Computer processors: April 2009

Thursday, April 2, 2009

Intel Launches Intel® Xeon® Processor 5500 Series

Intel introduced 17 enterprise-class processors, led by the Intel Xeon processor 5500 series. Designed for addressing the increasing computing needs of many industries, the new enterprise-class chips can automatically adjust to specified energy usage levels, and speed data center transactions and customer database queries, said R.Ravichandran, Director -- Sales, Intel -- South Asia, at the launch.
The Intel Xeon processor 5500 series, previously codenamed "Nehalem-EP," offers several technologies to improve system speed and versatility. Technologies such as Intel Turbo Boost Technology, Intel Hyper-Threading Technology, integrated power gates, and Next-Generation Intel Virtualization Technology (VT) improved through extended page tables, allow the system to adapt to a broad range of workloads. The processor is designed to work with Intel's upcoming 32 nm products as well. "We are not talking about performance for the sake of it. We have managed to put in a lot of intelligence and other capabilities to this new platform," added Ravichandran.
More than 230 unique systems based on the Intel Xeon processor 5500 series are expected to be announced by more than 70 system manufacturers around the world -- including a new Intel customer, Cisco, along with Dell, Fujitsu, HP, IBM, Sun Microsystems and others. In India systems are available from Dell, HP, IBM, Sun Microsystems, Acer, Lenovo, HCL and Wipro. Apart from this, the new processor series would hit the market through Intel's existing server channel partners as well. The company will start training its channel partners shortly for this.
Many software vendors are also supporting Intel Xeon processor 5500 series-based platforms, including Citrix, IBM, Microsoft, Novell, Oracle, Red Hat, SAP AG, Sun Microsystems and VMware.
Ravichandran added that the new product will play a key role in scientific discoveries by researchers who use supercomputers as their foundation for research, all whilst delivering great energy efficiency for reduced electricity costs. "Apart from traditional industries, there is an increasing need for high performance computing among industries like automobile, animation etc. Besides, newer applications like medical imaging, genome research, climate predictions etc would also drive the need for more efficiency. We believe this launch will transform the landscapes of many industries. Xeon processor 5500 series will also power an upcoming transformation for the Internet's infrastructure," said Ravichandran.
The company made a few more announcements including the launch of new embedded processors- L5518and L5508-versions of Intel Xeon processors that are tailored specifically for communications market segments. It also announced new server boards that offer a higher degree of integrated components. In addition, the company announced the availability of Intel 82599 10 Gigabit Ethernet Controller and its Data Center Manager software development kit in the market.

Atom netbook chip propels Intel to top of market

The success of Intel's Atom microprocessor, used mainly in netbooks, helped the chip maker gain market share in every quarter of 2008 and could carry the company this year as well.
Intel's share of the microprocessor market grew every quarter last year, market researcher iSuppli said Wednesday.
The chip maker ended the fourth quarter of 2008 with an 81.8 percent share of global microprocessor revenue, up from 78.4 percent the same time a year earlier.
"Intel's low-priced Atom has become increasingly popular as the netbook market has gained steam," said Matthew Wilkins, principal analyst at iSuppli, in a statement. He added that Intel's strength in microprocessors overall and its strong marketing were the main factors behind its strong revenue performance last year.
Intel's biggest rival, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), lost market share last year.
AMD's share of microprocessor revenue shrank to 10.6 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008, down from 14.1 percent a year earlier.
Netbooks could continue to boost Intel this year.
Although the company will see more competition from other chip makers entering the netbook microprocessor market, the overall market for netbooks is expected to continue to grow at breakneck speed.
DisplaySearch predicts netbook shipments will grow 66 percent this year to over 27 million units, in part due to the global recession.
"With the economic crisis on everyone's mind, many buyers are adjusting their discretionary spending and purchasing mini-notes (netbooks) as lower-priced alternatives to notebook PCs," the market researcher said in a report on Wednesday.
Aside from the downturn, the popularity of the devices took off because they're thin, light and more affordable than laptops.
"With the lone exception of Apple, all of the top 15 PC brands have entered the [netbook] market, initially as a response to competitive threats posed by Acer and Asus, but also to satisfy demand for low-priced, entry-level PCs," said John Jacobs, director of notebook market research at DisplaySearch, in the report.
Asustek Computer (Asus) pioneered the commercial launch of netbook devices in late 2007 with its Eee PC. The company was soon followed by Hewlett-Packard and Acer, which led the netbook market last year with its Aspire One.

Intel Board Elects Two New Directors

Intel Corporation today announced that John J. Donahoe, president and CEO of eBay Inc., and Frank D. Yeary, vice chancellor of the University of California Berkeley (UC Berkeley), have been elected to serve on Intel's board of directors. The company also announced that Carol A. Bartz, CEO of Yahoo! Inc., is retiring from the board.
"We are very pleased to have John Donahoe and Frank Yeary join the Intel board," said Paul Otellini, Intel president and CEO. "Both John and Frank bring a wealth of strategic business and financial experience that will assist us now and going forward. Intel and the board are sorry to see Carol Bartz leave. We thank her for her service on our board and wish her all the best at her new job at Yahoo!"
Donahoe, 48, has served as eBay president and CEO since 2008. He joined eBay in 2005 and oversaw core business areas including the company's global e-commerce businesses, where he doubled revenues and profits for the division. He has also been responsible for a number of strategic acquisitions. Prior to joining eBay, Donahoe spent more than 20 years at Bain & Company, a worldwide consulting firm, serving last as CEO. In addition to serving on eBay's board of directors, Donahoe is on the board of trustees of Dartmouth College. He received his bachelor's degree in economics from Dartmouth College and an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
Yeary, 45, is an adviser to the chancellor and his senior staff on strategic and financial issues important to the university. He is also guiding the university's long-range financial strategy and providing financial expertise for global research and education partnerships between the public and private sectors. Prior to this appointment in 2008, Yeary retired as global head of mergers and acquisitions for Citigroup after nearly 25 years in finance. In addition to serving on the UC Berkeley Foundation board, he is on the board of WNYC Radio. Yeary received his bachelor's degree from UC Berkeley in economics and history.

