quad-core
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Take Your Mac Pro Eight Ways
You know what they say, if four is good, eight must be better. MacBidouille has a nicely detailed tutorial on replacing your Mac Pro's stock Dual Core Xeons with Intel's new Quad Core Xeon X5355, bringing your up to eight total cores. Needless to say, you'll be kissing your Apple warranty goodbye if you perform this kind of brain surgery, and some earlier tests from AnandTech even indicated you won't necessarily gain in performance (since software has to be optimized to use multiple cores effectively). Nonetheless, if you're the type that just must have the biggest, baddest Mac beast out there you should start looking for a long hexagonal screwdriver. Personally, I think I would just wait until Apple gets around to doing this for me in some future Mac Pro, but I think it's great that's this sort of thing possible.[Via Digg]
Okoro Media Systems adds Core 2 Extreme to OMS-GX300 HTPC
It looks like Okoro Media Systems' flagship HTPC is getting yet another upgrade, as this time the well-spec'd beast picks up a quad-core 2.66GHz Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6700 processor and an HDCP-compliant NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTX graphics card to compliment the rest of the luxuries you'll find here. Aside from the sleek, black chassis with built-in seven-inch touchscreen display, you'll also be graced with up to 4GB of Crucial Ballistix DDR2 RAM, twin dual-layer DVD burners (c'mon, where's the high definition?), DTS Connect / Dolby Digital Live, 1TB of SATA hard drive space, 9-in-1 flash card reader, dual TV tuners, and a range of OS choices including Vista Ultimate. As for the port assortment, you'll find FireWire, optical / digital audio, four USB 2.0 connectors, Ethernet, two DVI outputs, VGA / component / S-Video / composite outs, microphone in, and the obligatory OTA cable inputs. So while the OMS-GX300 probably includes everything you need for the quickest, most feature-packed media PC experience, all these niceties will run you somewhere between $4,595 and infinity, depending on your credit limit.[Via eHomeUpgrade]
Faith-go's Inspire X does quad-core AMD style
Lest we forget, Intel's QX6700 isn't the only quad-core game in town, and while AMD's Quad FX platform might've been edged out by Intel in benchmark land, there's still plenty to love about the power chompin' beast. Faith-go is putting those cores to good use in its stylish new Inspire X FX70XN/DVR-88GTX setup, which sports an Athlon 64 FX-70 processor, along with GeForce 8800 GTX 768MB graphics, 2GB of RAM, a 10k rpm 150GB HDD, and a super multi-DVD drive. All of this (literal) hotness resides on a NVIDIA nForce 680a SLI chipset, with the chutzpah to support up to four graphics cards. Considering the bleeding edge components on display here, the $3,253 pricetag doesn't sound too ridiculous, though we're not positive this box will be making its way to the US anyways, so perhaps the point is moot.
Intel sez Penryn's done, lookout for 45nm Wolfdale / Yorkfield
If you're desperate for some positive Intel news after hearing those less-than-inspiring margin forecasts earlier today, the chipmaker is once again keeping itself on track in regard to pumping out its forthcoming 45-nanometer processors. While we were briefed on the dual-core Wolfdale and quad-core Yorkfield just a few weeks back, Intel is now claiming that its Penryn-based chips are "complete" and will play nice with Windows Vista, Mac OS X, and Linux operating systems when they hit the shelves. Both chips are (still) slated to hit production during the second half of this year, with manufacturing to hit full stride during 2008. Penryn is supposed to "extend the Core 2 architecture" by playing host to the next set of Intel's Streaming SIMD Extensions (SSE), and will also lend a hand in the future development of Montevina, and just in case you're the (way) forward-looking type, you can expect Penryn's successor -- dubbed Nehalem -- to roll out in late '08.
Intel adds new desktop processors to roadmap
It looks like those playing along with Intel's roadmap at home have a bit of updating to do to their scorecards, with HKEPC Hardware revealing a few new details on the chip maker's plans for the new year. The biggest bit of news this time around concerns Intel's new 45nm dual-core desktop processor, now codenamed "Wolfdale," which will have a thermal design power rating (TDP) of 65W, in line with current Core 2 Duo processors. Look for it to launch sometime in the fourth quarter of this year. Intel has also firmed up a few more details on its quad-core Yorkfield processor, with it clocking in with a 95W TDP and apparently still on track for a (late) Q3 release this year.[Via Reg Hardware]
Shuttle XPC goes 1337 with custom-painted SDXi gaming rig
Flame jobs on a PC most certainly aren't new, but we fear it's a fad that will always burn on in some regard, and its companies like Shuttle that keep on fanning it. While the rectangular-shaped box has made its way into a many of homes, gamers looking for some serious horsepower in a mobile rig can find a quite a potent system in the firm's forthcoming 1337 SDXi series desktops. While all the specifics aren't nailed down quite yet, the machine will boast an Intel X8600 or QX6700 quad-core processor, liquid-cooling system, unmistakable custom-paint job on the case, keyboard, and mouse, ATIs X1950 Pro CrossFire graphics cards, support for up to 8GB of DDR2 RAM, gigabit Ethernet, and a hint of that early 90s vibe to boot. Unfortunately, such a flashy rig sports an equally stunning pricetag, as these bad boys will be "starting" at $4,999 when they land later this month.[Thanks, Marshall W.]
