TSMC finds its 28nm dance card a little overbooked

Subject: General Tech | November 25, 2011 - 12:21 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: TSMC, 28nm, amd, krishna, wichita

The 28nm process is causing a lot of problems for tech companies especially AMD who have cancelled the follow ups to Llano and Ontario, Krishna and Wichita.  Not only have they cancelled the chips but they have switched from GLOBALFOUNDRIES to TSMC to have the replacement chips designed and fabbed.  This is most likely because of the low yields that have been coming out of GLOBALFOUNDRIES with Llano, AMD's most successful recent design.  The low volumes hurt AMD's market share since many companies would not base a product line on a chip that might not be around in volume.  As well a deal is expiring in January which had AMD only paying for good dies, instead of the more usual practice of paying for the entire wafer and dealing with the bad dies as they come

That move might not be as successful as AMD hopes when you look at this article from DigiTimes.  As it turns out TSMC is concerned about their ability to meet the demand for 28nm chips from their customers.  It is not just AMD that is turning to TSMC for 28nm, Altera, NVIDIA, Qualcomm and Xilinx are already customers and Broadcom, LSI Logic and STMicroelectronics may join that crowd.  With so many customers utilizing the same process even small problems on TSMC's lines could lead to big drops in available chips.  Let us hope the days of the 40nm problems at TSMC never come back.

"Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) continues to see orders heat up for advanced 28nm technology, despite a general slowdown in the semiconductor industry, according to industry sources. Order visibility has stretched to about six months, said the sources.

TSMC is expected to see 28nm processes account for more than 2% of company revenues in the fourth quarter of 2011. The proportion will expand further to over 10% in 2012, as more available capacity coupled with rising customer demand boost the output, the sources indicated."

Here is some more Tech News from around the web:

Tech Talk

• Toaster oven reflow control without modifying the oven @ Hack a Day
• Making a privacy monitor from an old LCD @ Hack a Day
• Intel Breathes New Life Into Pentium @ The Inquirer
• Beaky the Robo-Bird picks our "Top Tech Turkeys of 2011" @ Ars Technica
• Best Buy Black Friday Deceptive Practices @ TechwareLabs
• Black Friday Tech Deals @ TechReviewSource
• 3rd Annual Holiday Giveaway - Black Friday @Hi Tech Legion

Running Cool 'n' Quiet under Linux with AMD

Subject: Processors | November 23, 2011 - 01:47 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: amd, bulldozer, cool 'n' quiet, Turbo Core, linux, fx-8150

AMD's Cool'n'Quiet feature, which lowers your CPU core frequencies when they are not under heavy usage has been around for a while, but Phoronix though it was time to revisit the Linux support for this feature and Turbo Core as we have a brand new architecture to test.  They fired up the FX-8150 again, running under Ubuntu 11.10 with the Linux 3.1 kernel and started benchmarking.  Their results show that AMD's power saving features are still working well under Linux, better when using single threaded applications than with multi-threaded but still worth enabling for those who want lower heat production and energy consumption.  It is hard to say how much you will save on power though, as the software Phoronix used to measure, fam15h_power, never budged from the 125W mark even when the system was pulling less power from the wall.

"For those wondering about the impact that AMD's Cool 'n' Quiet and Turbo Core technologies have under Linux for the latest-generation Bulldozer processors, here are some tests illustrating the changes in performance, power consumption, and operating temperature."

Here are some more Processor articles from around the web:

Processors

• Bulldozer for Servers: Testing AMD's "Interlagos" Opteron 6200 Series @ AnandTech
• AMD's Bulldozer server benchmarks are here, and they're a catastrophe @ Ars Technica
• How-To: 8 GHz on Bulldozer @ Overclockers.com
• AMD FX-8150 Bulldozer Overclocking On Ubuntu Linux @ Phoronix
• Desktop CPU Comparison Guide @ TechARP
• Intel HiZ Is Finally Ready For Sandy Bridge @ Phoronix
• Intel Core i7 3930K @ Tweaktown
• Intel Core i7-3930K, Core i7-3960X Extreme Edition Processors for LGA 2011 @ X-bit Labs
• Intel Core i7-3960X Extreme Edition CPU @ Benchmark Reviews