Atom Netbook Chip Propels Intel to Top of Market

HP, Asus, Others Prepare to Deploy Android on Netbooks

still isn't saying publicly that they're going to deploy Android as a desktop Linux, but HP, ASUS, and other major computer makers are apparently in talks with the company about deploying Android on netbooks.
According to a Wall Street Journal report, Satjiv Chahil, a vice president in HP's PC division, declined to comment on whether the world's largest PC maker will sell either netbooks or smartphones running Android but confirmed that HP is "studying" the free operating system.
Woo-Hoo!
We already know that Android will work as a desktop operating system, because it's already been done. And, it was done not by some hackers whose second language is C++, but by a pair of journalists. If we can do it, anyone can do it. :-)
The usual response to the idea of a desktop Linux from Ubuntu, Novell or Red Hat or anyone else is a loud cry of 'nonsense,' from the Windows crowd. Android, however, is different.
I can tell you what the differences are between Ubuntu, openSUSE, Fedora and half-a-dozen other Linux desktop variants off the top of my head. Let's be real, though, no one except a Linux enthusiast could do that. Most PC users might know that Linux is another operating system, and they might know that Red Hat is a big Linux company and that Ubuntu is a popular version of Linux. That's it.
But, Google, Google is different. Anyone who uses a computer knows Google. Someone who might be reluctant to try a PC running anything except Windows, and Windows XP by choice, might very well be willing to give a Google-powered netbook a try. Come to think of it, I wouldn't be in the least bit surprised if there are some people out there who think they already are running Google on their desktops.
Think about it. How do they find things on the Web? They 'Google' for it. The company name has already become a common verb in English and other languages. How do many people check their mail? They use GMail. What they do they check for news? They use Google News.
Going from this to using a PC that actually runs Google isn't much of a jump at all. Sure it will be the Google Android Linux desktop underneath it, but most people won't care about that anymore than they care about the Google's search engine's Linux underpinnings. All they'll know is that their netbook or laptop is running something by a name they already know and trust. And, since these computers will be based on Linux, they'll cost less than their brothers running Windows.
Earlier this year, I suggested that 2009 would be the perfect year for Google to take Microsoft head-on on the desktop. With this news that serious PC vendors are already tinkering with setting up Android-based netbooks, I'm now predicting it will happen in 2009.

MSI Wind U123, X-Slim X320, X340 Netbooks Announced

This better not be some wacky April fool's joke: MSI Computer's Wind netbooks are about to receive a couple of interesting new features. Namely 3G/WiMAX support and even a TV tuner. That is just some of the news to slip out of this week's CTIA show (the International Association for Wireless Telecommunications convention), currently under way in Las Vegas.
I'm expecting to lay hands on the MSI Wind U123 and X-Slim X320 and X340 within the next few months. In the meantime, let's go over what each means for your mobility and whether it's even worth going beyond the press release. (Advance conclusion: It kind of is worth it. Kinda.)
First, the Wind U123. No price has been mentioned as yet for this newest, cool breeze, but the big deal here is what I already mentioned--support for 3G/WiMAX and a TV tuner input. Otherwise, you'll see what one expects in the current crop of netbooks: an Intel Atom processor (the 1.66GHz N280), Windows XP, 1GB of RAM, 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, a 10.2-inch screen, and a crummy integrated GPU. With the standard 6-cell battery, it weighs just under 3 pounds.
Slightly larger options are the X320 (starting at $700) and the X340 (starting at $1000). The first machine rocks an Intel Atom Z530 1.6GHz CPU while riding that fine line between netbook and notebook. In this case, you start with a low-end chipset and GPU, up to 2GB of RAM, and a 250GB hard drive.You want the 3G/WiMAX option? It's here, as well as 802.11n Wi-Fi support and Bluetooth.
The higher-powered (that's all relative) X340 packs Intel's 1.3GHz Core 2 Solo CULV SU3500 CPU. It differs from the X320 by offering more RAM (up to 4GB) and a larger hard disk (320GB). Otherwise, both share the same specs. Both promise to run Vista Home Premium on the 13.4-inch screen (1366 by 768 native resolution), and both weigh about 2.8 pounds with a 4-cell battery.

LG expands its netbook ultraportable PC line

Due to an ongoing litigation battle over use of the term "netbook" involving Psion Teklogix, Intel and Dell, LG Electronics will be releasing its new X120 ultraportable PC product to the retail channel beginning next week, marketing it instead, as the LG X120 Whatchamacallit.
Shawn Snobelen, director of sales for LG Canada's IT and commercial sales division, said the X120 is LG's second generation product in its ultraportable PC product category. The X120 is a 10.1-inch LED backlit LCD screen display product which will replace LG's X110 10-inch ultraportable PC, which was released last November.
"The X120 has a completely new chassis and design with new feature sets and a new screen," said Snobelen. "It's a practical and fun lifestyle piece that's easy to use and affordable to buy."
He said LG is currently holding a naming contest for the X120 Whatchamacallit and anyone can go onto LG's Web site to suggest a name for the product. The winner will receive prizes such as the X120 as well as bragging rights for naming the product.
"We want to create consumer interest and get ideas," Snobelen said. "It will be going to market as the X120, but we'll be looking for a pet name to go along with it for later in Q2 when the (naming) contest ends on June 10."
LG will not be marketing this product at any specific industry vertical because Snobelen said the X120 is a product that really anyone can use.
"We're realizing the ultraportable space isn't owned by one particular (customer) demographic," he said. "X120 is an application-based product for the consumer who wants something ultraportable, a small form factor and functionality."
The X120 will be available in two colour choices: a translucent white casing with either pink or lime trim. A black translucent casing with either silver or white trim will also be made available later this summer.
The X120 runs on Microsoft's Windows XP Home OS and uses the Intel Atom processor. It also features a 4-in-1 multimedia card slot reader, has a built-in 1.3 mega-pixel camera and runs on a six-cell battery, which Snobelen said can provide users with up to seven hours of use. The product weighs only 1.26kg and also comes with a one-year limited international warranty. Snobelen said the X120 also features SmartOn technology, which gives users instant access to applications without having to boot up the full operating system. This only takes about five seconds, Snobelen said. Users can also take advantage of LG's SmartLink connection, which enables users to connect the X120 to another PC via a USB cable to be able to access folders and share resources.
Future Shop will be the first retail store to receive the X120 within the next week or two, Snobelen says, with more availability expanding later this month to independent retail shops and other online partners. Retail pricing for the product will be set to $549 at time of launch.

