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Intel said to be cooking up DDR3-lovin' Atom N475 and Atom N455 CPUs
We've maintained that Intel's range of Atom chips were simply too weak to really love and adore the way a slab of silicon should be, but that's probably because of our infatuation with things like "overclocking" and "Core i7 Extremes." Whatever the case, it's beginning to look a wee bit better for the lineup, as Fudzilla has it that the company will be adding DDR3 memory support to the 1.83GHz N475 and 1.6GHz N455. Both of those chips are expected to maintain their current TDP ratings, and both are expected to launch in Q3 of this year. Nah, DDR3 compatibility won't make your next netbook scream or anything, but when we're talking Atoms, we'll take all the baby steps we can get.
Intel's Arrandale and Clarkdale CPUs get benchmarked for your enjoyment
Whoa, Nelly! Just weeks after Intel came clean with its new Pine Trial nettop and netbook platform, the company is today cutting loose with a few more. This go 'round, we've got the 32nm Arrandale (which consists of the Core i5 Mobile and Core i3 Mobile) heading for the laptops and the 32nm Clarkdale chips over on the desktop front. Starting with the former, most reviews found the CPU + GPU solution to be faster than rivaling Core 2 Duo + integrated GPU options, with the Core i5 being particularly potent in highly threaded applications. Better still, battery life didn't seem to take a hit even with the extra performance, though high-end, high-res gaming was still a lesson in futility when working without a discrete graphics card. Overall, the chip was a welcome addition to the fold, but we got the feeling that the first wave was priced too high and offered too little of a performance increase on the gaming side to really warrant a wholehearted recommendation. As for the Clarkdale? The Core i5 661 that everyone seemed to snag was found to be blisteringly fast, with most folks deeming it the outright champion in the dual-core realm. Unfortunately, the integrated GPU was -- again -- not awesome for hardcore gaming, and the questionable pricing didn't exactly thrill some critics. Do yourself a favor and dig into the benchmarks below -- we get the feeling we'll be seeing oodles of machines hit the wires this week with these chips within. Update: Check out the Arrandale in action after the break! Arrandale reviews Read - HotHardware Read - AnandTech Read - Tom's Hardware Read - PCPerspective Read - Legit Reviews Clarkdale reviews Read - NeoSeeker Read - HotHardware Read - HardOCP Read - TechSpot Read - MissingRemote Read - AnandTech Read - PCPerspective Read - Legion Hardware Read - Overclockers Club Read - Bit-tech
UCLA nanowire discovery could lead to faster, stronger, smaller electronics
Advancements in silicon-germanium have been going on for years now, but a team at UCLA is convinced that their discovery really is "the next big thing." For scores now, microchip makers have struggled with miniaturizing transistors as the public at large demands that things get smaller and smaller. Thanks to researchers at the aforesaid university, it's looking like silicon-germanium nanowires could be the key to making the process a whole lot easier. According to study co-author Suneel Kodambaka, the new nanowires could "help speed the development of smaller, faster and more powerful electronics," also noting that they're so small that they can be "placed in virtually anything." Which is great, because the Adamo XPS is just entirely too pudgy.
