IDF 2011: Other Foundries Falling Further Behind Intel Technology
Subject: General Tech, Processors | September 13, 2011 - 06:07 PM | Ryan Shrout
Tagged: TSMC, idf 2011, idf, GLOBALFOUNDRIES
While learning about the intricacies of the Intel tri-gate 22nm process technology at the Intel Developer Forum, Senior Intel Fellow Mark Bohr surprised me a bit by discussing the competition in the foundry market. Bohr mentioned the performance advantages and competitive edge that the new 22nm technology offers but also decided to mention that other companies like TSMC, GlobalFoundries, Samsung and IBM are behind, and falling further behind as we speak.
When Intel introduced strained silicon in 2003, it took competition until 2007 to implement it. For High-K Metal Gate technology that Intel brought into market in 2007 it wasn't until 2011 that AMD introduced in its product line. Finally, with tri-gate coming in 2011, GlobalFoundries is talking about getting it implemented in the 2015 time frame.
Obviously those are some long delays but more important to note is that the gap between Intel and the field's implementations has been getting longer. Three years for strained silicon, three and a half for high K and up to four years for tri-gate. Of course, we could all be surprised to see tri-gate come from a competitor earlier, but if this schedule stays true, it could mean an increasing advantage for Intel's products over AMD's and eventually into ARM's.
This also discounts the occasional advantage that AMD had over Intel in the past like being the first to integrate copper interconnects (on the first Athlon) and the first to develop a Silicon-on-Insulator product (starting with the 130nm process); though Intel never actually adopted SOI.
Look at the AMD overclocking results, not the Intel Developers Forum
Subject: Processors | September 13, 2011 - 02:14 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: overclocking, amd fx, bulldozer
Although the record was set a few weeks ago, we didn't have a chance to see it until today. A group of overclockers pushed a new AMD FX 8150 Bulldozer chip up to 8.429GHz which breaks the old record for highest CPU frequency set with a Celeron 352. You need liquid helium to manage this so do not expect to see that kind of result with air cooling. If you check out [H]ard|OCP 's video coverage you will see the performance of water, phase change and LN2 with the FX8150, though you probably know about it already since you have watched Ryan's coverage.
"If you are wondering how well the new AMD FX CPU will overclock, you are not alone. AMD let us have some behind-the-scenes access a couple of weeks ago and is now allowing us to show off the results. We shot a lot of video and show you AMD FX overclocking on water, phase change, and liquid nitrogen."
Here are some more Processor articles from around the web:
- AMD FX-8150 'Bulldozer' Hits 8.4GHz and Breaks Overclocking World Record @ Legit Reviews
- AMD Bulldozer CPU Sets Overclocking World Record 8.429Ghz @ TechwareLabs
- Bulldozer Overclocked @ Bjorn3D
- MD FX Bulldozer Breaks CPU Frequency World Record @ Overclockers.com
- AMD Bulldozer Overclocking Event Coverage @ Neoseeker
- CPU Performance Comparison Guide @ TechARP
- Workstation & Server CPU Comparison Guide @ TechARP
- Intel's New SNB Acceleration Architecture Still Maturing @ Phoronix
- Intel Celeron G540 and Celeron G440 @ X-bit Labs
- Intel Sandy Bridge Acceleration On Non-SNB Hardware @ Phoronix
- Intel Core i3 2120 @ Phoronix
- Intel Core i5-2405S @ OC3D
- All Core i3 Models @ Hardware Secrets
IDF 2011: Intels Shows a PC Running on Solar Power
Subject: General Tech, Processors | September 13, 2011 - 01:22 PM | Ryan Shrout
Tagged: solar power, solar cell, idf 2011, idf
While on stage during today's opening keynote at the Intel Developer Forum, Intel CEO Paul Otellini showed of a prototype processor running completely on a very small solar cell.
Paul on the left, Windows 7 in the center, prototype ultra-low power CPU on the right
Running Windows 7 and a small animated GIF of a cat wearing headphones, the unannounced CPU was being powered only by a small solar panel with a UV light pointed at it. Though Intel didn't give us specific voltages or power consumption numbers they did say that it was running at "close to the threshold of the transistors". Assuming we are talking about the same or similar 22nm tri-gate transistors used in Haswell, we found this:
My mostly uneducated guess then was that they were able to run Windows 7 and this animation on a processor running somewhere around 0.1-0.2v; an impressive feat that would mean wonders for standby time and the all-day computing models. This is exactly what Intel's engineers have been targeting with their transistor and CPU designs in the last couple of years as it will allow Haswell to scale from desktop performance levels all the way to the smart phone markets on a single architecture.
Keep in mind only the CPU was being powered by the solar cell; the rest of the components including the hard drive, motherboard, etc were being powered by a standard power unit.
