November 12th, 2009

More rumors ahead of Intel Arrandale arrival

Posted by John Morris @ 2:37 pm

Categories: Desktops, Notebooks, PCs, Peripherals, and Software

Tags: Intel Corp., Chip, Westmere Processor, Processors, Netbooks, Nettops & MIDs, Semiconductors, Hardware, Components, John Morris

[Update: DigiTimes is now reporting that there will be four Arrandale chips at launch: the Core i5-520M, Core i5-430M, Core i3-350M and Core i3-330M. Based on the Core i3 and Core i5, these seem more consistent with the mainstream audience that Intel is hoping to reach with these first 32nm mobile processors.]

As the end of 2009 approaches, more details about Intel’s first 32nm Westmere processors are beginning to trickle out. Intel hasn’t said exactly when it will announce the new chips, currently known as Arrandale for laptops and Clarkdale for desktops, but the Consumer Electronics Show in January seems a safe bet, and it could easily be sooner. Intel is already manufacturing these chips, and earlier today DigiTimes, a news organization based in Taiwan, reported that Intel will initially release three Arrandale processors in the first half of 2010: a 1.06GHz Core i5-520UM, 1.06GHz Core i7-620UM and 1.20GHz Core i7-640UM at prices ranging from $241 to $305.

The Westmere processors are notable not only because they will be the industry’s first 32nm processors, but also because they combine a CPU and a graphics processor in a single package. That’s not the same thing as AMD’s Fusion, which combines the two on the same physical silicon chip. Rather Intel is merging a 32nm CPU and a 45nm GPU into a single package. From the perspective of a system designer there’s probably little difference-either way you’re dealing with a single part, rather than a CPU connected to a separate northbridge with graphics over a front side bus. But ultimately a single piece of silicon is more elegant and less expensive to manufacture, as long as it doesn’t require big trade-offs in performance or power efficiency. AMD calls this an APU, or Accelerated Processing Unit, and yesterday they reiterated plans to ship the first ones–also manufactured at 32nm–in the first half of 2011. That means they are still at least a year behind Intel in terms of process technology. Intel also plans switch to a single-chip CPU-GPU, but the timing is unclear.

In the meantime, the first half of 2010 is shaping up to be very busy for Intel. At the low-end, Intel will release a new platform, Pine Trail, for netbooks and nettops. Some sites have reported that Intel will announce these new chips, including a single-core 1.66GHz Atom N450 for netbooks and a dual-core 1.66GHz Atom D510 for nettops, in late December. New netbooks using Pine Trail should show up at CES, and while the processor should be a bit faster, the big win here is likely to be graphics that can handle high-resolution video playback, which could take some of the wind out of the sails of Nvidia’s Ion. One step up from there, Intel will continue to push its ultra low-voltage (ULV) processors for thin-and-lights priced from $600 to $800 such as the HP Pavilion dm3t, Lenovo IdeaPad U350 and Toshiba Satellite T135. The 45nm Core 2 Duo processors will be around for a while, but over time the new dual-core Arrandale chips will move into mainstream laptops with 14- and 15-inch displays currently priced at around $550 and up. At the high-end, Intel has the Clarksfield quad-core Core i7 processors in desktop replacements such as the Acer Aspire AS8940G, Alienware m15x, Dell Studio 15 and Studio XPS 16, HP Pavilion dv6t and dv8t Quad Editions, Lenovo IdeaPad Y550P and Toshiba Qosmio X505.

The Arrandale and Clarkdale processors include many of the same features–HyperThreading, Turbo Boost-that have made the 45nm Nehalem processors impressive performers. So it’s no surprise that early test results, which Intel showed at Intel Developer Forum in September, look promising. The company also hinted that graphics in these new chips will be significantly better. If they deliver, expect to see some nice Arrandale-based mainstream laptops starting early next year.

November 11th, 2009

AMD updates roadmap, promises "supercomputer in your lap"

Posted by John Morris @ 1:32 pm

Categories: Desktops, Notebooks, PCs, Peripherals, and Software

Tags: Platform, Supercomputer, Advanced Micro Devices Inc., Notebooks, Processors, Hardware, Notebooks & Tablets, Semiconductors, Components, John Morris

AMD’s annual analyst’s day, which is taking place today, is an opportunity to see how the company’s roadmaps for its laptop, desktop and server processors have changed over the past 12 months. This year looked to be especially interesting because AMD recently divorced the design of its products from the manufacturing, now performed by GlobalFoundries, raising questions about the company’s ability to deliver on time. AMD sought to put that to rest, stating (repeatedly) that its upcoming chips were ahead of schedule and providing some new details on exactly what these products will offer. (I did not attend this year’s analyst day, but AMD provided a live Webcast and the full presentations are available here.)