IBM studying 'DNA origami' to build next-gen microchips, paralyze world with fear
IBM is already making a beeline to 28nm process technology, but it looks like the train may deviate a bit before it even reaches the bottom. Reportedly, the company responsible for PowerPC, the original business laptop and all sorts of underground things that we'll never comprehend is now looking to use DNA as a model for crafting the world's next great processor. DNA origami, as it's so tactfully called, can supposedly provide a cheap framework "on which to build tiny microchips," with IBM research manager Spike Narayan proclaiming that this is "the first demonstration of using biological molecules to help with processing in the semiconductor industry." Sir Spike also noted that "if the DNA origami process scales to production-level, manufacturers could trade hundreds of millions of dollars in complex tools for less than a million dollars of polymers, DNA solutions, and heating implements." The actual process still seems murky from here, but we're told to expect real results within ten years. Which should be just in time for the robot apocalypse to really hit its stride -- awesome.[Via HotHardware]
Nanometer wars heat up, Toshiba and Intel enter unofficial race
Think the megapixel race is bad? Now we've another to worry about, with both Toshiba and Intel hastily approaching 0.01nm technology in order to make chips faster, more nimble and smaller. According to undisclosed sources at Digitimes, Intel has actually canned production plans for its 45nm Havendale processors, which were originally slated to slip into machines later this year. The cause? It's heading straight to 32nm, reportedly hoping to ship its Clarkdale line in Q1 2010 with entry-level prices ranging from $60 to $190. In related news, Toshiba is joining the likes of IBM, Samsung and Globalfoundries in an effort to dish out chips based on 28nm process technology. Needless to say, the move is being made in an effort to "stay relevant in an area dominated by the likes of Intel Corp and Texas Instruments." Now, if only we could get one of these potent, low-power chips inside of a netbook, we'd be pleased as punch.Read - Intel cans Havendale in move to 32nmRead - Toshiba speeds to 28nm
AMD ships six-core 'Istanbul' Opteron CPU ahead of schedule
Say it ain't so! Despite AMD's past of announcing more delays than actual shipping products, the outfit has managed to deliver its six-core 'Istanbul' Opteron CPU five months ahead of schedule. Announced today in a company press event, the new chip is shipping today with support for two-, four- and eight-socket servers. If all goes well, they'll be available to order from the likes of Cray, HP, Dell, IBM and Sun later this month, with HE, SE and EE versions of the six-core Opteron planned for the second half of this year. As for performance, users can expect up to 34 percent more performance-per-watt over the previous generation quad-core processors in the same platform, though we wouldn't expect to see these stray too far from traditional server boxes.
Intel shows Larrabee die shot in Germany, speculators go berserk
It's been right around a century since Intel has provided any sort of hard evidence that Larrabee (a next-gen hybrid CPU / GPU) was more than a figment of anyone's imagination, but thanks to a die shot throw up Will Ferrell-style at the Visual Computing Institute of the Saarland University, we'd say the speculation is definitely back on. Intel's Chief Technology Officer, Justin Rattner, was responsible for the demo, but when PC Perspective pinged the company to inquire further, it suggested that the image we see above may not necessarily be indicative of the final shipping product, but that Larrabee was "healthy and in [its] labs right now." Sweet, so how's about a date in which that statement changes to "in shipping machines right now?" Hmm?[Via PC Perspective]
eASIC eDV9200 H.264 codec promises HD for all devices
We've already got HD in places that the cast of Step by Step would've sworn was never possible way back when, but eASIC is far from satisfied. To that end, it's introducing a new H.264 codec aimed to bring high-def capabilities to all manners of devices, including (but certainly not limited to) toys, baby monitors, public transportation, wireless video surveillance and wireless webcams. The highly integrated eDV9200 is said to "dramatically lower the cost of entry into the high-definition video market, enabling a new class of low-cost applications to fully leverage the benefits offered by HD technology." Best of all, these guys aren't just blowing smoke, as the chip -- which captures streaming data directly from a CMOS sensor, compresses it, and transfers it to a host system or to a variety of storage devices -- is priced at just $4.99 each in volume. HD oven timers, here we come!