AMD Facebook Giveaway

Subject: General Tech | November 22, 2011 - 02:45 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: contest, amd

This year AMD is celebrating a gamer’s holiday and offering a gift a day through January 2 including a custom Eyefinity setup valued at over $3,000. A few of the stocking stuffers include:

• A Custom Eyefinity System valued at over $3,000
• A FX 8120/990FX/8GB/1TB Super Combo valued at $749
• 3 Dell UltraSharp 23-inch Monitors with LED
• 6 AMD FX 8150s
• 9 Radeon HD 6850s
• 9 Radeon FleX HD 6870s

Here is the link to AMD’s Gaming Giveaway Facebook tab:

https://www.facebook.com/AMD?sk=app_158415244247092#!/AMD?sk=app_222384104493588

Video Perspective: AMD A8-3850 vs Core i3-2105 on Modern Warfare 3

Subject: Graphics Cards, Processors | November 21, 2011 - 10:00 PM | Ryan Shrout
Tagged: video, sandy bridge, mw3, modern warfare 3, Intel, APU, amd

There is little denying that Call of Duty: Modern Warfar 3 is a success; I think it sold like 19 billion copies on the first night.  Something like that.  So, as we have done quite a bit in recent months, we wanted to see how our processor-graphics based solutions compared to each other in the title.  We recently took a look at how Battlefield 3 performed and we had a lot of great feedback on that post - so let's try this again!  

Luckily for gamers (or not, depending on your point of view), MW3 is pretty light on graphics hardware.  We did our testing at 1920x1080 with the following quality settings:

With 2x anti-aliasing enabled and most quality settings turned up to their highest options, the game still looked pretty good during our testing.  No, it's no Battlefield 3, but very few titles are.

Both systems come in with a total cost of about $450 with the Core i3-2105 and A8-3850 at the center of each configuration. 

As you might guess, the integrated graphics on the AMD Llano APU outperforms the Sandy Bridge graphics, but by how much?  Check out the video for all the details!

More rumours on AMD's multi-aliased next generation GPU

Subject: General Tech | November 18, 2011 - 12:22 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: amd, GCN, southern islands, HD7000

 Over at SemiAccurate you can find some information on AMD's next generation of GPU, some call it Graphics Next Core, HD7000 is likely and Southern Islands is common parlance as well ... just don't call it Tim.  The biggest news is the 384-bit memory bus which continues AMD's opposition to NVIDIA's lowered RAM size; there will be 3GB cards for those with monitors large enough to benefit from the larger memory size.  They also have pricing; subject to much change of course.

"AMD logoIt looks like AMD (NYSE:AMD) is planning on launching desktop HD7000 GPUs in January, and SemiAccurate just got a few more bits about them. There isn’t much new, January launch for Tahiti XT, followed by Tahiti Pro a month later, then Pitcairn XT in March, Pro in April."

Here is some more Tech News from around the web:

Tech Talk

• Interview Intel's Anna Cheng - X79 @ kitguru
• ARM builds new R&D center in Taiwan @ DigiTimes
• Microsoft's Windows 8 secure boot process is foiled by researcher @ The Inquirer

Podcast #179 - Sandy Bridge-E Review, X79 Motherboards, a new NAS device from Western Digital, Aquarium PCs and more!

Subject: Editorial | November 17, 2011 - 04:17 PM | Ken Addison
Tagged: x79, western digital, storage, sandy bridge-e, podcast, nvidia, NAS, Intel, amd

PC Perspective Podcast #179 - 11/17/2011

Join us this week as we talk about our Sandy Bridge-E Review, X79 Motherboards, a new NAS device from Western Digital, Aquarium PCs and more!

You can subscribe to us through iTunes and you can still access it directly through the RSS page HERE.

The URL for the podcast is: http://pcper.com/podcast - Share with your friends!