The most interesting stuff won’t arrive until 2011 because that is when AMD will finally introduce notebook and desktop chips that combine multiple CPU cores and graphics on the same physical slice of silicon. AMD refers to these as APUs (Accelerated Processor Units) but the strategy is also known as Fusion, and it’s been closely watched because it was part of the justification for the costly ATI acquisition three years ago. But AMD isn’t sitting around waiting for 2011. In the past year, the company completed the transition of its processors to 45nm, launched the industry’s first 40nm DirectX11 GPUs and introduced a six-core Opteron server processor. Next year AMD plans to release new enthusiast and mainstream laptop and desktop platforms, DX11 notebook GPUs and a 12-core Opteron. These are more evolutionary products than the APUs in 2011, but they should keep AMD competitive. In particular, AMD is promising next year’s laptop platforms will deliver at least a 25% improvement in both performance and battery life.

I’ve long argued that AMD’s notebook roadmap has been the company’s biggest weakness. Emilio Ghilardi, AMD’s Chief Sales Officer, seemed to confirm this when he said that, in his previous role at HP as an AMD customer, his number one question was AMD’s notebook lineup. AMD is attempting to address this by focusing on two key segments, mainstream and ultra-thin laptops (UTL), and on improving battery life. In the first half of 2010, AMD will release two new notebook platforms: Danube for mainstream laptops and Nile for UTLs. Danube will include dual- and quad-core Champlain CPUs and a chipset with DX10.1 integrated graphics that will also supports DX11 discrete GPUs. Nile will have a dual-core Geneva CPU and the same graphics. It will replace the Congo platform currently used in products such as the HP Pavilion dm3z. Both new processors will be manufactured using GlobalFoundries’ current 45nm processor on SOI (Silicon-on-Insulator) wafers.

In 2011, AMD will introduce its first APU, Llano, which will be part of the Sabine platform for mainstream laptops. Llano will include a quad-core CPU (using the existing Stars cores) and a DX11 GPU capable of “gigaflops-class” performance. Llano will be manufactured using 32nm SOI, which AMD executives said is already working on test chips and will be sampling–the term for giving key customers an early look–sometime next year. The Brazos platform, which will replace Nile, will have an Ontario APU based on a new CPU design known as Bobcat, as well as a DX11 GPU. Bobcat will be capable of operating at less than 1 watt with performance similar to today’s mainstream notebooks, AMD officials said. Interestingly AMD execs didn’t want to disclose the manufacturing process for Ontario, which at least leaves the door open to leapfrogging Intel and jumping to a 28nm technology–something AMD has been hinting at lately. To be clear, AMD officials didn’t say this, but like other semiconductor foundries, GlobalFoundries has both high-performance and low-power 28nm technology on its own roadmap, so it’s not hard to connect the dots here.

The desktop roadmap parallels the laptop one with two new platforms each year with the first APUs arriving in 2011. Next year AMD will replace its Dragon enthusiast platform with Leo, which is most notable for its Thuban CPU with up to six cores-basically a desktop version of the shipping Istanbul server chip. The mainstream platform, Dorado, will use AMD Athlon II processors with up to four cores and DX10.1 integrated graphics. Both will be manufactured using the current 45nm SOI technology.

In 2011, AMD will offer an enthusiast platform (Scorpius) with both quad and 8-core Zambezi processors based on a new design, known as Bulldozer. This is not part of an APU–it will use a standard chipset with “next-generation” ATI Radeon graphics. At the mainstream level, AMD will introduce the Llano APU with a quad-core processor as part of its Lynx platform. Both the Zambezi CPU and Llano APU will be manufactured using 32nm SOI technology.