Maingear offers up Quad FX-powered BEAST, throws in 1,000 watt PSU
Aw yeah, just hours (nay, moments) after AMD's Quad FX chip went official, we've already seen
IBuyPower offers up sub-$2,000 AMD Quad FX rig, undercuts Intel
Alright, so you knew very well the micro-sized 4x4 was on the way in, and we even filled you in on the nitty gritty a bit earlier, but before all that silicon-based information can even sink in properly, IBuyPower is already dishing out a very tempting way to blow two grand (or much, much more). Hot off the manufacturing lines, you can get your very own AMD Quad FX-based machine for around $2,000, which is monumentally less than the first few systems we noticed packing Intel's oh-so-pricey QX6700 processor. Granted, the $2k version is relatively stripped down, especially compared to the souped-up Intel counterparts, but you can certainly max out that increasingly large spending limit if you try. The firm offers the FX-70 in the low-end flavor, while you can opt for the speedier FX-72 or FX-74 should you so desire, while complementing it with a kilowatt-draining 500+ watt power supply, 512MB to 2GB of RAM, your choice of NVIDIA graphics card, and a bevy of various sized HDDs. Considering the likely stagnant retail prices of this fresh chips, the overall pricing isn't too outrageous, but we all know how things will look just a few months down the road anyway.[Via TGDaily]
AMD shows off Barcelona server chips, garners mixed reviews
With Intel giving its shareholders some awfully great news to savor over the holidays, AMD had to hit back with some news of its own, but you'll definitely get a different vibe from reading ExtremeTech's take on the firm's recently showcased Barcelona than from the horse's own mouth. While AMD parades its 65nm chip as "the world's first native quad-core x86 server processor," and boasts about its "significant advancements in performance per watt capabilities," we've reason to wonder if things aren't a bit sugarcoated. While the wafer was demonstrated as utilizing "all 16 cores" and being a seamless upgrade from "dual-core to quad-core", hard facts (read: the much anticipated benchmarks) were curiously absent. Aside from injecting onlookers with more of the same technical minutiae we've seen over the past few months, AMD didn't exactly flesh out a lot of new details to chew on, but ExtremeTech's reference system "was the loudest they'd ever had in their office," and sucked down nearly 600 watts of power with just two HDDs and a single graphics card. So while we're firmly withholding judgment until its officially released, we'd say AMD still has a bit of tweaking to do before the competition rolls in.UPDATE: Looks like we mistook the quad-core Opteron and the Quad FX (announced on the same day, nonetheless) chips as one in the same, when (thankfully) they're not, but those eying the recently-released FX-based desktops may want to think about how much noise they're willing to put up with before throwing down on a new machine.Read - AMD Press ReleaseRead - ExtremeTech's Hands-on Testing
Intel's Penryn Core 2 Quad processor "on schedule"
With the rampant delays swarming nearly every aspect of consumer electronics, it's understandable to approach "release dates" with a certain level of skepticism, but Intel's Mark Bohr has stated that the company is already "processing the first samples of the Penryn design," which is good news for Intel fans everywhere. The 45nm, quad-core successor to its Core 2 Extreme QX6700 was previously scheduled to be released "sometime during Q3 2007," and just as Intel nailed their November target on its latest Kentsfield chip, it just might be safe to put a little stock in this date as well. Dubbed the Core 2 Quad, this next generation processor will seek to increase power, consume less energy, and primarily outgun AMD by releasing its 45nm CPUs only months after AMD launches its 65nm Barcelona. Additionally, Penryn could play a role in the part of Montevina, which according to Intel's roadmap, would be the successor to Centrino Pro. Nevertheless, Intel's done a fair job of keeping its promises as of late, so we're banking on them keeping this one as well, which means the first batch of Yorkfield-derived wafers should hit motherboards "in the second half of next year."[Via RegHardware]
Tyan Typhoon 600 series reaches 256 gigflops for "personal supercomputing"
Remember that 16-core Tyan Typhoon personal supercomputer we told you about back in March? Yeah, that was before all the dual-core and now quad-core action started flooding the market. Well, we've just laid our eyes on the Typhoon 600 series, which is loaded to the brim with Clovertown chips, reaching 256 gigaflops worth of processing power from a single outlet. Of course, the Typhoon isn't exactly going to crack the Top500 list of supercomputers, but it'll probably work much better than that those decked out quad-core getups we've seen thus far. If you really need that many chips, just be prepared not to flip out when you see the £10,000 ($19,080) pricetag, which works out to about 25,600,000 flops per pound sterling.
