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Marvell's quad-core Armada processor won't see tablets or phones, destined for a mystery game platform
Looks like that quad-core Armada processor won't be having apps for breakfast after all -- confronting Marvell's Jack Kang at Mobilize 2010, he told us the chips proved too power-hungry for devices without a dedicated cord. That doesn't mean we won't see them soon, however, as the man let slip that it's actually the quad-core chip that will appear in a new game system, though we can probably rule out the Nintendo 3DS for the same reason as the phones. Marvell's still hoping to get in the mobile market in a big way, though, and that's what the tri-core Armada 628 is all about, which uses low power profiles to save battery life. According to Kang, however, the system's actually a little more exciting than that -- its two up-to-1.5GHz cores kick in when the system's under a multimedia strain, but actually shut off completely for day-to-day use, relying instead on the third 624MHz processor which slowly sips your battery juice. All we know is, we'd better find out which devices will sport these chips, and soon -- our curiosity is beginning to gnaw.
AMD triple-core Phenom X3 review roundup
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...)
