quad-core
Latest
PC Microworks intros Montevina-powered Edge uber-laptop
Heads up, spec hounds. PC Microworks' Edge with Centrino 2 (aka Montevina) is a powerhouse that cannot be denied. This speedster sports a 15.4-inch WUXGA screen, packs a Montevina Quad Core Centrino 2 CPU, 2gb of DDR3 at 1333MHz, nVIDIA Gefore 9800M GTX, HSPDA, and up to 4TB of 7200RPM drives. Don't go running to the credit card gods just yet, though, as the Core 2 Extreme Quad Core QX9300 (2.53GHz/1066MHz/12MB) version won't be available until the end of July. What's more, this baby all decked-out will run you a cool $8,265.[Thanks, Matthew]
XtremeNotebooks stuffs quad-core X3360 Xeon CPU in Xtreme 917V
XtremeNotebooks is taking its quad-core Xtreme 917V up a notch by tossing an Intel X3360 Xeon processor in there. Notably, the company is pushing this as the "first US-distributed" lappie to boast such a chip, but we already saw Eurocom reveal its X3360-based D901C PHANTOM-X earlier this week. Semantics aside, prospective buyers can get this mobile server equipped with a Blu-ray burner, RAID 0/1/5 hard drive arrays, twin NVIDIA GeForce 8800 or Quadro FX GPU setups and up to 4GB of RAM. As of this moment, this particular system isn't listed on the outfit's website, but you can probably count on it demanding upwards of three grand -- and yes, that's with the "sweet talking the CSR" discount already factored in.
Eurocom lets loose Quad Core XEON-based D901C PHANTOM-X server laptop
It's not often we see laptop manufacturers boast of a one-hour battery life, but in the case of Eurocom's new D901C PHANTOM-X "mobile server," that spec is certainly hard-earned enough to warrant notice. The battery drain begins with a 2.8GHz Quad Core XEON X3360 processor, which gets paired with 1.5 terabytes of storage in the form of three SATA-300 hard drives (complete with various RAID options), 8GB of DDR2-800 memory, a Blu-ray burner, and a comparatively modest 17-inch display, to name but a few specs. All that, not surprisingly, takes just as big a toll on your back as it does on battery life, with the PHANTOM-X weighing in at a lugabble 12-pounds. No word on a price just yet, but Eurocom's non-Xeon-based server laptops already easily push past the $3,000 mark, so you can probably take a pretty good stab at assessing the damage to your budget.
Dell makes Core 2 Quad Q9300, Q9450 available in XPS 420
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]
Alienware's Aurora desktop storms back: AMD Phenom 9850 included
Check it: AMD's potent Phenom 9850 processor, which had a fairly impressive showing during its recent benchmarking test, has teamed up with a pair of ATI's Radeon HD 3870 X2s to bring the Aurora desktop back on the scene. Available now and starting at just $999, Alienware's (potentially) "value-priced" gaming rig can be equipped with one of four AMD CPUs, a liquid-cooling system, twin 512MB 3870 X2 GPUs, up to 4GB of DDR2 RAM, a few terabytes of HDD space, a Blu-ray reader (or burner if you've got the cash), an optional (but totally necessary) Killer K1 gaming NIC, Ageia PhysX processor and your choice of colored enclosures. Of course, speccing this beauty into a rig worth gloating over will easily set you back four large or so, but hey, you only live once, right?
HP bumps xw8600 and xw9400 workstations to the latest Intel and AMD chips
We're smack dab in the middle of NAB week, which means a steady progression of high-end product launches for things that we can't really afford but sure wouldn't mind cluttering up the HQ gadget stash. Like these here workstations from HP, the xw8600 and the xw9400. The former sports up to two Quad-Core Intel Xeon X5482 processors, while the latter runs on Quad-Core AMD Opteron 2300 procs. No word on price for either of these insanely fast configurations, but with the other niceties HP is tossing in, you're looking at a starting price above four grand.
AMD's quad-core Opteron processor now available in select systems
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 partnersRead - Opteron now available in OEM platforms
Intel reveals plans for quad-core laptop CPUs
It looks like your favorite lap burner will get all quad-ified this year, thanks to the folks at Intel, and a little something we call "enthusiast pressure." The hot-to-the-touch CPU rumor mill claims that we'll see the quad-core, 45nm QX9300 hit the scene after the Centrino 2 (aka Montevina) chips are launched in the second quarter of the year. The general feeling is that the quad-equipped laptops will primarily be heavier, desktop-replacement systems, as the Core 2 Extreme processors are still fairly power hungry. If you haven't already fallen off the edge of your seat, you have our congratulations.