AMD has been on a win streak with its Radeon 4800 series, and most recently Radeon 5000 series GPUs, and the company is hoping it can leverage its graphics expertise to better compete with Intel. With the CPU and GPU on a collision course, AMD execs also talked about “changing the cadence” of its future product releases to more closely match the 12-month GPU product development cycle, rather than AMD’s longer CPU schedule of anywhere from 16 to 24 months. If all of this works, Fusion could be the basis for some compelling products. Rick Bergman, the head of AMD’s Products Group, promised the technology would “literally deliver a supercomputer on your lap . . . with all-day battery performance.” That’s an ambitious plan, but it’s good to see AMD get some of its mojo back.

November 1st, 2009

Holiday Gift Guide 2009: Desktop computers

Posted by John Morris @ 9:04 pm

Categories: Desktops, Holiday Gift Guide, PCs, Peripherals, and Software

Tags: Hard Drive, Hewlett-Packard Co., Gateway Inc., PC, Memory, Apple iMac, Model, Advanced Micro Devices Inc., Series, Graphics

A lot has changed since I made a list of desktops and checked it twice last year.

Intel released its Core i5 and Core i7 processors, based on a new design known as Nehalem, which brought significant performance improvements to desktops (not to mention servers and workstations). AMD is still playing catch-up with its processors, but on the positive side it has had a string of hits in graphics including the Radeon HD 4000 series and now the HD 5000 series. Nvidia will release new graphics processors based on its Fermi architecture early next year, but for now AMD is delivering the best bang for the buck.

But the biggest change in the world of desktops is the release of Windows 7. The problems with Windows Vista were a bit overblown, but everyone was eager for a fresh start and Windows 7 makes desktops easier to use, more capable and even a bit faster under certain circumstances. With some desktops shipping with as much as 6GB of memory now, there’s no longer any reason to buy the 32-bit version of Windows, and nearly every new desktop comes with the 64-bit version of Windows 7 Home Premium, which will still run your 32-bit applications. Windows 7 also has support for multi-touch displays built-in, so you’ll notice many more desktops and laptops that include these features such as HP’s TouchSmart 600. I’ve tried some of these new Windows 7 multi-touch PCs, and they’re intriguing, but until someone comes up with killer apps for multi-touch on PCs, it will remain a niche.

One other new category you’ll notice on store shelves this year is the nettop. These look like small -form factor PCs, but they are actually the desktop’s answer to netbooks complete with Intel Atom processors. Some have slightly more powerful Nvidia graphics and they run Windows 7, rather than Windows XP, but don’t be fooled. Netbooks have their place, but I’m much more skeptical of nettops. The truth is there’s very little price difference between a nettop and a budget desktop, and the trade-off in terms of performance and features simply isn’t worth saving a few bucks.

As you’ll see from this year’s gift guide picks, there are plenty of better deals on desktops.

Go to the next page »

October 27th, 2009

More laptops combine Core i7, Windows 7

Posted by John Morris @ 7:06 pm

Categories: Desktops, Notebooks, PCs, Peripherals, and Software

Tags: Hard Drive, Lenovo Group Ltd., Microsoft Windows, Graphics, Laptop Computer, IdeaPad Y550P, Studio XPS 16, Microsoft Windows 7, Processors, Notebooks

Lenovo is the latest to add the Core i7 processor to its laptop lineup. The IdeaPad Y550P is one of several consumer laptops and desktops for Windows 7 that Lenovo announced yesterday. Intel first introduced Core i7 mobile processors, based on its Nehalem microarchitecture, in late September, but they remain high-end chips with list prices ranging from $364 to more than $1,000. The vast majority of laptops still use Core 2 Duo processors, or AMD Athlon or Turion chips. The arrival of Windows 7, however, has unleashed a wave of new notebooks including more Core i7 models.

The IdeaPad Y550P is an entertainment laptop with a 15.6-inch display and Nvidia discrete graphics. Lenovo hasn’t announced the final specs but should start around $1,149 with the 1.60GHz Core i7-720QM. Lenovo announced two other new laptops, the U550, a thinner 15.6-inch mainstream model, and the 11.6-inch IdeaPad U150 ultraportable. Both use Core 2 Duo processors, and the U550 has switchable graphics (integrated and discrete). The U150 and U550 will starts at $585 and $650, respectively. Lenovo does not offer a quad-core processor on its ThinkPad business line with the exception of the 17-inch W700, a mobile workstation that offers Core 2 Quad processors, but not Core i7. Lenovo also unveiled three Windows 7 desktops–only two of which, the IdeaCentre B500 and K300, will be available in the U.S. The most interesting is the B500, an all-in-one with a 23-inch 1920×1080 display, Core 2 Duo E5400, 2GB of memory, Nvidia GeForce G210M graphics with 512M and 320GB hard drive. Final pricing hasn’t been set, but Lenovo’s release stated the B500 should start around $649. Last week, Lenovo announced Windows 7 updates for two laptops for small and medium-size businesses, the 14-inch ThinkPad SL410 and 15.6-inch SL510, but these are available only with Core 2 Duo processors.