Niveus goes quad-core with new n9 "Pro Series" media server
You know how it goes, once one manufacturer goes quad-core with thems Intel Core 2 Extreme procs, everybody has to do it. Now Niveus is jumping into the game with its new Pro Series n9 rack-mount media server, which sports a quad-core QX6700 processor, along with Intel Viiv tech, GeForce Series 7 Graphics, 3 terabytes of storage, HD DVD playback, multiple independent HD video and music playback sessions through out the house, and plenty more. The 3U unit is CableCARD ready, and includes HDMI, RAID 5 storage protection, 4 TV tuners (two NTSC, two ATSC), 4GB of RAM and a couple fancy audio options. Of course, none of this comes cheap. The Media Center starts at a cool $15k, and while we've definitely seen pricier solutions to HD nirvana, that doesn't change the fact that $15k is a good chunk of change.[Thanks, Michael F.]
CNET violates Mac Pro warranty, installs eight cores in Mac Pro
Over at CNET labs, they've done gone and stuck a couple of new Intel quad-core Xeon 5355 processors into an Apple Mac Pro and ran copious benchmarks on their new baby. Surprisingly enough, a single 3.0 GHz quad core kicked the bejesus out of the 2.66 GHz oct cores in some of the tasks. Follow the link to see lots and lots of bar graphs. And yes, that is 8 cores hard at work in the CPU monitor. How long will we have to wait until we can pick up this configuration from Apple, instead of having to hack our way to more cores?
Alienware boosts Area-51 7500, ALX to Core 2 Extreme
While there aren't too many applications that currently will tax four processors, Alienware hopes that your winter vacation spent playing "World of Warcraft" will be as smooth as sliding your old and busted gaming rig down that nearby snow-covered hill. The new Area-51 7500 (pictured) and the higher-end Area-51 ALX have just been bumped to an optional Core 2 Extreme processor, officially bringing your setup to ludicrous speed. Like its predecessor, the 7500 has a standard 1GB of RAM that can be raised to 4GB, and has your choice of an NVIDIA GeForce 7950 or a Dual NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTX. The base config (that's without the quad-core) starts at $2,200 -- but where's the fun in that? Adding a Core 2 Extreme chip will add nearly another grand, while maxing out the whole equipage will put you within striking distance of $10,000 (including a $1,300 Dell 30-inch monitor and some sweet $400 speakers, of course). What about that ALX? It starts at $6,100 (quad-core action included), and naturally, maxes out just under 10K.Read - Area-51 7500Read - Area-51 ALX
Dell's quad-core XPS 710 gaming rig, for designers
Dell's bringing the quad-core gaming heat this morning with a Core 2 Extreme QX6700 update to their XPS 700 gaming rig. The new XPS 710 is said to be a "gaming beast" offering "up to" a 55% bump in performance at an equivalent premium over its C2E dual-core cuz. Just be careful here folks, 'cause as we've seen in the reviews, the QX6700 is matched in performance by the dual-core X6800 and E6700 procs (found in the XPS 700) when tested in real world gaming scenarios despite having twice the cores. See most games simply aren't written for four cores -- yet -- having just now adapted to dual-core architectures. But let's wait for the reviews before getting too far ahead of ourselves on this. Prices start at $3,699 for that quad-core luxury in jet black chassis or $3,799 for Special Edition Formula Red and heftier 1-kilowatt power supply. Just don't come crying to us if you find it better suited at 'Shopping images than an all night frag-fest.
