Items tagged with A6

by Joel Hruska - Mon, Nov 04, 2013

When 64-bit Isn't The Answer: Diving Into iPad Air and Apple A7 3DMark Performance

Apple's new A7 SoC that sits at the heart of the iPad Air and iPhone 5S is a fast chip. Benchmarks and analysis have shown that it picks up its additional performance over the older A6 thanks to a mixture of architectural tweaks and, in some cases, its new 64-bit architecture. On average, the gains are split about 60/40 between the two areas, with more performance gains from the microarchitecture enhancements. But in one notable case -- the popular 3DMark, cross-platform benchmark -- this hasn't been true at all. In 3DMark Ice Storm, the iPhone 5S is significantly faster in GPU workloads -- almost 3x as fast, in fact -- but its CPU performance is actually slightly slower than the A6, as measured... Read more...

by Joel Hruska - Mon, Oct 15, 2012

Apple May Split Ties With Samsung Sooner, Rather Than Later

The latest news on the growing Apple/Samsung split confirms that the two companies are pulling away from each other. Reports now indicate that the A6, Apple's first custom CPU design, was built entirely without input from Samsung. Up to this point, the two manufacturers have been vital partners, even as they attacked each other in courtrooms worldwide. The Korean Times reports that the relationship between the two has become one-dimensional, with Samsung relegated strictly to manufacturing the A6. That might seem a small difference, but it's a portent of major changes to come. Typically, a foundry like TSMC or GlobalFoundries employs its own engineering teams that will work directly with a customer... Read more...

by Joel Hruska - Sat, Aug 27, 2011

Apple's A6 Won't Reach iPad Until Later in 2012

For a CPU that hasn't seen the light of day, there's a great deal of debate surrounding Apple's A6—and the suggestion that it may not appear until later in 2012. The A6 is a complex bit of hardware; rumors indicate that the chip is a quad-core Cortex-A9 CPU built on 28nm at TSMC and utilizing the latter's 3D fabrication technology. We've previously discussed Intel's own 3D tech; TSMC's is presumably based on similar concepts.The CPU's competitive performance is surprisingly unclear. While the Cortex-A9 is a proven design, Apple's A6 will be one of the first 28nm chips on the market. That means it'll serve as a test case for TSMC's introduction of both 28nm gate-last technology and 3D chip... Read more...

by Marco Chiappetta - Wed, Aug 17, 2011

AMD Introduces Sub-$100 Tri-Core A6-3500 APU

AMD has just announced availability of the new AMD A6-3500 APU for desktop systems, bolstering its current line-up of Llano-based Accelerated Processing Units with a more affordable model targeted at budget conscious, mainstream system builders. Unlike the first A8 and A6 APUs to hit the scene, which sport four execution cores, the new A6-3500 combines only three x86 CPU cores with 320 Radeon cores, and has a suggested retail price of $95.00. According to AMD, the A6-3500 APU will be available for purchase immediately through system builders and online retailers. AMD Expands Brilliant HD APU Lineup with A6-3500 Desktop Processor – End users get multi-core CPU and... Read more...

by Marco Chiappetta - Tue, Aug 02, 2011

AMD A6-3650 Llano APU Performance Review

A few weeks back, AMD officially launched their Llano-based A-Series Accelerated Processing Units, or APUs, in both desktop and mobile flavors. If you’re unfamiliar with Llano, it’s AMD’s mainstream, low-power APU that fuses four x86 cores with a DX11-class graphics processor on a single piece of silicon. The current flagship APU in the desktop line-up is the A8-3850, which hums along at 2.9GHz, with 400 active Radeon cores, that operate at 600MHz. The A6-3650 we’ll be showing you here is built using the same piece of silicon, but this lower-end A6-series part clocks in at 2.6GHz, with 320 active Radeon cores, running at 443MHz... AMD A6-3650 Llano APU Performance Review... Read more...

by Marco Chiappetta - Tue, Aug 02, 2011

AMD A6-3650 Llano APU Performance Review

A few weeks back, AMD officially launched their Llano-based A-Series Accelerated Processing Units, or APUs, in both desktop and mobile flavors. At the time, we covered the high-end variants of both A-Series offerings; our coverage of the desktop version A8-3850 APU and its companion chipsets is posted here and the mobile A8-3500M is detailed here. If you’re unfamiliar with Llano, we suggest perusing those two articles as they go into much more detail than we will in this piece. We won’t rehash many of the architectural details, but just for a quick refresher, Llano is AMD’s mainstream, low-power APU that fuses four x86 cores with a DX11-class graphics processor... Read more...

by Joel Hruska - Sat, Jul 16, 2011

TSMC Reportedly Taking Orders For Next-Gen Apple A6

Up until now, Samsung has handled all of Apple's CPU manufacturing needs, including the A4 and A5 processor. New rumors, however, suggest that TSMC has been tapped for the company's next-generation A6. Apple hasn't committed to actually purchasing chips at this point, but has handed the Taiwanese foundry what it needs to test product yields. Reuters quotes an unidentified source as saying: "TSMC has got all the authorisation and details ready. Whether Apple puts in a formal order will depend on the yield rate." TSMC has refused to formally comment on the issue but the number of semiconductor manufacturers capable of building a next-generation Apple chip is limited, particularly when it... Read more...

by Chad Weirick - Thu, Oct 04, 2007

IA64: It's Not About How Many Cores You Have...