HP is now offering Core i7 processors on several “Quad Edition” models including the 15.6-inch Pavilion dv6t, 17.3-inch dv7t and 18.4-inch dv8t. The lowest priced is the $999.99 dv6t with 1366×768 resolution display, 1.60GHz Core i7-720QM, 2GB of memory, Nvidia GeForce GT 230M graphics with 1GB and a 250GB hard drive. At the opposite extreme, HP’s premium Envy 15 is also equipped with a 15.6-inch display but with a higher resolution (1920×1080) and ATI Radeon HD 4830 graphics. It starts at $1,799.99 with the same Core i7-720QM processor, 6GB of memory, and a 500GB hard drive. The 1.73GHz Core i7-820QM adds $400 to the price. Unlike the Pavilion dv6t, the Envy 15 does not have an internal optical drive to cut down on the weight and thickness, though you can purchase an external DVD burner or a combo drive that can also play Blu-ray discs.

Acer does not yet offer a model with a Core i7 processor. Gateway, which is a division of Acer, announced an new EC series of laptops, including a 15.6-inch model, but all of the new models use a 1.30GHz Pentium SU4100 dual-core processor, one of Intel’s ULV chips designed for long battery life rather than high performance. That puts the $649.99 Gateway EC5409u more in direct competition with other thin 15.6-inch models such as Dell’s Inspiron 15z and Lenovo’s IdeaPad U550.

Dell has several models that now include the Core i7. The Studio 15 starts at $999.99 with a 15.6-inch display (720p), 1.60GHz Core i7-720QM, 4GB of memory, ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4570 graphics with 512MB and 250GB hard drive. It competes directly with the Pavilion dv6t. The Studio XPS 16 is a higher-end model with a 1680×945 display, ATI Radeon HD 4670 graphics with 1GB and a 500GB hard drive. It starts at $1,399 with the same Core i7 chip. Dell’s desktop replacement, the Studio 17, also has a Core i7 720QM starting at $1,099 (17.3-inch display, 4GB of memory, ATI Radeon HD 4650 with 1GB and a 250GB hard drive). Finally, the Alienware m15x, a gaming rig, is one of the few 15.6-inch laptops with the full menu of Core i7 processors including the 2.0GHz Core i7 920XM–the fastest mobile processor currently available.

Last week Apple announced an iMac refresh that included Core i7 and Core i5 processors on its 27-inch model, but the company does not yet offer a laptop with a Nehalem processor. There are rumors that a MacBook Pro refresh may be just around the corner, though perhaps with the upcoming Arrandale Core i3/Core i5 processors.

October 19th, 2009

Will Windows 7 have the right touch?

Posted by John Morris @ 2:07 pm

Categories: Desktops, Notebooks, PCs, Peripherals, and Software

Tags: John Morris

The touch interface has arrived on smartphones, thanks largely to the iPhone. But it hasn’t found much mainstream success on the PC despite years of trying. The imminent arrival of Windows 7, which has multi-touch support built-in, and a separate Touch Pack with sample apps and games, has rekindled interest in touch computing.

In the past few weeks, Acer, HP, Fujitsu, Lenovo and Toshiba have all announced new laptops and desktops with touchscreens and software optimized for Windows 7. Some of these are updates to systems that already offered more limited touch features; others are entirely new multi-touch models. A few are mainstream laptops, signaling that touch could be ready to break out of its convertible-tablet box and reach a wider audience. Since they are timed for the release of Windows 7 on October 22, only a handful of these new PCs have received full reviews, but here’s what to expect.