Polywell Poly i680SLI quad-core desktop reviewed
PC Mag's got a review of Polywell's latest high-end gaming rig, the quad-core-based Polywell Poly i680SLI, and as you can probably surmise, they found that you pretty much get what you pay for -- in this case, a lot. Based around Intel's beefy QX6700 quad-core processor, the i680SLI also comes equipped with NVIDIA's latest top-end graphics card, the GeForce 8800 GTX (just one of 'em), which accounts for a good chunk of the system's $3,250 price tag (or $3,999 with the 24-inch monitor option). The system's performance, not surprisingly, should be enough to satisfy most, aided further by the speedy 10,000 rpm hard drives (twin 150GB numbers) and 2GB of RAM. The truly sick among you also have the option of adding two more 8800 GTX cards for an SLI setup sure to impress, and bust the bank account. What's more, even with all that power under the hood, PC Mag found the system to be relatively quiet -- at least compared to other systems in this class. On the downside, they found the rig to be somewhat slower than some competing overclocked systems, and the uninspired case design (no blinking lights or alien heads) could leave some a bit disappointed, especially considering the amount of money they're forking over -- not that they'll be paying much attention to the case after they fire it up
Dell to launch quad-core servers and desktops
While we previously saw the first round of quad-core machines, we've yet to see one from a mainstream big name retailer. Dell's taken the lead on this one and is now offering servers and workstations with quad-core processors under the hood; both are expected to be available in early 2007. Dell claims, according to CIO, that the new chips can deliver 63 percent better computing performance, and 40 percent better performance per watt than previous builds. Of course, given those Core 2 Duo MacBook Pro benchmarks that that only brought a 10 percent increase over the previous Core Duo chips, we're guessing that those new quad-core figures are a bit exaggerated. Read - The RegisterRead - ReutersRead - CIO
Vadim Computers unveils $8,800 quad-core gaming rig in the UK
Just moments ago, we're sure a hoard of you rushed off to purchase the newest OMEN PC from VoodooPC in order to have the most intense gaming rig in your neck of the woods, but we've got news for you: it's already been outdone. Vadim Computers is offering a custom-built machine that packs the latest and greatest computing hardware the world has to (currently) offer, outdoing even VoodooPC's latest offering. Inside the liquid-cooled case, you'll find Intel's quad-core 2.66GHz Core 2 Extreme QX6700 processor nestled in an Asus P5N32-SLI Premium motherboard, surrounded by such niceties as 2GB of DDR2 RAM, dual nVidia 8800GTX 768Mb PCI-e graphics cards, twin 150GB Raptor 10000 drives (and a 750GB Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 just for storage), dual-layer DVD burner, CD-burning combo drive, and a Creative 7.1 X-Fi ExtremeMusic sound card -- and that's just the bottom-of-the-line configuration. The "3-to-20 percent variable overclocking," as well as the system itself, is backed by a two-year warranty, but similar to the Mac Mini, you'll be providing your own mouse, keyboard, and monitor. The tally on this incredulous beast comes to £4,622.23 ($8,818) -- which isn't quite what Dell demanded for its all-inclusive Renegade 600 -- but that's before the government even takes its share. Pony up, fellas.[Via The Inquirer]
OMEN PC, VoodooPC's flagship packs Intel quad-core action
If you really, absolutely, positively need to have the sweetest gamer rig at your neighborhood-friendly LAN party, then you may want to check out VoodooPC's latest offering, the OMEN PC. We're pretty sure this is the first Intel quad-core desktop that we've seen on the market, and boy it sure doesn't disappoint. It's loaded up with your choice of an ATi Crossfire or an NVIDIA SLI graphics card 2GB of DDR2 RAM, an 80GB SATA drive, a Pioneer dual-layer 16X DVD burner, a Creative Labs X-Fi Xtreme Music audio card, a near-silent liquid cooling system and an "advanced chamber airflow layout" (i.e. BTX). Of course, all of that gadgetry doesn't come cheap, no sir -- that'll cost you $5500, and that's before taxes and shipping. Did we mention that VoodooPC is throwing in a t-shirt too? That seals the deal, no?[Via Slashgear]
Intel's quad-core Core 2 Extreme QX6700 processor released, reviewed
With all this jabber about quad-core being "on the horizon," it's mighty refreshing to finally see one of these highly-touted chips in the wild and on the chopping block. The lucky folks over at TechSpot were able to get their paws on Intel's first officially released quad-core processor, the 2.66GHz (not to mention the dual 4MB L2 cache and 1,066MHz FSB) Core 2 Extreme QX6700. Reviewers noted that there were "no new additions" technology-wise in this Kentsfield architecture, and that it was "merely a quad-core version of the Conroe," but stopped to exaggerate that this was far from being a "bad thing." Benchmarking the new kid on the block was a mixed bag, as it scorched dual-core alternatives in SiSoft testing, lagged behind in 3DMark, and provided just marginal gains in "real world gaming" scenarios. However, video editors and graphics designers should appreciate the "25 percent" increase in Photoshop CS2 processing, "78 percent" boost in Pinnacle rendering speed, and the "60 percent" jump in 3D Studio Max. It should also be noted that the thermal output of the chip was "very manageable" at factory speeds, but even water-cooling would only allow 3.33GHz due to its finicky nature. Overall, it was stated that Intel's quad-core offerings will not likely live up to the performance gains seen in the Core 2 Duo rollout, and while gamers should probably save their $1,000 for other necessary upgrades, those tired of seeing an immeasurably long rendering bar might want to give this bad boy a once over.[Thanks, Ryan]