AMD readying 'very low-power' Shanghai processors

Advanced Micro Devices on Tuesday said it would release "very low-power" Shanghai processors within three months, a move that could intensify its ongoing chip battle with rival Intel.
The new quad-core Opteron EE chips will deliver similar performance while drawing significantly less power than its predecessors, a company spokeswoman said. AMD's server processors draws a minimum of about 50 watts of power.
The Opteron EE server chips could become available in the next three months. The chips will be manufactured using a 45-nanometer manufacturing process and will be part of the Opteron processor family codenamed Shanghai.
AMD is also making progress with its upcoming line of six-core server processors, codenamed Istanbul.
In addition to adding two more cores, AMD is adding power management technologies and improvements to boost the chips' performance, said Margaret Lewis, a product marketing director in AMD's server and workstation division. The company hopes the Istanbul chips will deliver improved performance while drawing the same amount of power as existing quad-core Shanghai server chips.
The Istanbul chips are based on the Shanghai core, with the "same energy efficient parts" and additional cache, Lewis said. She didn't provide further details of the technologies, but said the tweaks should help the chip handle heavier processing loads.
The Istanbul chips are due in the second half of the year, Lewis said. Server vendors Dell and Hewlett-Packard will support Istanbul processors on their servers when the chip is released, according to the companies.
AMD's announcements come a day after Intel announced new quad-core Xeon server chips, which the chip maker is pitching as the most significant revamp of its server chip line since the release of the Pentium Pro in 1995. The launch took away AMD's long-standing technology advantage of integrating a memory controller on the CPU.
"We're pleased to see our competitor come to use the [integrated memory controller] technology we introduced way back in 2003," Lewis said.
It's hard to directly compare Intel's and AMD's servers chips as they are based on different architectures, said Dean McCarron, principal at analyst firm Mercury Research. The chip makers compete for market share, and are pushing the boundaries in the areas of price, performance and some other metrics, he said.
Savvy server buyers look for value and take a number of cost factors into consideration, including workload utilization and power consumption of chips. That has led the chip makers to pack more power into chips via the addition of cores, which also helps reduce power consumption, McCarron said.
Adding more cores makes sense as companies look to consolidate servers and run more applications in virtualized environments, he said. Servers equipped with faster chips can execute more tasks compared to slower servers, which could help consolidate servers in data centers.
In anticipation of the first big jump out of quad-core chips, AMD demonstrated the first working units of Istanbul in February. A company representative at the time said servers with eight sockets could include up to 48 cores with Istanbul chips. Intel already ships a six-core chip for servers, known as Dunnington.In 2010, AMD will double the core count on its processors to twelve with a chip codenamed Magny Cours, which will support the faster DDR3 form of memory. Intel is also continuously adding more cores, and will release new six-core and eight-core chips later this year or early next year.

NVIDIA GTX 275 Graphics Card: 35% Faster Than HD 4890?

Today, NVIDIA officially announced the GeForce GTX 275 mid-range video card, the latest addition to its performance GPU lineup. With the goal of being the best bang for your buck graphics card on the market, the GTX 275 offers a combination of performance, physics, and GPU computing power for budget conscious consumers. Interested? Check out a few highlights:
633 MHz GPU Clock
1404 MHz Shader Clock
1134 MHz Memory Clock
240 Processor Cores
80 Texture Processing Units
448-bit Memory Interface
896 MB GDDR3 memory
Physically, the video card is 10.5" in length, requires two 6-pin power connectors, and sports a dual slot heat sink. In addition, it uses a PCI Express 2.0 x16 interface while providing two DVI outputs.
The GTX 275 is set to battle the HD 4890 and, according to NVIDIA, claims a 10-35% performance edge over ATI's offering in various benchmarks and tests. As more reviews and comparisons are published, we'll find out how accurate that statement is. For now, you will have to wait a couple of weeks to purchase this product. Expect wide availability by April 14, 2009 at a price of $249

AT&T To Offer $49.99 Netbook—Is It a Good Deal?

Will the cellular service business model work for laptop computers? AT&T seems to think so. The wireless provider is offering subsidized netbooks for as little as $49.99 in two markets, Atlanta and Philadelphia. The catch is that buyers must sign a two-year contract for an AT&T data service plan, which starts at about $60/month. As usual, the devil is in the details, and these low-cost netbooks, despite their tempting price, may not be a good buy for everyone.
AT&T says the offer is "promotional," which suggests it may boost hardware prices or even drop netbook sales altogether if experiment doesn't work out. And since it's launching the plan in just two markets, the company seems to be testing the waters here. The move makes sense, though; subsidized netbooks provide a low cost of entry for consumers, and they draw new users to the vendors' expanding high-speed networks.
What does $49.99 get you? An Acer Aspire One with an 8.9-inch display, 1GB of memory, and a 160GB hard drive. A quality netbook, certainly, but the catch is that you have to sign a two-year deal for AT&T's Internet at Home & On the Go service, which starts at $59.95 a month. My gripe with this plan is that its home service is DSL at a poky 768Kbps. Besides, if my netbook has built-it 3G mobile broadband, why should I bother with DSL at all?
The package also includes 3G wireless, but the monthly data limit is just 200MB -- fine for occasional remote access, but not enough for full-time use. Need more 3G? You can upgrade to a two-year DataConnect plan, which ups the monthly data cap to a healthy 5GB. Ah, but doing so doubles the Aspire One's price to $99.99. (Each plan also includes wireless access at AT&T's thousands of Wi-Fi hotspots.)
AT&T sells the Aspire One with no plan for $449.99, and it has similar subsidized plans for other netbooks. The Dell Mini 9, for instance, starts at $99.99. At the high end, a Lenovo Thinkpad X200 starts at $749.99.
The move to cellphone-style pricing for netbooks has been in the works for some time. Radio Shack already offers a $100 Aspire One with a two-year mobile broadband plan, and Verizon is reportedly working on similar deals.