Intel is planning on improving the performance per core on future Itaniums, which should be evident in the next generation part codenamed Tukwila. While we're all for making sure each core runs efficiently, it seems a bit strange that this would be a major concern for Itanium R&D people like Cameron McNair. Most people would probably associate Itanium with server clusters and either highly scalable software or large user environments that require lots of resources.Apparently McNair says that there are other processing needs of Itanium customers a well:"There are some workloads that you just need to have single-core performance in order to carry and to get the job done, and those... Read more...

by Matt Beauvais - Wed, Jun 08, 2005

Doom for Mac OS X on x86, A64 3000+ Venice Overclocking, and more!

Good morning everyone :) Whether your waking up on the west coast, or having lunch on the east coast, grab yourself a coffee and enjoy tales of overclocking and digital photography. Check back later for more of the news you love. Possible Doom for Mac OS X on x86 @ CoolTechZone "Apple's recent collaboration with Intel to use its microprocessors surged a great deal of interest throughout the industry. Though there are several arguments spanning the market currently, one thing is certain – Apple has stated it will not let users install Mac OS X on non-proprietary hardware, even though the CPU will fully comply with x86 architecture. The only apparent way for Apple to achieve that is... Read more...

by Jeff Bouton - Thu, Apr 28, 2005

Corsair XMS Xpert Review, A64 Chipset Comparisons, S18 Nitro and More!

Good morning everyone. In case you didn't notice, we've released a review of the Corsair XMS Xpert RAM. The modules are rated at 400MHz DDR and sport eye-catching removable LEDs. Check the image above or click here to read more. After that, check your morning new post below. Athlon 64 chipset comparison @ The Tech Report: "With at least four platforms to choose from, the Athlon 64's PCI Express chipset lineup finally has some depth. But between the latest core logic options from ATI and ULi, NVIDIA, SiS, and VIA, which chipset has the most desirable blend of features and best performance? Join us as we sift through spec sheets and pour over a slew of benchmark results... Read more...

by Jeff Bouton - Thu, Apr 14, 2005

AMD Expands Mobile A64, Microsoft pushes SP-2, MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum and More!

AMD expands Mobile Athlon 64 line-up, more competition for Intel's Centrino: See Press Release Below: SUNNYVALE, CALIF. -- April 14, 2005 --AMD (NYSE: AMD) today again demonstrated its leadership in 64-bit mobile computing with the introduction of the Mobile AMD Athlon™ 64 processor 3700 for full-size notebooks. Based on the award-winning AMD64 technology, this new mobile processor enables a powerful 32-bit computing experience today with a seamless transition to 64-bit computing. The Mobile AMD Athlon 64 processor 3700 also offers Enhanced Virus Protection (EVP), an advanced security feature designed to prevent the spread of certain malicious viruses when enabled by Microsoft Windows XP... Read more...

by Marco Chiappetta - Fri, Dec 17, 2004

AMD's .09 micron A64 3500+: Overclocking, Thermals, & Power Consumption

Good Afternoon HotHardware fans! Just in case you didn't see the link at the top of the page, I'm here to let you know that we've just posted a new article investigating the overclocking potential, thermals, and power consumption of AMD's .09 micron, Winchester core based Athlon 64 3500 processor. Our results were fairly interesting. Click here and see what we found out...... Read more...

by Marco Chiappetta - Fri, Dec 17, 2004

AMD's .09 micron A64 3500+: Overclocking, Thermals, & Power Consumption

When Intel released the first batch of Pentium 4 processors based on their Prescott core, which were built using a .09 micron manufacturing process, analysts found that the CPUs generated more heat and consumed more power than similarly clocked Pentium 4 processors based on the .13 micron Northwood core. These findings flew in the face of tradition, as a die shrink usually yielded processors that would run at higher clock speeds and consume less power. But the Prescott core wasn't a simple die-shrunk Northwood. The Prescott architecture consists of millions of more transistors than Northwood and it has a deeper pipeline. The combination of building a new core on a relatively new and unproven... Read more...

by Jeff Bouton - Thu, Sep 23, 2004

Big News From Abit, BlueTooth Desktop, X600XTs, A64 Notebooks and More!

Good morning all. Sorry if I'm later than usual with your morning news. The past few days my Cable connection has been very slow and the folks at RoadRunner say everything looks good. While it may look good on their end, I'm slogging along at Dialup 5x speeds. Hopefully I can make enough noise to get something fixed, but it looks like they have the upper hand. It's a real shame it has to be that way. Anyway, the news is flowing this morning, so let's get down to business. ABIT Launches the RX700 Graphics Card Series Dominate the competition with BulletProof Technology September 21st, 2004: Known as the company that provides the world's top performing... Read more...

by Marco Chiappetta - Tue, Apr 27, 2004

A64 Comparo, an FX 5700 & Who The Heck is Emma?

Good afternoon HH fans! It's your friendly neighborhood Italian checking in with a mid-day sampling of tasty hardware goodness! The news is flowing freely today, so there's quite a bit of stuff to get to. I'm also working on a review of our own which should be posted shortly. Check back later for that review, and for now sit back and check out what our comrades have been up to... AMD's Emma: Internet Access For Under $200: "AMD has revealed they are working on a product code named Emma. CEO Hector Ruiz reports it could allow for an internet access device for under $200 the size of a pack of cigarettes. Memories of the Iopener spring to mind."... Read more...