So, we hear you're edging ever closer to pulling the trigger on a shiny new XPS 420, huh? Lucky you, as it looks like Dell just opened up your options. While the only processor choices on the XPS 630 are the E8500 and the absurdly expensive QX6850 (it's an $850 addition), the XPS 420 now has a half dozen CPUs to pick from. Most notably, users can now get their rig equipped with a Core 2 Quad Q9300 / Q9450, both of which provide much more oomph than the baseline chips while not forcing you to refinance your home and pick the QX9650. So, when can the aforesaid 630 expect similar selections?

[Thanks, Evan]

AMD may be busy sorting out issues with its quad-core Phenoms and hard at work on "completely different" chip architectures, but that isn't stopping the company from aggressively updating its roadmap, announcing today plans for 6- and 12-core server-grade Opterons. Both the new 6-core chip, codenamed Sao Paulo, and the 12-core unit, codenamed Magny-Cours, are based on a brand-new platform called "Maranello," and slotting in to replace the planned 8-core Barcelona chip, which appears to have been canceled. According to AMD, 12-core chips are easier to manufacture, so it's going to skip over 8-core chips and go straight to the good stuff. That must be news to Intel, which is planning on shipping 8-core Nehalem chips later this year, and will probably then hold the coveted "number-of-cores" crown until AMD releases the 12-core chips in 2010. There's no word on whether any of these chips can make these processor roadmaps comprehensible or even chronological, but we can dream, can't we?

[Via TG Daily]

There's all the makings of a class-A debacle over at AMD headquarters, as it turns out that the chip maker's quad-core Phenom processors are incompatible with some popular motherboard chipsets. Due to a thermal frequency mismatch, the 125-watt 9750 and 9850 CPUs don't play well with 780G-based mobos -- which are designed for AMD's less power-hungry 9600 and 9550 processors. Instead, AMD warns that its quad-core processors should be paired with the company's 790 chipset. Spokesman Jake Whitman blamed PC makers, stating that, "They've taken an enthusiast-class quad-core part and paired it with a mainstream motherboard." Confused yet? Exactly.

For the indecisive among us who need a bit more than two but just can't wrap their wallets around four, AMD's out to show you exactly what three cores of computing magic can do. Make no mistake, we've been waiting quite some time for these buggers to ship, but they've finally made it into the capable hands of reviewers web-wide. The general consensus seems to be that the tri-core processors offer no real surprises: it performs better than a dual-core AMD CPU, yet worse than a quad-core AMD CPU. Needless to say, it tends to lag even further behind an Intel quad-core. Still, the Phenom X3 wouldn't be a terrible option if quad-core Intel chips were still as pricey as ever, but with it slashing prices a few weeks back, the X3 seems to lack the value AMD was hoping we'd see. Still, don't take our word for it -- there's lots and lots of words on the matter right down there.

Read - HotHardware (...the X3 8750 should also appeal to modders on a budget.)
Read - MaximumPC (Basically, it's a quad core with one core turned off.)
Read - TweakTown (...a perfect choice to replace Athlon 64 X2s...)
Read - PCPerspective (...isn't a slam dunk in performance or value...)
Read - Bit-Tech (...Phenom X3 8750 is a good processor in isolation...)
Read - Computer Shopper (...a worthy choice for Athlon X2 owners on a tight budget...)

Apple loves 'em some Intel right? Sure, it was the Intel power-per-watt roadmap which Jobs cited as the reason to ditch IBM's PowerPC platform. Analysts have since been tripping over themselves with speculation about future generation iPhones and iPod touches going Intel -- especially since the arrival of Atom. So what will analysts make of Apple's $278 million in cash purchase of the 150 person P.A. Semi microprocessor design company? The company was founded by Dan Dobberpuhl, lead designer of DEC's doomed Alpha and StrongArm processors, and responsible for the introduction of a 2GHz, 64-bit dual-core microprocessor which in February 2007 was said to be 300% more efficient than comparable chips running at 5 to 13 watts. Forbes speculates that Apple will wrap its ARMs around the company's boutique processor in a bid for exclusivity -- a move meant to differentiate itself from competition using Intel and other off-the-shelf processors. Interestingly, after a long courtship with P.A. Semi, the acquisition discussions only began in the last few weeks. Say what you want about Jobs, but he's nothing if not a man who knows what he wants and makes damn sure he gets it.

Update: Oh shazam! We just remembered that P.A. Semi and Apple had been this close to a deal just prior (as in minutes) to the announced Intel switch in 2006. Interesting, very interesting. Why now Apple?

Read -- P.A. Semi PWRficient processor announcement
Read -- Forbes

Yeah, we've seen other mad scientists take way more antiquated chips to higher figures on the GHz scale, but can that cryogenically cooled P4 handle all those SSE4.1 instructions? The latest feat of overclocking prowess comes to us courtesy of K|ngp|n, who has apparently taken Skulltrail beyond the 6GHz mark. You'll also notice the 1,716MHz FSB (!!!) and the fact that it's sizzling along at 1.953-volts -- but hey, no one said running Crysis would be easy, right?