Intel Ships New Tools that Boost Game Performance

Intel® Graphics Performance Analyzers Suite Launches as Part of Visual Adrenaline Program to Advance Visual Computing Software
GAME DEVELOPERS CONFERENCE, San Francisco, March 23, 2009 – Intel Corporation today announced the release of Intel® Graphics Performance Analyzers (GPA), a suite of software tools created in support of the Visual Adrenaline developer program.
Offered worldwide, GPA enables PC game developers to analyze and optimize game performance on Intel® Integrated Graphics. The Visual Adrenaline program, launched at the Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco in August 2008, provides tools, resources and information for game developers, artists and animators.
GPA provides in-depth application analysis and customization so developers can pinpoint performance bottlenecks and optimize games for Intel-based desktop PCs and laptops that use Intel's chipsets. GPA consists of three components: System Analyzer, Frame Analyzer and the Software Development Kit (SDK). System Analyzer delivers high-level views of overall software performance, Frame Analyzer offers in-depth frame-by-frame performance analysis and the SDK enables developers to customize the suite according to their needs. Developers have the choice to run the tools locally or remotely through a network connection.
"Game developers need simple, yet powerful tools which enable them to create games that look real, act real and feel real," said Elliot Garbus, vice president and general manager of Intel's Visual Computing Software Division. "The Intel Graphics Performance Analyzers suite is the only software development toolkit that provides a holistic view of system performance for games running on Intel Integrated Graphics. Solving performance bottlenecks with GPA ensures developers are delivering the best gaming experience."
"Gas Powered Games is thrilled with the resources available to us as members of the Visual Adrenaline Developer Program," said Chris Taylor, CEO and founder of Gas Powered Games. "The competitive landscape requires tools that evolve with the industry and deliver rapid turn-around for graphics solutions. The Intel Graphics Performance Analyzers helped us unlock a higher level of optimization, making our games look even better and run on a broader spectrum of hardware configurations."
GPA offers the ability to analyze graphics performance on current Intel integrated graphics chipsets and processors, including the Intel® Core™ i7 Processor. In the future, GPA will also support upcoming Intel graphics and many-core related products. GPA is available free of charge to Visual Adrenaline members and can be purchased by non-members for $299 through the Intel® Business Exchange. To learn more, visit www.intel.com/software/gpa.
Visual Adrenaline is Intel's worldwide program for game and graphics developers. It is a one-stop shop for Intel offerings that help maximize visual computing software for better performance and faster time to market. To date, more than 800 independent software vendor members have joined, including Activision, SEGA and Ubisoft. To learn more about Visual Adrenaline, visit www.intel.com/software/visualadrenaline.
Intel software provides the resources, technologies, products and services developers need to create innovative products and industry-leading software solutions designed to run best on Intel platforms. Additional information is available at www.intel.com/go/software.

Solid-State Disks Invading Storage World

All the major storage companies are jumping into the enterprise and consumer solid-state disk waters in 2009. The latest news: Western Digital, the world's second-largest HDD maker behind Seagate Technology, announced on March 30 that it had acquired SiliconSystems for $65 million in cash. That will help put WD back in the SSD world market race. SiliconSystems is a major supplier of embedded SSDs to the network-communications, industrial, embedded computing, medical, military and aerospace markets. On March 25, Dell launched its second generation of EqualLogic storage arrays, including optional SSDs. EMC was the first of the large systems companies to start using optional SSDs in its Symmetrix arrays in early 2008; now SSDs are available in all three of the company's product lines: Symmetrix, Clariion and Celerra. Seagate and Iomega are expected to be marketing SSDs products later in 2009. Fusion-io, SanDisk and Kingston Technology with Migo Software also have interesting new products coming out. eWEEK has gathered the latest information on solid state drives to give you a better understanding of what's out there right now.

Intel Adds Laptop Processors, Updates Xeon Pricing

Intel released pricing information for its new line of Xeon processors that are now based on the updated Nehalem architecture, as well as several new processors for laptops and servers. At the same time, Intel and Nvidia are still struggling in court over who has rights to create chip sets for Nehalem.
Intel has updated its processor pricing list to include new chip models for laptops. In addition to the “Nehalem EP” Xeon processors for two-socket systems that Intel officially rolled out on March 30, the chip giant has introduced several other chips, including ultra low-volt and low-volt models for notebooks. Pricing lists released March 29, included four new chips for laptops: an Intel Core 2 Duo SP9600 (2.53 GHz) for $316; an ultra low-volt Intel Core 2 Duo SL9600 (2.13 GHz), also for $316; an ultra low-volt Intel Core 2 Solo processor SU3550 (1.4 GHz) for $262; and a Celeron 900 processor (2.20 GHz) for $70. The new crop of Nehalem-based Xeon processors — 12 in all — for servers and workstations vary from the 3.20GHz Xeon W5580 for $1,600, down to the 2.13GHz L5506 for $423. Finally, Intel also rolled out three additional Xeon processors for server systems that include a Xeon W3570 (3.20 GHz) for $999; a W3540 (2.93 GHz) for $562; and a W3520 (2.66 GHz) for $284. All the Intel processors are calculated in 1,000-unit shipments. The popular Xeon processors — which are in the new Dell Precision workstations as well as the updated Apple iMac — are behind lawsuits Intel and Nvidia have filed against one another. Intel claims Nvidia doesn’t have the right to develop and manufacture chip sets for processors based on the Nehalem microarchitecture. Whereas Nvidia believes the 2004 agreement signed by the two entitles it to create chip sets for future generations of CPUs. Among the processors in Intel’s new pricing lineup, none saw a pricing reduction.

