More Llano because you know you llove it

Subject: Processors | June 23, 2011 - 12:32 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: llano, amd, AFDS

Since Llano is the best news we have seen from AMD in quite a while here is more coverage of the APU and the AMD Fusion Developer Summit, this time from The Tech Report.  They take an A8-3500M APU and Radeon HD 6620G powered laptop and pit it against an HP ProBook 6460b with a Core i5-2410M and HD3000.   The TDP of both processors is 35W and they are likely going to be priced similarly once Llano powered laptops hit the market.  As with Ryan's review, for CPU bound tests the AMD processor lags far behind but once the GPU power comes into play the positions are completely reversed.  It will be interesting to see how AMD positions Llano in the marketplace.

"Can AMD's 'Llano' APU really take on Intel's excellent Sandy Bridge processors and hold its own? We've taken a deep look at its architecture and performance in order to find out."

Here are some more Processor articles from around the web:

Processors

• AMD Llano A8-3500M APU Review @ t-break
• More Linux Benchmarks Of The AMD A8-3500M Fusion APU @ Phoronix
• AMD's Fusion Developer Summit was a success @ The Inquirer
• CPU Performance Comparison Guide Rev. 5.6 @ TechARP

AMD is out and ARM is in for several major notebook vendors

Subject: General Tech, Mobile | June 22, 2011 - 12:05 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: arm, amd, texas instruments, snapdragon, amazon, tegra

It is not just AMD which is forging a new relationship with ARM, which we saw evidence of during the AMD Fusion Developer Summit, several other manufacturers are making good on previous statements made while waiting for AMD, and are going to be selling ARM based notebooks.  These companies are not on the fringe of the market, these are major vendors like ASUS which are releasing quad-core ARM based notebooks which will use SnapDragon, Tegra or TI for the graphics portion.  DigiTimes has the scoop here, as well as news on a tablet which will be released by Amazon running an unspecified TI processor which we should see by August.

"Several vendors, including Samsung Electronics, Toshiba, Acer and Asustek Computer, plan to develop ARM architecture notebooks, with products possibly to be launched as early as the end of 2011, according to industry sources.

The sources pointed out that ARM-based systems using Android were already launched under the smartbook name two years ago with Toshiba and Lenovo both launching products in the retail channel. However, due to weaker than expected demand, the related products were soon phased out of the market.

Since ARM's CPU has already been upgraded from single-core two years ago to quad-core with a significant increase in performance, while the platform's storage capacity has also seen significant improvements, and an enhanced user interface, ARM is already capable of launching notebook products that are able to run for a long period of time, and if the price is attractive, there is a great chance for the products to create a brand new market segment in the IT industry.

Asustek has already made plans to launch a 13-inch ARM-based notebook adopting Nvidia's processor with Android.

The sources pointed out that there are already several brand vendors reportedly set to launch ARM-based notebooks with prices lower than US$299 to compete for market share and the vendors' processor choices include Nvidia's Tegra, Qualcomm's Snapdragon and processors from Texas Instruments."

Here is some more Tech News from around the web:

Tech Talk

• Google Chrome extension detects dangerous websites @ The Register
• Programmers urged to code with their tootsies @ The Register
• The Linux Kernel Power Problems On Older Desktop Hardware @ Phoronix
• Making Airsoft guns far more potent @ Hack a Day
• AMD Rejects BAPCo's SYSmark 2012 - Should We? @ Techgage

What's the big deal with BAPCo? Why Benchmarking Matters

Subject: Editorial, General Tech | June 21, 2011 - 02:36 PM | Ryan Shrout
Tagged: VIA, sysmark, nvidia, Intel, benchmark, bapco, amd

It seems that all the tech community is talking about today is BAPCo and its benchmarking suite called Sysmark.  A new version, 2012, was released just recently and yesterday we found out that AMD, NVIDIA and VIA have all dropped their support of the "Business Applications Performance Corporation".  Obviously those companies have a beef with the benchmark as it is, yet somehow one company stands behind the test: Intel.

Everyone you know of is posting about it.  My twitter feed "asplode" with comments like this:

AMD quits BAPCo, says SYSmark is nutso. Nvidia and VIA, they say, also. http://bit.ly/kHvKux

AMD: Voting For Openness: In order to get a better understanding of AMD's press release earlier concerning BAPCO... http://bit.ly/kNtKkj

Ooh, BapCo drama.