• iTunes - Subscribe to the podcast directly through the iTunes Store
• RSS - Subscribe through your regular RSS reader
• MP3 - Direct download link to the MP3 file

Hosts: Ryan Shrout, Josh Walrath, Jeremy Hellstrom, and Allyn Malvantano

Program length: 1:14:31

Program Schedule:

1. 0:00:24 Introduction
2. 1-888-38-PCPER or podcast@pcper.com
3. http://pcper.com/podcast
4. http://twitter.com/ryanshrout and http://twitter.com/pcper
5. 0:02:00 Intel Sandy Bridge-E Review - Core i7-3960X and X79 Chipset Tested
   1. Sandy Bridge-E Prices Leaked In Company Bulletin
6. 0:27:45 X79 Motherboard Roundup Video Preview
   1. ASUS
   2. Gigabyte
   3. MSI
7. 0:28:53 Alienware M17x (R3) Gaming Notebook Review: It Glows!
8. 0:30:25 Thermaltake Toughpower Grand 1200W Power Supply Review
9. 0:31:20 NVIDIA Reports Q3 2012 Results
10. 0:39:15 Western Digital launches Sentinel Series of NAS devices, bringing enterprise features to the small business.
11. 0:46:20 The mineral oil in this Aquarium will be hard on the fish but not your components
12. 0:53:45 Antec Announces P280 Enclosure
13. 0:54:50 Win a Free Copy of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim from PC Perspective
    1. You missed it, but Jared H. didn't!
14. 0:56:15 Bulldozers at Knights Corner; duelling server chips
15. 0:59:45 More Free Stuff Friday: XFX Radeon HD 6870 and Deus Ex: Human Revolution
16. 1:00:12 The Intel 32 in 32 Challenge on Facebook
17. 1:01:22 Free Stuff Wednesday: Gigabyte G1 Assassin X58 Motherboard Giveaway!!
18. 1:02:15 Hardware / Software Pick of the Week
    1. Ryan: Random.org - finally get an answer to "where should we eat tonight?"
    2. Jeremy: Buckets are teh win but to be more useful Disconnect for Chrome is a nice choice
    3. Josh: Fast 120GB SSD for $140
    4. Allyn: Ironkey - now available in MLC
19. 1-888-38-PCPER or podcast@pcper.com
20. http://pcper.com/podcast   
21. http://twitter.com/ryanshrout and http://twitter.com/pcper
22. Closing

Heard of the AMD VISION Engine?

Subject: Graphics Cards, Processors | November 15, 2011 - 05:22 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: AMD VISION Engine, amd, fusion, APU, steady video

The AMD VISION Engine is the name that AMD is using to describe the new features they are offering for users of their GPUs, APUs and those with both.  One example is the AMD Steady Video feature that Ryan and Ken showed off in July.  That is not all, this encompasses the hybrid Crossfire that exists in Llano laptops with discrete GPUs straight through to support for 30bit colour depth (aka 10bit per channel, 10 bit per pixel) and the GPU accelerated Flash. 

If you are interested in getting more from your APU then head to the AMD VISION site to download their driver package, think of it as a Catalyst with benefits.

This one goes all the way to 11! The November Catalyst update is here.

Subject: Graphics Cards | November 15, 2011 - 05:06 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: catalyst, catalyst 11.11, amd

Head to AMD for your newest version of Catalyst as the November update arrives for download.  

Highlights this month include:

NEW FEATURES

• Adobe Flash Player 11 support
• Enables full support of the GPU accelerated Stage 3D API and Stage 3D applications
• Supported on the AMD Radeon HD Series of GPUs, A-Series APU and E-Series APU

RESOLVED ISSUES

Resolved Issues for the Windows 7 Operating System:

• Images and textures are no longer corrupted (Blue) in Rage.
• Bezel compensation now works correctly with Far Cry 2.
• Screen tearing is no longer randomly observed while moving a window on the desktop while in Clone mode or Eyefinity mode.
• A black screen is no longer observed when extending displays. 
• Homefront no longer crashes randomly when Crossfire is enabled.
• DC – Universe Online no longer hangs soon after selecting a character and entering the game.

AMD Catalyst Linux introduces:

• OpenSUSE 12.1 early look support
• Seamless GPU Compute support
• The AMD Accelerated Parallel Processing (APP) OpenCL runtime is now enabled by default within the AMD Catalyst driver for Linux.  Applications that leverage OpenCL for GPU based compute tasks will automatically benefit from the significant performance boost that this provides

The rest of the release notes can be found here.