Intel Core 2 Duo Threatened: AMD Phenom II X3 720 Black Edition CPU Review

AMD have started to use new 45nm core for their unique triple-core CPUs. As a result, there appeared a very attractive solution for the mainstream segment. And taking into consideration remarkable potential of the Phenom II X3 CPUs, we have every reason to conclude that it is going to be a new sales hit.
Table of Contents
· Closer Look at Phenom II X3
· Testbed and Methods
· Performance
o General Performance
o 3D Gaming
o Video Encoding
o Rendering
o Other Applications
· Power Consumption
· Overclocking and Fourth Core Activation
· Phenom II X3 720 vs. Core 2 Duo E7500 during Overclocking
· Conclusion
Real-time Pricing and Availability:
Amd Phenom II X3 720 2.8 Ghz Socket Am3 95w - AMD - HDZ720WFGIBOX (0730143268011) Products
· AlishaTech - $153.63
· PCNation - $164.92
· MacMall - $163.99
· Amazon - $163.62
· TigerDirect.com - $154.99
· J&R Music and Computer World - $161.99
· ClubMac - $163.99
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The launch of the new Phenom II processors that are built using the latest 45nm process became an important milestone not only for AMD Company, but also for the entire computer industry. The architectural improvements introduced in Phenom II, their increased clock frequencies and larger L3 cache raised the performance of AMD solutions to a completely new level. As a result, when we tested the first representatives of the quad-core Phenom II X4 family, we could even declare a new round of competition between AMD and Intel in some segments. However, there are not that many segments yet, where they can compete. So far, there has only been fair competition only in the budget quad-core processors market. Phenom II X4 processors from the 800 and 900 lineups seem to be a pretty acceptable alternative to the junior Intel Core 2 Quad solutions, which is a significant step forward for AMD.
Of course, the new 45nm Phenom II processor core will allow AMD to stand out in some other market segments. We have already discussed the company’s plans concerning the adoption of 45nm manufacturing technology in CPUs from different market price segments that feature different number of cores, frequencies and L3 cache size. So far these plans have been partially put into life. Namely, Phenom II family already includes not only quad-core models. Besides Phenom II X4 900 and 800 series, AMD is serving the users their “signature” dish – triple-core processors aka Phenom II X3. These CPUs allow AMD to put partially defective quad-core dies to good use offering the customers a very attractive transitional solution. It is, in fact, extremely acute now that the multi-threaded calculations concept is setting in relatively slowly.
From the multi-threaded calculations standpoint, these triple-core processors can barely be regarded as an alternative to any of the Intel offerings. But judging by their prices, Phenom II X3 may be of interest to those users who aim at mainstream computer systems. In other words, it may make perfect sense to compare new-generation triple-core AMD processors against dual-core Intel Core 2 Duo, and the table below illustrates that nicely:
AMD didn’t feel comfortable positioning their Phenom II X3 processors as competitors to top dual-core solutions from Intel, but they considered it absolutely justified to compare them against the junior Intel Core 2 Duo E8000 or top solutions in the E7000 series. Taking into account this situation, we decided to carry out another test session devoted solely to triple-core Phenom II processors. So, our today’s article will discuss the performance and other consumer features of triple-core AMD processors manufactured with 45nm process. Right now they are represented by two Socket AM3 solutions: Phenom II X3 720 and Phenom II X3 710.

Apple, Asustek and Lenovo Make Most Reliable Personal Computers – Service Company.

A U.S.-based computer service company said in a recently published report that computers from Asustek Computers, Apple and Lenovo/IBM cause the least amount of hardware and software problems to their users and need least technical support from a third-party service provider.
Based on the Computer Reliability Report from Rescuecom company, which compares the share among 15 000 of calls to its service centers against market share of certain PC supplier, Asustek Computers’ systems are by far the most reliable on the market of the United States. However, the results should be taken cautiously since Asustek’s notebooks shipments in the country got significant only in the second half of 2008 and the vast majority of customers getting Asus-branded devices hardly known about service companies, but more often turn to official tech support, especially given the fact that their systems are covered with a warranty.
“The results are in, and although Asus is the leader this quarter with a reliability score of 972, Asus’ reliability score should be taken with a grain of salt, even though it was more than 600 points ahead of IBM/Lenovo. We look forward to seeing if Asus is able to maintain the same demand and reliability over the coming quarters,” said David A. Milman, the founder and chief executive officer of Rescuecom.

“We are delighted with, but are not surprised by, this result. We have invested enormous resources in ensuring that our products are of the highest quality, and that our customers get the best after-sales service possible. We are very pleased to see our efforts reaping dividends in the form of a smooth customer experience,” said Lillian Lin, director of marketing at Asustek Computer.
Other “most reliable” vendors based on the report from Rescuecom remained unchanged for years now: owners of Apple and Lenovo/IBM personal computers turn to Rescuecom rather rarely. The service company specifically noted that sales of Asus Eee PCs started to skyrocket in late 2008.
What should be noted about the Q1 2009 report by Rescuecom (and a report before that) is that in previous years the reports calculated the “reliability score” for each PC vendor based on the calculated difference between overall U.S. market share, over a three-year period, and the percentage of calls requesting service received by Rescuecom call center over one specified quarter or one year. However, starting from 2008 the service company started to compare the amount of calls over a specified period with the approximate market share in that period (or take market shares from a couple of previous quarters).
This new methodolody substantially alters the outcome as complaints regarding older systems are compared to current market shares. As a result, if a company owned 10% market share three years ago and now has 5% of the market, it will get lower reliability score since it is natural that older systems need more attention from tech personnel. The same is effective in other direction: a company with 10% market share now that used to command 5% of the shipments will get higher score since proportionally to current shipments the amount of complaints will be low.

