Ivy Bridge and X79, it might not be great news but now you know
Subject: General Tech | August 1, 2011 - 01:53 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: Ivy Bridge, x79, Waimea Bay, sandy bridge-e
It almost seems as if AMD is the only company managing to keep up to their schedules, though you could argue that they don't have a CEO cracking the whip and pushing forward release dates. First NVIDIA's GPU woes and now thanks to VR-Zone we know that the X79 Waimea Bay chipset won't be made available until November, which significantly reduces the chances of it being under your Christmas Tree. It should get them to major manufacturers in time for them to consider the platform when they release their 2012 lineup, but as system builders we can only hope that someone pushes out a product as quickly as possible, so we can pick it up and spend January dealing with the inevitable bugs you get from pushing something out early.
But wait, that's not all ... how does an Ivy Bridge processor locked at a 100MHz base clock strike you? It seems that is what Intel is planning on releasing with both Ivy Bridge and Sandy Bridge-E, with a less than useful exception. Both chip architectures will be theoretically overclockable, but not in the single MHz steps that we have become used to. Instead Ivy Bridge will offer you the ability to jump from 100MHz to 133MHz, no stops in between. Sandy Bridge-E will offer higher stops but again it will limit you to only those frequency jumps, something the overclocking community is not going to appreciate.
"We don't like to be the bringers of bad news, but it's come to our attention that Intel has decided to change its high-end consumer Waimea Bay platform one more time before it launches. The only good news is that we've managed to pin-point which month the platform is expected to launch and that is November and there are several reasons behind this choice."
Here is some more Tech News from around the web:
- AMD to launch high-end FX series processors in September @ DigiTimes
- Next Generation GPUs: AMD's Cray On a Chip? @ VR-Zone
- Q & A With Western Digital @ Tech ARP
- Q & A With Western Digital Part 2 @ Tech ARP
- TechwareLabs 2011 Video Interview with Intel Mobility Brand Manager
- Chrome Extension Helps Find Noisy Tabs @ Slashdot
- Sneaky online tracking used by major websites is exposed @ The Inquirer
- Bandai Namco Gaming Event July 2011 @ HardwareHeaven
- The Summer of Honeycomb, Part 3: Win a Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 @ AnandTech
- Win a Nokia E6 Smartphone @ t-break
Llano's dance card is available, pick a date with your favourite new AMD APU tomorrow
Subject: General Tech | June 29, 2011 - 11:29 AM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: x79, release, llano, Intel, brazos, APU, amd
DigiTimes has announced that the 32nm Llano we've all be waiting for will be arriving tomorrow with the A75 chipset in tow. A pair of A8s and a pair of A6's should be available for you over the next few weeks, with a refresh of less powerful A4 APUs set for the Fall/Winter of 2011. The last quarter will also see AMD flesh out their lineups of A8 and A6 CPUs and the first arrival of the E-series for their Brazos platform.
You'll have to wait a while longer for Scorpius, it is not scheduled to hit until the beginning of 2012, which means Intel's X79 chipset will be out along with a few new i3 and i5 models and even a new Celeron.
"CPU maker AMD is set to announce its latest 32nm A series APU codenamed Llano on June 30 with motherboard makers including Asustek Computer, Gigabyte Technology and Micro-Star International (MSI) all having announced products based on AMD's A75 chipset, according to sources from motherboard players.
In early July, AMD will initially supply its FM1-based A8-3850, A8-3800, A6-3650 and A6-3600 APUs with A6-3500, A4-3400, A4-3300, A8-3870, A8-3820, A6-3670 and A6-3620 APUs set for launch in the fourth quarter along with E2-3200. In September, AMD will also announce E-450 and E300 for its Brazos platform.
For the high-end Scorpius platform, AMD will announce the AM3+-based FX-8150, FX8100, FX6100 and FX4100 by the end of September with FX8170, FX8120, FX6120 and FX4140 set for the first quarter of 2012.
For chipsets, AMD will launch A75 (Hudson D3) and A55 (Hudson D2) together with its A series APU, and is set to launch a chipset codenamed Hudson D4 in February 2012.
On the other hand, Intel is also prepared to launch its high-end X79 chipset after September along with 11 upgraded CPUs including Core i5-2320, Core i3-2120T, Core i3-2130 and G540.
The sources pointed out that AMD is targeting Llano at the entry-level and mainstream markets, competing mainly against Intel's Core i3 and Pentium, while E-450 and E300 will target Intel's G440, 540 and 530 series."
