For major manufacturers, Intel maintains its absolute hegemony as producer of CPU, with 79.3% market share. The company has lost 1.5% of market to their principal rival, AMD, who has grown to 20.4% of total share. Undoubtedly, the new generation of APUs with integrated graphics has given AMD a much needed boost.

In regard to cellular processors, Intel lost 1.9%, remaining at 84.4% of the total. Once more, AMD has taken the Intel fall to increase its share to 15.2% (+1.8%). The third manufacturer in this mix is is VIA Technologies, though its share is only 0.4%.

Nevertheless, the share of AMD remains at only 20.4% which means it still has a long way to go before it puts significant pressure on Intel, whose Sandy Bridge platform has also achieved a good reception this year. With the 2.9% decline in PC sales last quarter and expected to drop even further over the next quarter, the battle over market share is sure to heat up.

Did you know that on May 22, 2011 that Intel released the companies first Pentium processors that utilize the Intel 32nm Sandy Bridge architecture? The Intel Pentium processor family is comprised of three new SKUs, called the G620, G840 and G850. We have the Intel Pentium Processor G620 on the test bench to find out how this 2.6GHz dual-core processor does!

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Thunderbolt technology is designed to meet the demands of serious HD media creators. For example, videographers can unleash their creativity using high-bandwidth audio and video capture/mixing devices, and get both low latency and highly-accurate time synchronization for real-time processing. At 10Gbps, larger media files are transferred faster so there’s less time spent waiting to watch and edit videos. Data can be backed up and restored quicker, so there’s less waiting for archived content. For mobile PC users, it means having a single connector on their ultra-thin laptop that extends their high-speed media and HD display capabilities at home or in the office. Thunderbolt technology is complementary to other I/O technologies that Intel continues to support.

“Working with HD media is one of the most demanding things people do with their PCs,” said Mooly Eden, general manager, PC Client Group, Intel. “With Thunderbolt technology, Intel has delivered innovative technology to help professionals and consumers work faster and more easily with their growing collection of media content, from music to HD movies. We’ve taken the vision of simple, fast transfer of content between PCs and devices, and made it a reality.”

“We’re thrilled to collaborate with Intel to bring the groundbreaking Thunderbolt technology to Mac users,” said Bob Mansfield, Apple’s senior vice president of Mac Hardware Engineering. “With ultra-fast transfer speeds, support for high-resolution displays and compatibility with existing I/O technologies, Thunderbolt is a breakthrough for the entire industry and we think developers are going to have a blast with it.”

Thunderbolt technology is powered by an Intel controller chip, and uses a small connector suitable for mobile devices that will be included in products supporting the technology. Several innovative companies have announced Thunderbolt technology-based products, or currently plan to support Thunderbolt technology in upcoming products, including Aja*, Apogee*, Avid*, Blackmagic*, LaCie*, Promise*, and Western Digital*. Intel is working with the industry on a range of Thunderbolt technology-enabled products including computers, displays, storage devices, audio/video devices, cameras, docking stations and more.

Photography

Click on the images below to view larger versions.

Intel’s Thunderbolt™ controller brings Thunderbolt goodness to your computer.

Thunderbolt™ technology logo that will signal a product’s support of Thunderbolt.

Block diagram that shows how the Thunderbolt™ controller gets integrated into a system.

Thunderbolt™ technology connector, which will connect both display and storage devices in a daisy-chain configuration.

Smaller Thunderbolt™ technology logo.

Thunderbolt™ technology carries two protocols, DisplayPort* and PCI Express*, to connect displays and data devices, respectively.

Source: Intel Newsroom : News Archive List - Intel Newsroom

HP’s upcoming 9.7-inch TouchPad tablet will ship with Qualcomm’s new APQ8060 dual-core Snapdragon processor, and according to Qualcomm, this wonder chip will enable the “latest and greatest multimedia experiences in today’s commercial mobile devices.” That includes stereoscopic 3D, 1080p 30fps HD video capture and playback, Adobe Flash 10, and even console quality gaming, Qualcomm claims.