The Acer Aspire AS5738PG, the company’s first multi-touch laptop, is a mainstream laptop with a 15.6-inch multi-touch display (1,366×768). Unlike competitors, Acer isn’t offering its own touch interface or applications with the Aspire AS5738PG, Instead it is simply piggy-backing on Windows 7, which means you can use one or two fingers to launch and control applications, move and resize windows, zoom in and out when viewing photos or Web pages, browse through documents and media, and write notes. The $799.99 Aspire AS5738PG-6306 will include 2.2GHz Core 2 Duo T6600, 4GB or memory, ATI Radeon HD 4570 graphics with 512MB, a 320GB hard drive and a DVD drive.

• New Acer Laptops Add Multitouch [PC Magazine]

Fujitsu isn’t new to touch, and the company is sticking to the script with three convertible tablets for Windows 7, the LifeBook T4410 and T4310, and an updated LifeBook T5010. The T4410 and T4310 both have a 12.1-inch (1280×800) display, but with different specs, while the T5010 has a 13.3-inch display (1280×800). What distinguishes these models is a dual digitizer display, developed by Wacom, which works with both a stylus and as a capacitive multi-touch display. You can fold it flat to scribble notes or leave it open and use one or two fingers to control the system. That flexibility will definitely appeal to certain business users, but it comes at a steep price.

The dual digitizer version of the T5010, which is already available in the U.S. with a free upgrade to Windows 7, starts at $1,859 with a 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo P8400, 1GB of memory, an 80GB hard drive and DVD burner. At a minimum, I’d recommend upgrading to 2GB of memory and a 120GB drive, which brings the system price to just under $2,000. The LifeBook T4410 and T4310 are not yet available in the U.S., but since Fujitsu already offers a different 12.1-inch model here, the LifeBook T2020, odds are the Windows 7 versions will find their way here.

• Fujitsu LifeBook T5010 review [PC Magazine]

HP also has a new convertible tablet–along with two all-in-one desktops–but it is banking on multi-touch for consumers as well as business. HP’s TouchSmart all-in-ones have always included a special touch interface and a suite of consumer applications and games, but the Windows 7 versions, the 20-inch TouchSmart 300 and the 23-inch TouchSmart 600, add multi-touch support and a broader set of apps including touch-enabled versions of Twitter, Hulu, Netflix, and the Rhapsody and Pandora music services. The HP TouchSmart 300-1020, a retail model available starting November 1, is $899.99 with a 2.70GHz AMD Athlon II 235e dual-core processor, 4GB of memory, ATI Radeon HD 3200 integrated graphics, a 500GB hard drive and DVD burner. The HP TouchSmart 600-1050, also a retail model available on October 22, starts at $1,199.99 with a 2.10GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T6500, 4GB of memory, Nvidia GeForce G200 integrated graphics, a 750GB hard drive and DVD burner. On HP’s site, the configure-to-order version of the TouchSmart 600 will start at $1,049.99.

The TouchSmart tx2z, previously a run-of-the-mill 12.1-inch (1280×800) tablet, now has the TouchSmart interface and nearly all of the same consumer apps except for RecipeBox. Like the LifeBook T5010 it works in both pen and multi-touch modes, but it uses N-trig’s DuoSense display technology. The TouchSmart tx2z, which will be available on October 22 with Windows 7 (you can order it now), starts at $799.99 with a 2.2GHz AMD Turion X2 RM-75 processor, 2GB of memory, ATI Radeon HD 3200 integrated graphics, a 250GB hard drive and a DVD burner. Outside the U.S., the Pavilion dv3, HP’s 13.3-inch consumer laptop, is also available with multi-touch.

In addition to these consumer models, HP announced a TouchSmart 9100 Business PC with a 23-inch display, which it is positioning as a “virtual sales assistant” for retail stores, and a multi-touch 42-inch LCD monitor, the HP LD4200tm, for digital signage. The TouchSmart 9100 starts at $1,299 and the HP LD4200tm will be $2,799. Both will be available in December.

