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It hasn’t been that long since Intel released their updated Pine Trail Atom chips, but already there are some indications they may be refreshing the Atom platform. The word is that Intel’s new core is called “Oak Trail”. These new chips would replace the ailing ultra low-power Atom Z series. These are the Z5xx chips we’ve seen in the likes of the Sony Vaio P and Asus Eee PC T91MT tablet.
Atom N450 and N470 are the most common versions of the Pine Trail chips, most often found in netbooks. The Atom N series chips are higher power and not in danger of being replaced. The Oak Trail chips are said to consume much less power, but still remain capable of running a Windows device. Still no firm details, but it’s probably still safe to buy products running the N series Atom chips.
Targeting the value segment, MSI this week announced four new additions to its C-series (Classic series) notebook line. The new models consist of the 16-inch CR600 and 15.6-inch CR620-030, CR620-033, and CR620-031.
All three 620-based models are built around Intel’s Arrandale platform and tout either a Core i3 or i5 processor. Each one also comes equipped with 4GB of DDR3 memory, and either a 320GB or 500GB hard drive. Those who opt for the CR620-033 will also get a Blu-ray DVD combo drive.
The CR600 comes with Nvidia’s GeForce 8200M graphics, and like the rest, it also boasts 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi, HDMI out, 1.3MP webcam, a raised chiclet keyboard, and Windows 7 Home Premium.
All models are available now at Newegg with pricing starting at $530.
Image Credit: MSI
Sure, you could buy that boring old Core i7. You could be like all those other sheep that shop for “released” and “fully tested” parts from Newegg. Or if you’re just the right mix of bold and rich, you can try buying a leaked 12-core AMD CPU from Ebay. The Opteron server chip is code-named Magny-Cours, and a set of four can be had for the low price of $7,700. The unreleased chip runs at 2.2GHz.
If you aren’t the do-it-yourself type, the same seller has a deal for you as well. They are selling a four socket server running the Magny-Cours processors. The server also packs 64GB of RAM. The going price is $20,000, but with 48 processing cores, that’s only about $416 per core. It’s not that unreasonable.
The Magny-Cours architecture doubles the core count on AMD’s current Istanbul Opteron chip. Power optimization was apparently paramount for AMD as the Magny-Cours is expected to use no more power than the Istanbul chips. We’re not going to encourage the purchase of these chips, but if you by them drop us a line, okay?
Intel isn’t the only one planning on beefing up its more budget-friendly lineup in Q2. Around the same time frame as Intel comes out with its third Core i3 chip (550), AMD will add another Propus-based processor to its family, the Athlon II X4 640.
This will be the first Propus-based CPU to reach 3GHz, while all other specs remain unchanged. In other words, 2MB of total cache, no L3 cache, DDR3 1333 memory support, and AM3 socket support.
Sometime around the middle of Q3, AMD will release yet another Propus-based chip, the Athlon II X4 645. This one will ship at 3.1GHz and will stay as the fastest-clocked Propus processor throughout the rest of 2010.
No word yet on price for either chip.
Image Credit: AMD via arxvaldex.com
Intel’s Core i3 family looks a little thin at the moment, but come Q2, the No. 1 chip maker will add a third member, the Core i3 550, news and rumor site Fudzilla reports.
As it currently stands, the Core i3 530 cruises along at 2.93GHz, while the 540 breaks the 3GHz barrier with a 3.06GHz clockspeed. The Core i3 550 will kick things up a notch to 3.2GHz, leaving everything else the same. That means 4MB of cache, DDR3 1333 memory support, a 73W TDP, two cores with four threads, and no Turbo overclocking. In other words, it will be the same chip as the Core i5 650, just without Turbo.
Fudzilla says the Wolfdale-based Core i3 550 might end up pushing the E7600 from the marketplace, though the majority of the Wolfdale Core 2 Duo product line will remain available as lower end options throughout most of 2010.
No word yet on price, though we suspect it will check in somewhere around the $170 mark.
