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Intel Takes A Shot At ARM
ARM chips practically rule the mobile chip market, but Intel is trying to carve out a foothold with its new x86 chips, with relatively little success.
Intel claims its parts can outperform ARM chips in benchmarks and its manufacturing process lead should help it deliver faster and smaller chips. However, in spite of Intel’s claims, few vendors seem interested in its mobile chips.
Speaking to CNN, Intel mobile chief Mike Bell stressed that Intel has the software and systems competence to be the most successful player on the market. He pointed out that Intel can develop software to get the most out of its hardware and that Intel single core chips outperform multicore ARM designs.
“It’s a question of whether you’d rather have a jet engine or two propellers,” said Bell.
Granted, Bell has to tout the company line, but his engine comparison works both ways. Crop dusters and ultralight planes don’t need jet engines, or two piston engines for that matter. That is what really matters and Intel knows it. Not everyone needs a turbojet or turbofan, and not everyone needs an Intel core, especially not in mid- to low-end devices.
Intel believes its next generation 22nm mobile parts, with integrated LTE, will allow it to score some tablet and smartphone partners in late 2013 or 2014. However, Intel will have nothing to take on new A15 class ARM chips this year.
Quantum Computing Making Strides
Researchers at the University of Innsbruck in Austria have managed to transfer quantum information from an atom to a photon, which is being seen as a breakthrough in the making of quantum computers.
According to Humans Invent the breakthrough allows quantum computers to exchange data at the speed of light along optical fibres. Lead researcher on the project Tracy Northup said that the method allows the mapping of quantum information faithfully from an ion onto a photon.
Northup’s team used an “ion trap” to produce a single photon from a trapped calcium ion with its quantum state intact using mirrors and lasers. No potential cats were injured in the experiment. The move enables boffins to start to play with thousands of quantum bits rather than just a dozen or so. This means that they can get a computer to do specific tasks like factoring large numbers or a database search, faster.
AMD Debuts R5000
AMD has released its Firepro R5000 graphics card that has video over IP capabilities.
AMD typically promotes its workstation class Firepro cards using CAD/CAM software, however this time the company is relying on remote viewing as the big selling point for its latest workstation graphics card. AMD’s Firepro R5000 has a GPU that uses its Graphics Core Next (GCN) architecture and Teradici PC video over IP technology to send graphics output over the network.
AMD used its Pitcarin GPU coupled to 2GB of GDDR5 memory in the Firepro R5000. However it isn’t AMD’s GPU that is the big selling point of the Firepro R5000 but rather Teradici’s Tera2240 chip that encrypts display output before sending it out on the network, while supporting up to 60fps (frames per second).
AMD’s Firepro R5000 is intended to be used in render farms, with each final image being sent over an IP network to the end host, and the firm claims that the technology can be used in education, financial and media environments.
The Firepro R5000 is a single slot graphics card that has two mini Displayport outputs that can drive two 2500×1600 displays, however it can also drive a further four remote displays at 1920×1200 resolution by sending data over its RJ45 Ethernet port.
Both AMD and Teradici talked up the low configuration overheads of the Firepro R5000.
Will Intel Haswell V2 Be Efficient?
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It is being said that Intel made a bold battery life claim that hasn’t been really advertised by the company so far.
At this point it doesn’t benefit Intel to announce it, as such news can change in a heartbeat, but it looks as if the Haswell 2 chip platform, a part of Shark Bay 2013 platform, should have significantly better battery life than the previous Ivy Bridge 2012 generation.
Our sources close to Intel claim that we can expect as much as up to 70 percent more battery life compared to an equivalent Chief River (Ivy Bridge) platform. This is a huge success. Compared to an existing generation platform and even in the Shark bay Ultrabook baseline feature Intel dares to share that we can expect whole-day battery life.
When Intel and other companies talk about all-day battery life, it usually means a working day, or eight hours, so don’t be tricked into thinking that whole day battery life means 24 hours. Most Ultrabooks today can deliver 5 to 6 hours and it looks like this is about to change with Shark Bay Ultrabooks, that are expected in Q3 2013.
Haswell just got a bit more attractive in our eyes as it will bring a lot of computing power and decent battery life that makes it much more competitive against tablets. It appears that Haswell convertible notebooks really have a chance in the war against ARM based tablets, but they will still be pricier.
Intel’s Core i7 3940XM Said To Be Fast
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The fastest Core i7 for notebooks currently available is the Core i7 3940XM, with four cores working at 3GHz by default and 3.9GHz in its turbo mode. It has a massive 8MB of cache and fits the 55W TDP envelope. It costs an arm, a leg and a few other organs of your choice, as its official price sits at $1096.
As of Q3 2013, the Core i7 3940XM will cease to be the fastest kid on the block. The Haswell replacement is right around the corner and the name of the new market leader is Core i7 4930MX. The “X” stands for Extreme Edition, while M means that the processor comes from the M-line of processors. We mentioned the H-line of processors here and the only main difference is that H comes GT3 graphics while Intel HD graphics 4600, Intel HD graphics 4×00 for GT2.
The Core i7 4930XM (yes the letters have changed the place from Ivy Bridge MX to XM with Haswell) is a quad-core with eight threads, 3GHz core clock, 3.9GHz maximum single core turbo, 3.8GHz max dual-core turbo and an impressive 3.7GHz max quad-core turbo clock.