• HP TouchSmart 600 review [CNET]
• Video Hands-on: HP TouchSmart tx2 Now Offers Touch Twitter, Hulu Apps [Laptop Magazine]
• HP TouchSmart 600-1055 review [PC Magazine]
• HP TouchSmart 600 review [PC World]

Lenovo decided not to wait around for Windows 7 and released its multi-touch systems, the ThinkPad X200 12.1-inch convertible tablet and the ThinkPad T400s 14.1-inch laptop, in September. Both models have capacitive multi-touch displays, but unlike the Fujitsu and HP tablets, neither ThinkPad’s display doubles as a digitizer for pen input. (The much-larger ThinkPad W700 workstation comes with a true Wacom digitizer in the palm-rest, however.) Like HP, Lenovo has its own touch interface, called SimpleTap, but it’s a bit more utilitarian. SimpleTap is basically a set of tiles that allows you to use finger gestures to adjust hardware settings including turning on or off the wireless radios, ThinkLight and microphone; viewing the Webcam; adjusting the volume or screen brightness; and locking the screen or putting the system to sleep. You can add custom tiles to launch particular apps or documents.

The ThinkPad X200 with the multi-touch display is currently available on Lenovo’s site for $1,689 with a 1.40GHz Intel Core 2 Duo SU9400, 2GB of memory, Intel integrated graphics, a 160GB hard drive and 4-cell battery. Lenovo also offers an optional display on the ThinkPad X200 that is very bright (400 nits), and has an anti-reflective layer and a wider viewing angle. This “outdoor viewable” display is not available with multi-touch. The ThinkPad T400s starts at $1,999 with a 2.40GHz Intel Core2 Duo SP9400, 2GB of memory, Intel integrated graphics, a 120GB hard drive, DVD burner and 6-cell battery. The new SimpleTap software will be available for download later this week.

• Lenovo ThinkPad X200 Tablet Multi-Touch review [Computer Shopper]
• Lenovo ThinkPad X200 Tablet review [PC Magazine]

Over the past few weeks, I’ve had a chance to try out several of these new multi-touch applications. They’re nice extras, but I’m not convinced anyone has yet found the killer app to drive broad adoption of multi-touch computing. Still the multi-touch support in Windows 7, and the availability of touch displays on a wider variety of desktops and laptops–and at much lower prices–should do a lot to expose this technology to more users. One clear indication the technology is improving: The HP TouchSmart 600 has already picked up two Editors’ Choice awards (PC Magazine and Computer Shopper) and Lenovo’s ThinkPad X200 Multi-touch nabbed one (also PC Magazine).

September 23rd, 2009

Intel: 32nm is just the beginning

Posted by John Morris @ 11:06 am

Categories: Desktops, Notebooks, PCs, Peripherals, and Software

Tags: Graphics, Intel Corp., Chip, GPU, Westmere, Sandy Bridge, Process Technology, Larrabee, Semiconductors, Processors

Intel hasn’t released its 32nm Westmere processors yet, but executives spent the first day of the Intel Developer Forum (IDF) talking about technology even farther down road. In his keynote, executive VP Sean Maloney gave a glimpse of a desktop running Sandy Bridge, the new microarchitecture that comes after Westmere, also at 32nm (they’ll talk more about that today). Even further out, CEO Paul Otellini showed the world’s first working 22nm chip–an SRAM test chip the size of a fingernail with 2.9 billion transistors.

The message from Intel’s was clear: Moore’s Law is alive and well. Why does this matter? Obviously there’s a big economic incentive. Finer process technology enables chipmakers to manufacture smaller processors, which lowers cost, with more transistors, which lets chip designers improve performance and add new features.

But there’s another reason too. As it expands into new markets beyond the PC–something Intel now refers to as the “continuum”–it is running up against a host of potential competitors, especially companies such as Qualcomm and Samsung that are designing more powerful mobile processors, not only for smartphones but also for smartbooks and netbooks. Meanwhile an old rival, AMD, has spun-off its manufacturing to a new company, GlobalFoundries, and found a partner with deep pockets. Earlier this year Intel vowed to spend $7 billion over the next two years on advanced manufacturing, and the heavy spending is clearly yielding results. These public demonstrations of future technology are a clear signal to both competitors and customers that Intel has no plans to let up.

Next up for Intel is Westmere, which will be the first 32nm processor, though with the second generation of the company’s high-k and metal gate (HK+MG) technology. (Intel execs love to point out that they’ve shipped more than 200 million 45nm chips with HK+MG transistors while competitors such as TSMC and AMD are still working on the technology.) Aside from process technology, the major difference in Westmere is that it will include both the 32nm CPU and a 45nm graphics processing unit (GPU)–in the same package, not on the same physical piece of silicon (or “on-die”). Current desktops and notebooks use either integrated graphics in a separate chipset (the northbridge) or a discrete graphics processing unit (GPU). Intel has also posted a new Westmere video in which engineers talk a bit about the challenges of integrating the GPU in the package and the level of performance it should offer. Maloney focused on two other features, HyperThreading (two cores, four threads) and Turbo Mode, which he said will improve responsiveness even on simple tasks such as synchronizing content between a PC and an iPod.