Image Credit: Intel
According to the latest tech chatter, Acer has the MacBook Air in its sights and plans to offer a competitive product in the form of an ultra-thin measuring a scant 1.9 centimeters.
Rumor also has it that Acer plans on cramming one of Intel’s next-gen Calpella ULV processors into its upcoming ultra-thin. We’re talking about one of Intel’s ULV Core i5 or i7 processors here, which would be no small deal. These chips come rated at up to 1.2GHz, but can ramp as high as 1.8GHz and 2.26GHz in Turbo Boost mode, and they also support Hyperthreading.
If this thing comes to fruition, it would offer traditional notebook-like performance in a frame smaller than the company’s existing Timeline series.
No other details are yet available, including price or availability.
Image Credit: Acer (Timline notebook displayed)
According to a report in the EETimes, NEC is gearing up to show off a high performance quad-core processor built around ARM’s Cortex-A9 design. The unveiling is expected to take place during the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona next week.
If true, NEC would join a fraternity of companies claiming a quad-core chip based on ARM architecture. During CES, for example, Marvell Technology said it had developed the world’s first quad-core ARM chip, but did not provide any details. Marvell’s design is said to run faster than 1GHz, though it’s unclear if the chip is a custom design or built around ARM’s Cortex-A9.
It’s safe to say that NEC has been chomping at the bit to release a quad-core Cortex-A9 chip. The company first introduced a multi-core ARM processor back in 2005, which was made up of four ARM11 processors and considered a test chip based on the ARMv6 instruction set, EETimes reports.
The Intel Core 2 ULV processors have seen widespread usage in the “thin and light” category, but their days may be numbered. According to an unconfirmed report, Intel will be releasing a faster low voltage dual core version of the Core i7 this summer. This makes it clear that Intel is continuing to move past Core 2, even at the low end. The model number of the new CPU is expected to be 660UM, and it should run at 1.33GHz.
This chip will replace the 1.2 GHz 640UM. Both chips support 800MHz DDR3 memory, and consume only 18W of total power. This is largely thanks to the integrated graphics which are capable of stepping down to a 166MHz clock speed when not needed. The chip will still have hyperthreading allowing it to run up to four processes. No exact release date is known.
Several chip makers are expected to talk up current and upcoming processor designs at this year’s International Solid State Circuits Conferences, but it’s Intel’s 48-core chip that might steal the show.
Not a whole lot is known about this mega-chip just yet, other than it’s an experimental 48-core processor called the Single-Chip Cloud Computer (SCCC). We also know that each core is a full x86 implementation that can run its own OS instance, but other than that, we’ll have to wait for more details.
AMD will also be on hand to discuss an upcoming 32nm mobile processor, which could possibly end up being the company’s first "Fusion" processor, currently codenamed Llano. Or it could be AMD’s Bobcart architecture revealed last last year. Either way, AMD says the chip it plans to show off will be a 32nm implementation of an AMD x86-64 core with more than 35 million transistors (not counting L2 cache). It will run at frequencies above 3GHz and sport several power improvements.
More details here
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Image Credit: Intel
AMD has had enough of sitting on the sidelines, at least when it comes to GPUs in the mainstream server market. So come 2012, the No. 2 chip maker says it plans to put a bigger focus on integrating graphics processor cores into this market segment.
The idea of combining graphics processors and CPUs in servers is one that’s going to catch on in a big way, believes Gina Longoria, director of the product management and workstation division at AMD. According to Longoria, the company could end up providing CPUs and GPUs together in a server to run highly parallel applications.
"As GPU becomes more relevant, that’s a better way of getting performance than [CPU] cores," Longoria said.
Even with this recognition and goal to push CPU-GPU use in mainstream servers, at least one analyst thinks AMD could be doing more.
"I’m glad they are addressing the market, but perhaps they should push ahead and develop the market more," said Dan Olds, principal analyst at Gabriel Consulting Group. " Olds went on to point out how Nvidia aggressively pushes its software and hardware for heterogenous computing, while AMD has so far been content to remain more of a spectator.
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