Processors (General)

ARM Launches New Cortex-A5 As A Bulkward Against Future Atom processors

News — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 06:44:33 GMT

Historically, ARM isn't a company we talk about much. The company's processor designs power a huge number of devices worldwide, but its architectures have focused on the embedded, ultra-low power, ultra-low cost markets where high-end performance simply wasn't a requirement. ARM's target market hasn't changed all that much in the past 18 months, but the fact that Intel intends to push future iterations of its Atom architecture into the MID/high-end smartphone market changes the entire competitive landscape. Intel and ARM probably won't go head-to-head architecturally speaking until the former is at the 22nm node, but ARM isn't planning to wait that long. The company launched its new Cortex-A5 this week (codenamed Sparrow), and while it's not targeted at the top-end of the market, it's a highly significant launch.

ARMing for Battle

The Cortex-A5 is an important step forward for ARM for several reasons. First, it's significantly more efficient to build than the company's older ARM1176JZ(F)-S, while simultaneously outperforming the ARM926EJ-S. According to the company, the graph assumes all three processors are built on a 90nm process. Power and performance profiles on modern 40nm technology are displayed below, where the Cortex-A5 makes hash of its would-be competitors.

The Sparrow, however, is more than just a faster processor. Architecturally, it's identical to ARM's advanced Cortex-A9 processor, and supports the same features as that part. This flexibility is designed to give product developers and manufacturers access to a perfectly backwards-compatible processor with better thermal and performance characteristics, while simultaneously offering any company that wishes to take advantage of the new architecture's SIMD-like features the chance to do so.

Currently, ARM's ecosystem of products extends from the most basic handsets to the smartphone/smartbook market. Ironically, just as Intel has its eye on moving into ARM's territory, company representatives have told us they believe future iterations of Cortex processors will make appearances in netbooks, notebooks, and even desktops. ARM believes some of its current high-end offerings from the Cortex-A9 MPCore series could already handle the needs of a netbook. It'll be several years until we see Intel and ARM slugging it out for the same market segments, but device design lead times are a factor in why ARM is rolling out its own next-generation low-cost/low-power architecture. At first glance, this might seem to be a slow-motion battle Intel is guaranteed to win, thanks to its size, capital, and available resources. ARM has its own compilers and development tools, but Intel will undoubtedly play towards its greatest strength—x86 compatibility.

One important point to remember when considering an Intel / ARM showdown is that the CPU giant wouldn't be competing directly with ARM so much as it'd be fighting with the dozens (if not hundreds) of businesses and manufacturers who currently use ARM-designed processors and have standardized on the company's development tools. 12 years ago, Intel began winning server designs in what had previously been considered an impregnable market, but the embedded space plays by an entirely different set of rules, with far more manufacturers, a variety of needs, and an entirely different set of criteria in terms of what makes a given processor desirable. Between now and then, Sparrow gives ARM a product it can market as a solution to a wide range of customers. Expect to hear more about the company's processors in the months and years ahead, particularly if we start seeing more ARM chips in smartbooks or even netbooks.

Overclocking guide rework

bob_on_the_cob — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 06:12:14 GMT

Ok so I know I and a few others started on a good overclocking guide. We never really finished and even if we had the new Phenom II and Core i7/i5s have all new challenges so I really wanna rework it. Maybe just start from scratch. I don't have a i7 or a Phenom II. I really don't need one my Q9650 is still kicking strong, but I was wanting some info from you guys that have these CPUs. What programs you use, what clocks you are getting, bios options that have really helped, that sort of thing.

So. . . Fire away ya'll!

An important question regarding processsor heat sink paste

Moondoggy — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 22:21:38 GMT

I'm a newbie to building system so I'm having a guy that has built some systems help me the first time out but I'm wondering if he's right or wrong in regard to heat sink paste.

I bought a new Intel Core I7 920 CPU and I assumed that it came with heat sink paste but when we opened the box there wasn't any. The guy that was helping me said I would need to buy some at the local parts store which isn't the issue. Today I was speaking with another associate who said none was needed as the cpu fan that came with the processor already has the paste applied as 3 thin strips of gray material. I contacted the guy helping me and he said that what is there isn't enough and a bit more would be needed if I was ever going to overclock the machine. I talked to yet another associate who said that putting more paste on top of what was already there was the wrong thing to do as it would not spread evenly and create hot spots.

