According to Next-Gen, PlayStation boss and Kaz Hirai claims that PlayStation 3s have done the same with Cell chips since last holiday season, and that Sony intends to finish the process of shrinking its major chips to 65nm with the RSX graphics processor this fall. Die shrinkage will mean a lot less to PlayStation buyers than it did to 360 owners suffering from the red ring of death on Microsoft's less-reliable 90nm parts, but it still means Sony can save some cash on producing and cooling PS3s -- and you shave a bit off your power bill.

[Via Joystiq]

Oh AMD, you just can't keep it together, can you? Advanced Micro Devices, a company known for its share of "issues," has once again delayed its much-hyped, energy efficient Barcelona CPU. Apparently, a technical irregularity has caused the company to push back the release date for widespread availability of the chip until sometime early next year. The glitch, which causes the chip to fail, is just another line of setbacks on the product's path to release (originally set for mid-2007). John Taylor, a company spokesman, says, "We're continuing to ship it but only to specific customers." The company is offering a workaround for the chips until the problems are solved, though users will see an impact on performance. In other heart-wrenching (though seemingly unrelated) AMD news, the chipmaker has decided to re-up its older K8 architecture, refocusing on "Brisbane"-based chips, and even adding a few new models to the line. Over the next two quarters, the company will release 11 new 65nm chips based on the older format, while just three new entries will be made in the "Phenom" -- or K10 -- line. Look, Hector, everyone is pulling for you (except maybe Intel) -- just get it together, man!

[Thanks, Gary J]

Read - A.M.D. Delays Energy-Efficient Chip Again
Read - AMD Resurrects K8 Architecture for 2008 Roadmap

It hasn't exactly been easy to pin down the exact type of chips used in the new 40GB PlayStation 3s, but Sony's Kaz Hirai now appears to have finally put the matter to rest -- at least for now. In an interview with the folks at Impress, he said that the new model does in fact use the swanky new 65nm process for the Cell chip after all, but not for the system's RSX graphics chip, which gets stuck with the same power-hungry 90nm chip as before. Despite that, Hirai says that the new Cell chip alone is enough to "cut the power usage of the system considerably," an amount that had previously been been reported as 120 to 140 watts (down from 200 watts before). In related news, Hirai also confirmed that neither the 20 or 60GB models (with their increased backwards compatibility) are in production at the moment, but he said that "depending on how the market reacts, it's possible for Sony to produce them again."

[Via IGN, thanks um]

We'd been hearing that Sony's new 40GB PS3 featured a revised design with a 65nm Cell processor and improved cooling, but sadly it looks like those reports were in error -- a Sony spokesperson has told Heise Online that the 40GB model continues to use 90mn processors, but does feature an updated design with a lower power consumption of just 120 to 140 watts, compared to 180 to 200 watts for the older models. Sony says its still planning on moving to 65nm processors in the near future, but for now, it looks like the PS3 is 90nm across the board.

[Thanks, Khattab]

It's been revealed that the new 40GB PlayStation 3 features more than just a cut down hard disk drive. Sony has also thought to stick the 65nm version of the Cell inside the new console, reducing the power usage down to around 135 Watts (down from 200 Watts.) That means the console also runs cooler and quieter, which is always a plus for a device that usually resides in the living room. Sony also jiggled around a few other components by making the heat pipe smaller, swapping out the motherboard for a new version, and added a button battery to keep time when the system is off. Looks like potential PS3 purchasers will be looking forward to a less noticeable din then.

[Thanks, Khattab]

We've been waiting and waiting, and after months of speculation, a hardware revision, a couple limited editions, and even a new SKU, it looks like Microsoft is finally shipping "Falcon"-equipped Xbox 360s with 65nm CPUs. According to the eagle-eyed posters in the official Xbox forums, Halo edition 360s from lot #734 appear to be the first machines with the new chips, and the time-honored method of peeking inside the case with a flashlight should confirm you have the latest and greatest once you get your baby home. Check the read links for tons more info (and a fun little flamewar).

[Image from user JWSpeed in the Xbox forums]

Read -- Original thread with pics of the new chipset
Read -- What to look for to see if you've got a 65nm 360

All set to one-up the 2.6GHz X7800, Intel has reportedly launched the 2.8GHz successor, unsurprisingly dubbed the Core 2 Extreme X7900. The processor purportedly relies on a 65-nanometer die, but boasts updated specs to go along with the 200MHz jump in speed. The chip will apparently offer up an 800MHz front-side-bus, chew through 44-watts of power, and arrive at OEMs unlocked and ready for a (likely minor) does of overclocking. At the GC Press Day, an Intel representative was said to be demonstrating the new CPU on the Asus G2 and a Dell M1730, but nothing was mentioned about a release date.