Intel: Fabless Semiconductor Developers Will Not Be Able to License Atom Cores for System-on-Chip Products.

Intel Corp., the world’s largest producer of central processing units, on Tuesday clarified a situation whether third-party fabless semiconductor developers, such as Nvidia Corp., could license Intel Atom core to build their system-on-chips (SoCs) after Intel signed pact with TSMC. Apparently, only developers of actual devices may license Atom cores for their products.
Earlier this month Intel signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) port its Atom processor CPU cores to the TSMC technology platform including processes, IP, libraries, and design flows. The collaboration is intended to expand Intel’s Atom SoCs availability for Intel customers for a wider range of applications through integration with TSMC’s diverse IP infrastructure.
“Intel customers will have access to certain Atom cores. Intel will own all relationships with customers. Intel customers will have access to both Intel’s and TSMC's technology platforms for the design and manufacturing of Atom-based SoCs. Customers interested in the TSMC technology platform will also work through Intel, but will still continue to leverage TSMC’s infrastructure they are familiar with, e.g., design tools, simulation, etc,” said Megan Langer, an Intel spokesperson.
But not everyone will be able to create Intel Atom-based SoC. For example, if a company is a fabless developer of chips that it sells to third parties for their devices, such a company will not be able to make an Atom-powered SoC. Hence, for example, Nvidia Corp. will not be able to develop x86 SoC with Atom inside, but a firm producing its own devices could well benefit from the pact between TSMC and Intel.
“OEM consumer electronics manufacturers, embedded devices manufacturers will [be able to] come to Intel. Nvidia and other semi manufacturers are not customers [for this case], this is not intended to enable 3rd parties [to build Atom SoCs that might compete against Intel – X-bit labs] and will not do so,” Ms. Langer added.

Why your next CPU could be a GPU

How GPUs could bring supercomputing to the desktop

Everybody's talking about supercomputing on the desktop – and in particular, whether it will be GPUs that achieve that goal. We think that general-purpose computation on GPUs (an idea known as the GPGPU) might be the most important computing trend over the next 10 years.
As claims go, it's a biggie. But if you want proof of the industry's faith in the new concept, just take a look at the companies that want a slice of the GPGPU pie: Nvidia, AMD, Intel, Microsoft, IBM, Apple and Toshiba all want in. And it's not just speculation that's leading to such big interest: GPGPU systems are already outperforming CPU-only clusters in fields as diverse as molecular dynamics, ray tracing, medical imaging and sequence matching.
The combination of parallel CPU and GPU processing used to achieve these results is often dubbed 'heterogeneous computing'. The GPGPU concept enables the GPU to moonlight as a versatile co-processor. As Nvidia's David Luebke has suggested, computers are no longer getting faster; the move to multicore processors means that they're actually getting wider.
That's the idea that GPGPU computing cashes in on. By intelligently offloading data intensive tasks from the CPU to other processor cores (such as those in a graphics card), developers achieve improved application performance through parallelism.
The GPGPU is hardly a new idea, however. According to website www.gpgpu.org, GPU technology has been used for number crunching since 1978, when Ikonas developed a programmable raster display system for cockpit instrumentation.
From GPU to GPGPU
Modern GPUs make ideal co-processors. Not only are they cheap, they're also blisteringly fast, thanks to the presence of multiple processor cores. Most importantly, these multiple cores are programmable. While CPUs are designed to process threads sequentially, GPUs are designed to burn through data in parallel.
The Nvidia GeForce GTX 280, for example, is built for speed. As a gaming component, it's capable of delivering smooth high-definition visuals with complex lighting effects, textures and realtime physics. Just take a look at Far Cry 2 in 1,920 x 1,200 pixels. With 1.4 billion transistors, the GeForce GTX 280 commands 240 programmable shader cores that can provide 993 gigalops of processing power.
AMD's graphics technology is equally potent. Its 4800 Series Radeon HD cards feature 800 programmable cores and GDDR5 memory to deliver 1.2 teralops of processing power. "Strict pipelining of GPU programs enables efficient access to data," says Shankar Krishnan at AT&T's Research Labs. "This obviates the need for the extensive cache architectures needed on traditional CPUs and allows for a much higher density of computational units."
Of course, if you're not playing Far Cry 2 or Fallout 3 then all this processing potential is just sitting about twiddling its thumbs. GPGPUs will allow us to see what will happen if other applications are able to make use of the processors in a graphics card.
Stream processing
This is why Nvidia and AMD are keen to harness the GPGPU potential of their graphics hardware. Nvidia's Tesla Personal Supercomputer, for example, combines a traditional quad-core workstation CPU with three or four Tesla C1060 processors.
A C1060 is effectively a GeForce GTX 280 with 4GB of GDDR3 memory and no video-out. Each C1060 is capable of 933 gigalops of single-precision floating point performance, so Nvidia's top-of-the range four-GPU S1070 system packs up to 4.14 teralops of processing power in each rack. The Tokyo Institute of Technology recently bought 170 of them to give its Tsubame supercomputer some extra kick.