So my question is who's right? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Looking for suggestions on OC of new rig

awtull — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 03:48:28 GMT

Tomorrow I begin the build of a new box. Intel I7 870, Asus P7P55 Super Computer, Zalman CNPS10X, 8gb Corsair Dominator 1600 DDR3 Dual Channel, Cooler Master 1250W Real Power Pro, 2 - ASUS Radeon5870 1gb PCIe DDR5 in Crossfire, Cooler Master HAF 932 Full Tower, 2 - VelociRaptor 300gb SATA3 HDs in RAID0 loaded with Windows 7 64bit Enterprise, WD Caviar Green 1tb SATA3 HD used for Windows Swap file, Pioneer BDR-203 Blu-ray burner all connected to Samsung T260HD 25.5in LCD/TV in 1900x1200. What I am looking for is suggestions on mild overclock settings. I don't to have to jack with memory timings or voltage just bump multiplier a bit. I would appreciate any suggestions anyone has.

i7 or 955 for mathematical calculations?

Phantom — Mon, 04 May 2009 17:56:56 GMT

Hi all, I currently use E4400 that I bought 2 years ago, for computing tasks, gaming, audio, programming (VS2008) and everything is fine. But there is one problem. I also use an electronic simulator (Proteus) which requires very high CPU power for mathematical calculations. Most simulations take my E4400 to around 90% CPU Load resulting in slow simulation and some as far as 100% CPU load with the simulation turning off.

Now, my question: I'm looking for an upgrade path: a Core i7 920 or Phenom II X4 955. I am keeping my monitor and everything else is going to be new.

My current rig is:

E4400

G31 Intel

4GB DDR2 RAM (800 MHz)

9500GT 512MB GDDR3 XFX

80GB SATA HD Samsung

What processor do you recommend, how much RAM(I'm thinking of DDR3) and graphics? I'm limited to $850. So I need your help.

Thanks in advance.

CPU Running HOTT!!!

Iain — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 00:49:40 GMT

Okay, so I'm sitting here with my Intel E7200 with an Artic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro at 43 - 45C. At stock speeds/voltages/everything. That's 30% load too. Why's my CPU running so hot now? lol

Toshiba Wraps New Regza LCD Around Cell Technology

News — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 22:02:53 GMT

The Cell Broadband Engine Architecture (typically referred to as the Cell or Cell BE) processor used in Sony's PS3 was actually a joint venture between IBM, Sony, and Toshiba, but IBM and Sony have commercialized the architecture far more than their partner. That could change within a year or two; the electronics manufacturer has announced that it will launch a new Regza LCD TV in the Japanese market by the end of 2009.

Toshiba has dipped its toe into commercial Cell deployment before; the company's SpursEngine is a "co-processor that integrates a hardware codec for Full HD encoding and decoding of MPEG-2 and H.264 streams with four SPEs derived from Cell/B.E." video processing is one of Cell's strong suites; Toshiba claims that its upcoming Cell-equipped Regza LCD will be able to upconvert multiple SD streams into HD-quality simultaneously. Although it'll be a bit of a latecomer to the Cell commercial market, it's possible that Toshiba has actually been waiting for Cell to hit 45nm before it jumped on the bandwagon.

The Cell BE: The eight SPE's are colored in turquoise.

"We gathered together our imaging, storage and network technologies," said Masaaki Oosumi, president of Toshiba's Digital Media Network Company. "It will be Toshiba's flagship model in the true sense. It is the ultimate entertainment machine that brings more excitement than a movie in a theater. I would like to let users experience the same sensation as they felt by watching a color TV for the first time."

Final specs on the unit aren't available yet; Toshiba has previously indicated that the display would have a 3820x2160 maximum resolution, and be equipped with an LED backlight.

IBM Announces New SoC Products, Claims Performance Breakthrough

News — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 20:19:59 GMT

IBM announced its new 476FP system-on-chip (SoC) processor today, and claims the new design will offer more than twice the processing power of its predecessor (in theory). The company is presumably referring to the PPC 464FP-HP90; the 476FP improves on the older design in several notable ways. According to IBM, the 476FP will be capable of clockspeeds "in excess of 1.6GHz", and draw just 1.6W when configured in that mode.

