architecture, the chips theoretically can be strung in 16-core clusters to perform at extremely high speeds, possibly hitting the petaflop performance mark with just 782 16-core chips. That's one quadrillion operations per second, for those of you keeping score.
Right now, of course, this is all on paper (well, a quad-core chip is in prototype, but the proposed 16-core bad boy is still under development). But authorities in the supercomputing field seem to agree that the chips, running in clusters, can hit the performance marks necessary to create a top-tier supercomputer. This isn't the first time the Chinese have promised a home-grown high-performance supercomputer, but for the first time it looks like they are going to deliver.
[Gizmodo via Technology Review]
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NVIDIA unveils the next generation Tegra processor
NVIDIA unveiled the next generation of its Tegra mobile processor at CES yesterday, promising to deliver tablets, smartbooks and smartphones with a blazing web browsing experience, HD video, Flash 10 support and multi-day battery life. Rather than go on and on, we will simply let the Tegra 250 specs speak for themselves:
- The world’s first dual-core ARM Cortex A9 CPU running up to 1GHz
- Eight independent processors to handle web browsing, HD video encode and decode and mobile 3D gaming
- 10x faster than the processors used in smartphones today, and up to 4x the performance of the previous generation Tegra processor
- Advanced TSMC 40nm process with active power management to provide amazing battery life (140 hours audio and over 16 hours of HD video playback) despite being always-on and always-connected
- Support for 3D touchscreen user interfaces
- Up to 1080p video encode/decode and support for HD Web streaming formats and complete HW accelerated HD multimedia engine for visually stunning movie playback
- Adobe Flash Player 10.1 acceleration for streaming video and 3D mobile games
- Resolutions ranging from four-to-eight times that of smartphones
- Form factors and screen sizes ranging from 5-15 inches
[BGR]
Marvell's ARMADA Mobile Chips to Go 1Ghz/1080p [CPUs]
Marvell's ARMADA chips hope to power everything from Blu-ray players
to ebooks 
to smartbooks to digital picture frames
, but the most interesting are the 600 series smartphone 
chips with a strong claimed 3d performance.Says Sascha Segan:
According to a Marvell press release, the ARMADA 610 can render 45 million 3D triangles per second and control four displays at 2k x 2k pixel resolution each. That makes it more powerful than the PowerVR SGX 530 core used in the Motorola Droid and the Qualcomm graphics core in the QSD8250 Snapdragon, which handle 14m and 22m triangles respectively.Noted.
[Gizmodo via Anand via PCMag]