Well it appears that despite all of our wishing, hoping, and positive-thinking exercises, Microsoft has failed to deliver on a small dream of ours, namely, 65nm chips for the new HDMI-rocking Xbox 360 Premiums. Despite signs pointing otherwise, new photos show that this batch of systems continue to carry the Zephyr motherboard layout, which uses the older, hotter 90nm chips, though the boys in Redmond have addressed the heat issue a little bit with the addition of a second "daughter" heatsink attached to the CPU by heatpipe. The new 65nm "Falcon" boards -- which chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) confirmed are in production -- are still on their way according to the rumor mill, slated for release sometime this Fall. Interestingly, Microsoft and TSMC have just laid plans to produce the Xbox's graphics-memory subsystem using the chip manufacturer's 90nm embedded DRAM spec. We won't speculate on when we'll start seeing that addition appear, however.

It looks like after all the rumor-mongering and speculation, the bomb is in fact dropping on Xbox 360 Premium hopefuls: the game systems are shipping with HDMI. At least one lucky customer who purchased a Premium system at a Target in Atlanta is currently enjoying the spoils of Microsoft's not-so-secret addition, so hot out of tips and direct to your eyes, we present the first of many you'll be seeing with the much-discussed, built-in HDMI port (and obviously perhaps the cooler 65nm chips onboard). You can stop saving and start buying -- as long as your Xbox was built on or around July 4th, a date which will now be remembered for two reasons.

Update - Apparently, there's nothing "obvious" about that 65nm chip situation. Right now it looks like some may have it, and some may not.

[Via Shacknews, thanks Tim]

According to reports, contract chipmaker Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing has begun work on a 45-nanometer CPU designed specifically for a video game console, and the word on the street is that Microsoft is the company placing the order. The Singapore-based chip company, which produces the current Xbox 360 CPU, is set to begin work on the new design in late 2008 or early 2009. The smaller chip would mean lowered production costs, smaller power requirements, and a cooler operating temperature -- which would address a handful of problems the current Xbox design has. The newer 65nm chip which the company produces for Microsoft went into production over the last two quarters, and Chia Song Hwee, Chartered's president and CEO, said that "you would expect 45nm to come on stream about 18 months from that timeframe." So, expect to pass some time before any major changes beyond the 65nm come... perhaps Halo 3 will make the wait more bearable?

[Via Joystiq]

We knew it was coming, but it sounds like we finally know what it's all about: the 65nm Xbox 360 is apparently being code-named Falcon, according to Dean Takahashi. Stands to reason we can expect long-fabled cooler / less failure-prone / cheaper 360s to be Falcon's result, but hey, we'd take just two out of three at this point.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Nah, it's no BlueGene L supercomputer, but IBM's latest dual-core microprocessor runs at a cool 4.7GHz while sporting 8MB of total cache per chip. The device reportedly runs "twice as fast" and packs four times the cache as the POWER5, and boasts a processor bandwidth of 300Gbps. Interestingly, the massive power increase doesn't seem to come with a boost in energy requirements, as IBM claims that the 65-nanometer POWER6 somehow ups its game while "using nearly the same amount of electricity" as its predecessor. The company plans on shoving the new darling into the System p570 server, and preliminary testing showed that all four of the "most widely used performance benchmarks for Unix servers" were shattered by its CPU. Unfortunately, there's no word on pricing nor availability just yet, but we're anticipating a bit of sticker shock when it does finally land.

[Via LinuxDevices]

While it's hardly a secret that the Xbox 360 will be getting a 65nm CPU upgrade sooner or later, China's Commercial Times (not always the most reliable source) is now reporting that the console's Xenos GPU will also be switching over to the cooler, lower-power chips, supposedly sometime this fall. According to the paper, an "engineering version" of the new and improved 65nm Xenos GPU has already been sent out, with production set to get underway in May, which would certainly seem to make a fall launch a possibility. Unfortunately, there's still no word on a possible disc drive upgrade to go along with these other revisions, which we all know is the real culprit for most of the console's noise problems.

[Via Joystiq]

Shortly after going from codenames to a more retail-friendly tiltling scheme, ATI's midrange RV630, er, HD 2600 XT has already been acquired, photographed, and slapped into one lucky PC overseas. According to the author, the card sports 256MB of GDDR4 RAM, and even more impressive, doesn't require any sort of external power connector to suck down the respectable 80-watts of power required for usage. It also appears to have a single-slot cooler and a hefty heatsink, not to mention a snazzy flame job that any true geek should adore. Let's face it, you're after the pics, so feel free to click on through for a few more shots and screengrabs from the installation. [Warning: Read link requires registration]

[Via Inquirer]

Bad news for those potential Xbox fanboys out there waiting for a cooler and less power-hungry Xbox before they spring for that nifty white box: DigiTimes is reporting that Microsoft's upcoming 65nm processors -- the current 360s are running those oh-so-2005 90nm chips -- have been delayed, and won't be making it off the production line until mid-2007, at least a quarter after current projections. Of course, the main source of noise on the box is really the disc drive, and we hope this doesn't mean Microsoft will hold off much longer on a price cut (no, not that price cut) but we really wouldn't mind a little bit of modern processor tech in this thing, so we'll hope Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing, Microsoft's partner in chip-building crime, will pull through on this one and deliver those 65nm chips right on schedule.