IBM hasn't released the full details of the new core's architecture, but additional key features of the design include support for an L2 cache designed by LSI, (256K/512K/1MB), an AltiVec SIMD unit, and SMP (symmetric multi-processing) support. "We are pleased to announce this new embedded PowerPC processor," said Richard Busch, IBM director of ASIC products. "This high-performance, power efficient, compact processor core allows customers to meet the needs of today's applications, while preserving legacy code. Our collaboration with LSI brings together IBM's expertise in processor development with LSI's experience in networking and storage architectures, optimizing this core to address today's high-speed embedded requirements."

If IBM's performance claims are accurate and the chip performs well, it could herald the beginning of a new battle between Big Blue and Intel. Intel is already touting Atom as an embedded option, and the upcoming launch of Atom SoC's could set the stage for a head-to-head conflict. Popcorn, anyone?

Dell Adds New Lynnfield CPUs To Studio XPS 8000/9000

News — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 05:36:51 GMT

With the introduction of every major CPU release from AMD or Intel comes the inevitable flood of new and updated machines tweaked to take advantage. Dell's certainly not one to sit things out while the others play ball, which is why the company has today introduced a new pair of Studio XPS desktops that are available with Intel's new Lynnfield CPUs.

Just as Dell's earnings start to head north again, the outfit has made official the Studio XPS 8000 and Studio XPS 9000, the first of which is a mid-range tower designed for casual users and the second of which is geared more for power users. Both rigs are designed to handle multimedia and at least light duty gaming, with an optional Blu-ray drive and TV tuner turning them into suitable media center PCs.

The new Core i5 Quad Core and Core i7 Quad Core are both available, with a copious amount of customizable options enabling users to push these from ho hum web surfers to all-out video editing/hardcore gaming machines. The 8000 starts at just $799, while the 9000 gets going at $1999; both machines can be ordered today and tweaked however you see fit.

New Dell Studio XPS 8000, starting at $799, offers great performancefor some of the most demanding applications like photo and videoediting and computer games.
Newest Intel Core i5 Quad Core and i7 Quad Core processors deliver raw power.
Integrated 7.1 high-definition surround sound for theater-like experience direct from the desktop.
Optional Blu-ray Disc and Blu-ray Disc burner so users can create the high-def DVDs.
Optional 3D capabilities for gamers who demand realistic and stunning graphics.
Dellalso announced the Studio XPS 9000 with new performance graphicsoptions. The Studio XPS 9000 is one of Dell’s most powerful andexpandable entertainment desktop computers, so people can be sure thattheir computer will have enough memory to chronicle every digitizedaspect of their lives.

Heatsink/Motherboard Compatibility?

metallicaitalian — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 16:08:30 GMT

I'm about to upgrade the AMD 4400+ CPU on my HP Pavilion a6110n, to a AMD Athlon 64 x2 5600+ Windsor 2.8 GHz Dual Core CPU. The jump from 65w to 89w is going to require a much more reliable HSF than the stock cooler. My CPU temps are rather high (around 60c) as it is with the 65w. Price is not really an issue. My only dilemma is that I'm not sure what I am limited to by the size of my motherboard. My motherboard is a micro ATX Asus M268N-LA Narra.

My current stock HSF seems to be some model from Taisol 12VDC obviously socket AM2 compatible. The fan seems to be about 70mm in diameter.

Once again, price is not an issue and I'm basically looking for something with good airflow, which apparently usually correlates with larger fan. Would it be correct to assume that anything that is socket AM2 compatible will work on my mobo given available space? Many high airflow fans are 120mm. Would it also be safe to assume that this would be too large for any micro ATX mobo?

If I am limited to something like a 70mm fan, ASUS X-Mars 70mm Ball The Light Cooler for Dual-Core CPU has better airflow than any other fan of its size on newegg.

I plan to use Arctic Silver 5.

Thanks for the help!

ARM Scores First Big Mali-400 License

News — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 18:40:00 GMT

Mediatek, a long standing partner of ARM, has licensed the company's Mali-400 GPU and will be using it in upcoming handheld and portable devices such as media players and personal navigation devices.

This might not really sound like much, but this is the first major Mali-400 licensing announcement since the technology was launched back in June 2008.

Mali-400 traces its ancestry back to Falanx, a Norwegian graphics IP company that originally came up with the whole Mali series, which was – obviously – acquired by ARM. The company boasts its low power consumption and high performance – claiming it can provide HD video decode (1080p) for a fraction of the power.