You can see the solar panel and UV light on the right hand side of this photo. Interestingly, when the presenter moved his hand between the light source and the panel, the system locked up, proving that it was indeed being powered by it.
IDF 2011: Intel Haswell Architecture Offers 20x Lower Standby Power
Subject: General Tech, Processors | September 13, 2011 - 01:05 PM | Ryan Shrout
Tagged: tri-gate, sandy bridge, Ivy Bridge, idf 2011, idf, haswell
The first keynote of the Intel Developer Forum is complete and it started with Paul Otellini discussing the high level direction for Intel in the future. One of the more interesting points made was not about Ivy Bridge, which we will all see very soon, but about Haswell, Intel's next microarchitecture meant to replace the Sandy Bridge designs sometime in late 2012 or early 2013. Expected to focus on having 8 processing cores, much improved graphics and the new AVX2 extenstion set, Haswell will also be built on the 3D tri-gate transistors announced over the summer.
Otellini describes Haswell's performance in two important metrics. First, it will use 30% less power than Sandy Bridge at the same performance levels. This is a significant step and could be the result of higher IPC as well as better efficiency thanks to the 22nm process technology.
Where Haswell really excels is apparently in the standby metric: as a platform it could use as much as 20x less power than current hardware. Obviously Intel's engineers have put a focus on power consumption more than performance and the results are beginning to show. The goals are simple but seemingly impossible to realize: REAL all-day power and more than 10 days of stand by time.
AMD Bulldozer Processor hits 8.429 GHz - New World Record!
Subject: Processors | September 13, 2011 - 09:03 AM | Ryan Shrout
Tagged: video, overclocking, FX, bulldozer, amd
There is a sub-culture in the computing world that is more or less analogous to the world of NHRA drag racing: liquid nitrogen overclocking. And if you are really serious, liquid helium. During a press event in Austin, TX in August to discuss the upcoming Bulldozer processor, a team of overclockers pushed the new architecture to frequencies well beyond safety and well beyond where they should be. Without giving away the whole story yet, AMD was able to set a new frequency world record...
Sami Mäkinen and his team hit 8.429GHz on liquid nitrogen and liquid helium with a near-production FX processor sample. This bests the reigning record of 8.308 GHz that was hit on a Celeron processor with LN2.
You can read AMD's take on the accomplishment by hitting up the AMD Blogs website or looking up Simon Solotko's directly.
On August 31, an AMD FX processor achieved a frequency of 8.429GHz, a stunning result for a modern, multi-core processor. The record was achieved with several days of preparation and an amazing and inspired run in front of world renowned technology press in Austin, Texas. This frequency bests the prior record of 8.309GHz, and completely blows away any modern desktop processor. Based on our overclocking tests, the AMD FX CPU is a clock eating monster, temporarily able to withstand extreme conditions to achieve amazing speed. Even with more conservative methods, the AMD FX processors, with multiplier unlocked throughout the range, appear to scale with cold. We achieved clock frequencies well above 5GHz using only air or sub-$100 water cooling solutions.
I was in attendance for the event and have to say that group put on a spectacular show and anytime you can play with liquid helium running at near absolute zero temperature, it's worth paying attention! In fact, I put together a video of the event that you can see below and if you haven't participated or seen something of this nature, it is worth checking out!!
Now I need to temper some dreams right now - the chances of you or I reaching these types of clock speeds on the Bulldozer CPUs upon release are pretty close to nil. What was more interesting was the casual overclocking we saw pushing upwards of 4.8+ GHz without breaking a sweat and that is what we will be investigating with our review of the processor later this year.
Update: Here is the screenshot from the official HWBot frequency rankings as well as a different video created by AMD themselves summarizing the event.
IDF 2011: Intel Developer Forum Coverage Coming Soon!
Subject: Editorial, General Tech, Motherboards, Processors, Chipsets | September 12, 2011 - 10:22 AM | Ryan Shrout
Tagged: Intel, idf 2011, idf
It is once again time for our annual pilgrimage to the land of the Golden Gate to spend a few days with our friends at Intel and the Intel Developer Forum. IDF is one of the most informative events that I attend and I am always impressed by the openness and detail with which Intel showcases its upcoming products and future roadmap. This year looks to be no different.
What do we have on the agenda? First and foremost, we expect to hear all about Ivy Bridge and the architecture changes it brings to the Sandy Bridge CPUs currently in the market. Will we see increased x86 performance or maybe increases in the likelihood of us recommending the integrated graphics? More information is set to be revealed on the 22nm tri-gate transistor as well as the X79 chipset and the Sandy Bridge-E enthusiast platform. SSDs and Ultrabooks are also set on the docket. It's going to be busy.