The graphics core of choice Intel’s new GT2 HD graphics core which works between 400 and 1350MHz, but we are not aware of the number of graphics cores inside at this point. The fastest supported memory is rather disappointing, DDR3 or DDR3L 1600, and we expected a higher number here.
Intel Makes Changes To Haswell
Intel has started dividing its mobile market segments into processors lines, where the Y processor line goes up to 11.5W TDP, U line covers chips in the 15W to 25W range, while the M line covers 37W, 47W as well as 57W TDP space, with two to four cores and graphics up to GT2.
The high performance H processor line is yet another BGA package processor line that also aims for 37W, 47W and 57W TDPs, with quad-core processors and up to GT3 graphics with on-package cache memory.
Intel expects that high performing gaming and workstation PCs will go use these processors and they fit some thick clamshell designs, no Ultrabooks with 57W unless you would want to use one for welding.
Intel currently doesn’t detail the processor number and the number of SKUs but it is obvious that they will end up with quad-core Core i7 branding for QC1+ and QC2+ market segments.
Intel’s Haswell Goes 13W
Intel’s Haswell Y-series processors as we said a few weeks ago have yet launch. The current plan is to launch two Ivy SKUs in Q1 2013, both dual-cores, and later in 2013 Intel plans to replace them with Haswell Y series parts, with even lower TDP.
The faster one is called Core i7 3689Y and has two cores and two threads, as well as a base clock of 1.5GHz. With the help of Intel Turbo Boost 2.0, the top single-core turbo clock is an impressive 2.6GHz, while the maximum dual-core turbo clock stops at 2.4GHz, which is still impressive. This core comes with Intel HD graphics 4000 clocked between 350MHz and 860MHz with turbo.
This new core supports both DDR3 and DDR3L at 1600MHz, has 4MB of cache and impressively low 13W TDP. We have explained that SDP stands for Standard Dissipation Power and Intel expect it to be at 7W for this part.
The runner up is called Core i5 3439Y and has the same two cores and two threads with 1.5GHz base clock, but the single core turbo clock stops at 2.3GHz, while the dual-core top clock is 2.10GHz. The graphics speed, TDP and memory support remain the same, but there is a difference in cache size. Core i5 3439Y comes with 3MB instead of 4MB for Core i7 Y series 3689Y part.
AMD Shows Piledriver Opteron
AMD’s Piledriver rollout is all but complete. With Trinity in the mobile and desktop space, new 3300 and 4300 Opterons are bringing the new architecture to data centers.
The Opteron 4300 series offers six different parts, in quad-, six- and eight-core flavours. Stock clocks range between 2.2GHz and 3.5GHz, with TDP’s in the 35W to 95W range. The cheapest Opteron 4334 costs $191, while the priciest 4332HE comes in at $501. The 3300 series consists of three quad- and eight-core SKUs, priced at $125 to $229. The pricing of both series is pretty aggressive.
But what’s next for AMD? Well things should be eerily quiet on the server front in 2013. Abu Dhabi, Seoul and Delhi/Orochi C should last throughout 2013 and even a good part of 2014. That’s when we can expect some major changes, as AMD transitions to 28nm and goes about transforming its Opteron lineup.
Future Low Power CPUs and APUs (as AMD calls them) should replace Dehli/Orochi-C in 1P and dense server markets, but AMD is also planning “Client APUs for market enablement,” and this sounds a lot like ARM-based low voltage parts. Of course, in the high end AMD plans to stick with big Steamroller cores, but mid-2014 is a long way off.
AMD’s Roadmap Leaked
According to the latest AMD desktop roadmap, published by DonanimHaber, the Steamroller architecture could be delayed, which means Piledriver cores will power AMD’s third-generation APUs.
So what does this mean for consumers? Well, Richland APUs might not be quite as good as expected. AMD could optimize the x86 cores and go for more powerful graphics, but it’s hard to get excited about the next generation.
Vishera parts will also stick to Piledriver cores, backed by discreet Radeon 7xxx and 8xxx series graphics. However, we will see a new architecture in the low end. Kabini is apparently on track to launch next year, with Jaguar cores, refreshed graphics and an all new system-on-chip version, with an integrated on-chip Fusion controller hub (FCH).
What’s more, AMD will also offer quad-core Kabini parts, and who could say no to a dirt cheap E-series APU with four cores, good graphics and a ridiculous TDP?
AMD Makes More Cuts
There have been some rumors that AMD plans to drop prices on its older generation APUs as well as some AM3 Athlon II CPUs and as of yesterday, the new price list confirmed those cuts. Unfortunately the price cuts are not that impressive on the FM1 side but some AM3 Athlon II CPUs have seen a price reduction of over 30 percent.
The full list includes a total of six A-Series APUs and twelve AM3 Athlon II CPUs. The most impressive price cut in the A-Series was on the A4-3300 APU for 21.7 percent, or from US $46 down to US $36. The flagship A8-3870K got cut down by 9.9 percent while A6-3670K was cut down by far less impressive 3.7 percent.
The most impressive price cuts on the AM3 Athlon II side is on the Athlon II X4 640 and the Athlon II X2 265. The Athlon II X4 640 got cut down from US $98 to US $67, or 31.6 percent, while Athlon II X2 265 got cut down from US $69 to US $48, or 30.4 percent.
Two Athlon II CPUs, the X3 445 and the X4 638, were removed from the price list as they were most likely discontinued.
You can check out the full list and price cuts over at CPU-World.com.