The Mali-400 GPU measures 5.5 square milimeters in die-size, and its single vertex processor pumps out over 1GPixel/s or 30M Triangles/sec, with FSAA 4x at no processing overhead. The silicon uses the OpenGL ES 1.x/2.0 API, which the company amply distributes to any takers, although it can implement the DirectX mobile API.

ARM has discussed scalability of these multi-core GPUs in the past, providing estimates of quasi-linear gains, which is possible considering the tile-based rendering nature of the part. A Mali-400 GPU includes 4 “fragment processors” that should provide enough processing power to produce the 1080p video render and uses the same rendering techniques used by its PowerVR SGX/MBX competitor.

It did take some time to make a big hit with the mobile device crowd, but that’s been a staple of all the portable device GPUs – APX2500, Imageon and SGX. Right now the market for digital video processing through a small SoC device attached to just about any display device is huge... and ARM has the full package.

What next?

ShockTherapy72 — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 17:20:12 GMT

I plan on getting a new motherboard soon, and to go with it, a new processor a week or two down the road. My E4400 is needing a break.

I checked the stock of the store I go to and two are in my price range, but I can't decide which one would be best for me. I enjoy my games so its preferable that it suits to gaming the most.

The Core2Duo E8400? 3.0GHz, 6mb Cache, 1333FSB? (very comfortable price for me)

Core2Quad E8300? 2.5GHz, 4mb Cache, 1333FSB (this one is about the top of the price range, and 25 bucks more than the one above)

How important is a bigger cache for performance?

Please help! New CPU installed and now computer won't post

DeepRed — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 16:19:32 GMT

Hi all,

I just bought an AMD Phenom II X4 940, which shows here as compatible with my GA-M68SM-S2 board:
http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Support/Motherboard/CPUSupport_Model.aspx?ProductID=2640#anchor_os

I installed the CPU and now my computer won't post. I upgraded the BIOS using @BIOS, as described in the board's manual and then rebooted, went into the bios and selected "Load Optimized Settings" or whatever, but it still won't work. When my old CPU is in, no issues; as soon as I put in the new CPU, the computer won't post. Any suggestions or do I assume something is wrong with this CPU?

Thanks!

Need help determining the root of the problem...

No Face — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 00:17:16 GMT

This is my first post, and I'm coming to this forum out of despiration. I built a PC with the following specs in March, but i've never been able to get it to run stable.

XFX 750i FTW MB

Q6700 CPU

OCZ Fata1ity PC-8500 RAM 1066MHz

BFG 9800 GTX+

I'm running Windows 7 RC and Ubuntu 9.04 dual boot. At STOCK speeds for both RAM and CPU Prime95 quits in seconds due to a hardware failure. Games like Unreal Tournament III randomly lock up or cause blue screens. Occasionally while web browsing it will blue screen with what seems like a different error message each time. I have reset the CMOS countless times, updated the BIOS to the most current version, I have support tickets open with both the manufactures of the RAM and motherboard. They each point the finger at eachother. I have run BurnInTest and come up with errors in the RAM, but I've run memtest86 for two hours and no problems. Then I ran it again and it crashed saying Unexpected Interrupt-Halting. I don't think thats a RAM error.

The RAM reports in the BIOS that it's default speed is 800MHz and voltage is 1.9V when it is supposed to be 1066MHz and 2.0V (according to the OCZ website). At 2.0V windows won't even boot it only boots at 1.9V. I took out the RAM switched slots and I noticed that the stick itself says 2.2V! So I uped the voltage in the BIOS to 2.2 and it boots, however things are even more unstable - Unreal Tournament III locks up more frequently, and Prime95 almost immediatly reports an error and halts.

All fans are running and temps when checked with SpeedFan are within range ~35C - 60C.

Is my CPU bad? Is it the RAM? The motherboard? Or even the videocard? I need some help, and both OCZ and XFX seem like they don't want to budge on the RMA. I need to narrow down this problem.

Thanks for the help... sorry about the long post but I thought I'd give as much detail as possible.

CPU Thermal

hetngay — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 08:20:36 GMT

I hope someone can help me guide the troubleshooting of this problem, or recommend which parts to focus on. I am running my media center on my home built machine for about 2 years. It's an Intel 2.8ghz running on motherboard Intel865gbf. Heat synch is a Scythe Kamikaze.