Intel Nehalem Xeon X5570 2.93GHz review

Intel's new Nehalem CPU architecture is staggeringly powerful

Around 2004, it became clear that Intel's quest for clockspeed had burned out. The final "Prescott" revision of the Pentium 4 processor architecture was struggling to meet ambitious targets for operating frequency. A new paradigm in CPU design was needed.
Since then, Intel has been working to re-architect its entire family of x86 processors. First came the Core Duo mobile processor. It revolutionised notebook performance and gave an early glimpse of the enormous performance-per-watt pay off possible with a relatively low-clocking multi-core processor. Next was the Core 2 Duo processor, which did much the same for desktop computing.
The final piece of the puzzle
This month, Intel is putting the final piece of its multi-core, high efficiency strategy into place. Its latest Nehalem processor architecture is now available in Xeon trim, enabling Intel to make a strong claim to best-in-class across all segments – mobile, desktop and enterprise.
Of course, the Nehalem architecture has already been available for several months in the shape of Intel's enormously powerful Core i7 desktop processor. However, the upgrading of the Xeon workstation and server family of processors to Nehalem specification is much more significant than Core i7. Partly, that's because Intel had a healthy performance advantage on the desktop. The arrival of Core i7 merely served to cement what was already an extremely solid lead.
But it's also because, more than anything, Nehalem has been designed to be an enterprise class chip with killer parallel processing performance. Central to that aim is the concept of scalability in multi-core configurations and multi-socket scenarios. Adding extra CPUs and cores to a given platform is all very well. But if those CPUs and cores are not fed with sufficient data, the consequence is idle processing cycles and compromised performance.
Until Nehalem, that's exactly the problem that Intel's multi-socket platforms have suffered from. Thanks to an old fashioned interface composed of a front side bus connecting the CPU to a secondary chip, which in turn housed the memory controller, system I/O and inter-socket communications, Intel's multi-socket Xeons were often starved of data. This shared bus was simply too slow and narrow to keep up with the demands of the CPUs, particularly as per-socket core counts increased.
Improved memory controller
But with Nehalem, Intel has moved both the memory controller and I/O onto the CPU itself. The result is a massive leap in available bandwidth. Take memory performance. Intel's outgoing dual-socket Xeon processor based on the Penryn architecture had to make do with at best 6GB/s of memory bandwidth for each CPU.
The new Xeon EPs based on Nehalem enjoy a staggering 16GB/s per socket. Of course, the boost in bandwidth is not only down to the controller's on-die location. Intel has also added an extra channel for a grand total of three and upped memory support to 1,333MHz DDR3. It's by far the most powerful memory controller of any x86 processor.Just as significant is the new Quick Path Interconnect (QPI). This provides a high speed interface both between the CPUs themselves and out to the rest of the system. Each QPI link delivers no less than 32GB/s and each CPU sports two links. For workloads where data must be shared between CPU sockets, it's an enormous boon

Intel To Launch Nehalem Server Processor

Intel (NSDQ: INTC) is scheduled to launch on Monday Nehalem EP, the server version of the chipmaker's next-generation microarchitecture. But while the new features within Nehalem EP coincide with the direction of computing, corporate adoption is likely to be hampered by the economic downturn.
Intel is expected to introduce Nehalem EP processors and highlight the systems of major computer makers, such as Hewlett-Packard, Dell, and IBM, at its corporate headquarters in Santa Clara, Calif.
Analysts agree that Nehalem EP, with its integrated memory controller for better performance, is poised to deliver more power to meet the increasing demand of virtualization in the data center. In addition, Nehalem-based processors should help with the push toward cloud computing, which typically refers to the running of applications in an Internet server or downloading the software from the Internet each time it's used. Google Apps is an example of business applications delivered via cloud computing.
Initially, Nehalem EP processors will primarily be available with four cores. Intel plans to introduce a six-core Nehalem processor and an eight-core design, called Nehalem EX, by the end of the year.
But sales of the new Intel products are expected to be slow this year, as companies riding out the economic recession cut IT spending and delay projects. "It's pretty clear that companies are going to be very conservative with the money they spend this year, and that's going to slowdown adoption," John Spooner, analyst for Technology Business Research, told InformationWeek.
Where companies typically replaced old servers every three years, many businesses are likely to stretch out that replacement cycle by an additional year or two, Spooner said.
Indeed, worldwide server shipments and revenue fell 11.7% and 15.1%, respectively, in the fourth quarter of last year from the same period a year ago, according to IDC. The downward trend in spending is expected to continue this year.
If companies delay purchases of Nehalem EP-based servers this year, then it's unclear how customers will react to the launch next year of Nehalem processors based on Intel's 32-nanometer manufacturing process, which will produce faster, more energy efficient chips than the current batch of 45-nm processors. Companies could skip this year's Nehalem EP systems in favor of those based on the 32-nm variant, code-named Westmere, next year

Fresh Crop Of Intel Nehalem Servers On Way

Dell, HP, IBM, Lenovo, and Sun are among the vendors launching products at the same time Intel officially introduces its latest Xeon server chips.

Major computer makers are making sure there's no shortage of servers powered by Intel (NSDQ: INTC)'s latest Nehalem processors, but despite the abundance, there's not a huge difference in hardware and buyers should pay closer attention to the software inside the systems.
Dell (Dell), Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ), IBM (NYSE: IBM), Lenovo, and Sun Microsystems (NSDQ: JAVA) are among the vendors launching products at the same time Intel officially introduces Nehalem EP server processors, which are based on a new microarchitecture with an integrated memory controller for better performance. The Nehalem variant, known as Core i7, for high-end desktops and workstations was launched late last year.

Over the last week, vendors have been vying for media attention with embargoed news conferences and press releases to make the case for their respective products. But despite the many benchmarks vendors are showing to prove faster performance than competitors' systems, there's actually not a whole lot of difference on the hardware level, analysts say.
"We're getting down to literally microseconds of difference in terms of performance and power," Andi Mann, analyst for Enterprise Management Associates, told InformationWeek.
Nevertheless, all the vendors are claiming significant performance boosts over previous generations of servers, which make the latest products better for virtualization. This means IT managers can reduce the overall number of servers in a data center by running more business applications in a single system.
Where vendors have their best chance to differentiate their new products is in the software that ships with their servers, particularly the system management applications. Tools that ease the task of provisioning software across servers, provide notification when there's a problem, monitor power usage, and offer other management features are more likely to attract the attention of potential buyers.
That fact is not lost on the vendors. Hewlett-Packard on Monday introduced the ProLiant G6 line of 11 Nehalem EP-powered tower, rack, and blade servers, the largest ProLiant rollout ever.
Among the key system management features is energy efficiency. HP has added sensors across the line that automatically adjusts system components such as fans, memory, and input/output processing to the workload. In addition, IT managers can cap the power drawn by individual servers.