[Via The Inquirer]

Some seven months after AMD first tooted its horn about creating the "world's most advanced x86 CPU," the quad-core Opteron is finally shipping. Effective today, consumers eager to wrap their brains around all that purported power can find the chips residing in a variety of HP machines (read: servers) as well as in systems from other "distributors, system integrators and specialized OEMs." Unfortunately, little is said about the widespread availability of the CPU beyond that, but at least it's getting out the door in one way or another, right?

[Via CNET]

Read - Opteron heads to select partners
Read - Opteron now available in OEM platforms

Ever since Intel compared the criticality of its (still) forthcoming Silverthorne (which now goes by Atom, if you couldn't guess) processor to the original Pentium last June, we've all wondered just how fantasmical our worlds would become when this thing finally dropped. Now, however, Tom's Hardware has discovered that the release may actually do more for Intel than we geeks. After consulting a source it believes to be quite credible, it found that the CPU -- which will likely sell for upwards of $30 at the low-end -- will cost Intel just "$6 to $8, including production, packaging and shipping." Without busting out the abacus, it's still fairly easy to see how profitable said chips could be if Intel can move these at even a snail's pace, but of course, we'd take the dollars and cents estimates with a grain of salt until they actually hit the market.

[Via Digg]

Merely months after IBM first inserted silicon nanophotonics into our memory bank, and just weeks after we drooled all over ourselves reading about its green optical link, the mega-corp has chosen St. Patrick's Day to trumpet the development of the "world's tiniest nanophotonic switch." The device, which boasts a footprint "about 100 times smaller than the cross section of a human hair," is said to be a vital part of creating an on-chip optical network. More specifically, it's bringing the gurus behind it one step closer to conjuring up multi-core CPUs that transmit data with light pulses rather than relying on electrical signals on copper wires. This particular switch would essentially divert traffic within the network, ensuring that "optical messages from one processor core could efficiently get to any of the other cores on the chip." Keep on livin' the dream IBM -- just ping us when this stuff is anywhere near ready for the commercial market.

While there have certainly been questions surrounding AMD's ability to deliver its Phenom 9700 / 9900 chips on time, it looks as if the chip maker is right on target with the launch of its triple-core lineup. Just as we expected it to, AMD has indeed began shipping its Phenom 8400 (2.1GHz) and 8600 (2.3GHz) to Dell -- for use in its OptiPlex 740 -- and HP (respectively), which has it mounted in the AL195AW desktop. Reportedly, the CPUs are only shipping in volume to PC manufacturers at the moment, and unfortunately, it failed to spill the beans on when they'd be available on a wider scale. Nevertheless, those parked across the pond can get their fix of tri-core sweetness by picking up one of two Mesh Computer rigs that are being made available as we speak.

[Via PC World]
Read - Dell OptiPlex 740 [PDF]
Read - HP AL195AW
Read - Mesh Computer Matrix xXx Plus
Read - Mesh Computer Matrix xXx Pro

In a woefully unstimulating press release, AMD has meekly trumpeted the fact that it's demonstrating its "first 45nm quad-core chips running multiple operating systems and a range of processing intensive applications" at CeBIT. Unfortunately, little is known beyond that -- aside from the fact that the processors showcased ("Shanghai" for servers, "Deneb" for desktops) were produced in Germany at the firm's Fab 36 300mm manufacturing facility, that is. Still, AMD managed to reiterate that "this milestone" would be "the first of many" as it moves toward the release of 45-nanometer products later this year. Huzzah?

Intel's had its new processor plans slipped out to the public thanks to Sun, according to DailyTech. Details on the 6-core (!) Xeon Dunnington, as well as the kinda-sorta hush-hush Nehalem were apparently leaked out onto Sun's public web server over the weekend, including plans for the new Xeons to overtake the company's Tigerton CPU line. The Dunnington processors will have a 16MB L3 cache shared by all six cores, and will be pin-compatible with the Tigertons, thus making integration with your Clarksboro chipset slightly less painful... by being possible. The Nehalem also got the spy treatment, with news that it will not only replace the Penryn line in Q4 '08, but will also be the first time in 18 years that Intel includes on-die memory controllers. If this sort of thing is important to you (and we think it may be) hit the read link and get all the juicy details.

As expected, Intel has rolled out its first dual-core Celeron processors, bringing the low-end and often-derided processor line up a few notches and quite possibly making quad-core the new dual-core once and for all. The first of those processors to hit hte market is the 1.6GHz E1200 model, which relies on the slightly less-desirable 65-nanometer manufacturing process and boasts 512K bytes of cache and an 800MHz front-side bus. Not exactly the most impressive of processors, but nothing to sneeze at either, especially considering its $53 price tag -- in quantities of 1,000 units, that is. No word on any other dual-core additions to the line, but given Intel's track record of processor offerings, we'd expect this to be only a taste of things to come.