For the last week or so the machine has just shut off randomly (no BSOD/nothing). When rebooting the bios is reporting an overheat of the CPU which forced it to shut down. I've had intel active monitor running which is reporting temps around 36 C. No active monitor alerts are reported showing temp goes up to a certain threshold. This has happened after 10 minutes of running or 2 days. Same error message.

I'm not sure if I should focus on the MB, CPU, or Heatsink (or any other piece of hardware). I've checked to make sure the heatsink is set properly, and it seems to be. I have not moved the machine at all. My next move is probably to remove the heatsink and clean the thermal grease, and then re-seet the Heatsink. Any other recommendations are appreciated.

MB / RAM issue ?

DaBaddog — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 18:11:27 GMT

OK, here we go :

First, both memory slots DO work.

I purchased a new Patriot 1g PC3200, thinking I would add the 1g stick with a Patriot 512 stick and have 1.5 gig memory. ( finacial issues at this time.512 xtra is 512 xtra)Unfortunately when configured this way the computor only reconizes 512 of memory ?
I've changed sticks into the 2 differant slots , all good. I've tested with the new 1g stick ,both slots , good.
Can you help me understand why the sys only reconizes 512g when combined with the 1 g ?

Thanks
DaBaddog

SYS. Info :

NF8/NF8-V (NF3 Series) 1.x
Phoenix Technologies, LTD 6.00 PG 06/14/2005
2.40 gigahertz AMD Athlon 64
Patriot memory 1x2 512 = 1g 3200/400MHz
ATI / Sapphire Atlantis 9600 pro
XP Pro SP3

AMD platform

cyberfriend — Thu, 07 May 2009 03:17:24 GMT

I am looking for nVIDIA chipset(northbridge and southbridge) used for AMD platform, Where can I find nVIDIA chipset used for AMD platform?

Marvell's SheevaPlug PC Looks Like A Wall Wart

News — Thu, 21 May 2009 16:56:45 GMT

Remember the Jack PC? Hello, competition! It's pretty amazing, really -- the device pictured here is a full fledged headless PC, capable of handling pretty much every basic task that even a modern day netbook could. Designed and sold by Marvell, the Plug Computer (or the SheevePlug, officially) is a self-contained computer that simply plugs into an AC outlet.

The entire computer looks like an average wall-wart, with a 1.2GHz processor, 512MB of flash storage, 512MB of DDR2 RAM, USB 2.0 and Gigabit Ethernet. As expected, the power draw here is quite low, and the operating system baked in is built on Linux. Sehat Sutardja, Marvell’s chief executive and co-founder, went so far as to say that there simply "isn't much in there."

As for uses? It could power a home automation service, it could act as a network server for other machines in your home or simply manage your home surveillance system. Honestly, the applications are nearly limitless so long as the demands aren't too high. In fact, what would you do with one of these? They're available today for $99, you know.

NVIDIA Brings Tesla GPU Technology To Dell PCs

News — Thu, 07 May 2009 13:18:04 GMT

Look out, world -- the supercomputer just got personal. For the longest while, NVIDIA had been pushing its potent Tesla GPU technology as the stuff that was tailor made for crunching atmospheric pattern data and renders in a new motion picture. Thanks to Dell, however, all that power can now arrive on your doorstep. Starting today, NVIDIA's Tesla C1060 GPU Computing processor, based on the CUDA architecture, can be ordered in Dell's Precision R5400, T5500 and T7500 workstations.

Greg Weir, senior manager, Dell Product Group, didn't hold anything back when stating that these machines, combined with the Tesla, is "putting the power of supercomputing on the desktop." Bold words, for sure. There's no mention of a price, but to get an idea of what this C1060 is capable of, check out its prior experience below.

Oil and gas	Acceleware: Kirchoff Time Migration library ffA: 3D Seismic processing software Headwave: Prestack data processing Mercury Computer systems: 3D data visualization SeismicCity: 3D seismic imaging for prestack depth migration SMT: Kingdom – Seismic Processing
Computational Chemistry and Molecular Dynamics:	GROMACS molecular dynamics HOOMD molecular dynamics NAMD molecular dynamics VMD visualization of molecular dynamics
Bio-Informatics and Life Sciences:	GPU HMMER: CUDA version of HMMER LISSOM: Human neocortex modeling MUMmerGPU: High-throughput DNA sequencing
Financial Computing and Options Pricing:	Aqumin: 3D Visualization of market data Exegy: Risk Analysis Hanweck: options pricing SciComp: derivatives pricing
Mathematical Computing	Jacket CUDA plugin for MATLAB from Accelereyes LabVIEW from National Instruments
GeoSciences:	Tsunami simulation – Tokyo Institute of Technology Weather Research and Forecast (WRF) model Geographical Information Systems - Manifold
Medical Imaging, CT, MRI:	AxeRecon CT reconstruction library from Acceleware SnapCT tomographic reconstruction software from Digisens
Electrodynamics and Electromagnetics	CST Microware Studio FDTD solver from Acceleware
Electronic Design Automation	ADS SPICE simulator from Agilent EESof OmegaSim GX SPICE simulator from Nascentric Sentaraus TCAD from Synopsys