But what would a week in downtown San Francisco be without visits from other companies as well? We are set to meet with Lucid, MSI, ASUS, Gigabyte, Corsair, HP and of course, AMD. I expect we will have just as much to say about what each of these companies has on display as we do Intel's event.
I am planning on live blogging many of the sessions I will be attending so stay tuned to PC Perspective all week for the latest!!
Bulldozer Ships for Revenue
Some months back we covered the news that AMD had released its first revenue shipments of Llano. This was a big deal back then, as it was the first 32 nm based product from AMD, and one which could help AMD achieve power and performance parity with Intel in a number of platforms. Llano has gone on to be a decent seller for AMD, and it has had a positive effect on AMD’s marketshare in laptops. Where once AMD was a distant second in overall terms of power and performance in the mobile environment, Llano now allows them to get close to the CPU performance of the Intel processors, achieve much greater performance in graphics workloads, and has matched Intel in overall power consumption.
KY Wong and Marshall Kwait hand off the first box of Bulldozer based Interlagos processors to Cray's Joe Fitzgerald. Photo courtesy of AMD.
Some five months later we are now making the same type of announcement for AMD and their first revenue shipment of the Bulldozer core. The first chips off the line are actually “Interlagos” chips; basically server processors that feature upwards of 16 cores (8 modules, each module containing two integer units and then the shared 256 bit FPU/SSE SIMD unit). The first customer is Cray, purveyor of fine supercomputers everywhere. They will be integrating these new chips into their Cray XE6 supercomputers, which have been purchased by a handful of governmental and education entities around the world.
Continue reading for our analysis on AMD's processor future...
Podcast #169 - SSD Decoder Update, Antec SOLO II, ASUS Eee Pad Transformer, Ultrabook news and a Drobo contest!!
Subject: Editorial, General Tech, Graphics Cards, Processors, Storage, Mobile | September 8, 2011 - 03:23 PM | Ryan Shrout
Tagged: ultrabook, ssd, podcast, eee pad transformer, drobo, decoder, asus, antec
PC Perspective Podcast #169 - 9/08/2011
Join us this week as we discuss the MARS II combo on Newegg, an update to the SSD Decoder, the new Antec SOLO II chassis, our review of the ASUS Eee Pad Transformer tablet, news on Ultrabook development and even announce a new contest partnership with Drobo!
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!
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Hosts: Ryan Shrout, Josh Walrath, Jeremy Hellstrom, Allyn Malventano
This Podcast is brought to you by
Program Schedule:
- Introduction
- 1-888-38-PCPER or podcast@pcper.com
- http://pcper.com/podcast
- http://twitter.com/ryanshrout and http://twitter.com/pcper
- MARS II Combo for $4000!
- SSD Decoder Update
- Kingwin Stryker 500W Fanless Power Supply Review
- Video Perspective: Antec SOLO II Chassis Review
- ASUS Eee Pad Transformer TF101 Review: Assemble!
- This Podcast is brought to you by MSI Computer, and their all new Sandy Bridge Motherboards!
- Zotac Releases New ZBOX Nano AD10 Series Mini PCs
- Toshiba Unveils Portege Z830 Ultrabook Series
- Bulldozer Infused Trinity APU Specifications Confirmed
- Intel Unveils 16 New 32nm Processors
- AMD Ships Bulldozer for Revenue- Interlagos though- will write up after the podcast and post on front page.
- Magma Unveils the First Three-Slot Thunderbolt Expansion Chassis
- Drobo contest
- Email from Wes about GPU selection
- Email from Chris about GPU whine
- Email from Lee about SSD security
- Email from a mystery writer about GPU stuttering
- Finally, a VIDEO QUESTION from David!
- Hardware / Software Pick of the Week
- Ryan: Blackmagic Intensity Pro
- Jeremy: Coil gun revolver with laser sty ((sight?) so there)
- Josh: Thermaltake eSports Shock Spin Diamond Black
- Allyn: Surefire LED flashlights
- 1-888-38-PCPER or podcast@pcper.com
- http://pcper.com/podcast
- http://twitter.com/ryanshrout and http://twitter.com/pcper
- Closing
AMD Introduces A4-3300 and A4-3400 Desktop APU To Expand Brilliant HD Lineup
Subject: Processors | September 7, 2011 - 02:14 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: amd, A4-3400, A4-3300
AMD today announced availability of the AMD A-Series Accelerated Processing Unit (APU) A4-3300 and A4-3400 desktop processors, bringing the entry-level desktop APU price down to just $70 (U.S. suggested retail price) for consumers who want PCs with brilliant HD graphics, advanced performance, and fast application and connectivity speeds.