Graphene chip could hit 1,000GHz, make your Core i7 feel totally inadequate
8GHz (with the help of liquid nitrogen) not quick enough? Leave it to the folks at MIT to make sure your zaniest desires are well taken care of. As research forges ahead on graphene, carbon nanotubes and buckyballs (remember those?), gurus at the university have discovered a breakthrough that could eventually lead to microchips that make existing silicon-based CPUs weep. In fact, the research could lead to practical systems in the 500 to 1,000 gigahertz range. The magic all ties back to advancements on a graphene chip known as a frequency multiplier, and while the nitty-gritty of all this is far too complicated for the layperson to grasp, all you really need to know is this: finally, you can rest assured that you'll one day own a chip capable of handling Duke Nukem Forever.[Via InformationWeek]
AMD nets final approval to create The Foundry Company
After having to delay the final vote earlier this month due to a lack of participation (d'oh!), AMD has dotted the final 'i' in its attempt to spin off semiconductor manufacturing. Said company, along with the Advanced Technology Investment Company, have now secured the final approval necessary to create The Foundry Company. Stockholder approval was the only remaining hurdle to be jumped, and the joint venture transaction is expected to fully close by March 2nd of this year. By the numbers, AMD stockholders approved a proposal to issue 58 million shares of its common stock along with warrants to purchase 35 million shares of its common stock and 35 million shares of the company's common stock upon exercise of those warrants to an affiliate of the Mubadala Development Company PJSC (perplexing, we know). Now, let's see if AMD can keep up with Intel's own $7 billion investment.
Probabilistic logic makes microchip more energy efficient
We'll be straight up with you -- there's a lot of fancy work going on with this one that laypeople will have a tough time grasping, but the long and short of it is this: a team from Rice University (Krishna Palem pictured) and Nanyang Technological University have created a microchip that "uses 30 times less electricity while running seven times faster than today's best technology." Already crying snake oil? Not so fast. By trashing the traditional set of mathematical rules (that'd be Boolean logic) and instead applying probabilistic logic, researchers have figured out how to deliver similar results with a fraction of the energy. The tech is being dubbed PCMOS (probabilistic CMOS), and could eventually end up in embedded systems and even cellphones. In the case of the latter, this type of chip will be able to display streaming video on a minuscule display with more artifacts than usual, but due to the small screen size and the human brain's ability to piece together nearly-perfect images, the errors involved would be all but forgotten. Meanwhile, your battery bar would still be nearly full. We always heard there was beauty in imperfections -- now, at long last, we finally get it.
Flying plasmonic lens system could lead to denser chips / disks
Last we heard, IBM was busy extending optical lithography down to 30-nanometers in order to keep Moore's Law intact, and some two years later, the process is still being honed by engineers at the University of California, Berkeley. Reportedly, gurus there with IQs far greater than ours have developed a new patterning technique (plasmonic nanolithography) that could make "current microprocessors more than 10 times smaller, but far more powerful." Additionally, professor Xiang Zhang asserts that this same technology could eventually "lead to ultra-high density disks that could hold 10 to 100 times more data than disks today." The secret to the madness is a flying plasmonic head, which is compared to the arm and stylus of an LP turntable; the setup enables researchers to "create line patterns only 80-nanometers wide at speeds up to 12-meters per second, with the potential for higher resolution detail in the near future." In layman's terms? That CPU you purchased last month will, in fact, be old hat in due time.[Via Slashdot]
Integrated circuit turns 50, now isn't that nifty?
Hard to believe that Jack Kilby's unsightly concoction (pictured above) turned 50 yesterday, but it's true. Half a century ago, Mr. Kilby crafted the integrated circuit, which ended up having a monumental impact on taking computers from warehouse-sized to, well, not-warehouse-sized. As the story goes, the very first microchip was demonstrated on the 12th of September in 1958, and it passed its first test: "producing a sine wave on an oscilloscope screen." Safe to say we all know how things progressed from there. Here's to you, IC -- and here's to 50 more.[Via MAKE]
Texas Instruments gets excited about energy scavenging
Texas Instruments has a lot to do with the original microchip, if for no other reason than being the employer of inventor Jack Kilby. Now, however, TI is looking to produce chips and other related gizmos that require an infinitesimally small amount of energy to operate. The overriding theme guiding the engineers is "energy scavenging," which alludes to grasping power from even the most unlikely of places -- vibrations from a bridge as cars pass over, capturing wasted exhaust from a car or bottling up all that frustration your sibling shows when you own him / her again in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. The possibilities are just about endless, with networked battery-free smoke alarms, solar-powered mobiles and gaming laptops that feed off of extraordinarily focused brain waves in the mix. Okay, so that last one is still eons from reality, but at least we're headed in that direction.