Lordy, Lordy! AMD Turns 40!

News — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 14:45:43 GMT

Word on the street is that AMD launched its super-cheap ($69 MSRP) Athlon X2 7850 Black Edition this week to celebrate 40 years in the industry, and while the last decade in particular hasn't been too kind to the company, it's still hanging tough and struggling to compete with Intel, NVIDIA and the rest of the big boys.

Today, the Sunnyvale-based chipmaker began celebrating 40 years of "innovation in the semiconductor industry and its important role as a catalyst for enabling next-generation solutions." Officially, May 1st will be Advanced Micro Devices' 40th birthday, as it was established that day by Jerry Sanders and seven co-founders in 1969. Unlike most folks, AMD is choosing to party for an entire year (seriously!), where the outfit will hold a series of contests in the U.S. and Canada as a gesture of thanks to the "dedicated customers who have been, and continue to be, key to AMD’s critical presence in the processor industry."

Of course, a 40 year anniversary just wouldn't be a 40 year anniversary with a little sentimental speak, so we'll just quote Dirk Meyer, AMD president and CEO: "Forty years in any industry is a major achievement, but doing so in the rapidly changing, competitive semiconductor business is an enduring testament to the dedication and talent of AMD employees and alumni. As the world and technology markets have changed through the years, AMD has remained focused on enabling the next wave of applications that we expect to drive the industry. We mark our 40th year as a much different company; a company intensely focused on designing and developing new products and platforms that combine our unique graphics and microprocessor technologies to create compelling user experiences."

It's hard to imaging what the next 40 years -- or even 5 years, honestly -- will bring for AMD. The market is getting tougher to crack, and consumers are demanding more for less. Intel seems to be picking up market share at a breakneck pace, while AMD seems to be largely one step behind in most every major area. Still, if it can compete on cost, it can remain successful. Here's to 40 AMD, and here's to 40 more.

ARM's Cortex-M3 CPU Used In Ember's ZigBee Chips

News — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 19:24:35 GMT

ZigBee may still be foreign to many consumers, but it's a growing wireless transmission technology that has especially taken hold in the home automation realm. To that end, ARM has decided to hitch its wagon to one Ember in order to delve gently into what could be a promising partnership.

Announced today, Ember will rely on ARM's own Cortex M3 processor for its next generation ZigBee semiconductors, and considering the goals of each company, the match truly is one that's made in heaven. ZigBee needs a low-power chip, and ARM has low-power chips to provide. No, the Cortex M3 is no powerhouse, but ZigBee isn't a technology that requires gobs of computational abilities.

As it stands, Embed is the runaway leader in the ZigBee market, with a market share of over 65 percent and a global customer base. Ember licensed the 32-bit Cortex-M3 processor to deliver increasingly sophisticated solutions for applications such as Smart Energy, home area networks, home health care and security systems. According to ARM, the inclusion of its chip will significantly enhance performance, sophistication and security, and enable Ember to continue providing the ZigBee industry with powerful and power efficient system-on-chips (SoCs).

Ember CEO, Bob LeFort, was understandably excited about the new agreement: "ZigBee applications are becoming increasingly demanding and a critical component in solving some of the most vexing problems of our time, such as managing energy more effectively, and we intend to be at the forefront of that revolution. ARM is the acknowledged leader in processor technology, as Ember is in wireless mesh networking technology, so ours is a natural alliance to lead the blossoming ZigBee market into the future." Neither company confessed to when products would be shipping our to vendors, but we're guessing sooner rather than later.