Phenom 9900-powered case mod could lift off at any moment
You know that potent 2.6GHz Phenom 9900 CPU that quite a few folks are waiting for? Apparently, exactly one of said chips has escaped the labs (with AMD's blessing, of course) and made its way into the sponsored (and recently completed) Project: Phenom gaming rig. Of course, the design here is way, way over the top, and while folks allergic to chrome and not so fond of blatant overkill may be scrunching their noses up right about now, there's no denying that it's packin' a nice set of internals. Hit up the read link for a gazillion and one images along with a number of construction videos -- just slip on your shades beforehand, cool?
AMD demonstrates 45nm quad-core processors at CeBIT
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 launching Tukwila: world's first 2 billion transistor chip
We first heard of Intel's quad-core Tukwila back in 2006. Now, it's launching at the International Solid State Circuits Conference. Expected to arrive in the second half of the year, the 2GHz Itanium processor packs in more than 2 billion transistors. Unfortunately, it's headed straight to the raised-floor room, not your consumer-class desktop. The good news for IT types is that the proc doubles the performance of Intel's enterprise-class, 9100-series Montvale processors with just a 25% increase in power consumption. So, we looking at 4 billion transistors by 2010 Mr. Moore? Probably, Tukwila is still using 65-nm processes as opposed to Intel's new 45-nm technology. [Via ZDNet Australia]
HP's Phenom 9500-powered Pavilion Media Center m8330f PC
Remember those tasty Phenom chips AMD loosed back on November? We sure hope so, because that's the CPU HP's relying on in its forthcoming Pavilion Media Center m8330f PC. Here's the specifics: 2.2GHz AMD Phenom 9500 quad-core CPU NVIDIA's nForce 430 chipset 3GB of DDR2 RAM Twin 320GB 7,200 RPM SATA hard drives HP's Personal Media Drive Bay LightScribe-enabled SuperMulti DVD burner NTSC / ATSC / FM tuners HP Media Center remote control with IR receiver Front-mounted 15-in-1 multicard reader Beyond that, you can expect six USB 2.0 ports, a pair of FireWire connectors, audio in / out, HDMI and DVI sockets and an HP mouse / keyboard combo. Like the s3330f PC already mentioned, this too will be landing real soon with a price tag starting at $959.
Dell releases Precision T5400 and T7400 powerhouse workstations
When a regular consumer desktop just won't serve your demanding computing needs, it's time to go workstation, and Dell's got a pair of new quad-core-packin' models that are spec'ed to be some of the fastest on the planet. Both the Precision T7400 and T5400 are available with either one or two of Intel's newest 45-nanometer Xeon Processors (up to a 3.20GHz X5482 on the 7400), as many as two 1.5GB nVIDIA Quadro FX5600 graphics cards (capable of driving four 30-inch monitors), up to 4GB of RAM (with a whopping 128GB promised using a memory riser card chassis when 8GB DIMMs become available) and either three (5400) or five (7400) hard drives for up to 3TB of storage -- all topped off with a little Blu-ray action. Available immediately, the new rigs start at just $1,600 and $1,850, but for a configuration that meets your ridiculous specifications, expect to shell out well north of ten grand.
Intel's QX9770 quad-core to blow away competition in Q1
Want to see what AMD is up against come Q1? You're looking at it, the 3.2GHz, quad-core, QX9770 Core 2 Extreme processor from Intel. Like Intel's current headliner -- the QX9650 -- we're talking 45-nm Yorkfield class silicon here with 1600MHz front side bus and 12MB L2 cache. HotHardware got their hands on the proc a bit early and call it the fastest quad-core processor they've ever tested, "bar none." Generally speaking, they found it to be about 5 - 8% faster than the QX9650. As you can see from the graph up there, it easily smokes the $300 Phenom 9700 and the $350 2.6GHz Phenom 9900 (both due in Q1) likely won't fare much better. Just keep in mind that Intel's top-performer will cost you around $1,200 by the time it pops in Q1. Somehow, we don't think that's going dissuade any Crysis gamers out there.