Intel's dual-core Atom 330 processor to ship in Q4 2008
Bad news, Atom fans. That dual-core nugget of netbook-powering goodness that you were so looking forward to seeing in Q3 won't begin shipping until Q4. According to some data picked up by Fudzilla, the Atom 330 will only be debuting in Q3 (September 21st, to be precise), but it isn't scheduled to get a shipping label until a few months later. Also of note, we're told that the chip will sell (at some place in the supply chain) for $43, but don't count on those savings being completely passed onto you.[Thanks, sinai]
Microchip breakthrough could keep Moore's law intact (again)
We're pretty certain we'll be hearing this same story each year, every year for the rest of eternity, but hey, not like we're kvetching over that or anything. Once again, we're hearing that mad scientists have developed a breakthrough that makes Mr. Moore look remarkably bright, as a new approach to chip making could carve features in silicon chips "that are many times smaller than the wavelength of the light used to make them." Reportedly, the new method "produces grids of parallel lines just 25-nanometers wide using light with a wavelength of 351-nanometers," although the grids aren't functional circuits just yet. If you're interested in more technobabble on the matter, head on down to the read link, but we'd recommend against if you're easily frightened by terms like "photolithographic" and "nanotechnology."
Chip makers rise and fall with format war conclusion
Though the clear winner and loser in the format war was Sony and Toshiba, respectively, quite a few behind the scenes supporters are now facing similar celebrations / dilemmas in dealing with the fallout. A new report takes an in-depth look at how chip makers are faring, and while not surprising, we are told that both NEC and Broadcom are reeling after HD DVD went under, and will have to "absorb software R&D costs that can't be recouped." On the flip side, parties such as Sigma Designs and IBM have their lucky stars to thank, as the former even attempted to ally with Toshiba but were spurned in favor of Broadcom. Interestingly, the article also notes that many fencesitters are now looking to jump in, which could hopefully lead to increased competition and lower overall prices for those anxious to snap up a Blu-ray player in short order.[Thanks, Daniel H.]
MIT and Texas Instruments team up to develop power-sipping microchip
Yeah, we've heard companies toot their own horns after creating some newfangled chip that sucks down less power than versions prior, but MIT and Texas Instruments are just now getting around to taking their turn. Set to wow onlookers at tomorrow's International Solid- State Circuits Conference, a new microchip will be unveiled that operates at just 0.3-volts -- quite a bit less than most others, which function at around 1-volt. Currently, the device is simply a proof of concept, but those responsible for this bugger are already hoping for it to be used in "longer-lasting, self-charging cellphones, medical devices, self-contained sensor networks, etc." in five or so years. We're watching the clock, you two.[Via Physorg]
CTC-chip isolates, analyzes rare tumor cells in bloodstream
Circulating tumor cells, which are more commonly referred to as CTCs, have thus far remained practically useless when it came to aiding in clinical decision making, but a new development could enable these rare cells to finally be used for guiding treatment. Reportedly, a crew of investigators from the Massachusetts General Hospital have crafted a "microchip-based device (dubbed CTC-chip) that can isolate, enumerate and analyze CTCs from a blood sample," which has the "potential to be an invaluable tool for monitoring and guiding cancer treatment." Additionally, researchers can look forward to "better understanding the biology of cancer cells and the mechanisms of metastasis," but there's still quite a bit of work to be done before the device can be put to clinical use.[Via Physorg]
Sony continues to shed chip responsibilities
Although they inked a 5-year deal back in January 2006, Sony is bailing on at least part of its commitment to the development of chips with 32-nanometer (or less) circuitry. The research required to developed the manufacturing technology now rests squarely on the shoulders of Toshiba and IBM. A move which certainly makes sense now that Tosh has manufacturing responsibility for Sony's Cell processor. Sony will continue to assist with "the design work" and making post-lunch runs to Starbucks.