AMD Announces The Athlon X2 7850 Black Edition

News — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 23:02:43 GMT

In addition to launching the new Radeon HD 4770 this morning, AMD is also taking the opportunity to announce a new value-priced desktop CPU, the Athlon X2 7850 Black Edition. The Athlon X2 7850 Black Edition should be available for about $69 when it hits store shelves today. It is a 2.8GHz, socket AM2+ processor manufactured using AMD's 65nm DSL SOI (silicon-on-insulator) process. The full specifications and a couple of postures are listed below...

AMD Athlon X2 7850 Processor Specifications:
Processor Core Frequency:	2.8GHz
X2 7850 Black Edition Tray OPN:	OPN# AD785ZWCJ2BGH
X2 7850 Black Edition PIB OPN:	OPN# AD785ZWCGHBOX
L1 Cache Sizes:	64K of L1 instruction and 64K of L1 data cache per core (512KB total L1 per processor)
L2 Cache Sizes:	512KB of L2 data cache per core (1MB total L2 per processor)
L3 Cache Size:	2MB (shared)
Total Cache (L2+L3):	3MB
Memory Controller Type:	Integrated 128-bit wide memory controller
Memory Controller Speed:	Up to 1.8GHz with Dual Dynamic Power Management
Types of Memory Supported:	Support for unregistered DIMMs up to PC2 8500 (DDR2-1066MHz)
HyperTransport 3.0:	One 16-bit/16-bit link @ up to 3.6GHz full duplex (1.8GHz x2)
Total Processor-to-system Bandwidth:	Up to 28.5 GB/s bandwidth [Up to 17.1GB/s memory bandwidth (DDR2-1066) + 14.4GB/s (HT3)]
Packaging:	Socket AM2+ 940-pin organic micro pin grid array (micro-PGA)
Fab location:	GLOBALFOUNDARIES Fab 1 module 1 in Dresden, Germany (formerly AMD Fab 36)
Process Technology:	65-nanometer DSL SOI (silicon-on-insulator) technology
Approximate Transistor count:	~ 450 million (65nm)
Approximate Die Size:	285 mm2 (65nm)
Max Ambient Case Temp:	73o Celsius
Nominal Voltage:	1.2-1.25 Volts
Max TDP:	95 Watts

Because the Athlon X2 7850 is a Black Edition processor it gives users the ability to select memory controller, HyperTransport, and CPU core frequencies either through software, i.e. OverDrive, or through the motherboard's system BIOS. Should a fun chip for the overclockers on a budget out there.

Due to time constraints, we weren't able to run a full suite of tests on the Athlon X2 7850 Black Edition, but we will soon and will update you all ASAP. Stay tuned.

pc turning off problem

zellflux — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 01:53:41 GMT

hey guys my computer is turning off when it turns to desktop, how can i troubleshoot it if it is the power supply, software problem, or the cpu?

my cousing told to me that restart it and go to safe mode, and if its penatrate without restarting or trurning off the problem was the software..

any addtional fact from you guys?

X86's History

mentaldisorder — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 13:05:22 GMT

Well, I stumbled across this and figured you guys would enjoy the read. It's about the history of x86.

Maximum PC

Intel Shows $647m Profit In Q1 2009, Down 11%

News — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 14:24:41 GMT

We knew the first quarter of 2009 wouldn't be fantastic for chip makers. Frankly, so did they. But somehow or another, Intel managed to escape the vicious first three months of the year with quite a few dollars in its pocket, which -- in our opinion -- deserves applause in its own right given the circumstances.

The company's Q1 2009 filings show that it ended the quarter with a net profit of $647 million -- a figure that some outfits would do anything to reach during these tumultuous times. That said, it was still an 11% drop year-over-year, which some investors figured would be less drastic. Potentially more startling is the first quarter revenue drop, which was down an amazing $7.1 billion but only 13% compared to Q1 2008.

Paul Otellini, Intel president and CEO, had this to say: "We believe PC sales bottomed out during the first quarter and that the industry is returning to normal seasonal patterns. Intel has adapted well to the current economic environment and we're benefiting from disciplined execution and agility. We're delivering a product portfolio that meets the needs of the changing market, spanning affordable computing to high-performance, energy-efficient computing."

If you'll recall, earlier this year Intel vowed to spend a staggering $7 billion on R&D in the coming years, which proves that it's not about to be shaken by a few weak quarters in the industry. And, it deserves restating that Intel did manage to pull in a profit of over half a billion in just three months during a "slow economy." We're nowhere near Wall Street, but we find that to be pretty impressive from the outside looking in.