“Our work with industry leaders has allowed us to showcase the full spectrum of Snapdragon’s graphics and multimedia capabilities in both the tablet and smartphone space across major software platforms,” said Raj Talluri, vice president of product management for Qualcomm. “With more than 75 Snapdragon devices already announced, 150 Snapdragon devices in development, and over 100 high-end mobile games optimized for our GPU, Qualcomm continues to be a leader in delivering high performance devices to market.”

The APQ8060 is part of Qualcomm’s third generation Snapdragon family and includes two asynchronous processor cores, an integrated Adreno 220 GPU with twice the processor power of its predecessor, support for up to 16MP cameras, and is capable of capturing and displaying HD 1080p stereoscopic video or 8MP stereoscopic still images to an autostereoscopic panel or 3DTV (via HDMI).

Image Credit: Qualcomm

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If you subscribe the motto that air is for breathing, not for cooling, then MSI’s new N580GTX HydroGen is exactly the type of videocard that should float your water cooling boat. MSI ditched the reference air cooling solution and replaced it with its own proprietary HydroGen all-copper waterblock. The rest is up to you. Stick it in your water cooled rig, pop the tubes on the in/outlets, turn on the pump, and enjoy seeing those temps drop by as much as 24C over that of Billy’s reference card.

The custom all-copper waterblock boasts a large surface area so that it covers both the GPU and memory. And if you squint hard enough (and have super human vision), you’ll notice microscopic water channels measuring 0.45 mm wide throughout the GPU area. This Micro-Channel technology, as MSI calls it, is supposed to speed up water flow, which in turn aids heat dissipation.

With temps at up to 24C cooler than a stock card, MSI invites you to play around with its Afterburner overclocking software. With it, you can adjust clockspeeds, tweak the GPU voltage, and monitor core temps and memory usage.

No word on when the N580GTX HydroGen will ship or for how much.

Image Credit: MSI

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Do you think it’s too early to talk about Sandy Bridge’s successor? Well, Intel might have you talking about its Ivy Bridge processors as early as Computex Taipei 2011 (May 31 to June 4). According to a Digitimes report, which in turn cites a Chinese-language Commercial Times report, the chip maker will be showcasing its 22nm Ivy Bridge processors at Computex.

Expected early next year, Ivy Bridge chips will be manufactured using a 22nm process and feature a DirectX 11 graphics core, as opposed to 32nm Sandy Bridge chips that feature DirectX 10.1-compatible on-die graphics.

Talking of solutions that combine the CPU and GPU on the same die, AMD is working on second-generation Fusion APUs. However, 22nm chips aren’t on its mind. The chip maker is currently working on bringing its 32nm Llano APUs to the market.

The same Digitimes report also suggests that AMD has greatly accelerated the production of it upcoming Llano APUs, which are now expected to reach its ODM and OEM customers in May and not Q3 2011 as originally anticipated.

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Intel unintentionally put OEM system builders in a bad spot when the chip maker disclosed a design flaw in its 6-series chipset for the Sandy Bridge platform. OEMs were left scrambling to make the situation right with customers, whether it meant extending warranties, bypassing the buggy SATA ports by offering to install a free PCI-E SATA add-in card, or delaying builds until Intel is able to ship out a new batch of boards with a corrected chipset. The latter option means waiting until April, so Intel has come up with a different solution.

Following a discussion with computer makers, Intel said it is “resuming shipments of the Intel 6-series chipset for use only in PC system configurations that are not impacted by the design issue. Only computer makers who have committed to shipping the Intel 6-series chipset in PC system configurations that are not impacted by the design issue will be receiving these shipments.”