Why Legit Reviews won't use the latest BAPCo benchmark: http://t.co/G0VHgCo@LegitReviews#BAPCo

Even PC Perspective posted on this drama yesterday afternoon saying: "The disputes centered mostly over the release of SYSmark 2012. For years various members have been complaining about various aspects of the product which they allege Intel strikes down and ignores while designing each version. One major complaint is the lack of reporting on the computer’s GPU performance which is quickly becoming beyond relevant to an actual system’s overall performance. With NVIDIA, AMD, and VIA gone from the consortium, Intel is pretty much left alone in the company: now officially."

Obviously while cutting the grass this morning this is the topic swirling through my head; so thanks for that everyone.  My question is this: does it really matter and how is this any different than it has been for YEARS?  The cynical side of me says that AMD, NVIDIA and VIA all dropped out because each company's particular products aren't stacking up as well as Intel's when it comes to the total resulting score.  Intel makes the world's fastest CPUs, I don't think anyone with a brain will dispute that, and as such on benchmarks that test the CPU, they are going to have the edge.  

We recently reviewed the AMD Llano-based Sabine platform and in CPU-centric tests like SiSoft Sandra, TrueCrypt and 7zip the AMD APU is noticeably slower.  But AMD isn't sending out press releases and posting blogs about how these benchmarks don't show the true performance of a system as the end user will see.  And Intel isn't pondering why we used games like Far Cry 2 and Just Cause 2 to show the AMD APU dominating there. Why?  Because these tests are part of a suite of benchmarks we use to show the overall performance of a system.  They are tools which competent reviewers wield in order to explain to readers why certain hardware acts in a certain way in certain circumstances.  

Continue reading for more on this topic...

You would think a Bulldozer would be easier to spot

Subject: General Tech | June 21, 2011 - 11:38 AM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: opteron, interlagos, bulldozer, amd

It might just be that the ISC is the perfect place to show off their new chip or it may have been Intel's displaying of the 50 core Knights Corner silicon yesterday; whatever triggered it we finally get a look at AMD's Bulldozer.  A 1U server by Supermicro contained two 16-core Bulldozer chips though other vendors are claiming to be able to fit a 4 socket system in the same size case.  Those sweet talking wonks over at The Inquirer not only talked their way into getting a few photos of the system they were even allowed to fondle it, which revealed heatsinks that were cool enough to touch even when running POVRay which lends credence to the idea of 4 CPUs, or 64 cores, in a 1U box.  We are still looking at Q3 for a release of the new Opteron architecture, with no news at all as to AMD's plans to turn that architecture into an APU in a later generation of chips.

What a little chutzpah gets you

"CHIP DESIGNER AMD chose the International Supercomputing Conference (ISC) to finally demonstrate a working Bulldozer system.

At AMD's ISC stand one could find several 2U and 4U servers built with older Opteron chips, but it was a 1U pizza box server made by Supermicro that housed two 16-core Bulldozer chips running live demonstrations of POVRay. This is the first time that AMD has publicly displayed its next generation Opteron processor, codenamed Bulldozer."

Here is some more Tech News from around the web:

Tech Talk

• 13-Year-Old Password Security Bug Fixed @ Slashdot
• McAfee announces Wavesecure security software @ The Inquirer
• Microsoft could buy RIM @ The Inquirer
• Intel to launch Ivy Bridge in March 2012 @ DigiTimes
• Google revives TV buzz with SageTV buy @ The Register
• Google bypasses admin controls with latest Chrome IE @ The Register
• Resistive memory: how small can you go? @ NanotechWeb

BAPCo: BUPKIS? AMD, NVIDIA, and VIA exodus

Subject: General Tech, Processors | June 20, 2011 - 04:46 PM | Scott Michaud
Tagged: VIA, sysmark, nvidia, bapco, amd

People like benchmarks. Benchmarks tell you which component to purchase while your mouse flutters between browser tabs of various Newegg or Amazon pages. Benchmarks let you see how awesome your PC is because often videogames will not for a couple of years. One benchmark you probably have not seen here in a very long time is Sysmark from the Business Applications Performance Corporation, known as BAPCo to its friends and well-wishers. There has been dispute over the political design of BAPCo and it eventually boiled over with AMD, NVIDIA, and VIA rolling off the sides of the pot.