The AMD A4-3300 and A4-3400 desktop APUs each combine two x86 CPU cores with 160 Radeon cores, enabling powerful DirectX 11-capable discrete level graphics and dedicated HD video processing on a single chip. These dualcore APUs enable responsive and energy-efficient performance for everyday PC productivity and multitasking, as well as an amazing gaming experience.
In addition to leading-edge graphics and competitive compute power, the AMD A4-3300 and A4-3400 APUs support:
- AMD Steady Video for instant removal of shakes and jitters when rewatching video, so content looks steady and smoothing.
- AMD Dual Graphics for a visual performance boost when paired with select AMD Radeon HD 6000 Series graphics cards .
- Integrated USB 3.0 controller for rapid transfer and storage of digital content.
- AMD VISION Engine Software to provide users with regular updates to help improve system performance and stability, and to introduce new software enhancements.
With a suggested retail price of $70.00 (U.S), the AMD A4-3300 APU operates at 2.5GHz (CPU) and 444MHz (GPU) with 160 Radeon Cores, 1MB of L2 cache and a TDP of 65W.
With a suggested retail price of $75.00 (U.S), the AMD A4-3400 APU operates at 2.7GHz (CPU) and 600MHz (GPU) with 160 Radeon Cores, 1MB of L2 cache and a TDP of 65W.
(No sign of them on NewEgg as of yet)
All AMD A-Series processors are designed for use with FM1 motherboards. AMD A4 APUs require the AMD Vision Engine Control Center 11.8 driver release or later releases.
Intel Unveils 16 New 32nm Processors
Subject: Processors | September 5, 2011 - 09:52 PM | Tim Verry
Tagged: sandy bridge, pentium, Intel, cpu, Core, celeron, 32nm
Intel today released a price list which included 16 new 32nm processors. The new additions fill in gaps in the Celeron, Pentium, and Core product lines. The new additions are then further broken down into the desktop and mobile camps. On the desktop front, there are four Celeron models ranging from $47 to $52, three Pentium models ranging from $70 to $86, and four new Core i series processors ranging from $127 to $177. Within that range, there are three hyper-threaded dual core Core i3 part and one quad core Core i5 processor.
The mobile additions include one low end and four high end models. On the low end is the dual core Celeron B840 at 1.9GHz with 2 MB L3 cache and 35W TDP. On the high end are four Core i7 chips. The Core i7 2640M is a $346 part and is a hyper-threaded dual core chip at 2.8 GHz, 4 MB L3 cache, and 35W TDP. The Core i7 2760QM is a hyper-threaded quad core part at 2.4 GHz, 6 MB L3 cache, and a 45W TDP. As another 45W TDP part, the Core i7 2860 QM is also a hyper-threaded quad core at 2.5 GHz with 8 MB L3 cache. The highest end mobile chip addition is the Core i7 2960XM, which is a hyper-threaded quad core at 2.7 GHz, a 55W TDP, and 8 MB of L3 cache.
As you can see, there are quite a few new additions filling out the product lineup at various price points and performance segments. See the chart below for the full list and specs.
| Processor | Clockspeed | Cores/Threads | L3 Cache | TDP | Price | |
| Desktop | ||||||
| Core i5-2320 | 3.0 GHz | 4/4 | 6MB | 95W | $177 | |
| Core i3-2130 | 3.4 GHz | 2/4 | 3MB | 65W | $138 | |
| Core i3-2125 | 3.3 GHz | 2/4 | 3MB | 65W | $134 | |
| Core i3-2120T | 2.6 GHz | 2/4 | 3MB | 35W | $127 | |
| Pentium G860 | 3.0 GHz | 2/2 | 3MB | 65W | $86 | |
| Pentium G630 | 2.7 GHz | 2/2 | 3MB | 65W | $75 | |
| Pentium G630T | 2.3 GHz | 2/2 | 3MB | 35W | $70 | |
| Celeron G540 | 2.5 GHz | 2/2 | 2MB | 65W | $52 | |
| Celeron G530T | 2.0 GHz | 2/2 | 2MB | 35W | $47 | |
| Celeron G530 | 2.4 GHz | 2/2 | 2MB | 65W | $42 | |
| Celeron G440 | 1.6 GHz | 1/1 | 1MB | 35W | $37 | |
| Mobile | ||||||
| Core i7-2960XM | 2.7 GHz | 4/8 | 8MB | 55W | $1,096 | |
| Core i7-2860QM | 2.5 GHz | 4/8 | 8MB | 45W | $568 | |
| Core i7-2760QM | 2.4 GHz | 4/8 | 6MB | 45W | $378 | |
| Core i7-2640M | 2.8 GHz | 2/4 | 4MB | 35W | $346 | |
| Celeron B840 | 1.9 GHz | 2/2 | 2MB | 35W | $86 |
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