If you recall from our FAQ, the design bug doesn’t affect SATA ports 0/1, which happen to be the SATA 6Gb/s ports. The remaining four SATA 3Gb/s ports are affected, though failure or data corruption isn’t a foregone conclusion. Moreover, any additional SATA ports — such as those provided by Marvell or Jmicron — are unaffected as well.

What we gather from this announcement is that Intel is giving PC makers the green light to order, build, and ship systems that work around the faulty ports. In other words, hard drives and SSDs would need to be installed on SATA ports 0/1, though it’s unclear if PC makers would be allowed to install optical drives on the remaining four ports.

Intel previously stated that the bug would only affect a small number of PCs, and even then, the problem might not manifest for a long time. By avoiding those ports altogether, Intel is ensuring that the problem is all but eliminated (the only exception would be if a user chose to add another hard drive on their own) while letting OEMs get Sandy Bridge systems out the door.

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At this point, you’re well aware of the “design flaw” affecting Intel’s 6-series chipsets for Sandy Bridge. And if you’ve been keeping up with our related FAQ, you know that SATA ports 0/1 are unaffected by the bug. On Gigabyte boards, these are the two white SATA ports, which are both SATA 3.0. One way to figure out your SATA configuration is to tear off the side panel and take a peek inside, or you can download Gigabyte’s new 6 Series SATA Check utility.

“To help our customers optimize SATA performance on their 6 series motherboards, Gigabyte has created an easy-to-use utility called the Gigabyte 6 Series SATA Check that tells you if the SATA ports that you are using are in fact the affected Intel PCH SATA 2.0 ports,” Gigabyte said. “It also recommends that you change your SATA devices to the white SATA 3.0 ports. The utility is a simple program that will work on any 6 series chipset based motherboard, and has 3 possible scenarios that offer different advice for users to configure their SATA devices.”

Gigabyte’s giving off a bit of mixed signal here. The company claims its utility works with any 6-series chipset, though there’s a bold disclaimer that reads “For Gigabyte motherboards only.” Assuming it does work with all Sandy Bridge boards (and it should), this would be a handy utility to drop on your USB key when making housecalls — there’s no installation required, just fire it up for a software level glance at the SATA port configuration without diving inside the chassis.

You can download the utility here.

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Perhaps taking advantage of the recent Sandy Bridge chipset fiasco, AMD has gone and reduced the price of several Phenom processors by up to $30, depending on the chip, Fudzilla reports.

Starting with the quad-core processors, AMD shaved $10 from its Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition, 965 Black Edition, and 970 Black Edition parts. Six-core savings are a bit more significant, with the Phenom II X6 1055T dropping from $199 to $175, the 1090T from $235 to $205, and the 1100T from $265 to $239. The 1100T is AMD’s flagship hexacore chip, which runs at 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo) and includes 6MB of L3 cache.

Image Credit: AMD

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One of the questions we cover in our continually updated FAQ regarding Intel’s Sandy Bridge chipset fiasco is how OEMs plan to deal with the situation. With new parts not expected to ship until April, can you even buy a Sandy Bridge rig at this point? And what about Sandy Bridge systems that have already shipped?

There really isn’t a single answer here, as it’s up to each individual vendor to decide how to proceed. Boutique system builder Origin, for example, is offering a lifetime warranty for anyone who wants to roll the dice and the keep their Sandy Bridge system. Should something go wrong, Origin says it will foot the bill for all charges, including shipping. For new orders, Origin is offering to slap a PCI Express-based SATA II card free of charge to sidestep the potential issue, or you can wait it out until April when new boards ship.

Puget is taking a similar approach, in that it is offering to replace affected boards once the new parts arrive (no word on whether or not they’ll cover shipping both ways). Alternately, Puget is also offering to ship out a SATA controller card, which might be the most painless solution.

What you can take away from all this is that you can still purchase a pre-built Sandy Bridge system, just be sure to check with your vendor of choice before hand to see what your options are when the updated silicon starts shipping.

Image Credit: Puget

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