Here is some more Tech News from around the web:
- Inside Google+: how the search giant plans to go social @ Ars Technica
- Office 365 goes live, gives SMBs a taste of the enterprise @ Ars Technica
- Google in preemptive strike on Microsoft Office 365 @ The Register
- McAfee to wipe mess off .xxx pr0n sites @ The Register
- Surprising Power Consumption Of Ubuntu 11.04 vs. Windows 7 @ Phoronix
- Lowepro LP34711-0AM Black Ridge 10 Camera Case @ Rbmods
- Custom Firmware Alternatives For Your Wireless Router @ TechSpot
- Sapphire Office Visit - X79 Revealed @ Ninjalane
- SkyMall’s Most Bizarre Products – Part 13 @ Hardware Secrets
- 5 Ways OS X Lion Will Increase Productivity @ Techware Labs
- Win a Dell XPS Laptop with Overclock3D & Dell Outlet
PC Perspective Podcast #159 - AMD Llano Notebook Platform, AMD Fusion platform architecture, X79 Rumors, the deal about BAPCo and more!
Subject: General Tech | June 23, 2011 - 02:39 PM | Ken Addison
Tagged: x79, podcast, nvidia, llano, Intel, fusion, APU, amd
PC Perspective Podcast #159 - 6/23/2011
This week we talk about the AMD Llano Notebook Platform, AMD Fusion platform architecture, X79 Rumors, the deal about BAPCo and more!
You can subscribe to us through iTunes and you can still
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, Jeremy Hellstrom, Josh Walrath and Allyn Malventano
This Podcast is brought to you by
Program Schedule:
- 0:00:30 Introduction
- 1-888-38-PCPER or podcast@pcper.com
- http://pcper.com/podcast
- http://twitter.com/ryanshrout and http://twitter.com/pcper
- 0:01:50 AMD A-Series Llano APU Sabine Notebook Platform Review
- 0:05:00 AMD Fusion System Architecture Overview - Southern Isle GPUs and Beyond
- 0:33:24 This Podcast is brought to you by
MSI Computer , and their all new Sandy Bridge Motherboards! - 0:34:00 AFDS11: AMD Demonstrates Trinity Powered Notebook
- 0:35:45 AFDS11: ARM Talks Dark Silicon and Computing Bias at Fusion Summit
- 0:41:30 AFDS11: Microsoft Announces C++ AMP, Competitor to OpenCL
- 0:45:45 New Rumor Indicates X79 Chipset Will Support Both 1366 and 2011 Sockets
- 0:49:49 Microsoft is probably laughing as AMD speculates the unlikelihood of Intel buying NVIDIA
- 0:54:45 Larrabee rides again, almost ... meet Knights Corner the new Many Integrated Core design
- 0:58:35 What's the big deal with BAPCo? Why Benchmarking Matters
- 1:05:20 Crysis 2: Cry Harder (with DX11 and High Res textures)
- 1:06:00 *Allyn Show and Tell*
- 1:12:45 Quakecon Reminder - http://www.quakecon.org/
- 1:13:17 Hardware / Software Pick of the Week
- http://pcper.com/podcast
- http://twitter.com/ryanshrout and http://twitter.com/pcper
- 1:25:45 Closing
New Rumor Indicates X79 Chipset Will Support Both 1366 and 2011 Sockets
Subject: Motherboards | June 14, 2011 - 06:35 PM | Tim Verry
Tagged: x79, rumor, lga 2011, lga 1366, Intel, cpu
Xbit Labs recently detailed a new rumor concerning Intel’s upcoming X79 chipset. According to a leaked document viewed by them, X79 will support both Intel’s current and upcoming high end processors sockets in the form of LGA 1366 and LGA 2011. What this means for the end user is that they will be able to purchase a x79 based motherboard that will support either Nehalem or Sandy Bridge-E processors, unless motherboard manufacturers decide to splurge and include both sockets on one board like the Asus’ concept board shown at Computex 2011. This means that while DIY enthusiasts and gamers are not likely to use these motherboards as an upgrade path to Sandy Bridge (as a CPU upgrade would likely still necessitate a motherboard upgrade due to both sockets not being physically present), IT departments will likely appreciate the continued support of the older 1366 processors on new motherboards as it will make replacement parts easy to find for high end 1366 based workstations.
On the other hand, manufacturers will benefit the most from the X79 chipset supporting multiple sockets, and thus reducing costs. This cost reduction may then allow for cheaper end-user costs.
Intel itself is planning to manufacture two X79 motherboards named the DX79SI and DX79TO, will each support LGA 1366 and LGA 2011 respectively. Xbit Labs reports that the DX79SI board is planned to be a feature packed LGA 2011, no-compromise affair, with support for up to 64GB of RAM (eight DIMM slots), three PCI-E 3.0 slots for multi-GPU configurations, 12 SATA (six SATA 3 6GB/s, six SATA 2 3GB/s) ports, four USB 3.0, 14 USB 2.0, 8-channel audio, Wifi and Bluetooth, and two Gigabit Ethernet connections.
In contrast, the DX79TO will feature a LGA 1366 socket, and brings two PCI-E 2.0 x16 slots, 8 SATA connectors (likely four SATA 3, four SATA 2), 2 USB 3.0, 6-channel audio, a single Gigabit Ethernet connection, and DDR3 memory support (there are no details on the exact DIMM configuration supported yet).