HP stuffing Penryn chips into xw8600 / xw6600 workstations
Although HP's beastly xw8600 / xw6600 machines don't yet have a definitive ship date, it's looking like the duo will indeed be sporting a couple of Intel's forthcoming Penryn chips. Judging by the specifications list on HP's website, each workstation can be equipped with two of many Xeon 5200 (dual-core) or Xeon 5400 (quad-core) processors ranging from 1.86GHz to 3.33GHz. Additionally, the xw6600 features up to 32GB of DDR2 RAM, an internal DVD burner, a number of PCI / PCIe slots, seven USB 2.0 ports, FireWire, audio in / out, gigabit Ethernet, your choice of NVIDIA Quadro / ATI FireGL graphics cards and a 650-watt power supply to boot. As for the xw8600, it steps things up by supporting as much as 128GB of DDR2 RAM, making room for a few more 3.5- / 5.25-inch drives and PCI cards, and throwing in a more robust PSU. Not surprisingly, there are no pricing details available at the moment, but if we were bent over a barrel and forced to guess when we'd know more, we'd shoot for November 12th.[Via Electronista]Read - HP's xw6600Read - HP's xw8600
Xtreme 917V quad-core laptop reviewed
While there's only a select few that would even consider a laptop that weighs nearly twelve pounds and costs updwards of $5,000, those that fit that description now have a bit more information to inform their purchase, with the folks at ComputerShopper offering up their take on XtremeNotebooks' Xtreme 917V laptop. If this one looks a bit familiar (paint job aside), it's because you've likely seen it under any number of other brands, but ComputerShopper doesn't look to have held that against it. Of course, they were most impressed with the laptop's high-end quad-core processors and SLI graphics, and with the array of customizable design options available. They quite didn't find the laptop's performance impressive enough to justify the $5,000+ price tag, however and they were a bit disappointed by some rather curious omissions like media control buttons or an HDMI port. Still, they do apparently think some deep-pocketed customers will find the laptop to their liking, deeming it worthy of a decent 7.2 out of 10 rating.
Intel's Hapertown quad core processors get benchmarked
It looks like we're not quite done with Intel news out of IDF just yet, with the folks at HEXUS.net now scoring some benchmarks for the company's so-called "Stoakley" server/workstation platform. At the center of that platform are two-socket-capable quad-core Penryn CPUs, which are set to replace the current 65nm quad-core Clovertown models. And in that repect, it looks like Hapertown should be a worthy successor, with HEXUS calling it a "better quad-core processor than Clovertown: it's as simple as that." While their tests were somewhat hindered by Intel's choice to include the 32-bit Windows XP on the test system , they nonetheless managed to turn up some decent benchmark numbers and, just as importantly, found plenty of room for those numbers to grow, especially once SSE4.1-optimised applications start to turn up. Those looking for even more details can hit up the read link below for the complete rundown.[Via Slashdot]
AMD unveils "world's most advanced x86 CPU" -- the quad-core Opteron
We know you've probably grown numb to these "world's best" claims uttered by processor manufacturers, but shortly after introducing the Athlon 64 X2 6400+ Black Edition, AMD is now unveiling what it calls "the world's most advanced x86 CPU." The quad-core Opteron touts a slew of enhancements including a "50-percent increase in integer and floating-point performance" and a boost in "virtualization performance." Interestingly, AMD goes on to brag about the chip's power saving abilities, as it utilizes Dual Dynamic Power Management, CoolCore, and Independent Dynamic Core Technology in order to provide a more energy-efficient device. Systems relying on the newfangled CPU have reportedly begun shipping "from global OEM and system-builder partners," so newfound greatness should be just an order away.[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Tilera debuts its sixty-four core processor, melts faces
Chipmaker Tilera, clearly bored with the peasant-like core counts of two or four as offered by such pedestrian competition like Intel and AMD, has decided to turn the game up a notch with their latest diabolical creation: the 64-core processor. That's right folks, Tilera's TILE64 is a new RISC CPU aimed at integrated systems like routers, switches, video conferencing, and set-top boxes that can best Intel's finest by a factor of 30, and casually rocks a bandwidth of something like 32TB per second. The new chip circumvents bottleneck problems that can plague CPUs like Intel's multi-core processors by utilizing a unique "mesh" architecture which allows each core to be decentralized and thus able to communicate more freely with any partner in the grid. Tilera believes the technology might open the door to hundreds or even thousands of cores using the new system. Of course, this is a RISC CPU, so clearly the applications in which it will be used differ somewhat from Intel's offerings, but nevertheless, it remains a tantalizing development in the world of multi-core R&D.[Via TG Daily]
XtremeNotebooks launches quad-core Xtreme 917V laptop
Although being in the presence of a quad-core laptop doesn't have the same allure it did just months ago, packin' a Core 2 Quad processor into a 2.35-inch thick enclosure still manages to get us all hot and bothered (literally, we mean). The latest mobile gaming rig to come equipped with such a workhorse is XtremeNotebooks' Xtreme 917V (yeah, a rebadge of Sager's NP9260), which also features a 17-inch display, dual NVIDIA GeForce Go 7950 GTX GPUs, a dual-layer DVD writer, multicard reader, integrated webcam / speakers, up to 4GB of DDR2 RAM, room for three 250GB hard drives, a dedicated GPU cooling solution, optional TV tuner, gigabit Ethernet, WiFi, and a whole host of ports to boot. Granted, this sucka can only chug along for 60 minutes or so on its 12-cell battery, tips the scales at close to 12 oh-so-solid pounds, and starts at $2,399, but we know there's still a few of you out there willing to give it some love.