Intel's Nehalem Server Chips Seen Aiding Virtualization

Intel on Monday introduced 17 Nehalem EP-based quad-core processors, officially launching its next-generation microarchitecture that one analyst said fixes the most obvious technical weaknesses in Intel's previous server platform.
Patrick Gelsinger, senior VP and general manager of Intel's Digital Enterprise Group, told a news conference at the company's Santa Clara, Calif., headquarters that the new processors represented the biggest platform advancement for Intel in more than 10 years.
"This is as significant and as transformational as the Pentium Pro was in its day," Gelsinger said.
Intel believes Nehalem EP, officially called the Xeon 3500 and 5500 series, provides the kind of technology organizations will need as they deploy more virtualization into their data centers and move toward cloud computing, which typically refers to the running of applications in an Internet server or downloading the software from the Internet each time it is used. Google Apps is an example of business applications delivered via cloud computing.
Virtualization and cloud computing are seen by the industry as big drivers for future server demand. Cloud computing is still in its infancy, and the former is starting to take off. Analyst firm Gartner predicts virtualization, or the use of virtual machines to run multiple business applications on different operating systems in the same computer server, will be the No. 1 technology initiative this year.
With this in mind, Intel has dramatically boosted the performance of its microarchitecture by introducing an integrated memory controller on the same piece of silicon as the processor, thereby eliminating the front-side bus that analysts said was a bottleneck in Intel's previous server platform. Intel rival Advanced Micro Devices has used an IMC in its Opteron processors since 2003.
In getting rid of the FSB, Intel has eliminated its "traditional area of weakness," Nathan Brookwood, analyst for Insight 64, said. "This is the last of the low-hanging fruit."
Going forward, Intel will have to work harder at refining the technology it has to squeeze out more power and energy efficiency. "There's no reason to shut down the patent office," Brookwood said.
While Nehalem EP gives Intel a performance lead over AMD, the gain is only expected to last for six months or so. AMD is sure to catch up with its future products. "We're in a leapfrog kind of mode," Brookwood said.
"This is as significant and as transformational as the Pentium Pro was in its day," Gelsinger said.
Intel believes Nehalem EP, officially called the Xeon 3500 and 5500 series, provides the kind of technology organizations will need as they deploy more virtualization into their data centers and move toward cloud computing, which typically refers to the running of applications in an Internet server or downloading the software from the Internet each time it is used. Google Apps is an example of business applications delivered via cloud computing.
Virtualization and cloud computing are seen by the industry as big drivers for future server demand. Cloud computing is still in its infancy, and the former is starting to take off. Analyst firm Gartner predicts virtualization, or the use of virtual machines to run multiple business applications on different operating systems in the same computer server, will be the No. 1 technology initiative this year.
With this in mind, Intel has dramatically boosted the performance of its microarchitecture by introducing an integrated memory controller on the same piece of silicon as the processor, thereby eliminating the front-side bus that analysts said was a bottleneck in Intel's previous server platform. Intel rival Advanced Micro Devices has used an IMC in its Opteron processors since 2003. In getting rid of the FSB, Intel has eliminated its "traditional area of weakness," Nathan Brookwood, analyst for Insight 64, said. "This is the last of the low-hanging fruit."

Dell Offers HD Screen With Mini 10 Netbook

Dell (Dell) on Tuesday said it's offering the option of a high-definition display with the Inspiron Mini 10 netbook.
The Internet's influence is much in evidence in Poland's capital city – despite the best efforts of the French to bollocks it up.
The mini-laptop comes standard with a 10-inch 1,024- by 576-pixel display. However, Dell recently added the option of a 1,366- by 768-screen for an additional $35.
The optional resolution is the equivalent of 720p, which is shorthand for a high-definition video mode. The number 720 stands for 720 pixels of vertical resolution, while the p stands for progressive scan or noninterlaced. The resolution has a widescreen aspect ratio of 16:9.
Other options available with the Mini 10 include a faster Intel (NSDQ: INTC) Atom processor for an additional $50. Starting price for the mini-notebook is $399.
Netbooks are a category of PC defined as having screens 10 inches or less and costing less than $500, with many models selling for as little as $300. The systems have limited performance, but are adequate for Web browsing and e-mail.
The mini-notebooks have proven very popular in the economic recession. Global sales will grow nearly 80% this year to capture 8% of total PC sales, according to the latest Gartner forecast.
Last year, netbook shipments reached 10 million units, with half of the units sold in the fourth quarter, according to IDC. The devices accounted for 7% of overall mobile PC shipments.

IBM-Sun talks may extend beyond next week – source

IBM's talks to acquire Sun Microsystems Inc are continuing and may extend beyond next week, according to a person with knowledge of the matter.
IBM is still examining Sun's business as part of its due diligence process, said the source, who was not authorized to speak about the talks and therefore requested anonymity.Neither IBM nor Sun has issued any statement to say they are in talks, although sources said last week that the two sides are negotiating a merger that would bolster IBM's high-end server and software business.The Wall Street Journal reported on March 18 that IBM could pay as much as US$8 billion for Sun, amounting to a 100 percent premium for the high-end server computer maker. If a deal is sealed, it would be IBM's largest acquisition.The source said on Thursday that IBM's due diligence process, or examination of Sun's business, was necessary considering Sun's size and complexity.An IBM spokesman declined to comment, and Sun was not immediately available.Some analysts have said Sun would bolster IBM's position against rivals like Hewlett-Packard and Cisco Systems, both of which have been acquiring smaller, niche technology firms to broaden their product and service offerings.Sun shares were up 1.5 percent at US$7.97 in early afternoon trading, shedding some of their earlier gains to US$8.23. IBM shares were up 0.7 percent at US$98.64.

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