Fixed that for you

The disputes centered mostly over the release of SYSmark 2012. For years various members have been complaining about various aspects of the product which they allege Intel strikes down and ignores while designing each version. One major complaint is the lack of reporting on the computer’s GPU performance which is quickly becoming beyond relevant to an actual system’s overall performance. With NVIDIA, AMD, and VIA gone from the consortium, Intel is pretty much left alone in the company: now officially.

Glean a bit more from the AMD Fusion Developer Summit

Subject: Graphics Cards | June 20, 2011 - 01:38 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: amd, Eric Demers, APU

The Tech Report was present for AMD's Eric Demers keynote at the FDC in Seattle last week.  They captured quite a few of the slides on camera which you can examine at the bottom of their article.  We have seen quite a bit of coverage on the next generation of AMD's Fusion processors, but how can you get sick of reading inside information!   Still no news on Bulldozer yet though. 

"At the Fusion Developer Summit here in Bellevue, Washington this morning, AMD Graphics CTO Eric Demers made some interesting revelations about his company's next graphics processor architecture. While he didn't talk about specific products, he did say this new core design will materialize inside all future AMD products with GPUs in them over the next few years."

Here are some more Graphics Card articles from around the web:

Graphics Cards

• Sapphire Radeon HD 6950 @ Phoronix
• Sapphire Radeon HD 6750 1GB Video Card Review @ ThinkComputers
• PowerColor HD 6850 SCS3 1 GB @ techPowerUp
• AMD Radeon 6450 512MB Graphics Card Review @ eTeknix
• Sapphire Radeon HD 6670 Ultimate Edition 1GB DDR5 DX 11 Video Card Review @Hi Tech Legion
• Sapphire HD 6750 @ Overclockers.com
• AMD vs Nvidia: 2nd gen DirectX 11 Battle of the GPUs @ t-break
• Sapphire Radeon HD 6670 Ultimate 1GB @ Tweaktown
• AMD Catalyst 11.6 Windows 7 Driver Analysis @ Tweaktown
• AMD Catalyst 11.6 Driver Analysis @ eTeknix
• A Fresh Look At The Nouveau Gallium3D Driver Performance @ Phoronix
• Workstation Graphics Card Comparison Guide @ TechARP
• Palit GeForce GT 520 1GB @OCAU

TSMC gets AMD's 28nm APU business

Subject: General Tech | June 17, 2011 - 02:24 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: TSMC, southern islands, northern islands, llano, global foundries, arm, amd, 40nm, 32nm, 28nm

Back in April there was a kerfuffle in the news about a deal penned between AMD, Global Foundries and TSMC.  It is not worth repeating completely as you can follow the story by using the previous link, suffice to say that it did not indicate problems with the relationship between AMD and Global Foundries. 

The previous post was specifically about 40nm and 32nm process chips, however today we hear from DigiTimes that TSMC has scored a deal with AMD for the 28nm Southern Islands APUs of which we have seen much recently.  The 40nm Northern Islands GPUs will also be produced by TSMC.  That leaves a lot of production capabilities free at Global Foundries to work on ARM processors.  

"AMD reportedly has completed the tape-out of its next-generation GPU, codenamed Southern Islands, on Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company's (TSMC) 28nm process with High-k Metal Gate (HKMG) technology, according to a Chinese-language Commercial Times report. The chip is set to expected to enter mass produciton at the end of 2011.

TSMC will also be AMD's major foundry partner for the 28nm Krishna and Wichita accelerated processing units (APUs), with volume production set to begin in the first half of 2012, the report said.

TSMC reportedly contract manufactures the Ontario, Zacate and Desna APUs for AMD as well as the Northern Island family of GPUs. All of these use the foundry's 40nm process technology.

TSMC was quoted as saying in previous reports that it had begun equipment move-in for the phase one facility of a new 12-inch fab (Fab 15) with volume production of 28nm technology products slated for the fourth quarter of 2011. The foundry previously said it would begin moving equipment into the facility in June, with volume production expected to kick off in the first quarter of 2012."

Here is some more Tech News from around the web:

Tech Talk

• ARM acquires Obsidian Software @ The Inquirer
• Mozilla pushes out final Firefox 5 test build @ The Register
• Sega Hacked @ XSReviews
• Tablets of 2011: What to Look For - June Update @ TechSpot
• A few thoughts on Ultrabooks @ The Tech Report
• Dsabling Windows Pagefile & Hibernation to Reclaim SSD Space @ Techgage
• Overclockers Benchmarking Party II: Where the Bell Tolls!
• Post Computex 2011 - Part 2 @ Bjorn3D