By lowering the cost of supporting two high-end CPU lines and platforms, Intel, motherboard manufacturers, and consumers likely have a win-win-win situation, providing that the rumor comes to fruition.
ECS Motherboards on display at Computex 2011
Subject: Motherboards, Shows and Expos | June 4, 2011 - 10:42 PM | Ryan Shrout
Tagged: x79, fusion, ECS, e-350, computex, 990fx
ECS, aka Elitegroup, had a large booth at Computex that focused more on its ODM aspects than consumer aspects, but there were still a couple of interesting designs to look at.
The board we spotted was the new A990FXM-A motherboard that is of course based on the latest 990FX chipset from AMD. Supporting the AM3+ processor socket and thus the pending AMD Bulldozer processors, the 990FX is going to be a long term product rather than a short term. One interesting addition to the board is found on the chipset heatsink that has a temperature reactive plastic on it that will turn from grey to orange-ish as the ambient case temperature increases. This could be a great feature to easily gauge the heat level inside a windowed case.
Also an interesting move, ECS has elongated the receptacle on the 8-pin CPU power connection to make it easier to plug in and to remove. If you have ever experienced a pinched finger or sliced finger nail from trying to reach down and unplug an ATX connector, you will see this as a nice addition.
ECS also had its X79 motherboard variant on display, showing the company's readiness for the pending Sandy Bridge-E release.
Also on the motherboard wall was the upcoming A75F-A with support for the AMD Llano Fusion-based processors that should be ready later in the summer.
Finally, a motherboard that we have just recently received for review purposes, the HDC-I is an AMD E-350 or E-240 Zacate platform mini-ITX form factor. This solution might be a great option for users looking to build an HTPC box so be sure you check out our full review coming shortly.
Computex 2011 Coverage brought to you by MSI Computer and Antec
MSI shows Gen3 PCIe, X79 Motherboard and GTX 580 Extreme
Subject: Graphics Cards, Motherboards, Shows and Expos | June 1, 2011 - 07:57 AM | Ryan Shrout
Tagged: computex, msi, pcie, x79, 990fx, z68
MSI had quite a showing at this year's Computex starting with a host of new motherboards based on the Z68 chipset. The most interesting of which was the new Z68A-GD80 (G3) that in addition to including all the features of the Sandy Bridge processor, SLI, CrossFire, Lucid Virtu and things like OC Genie II and Military Class Components II, is the first motherboard we have seen that integrates support for the PCI Express 3.0 specification.
MSI was able to do this by simply adhering to the already existing PCIe 3.0 specifications and claims the performance doubles from 8 GB/s up to 16 GB/s (for a x16 connection). Even though there are no PCIe 3.0 accessories or graphics cards on the market today, MSI has seen performance improvements when testing PCI Express based solid state drives like the OCZ Revo. We are eager to get this board in the hands of our storage guru and see what advantages it offers users today.
Next up is the new MSI 990FXA-GD80 motherboard based on AMD's latest 990FX chipset. We actually have one of these in the office and should have a review up shortly. With support for today's Phenom processors and tomorrow's Bulldozer-core based designs, I think the 990FX chipset will find its way into a lot of users machines.
Even further out into the future, we saw a glimpse of an MSI engineering sample for the pending Socket 2011 processors from Intel, the MSI X79A-GD65. Supporting the upcoming Sandy Bridge-E processor family and a new quad-channel memory controller, you can clearly see the 2011 socket is HUGE and requires the memory slots to be divided up on either side of it. A lot will change more than likely between now and this boards release but it is cool to see a preview of what is in store for us!
Finally, MSI did have another card in the Lightning series to show off, the N580GTX Lightning Xtreme Edition. This card has all the same engineering features of the previous Lightning models but adds in a couple of unique features called Smart Temp Sensor and Dust Removal.
The Smart Temp Sensor is actually a coating on the fan that changes from blue to white in appearance as the ambient temperature increases. If the inside of your chassis hits the 45C mark then the fans will be completely white and should give you an indication of system stability. My only concern is that even users with windows on their cases will have trouble seeing the fans on the graphics card cooler posted at a right angle.
The Dust Removal feature is more interesting in that it runs the fans on the Xtreme Edition in the reverse direction for the first 30 seconds of the power cycle and then return to the proper direction for cooling the heatsinks. The idea is that the 30 second reverse interval will help clear out dust from the heatsink and from the fan blades itself saving users in the long run.
Another interesting feature coming very soon to Android phone users is the ability to monitor and overclock your MSI graphics cards via an Afterburner app for your phone. This will be available this month or early in July for Android and *maybe* by the end of the year for iPhone.
Computex 2011 Coverage brought to you by MSI Computer and Antec
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