Lately there’s been some talk that Westmere may arrive early–mainly because Intel said it would be “shipping for revenue in the fourth quarter”–but the schedule hasn’t changed. Intel will start selling the Clarksdale desktop and Arrandale mobile versions to its customers in the fourth quarter, and they will show up in desktops and laptops in the first quarter of 2010.

In Intel’s “tick-tock” development cadence, Westmere is a tick (a shrink from 45nm to 32nm), which will be followed by a new Sandy Bridge microarchitecture, the tock, at the same process node. Intel executives will talk more about Sandy Bridge today, but what we do know is that it will include a new GPU on-die and it will use the AVX (Advanced Vector Extensions) instructions that Intel has developed to speed-up floating-point calculations in intensive applications such as multimedia, scientific research and financial modeling. Sandy Bridge is scheduled to ship in late 2010.

Intel also gave the first public demonstration of the “early silicon” for its mysterious Larrabee discrete GPU. In a demo during Maloney’s keynote, research scientist Bill Mark showed how his team can put a popular 3D game, id Software’s Enemy Territory: Quake Wars, into the company’s ray tracing engine and run it in real-time using task parallelism. He emphasized the ease of programming Larrabee using C++ and said doing something similar on a standard GPU would be “quite painful.” There’s still no word on how or when Intel plans to bring Larrabee to market. While everyone has assumed that Larrabee will be sold as a discrete GPU, interestingly Maloney said at the conclusion of the demo that Intel “will be “incorporating this into a future CPU at some point.” The Larrabee demo had the help of an upcoming 32nm high-end desktop CPU, Gulftown, which will have six cores and 12 threads. Not coincidentally, AMD revealed earlier this week that it would also release a six-core desktop processor, code-named Thuban, sometime in 2010.

If all goes according to plan, Intel will release processors based on its 22nm “tick” in late 2011. This node will use the third generation of Intel’s HK+MG technology, and it will likely integrate not only the GPU–as in Sandy Bridge–but other new functions as well. As Intel pushes the limits of process scaling, it will need to go beyond HK+MG and come up with other innovations. Some of the possibilities specifically mentioned in yesterday’s sessions include the use of compound semiconductors such as Gallium Arsenide, already widely used in communications; new lithography tools such as EUV (Extreme Ultra Violet), which has a shorter wavelength to print finer circuitry; and 3D chip stacking to increase density and combine different types of chips in a single package.

All of these pose major technical challenges, but given Intel’s track record of late, Moore’s Law is probably safe for several more generations.

September 17th, 2009

AMD, Intel battle for the mainstream - how low can quad-core go?

Posted by John Morris @ 1:41 pm

Categories: Desktops, PCs, Peripherals, and Software

Tags: AMD Athlon, Quad-core, Advanced Micro Devices Inc., Intel Corp., Chip, Athlon II X4, Processors, Semiconductors, Hardware, Components

Two stories about AMD jumped out at me this week. First, market researcher iSuppli reported that Intel had increased its share of the worldwide PC processor market, by revenues, to more than 80 percent–a level it hasn’t reach in nearly four years. AMD lost share not because it is selling fewer chips, iSuppli said, but because of lower prices. Second, AMD announced the industry’s first sub-$100 quad-core processor.

It’s not hard to connect the dots. AMD is now firmly in the role of value play for processors. That hasn’t always been the case. AMD has introduced many significant innovations over the years that, combined with the occasional misstep by Intel, gave it a competitive advantage. In more recent times, though, the company has struggled to make its acquisition of ATI pay off and its gamble on a native quad-core chip, Barcelona, went bad. AMD has been paying for it ever since, and was eventually forced to spin-off its own fabs, creating GlobalFoundries.

Competing on price isn’t necessarily a bad strategy, though. It’s pretty clear that buyers are opting for cheaper laptops and desktops, and AMD can deliver a good value by pairing a relatively inexpensive CPU with Radeon graphics that outperforms Intel’s finest. This is the “balanced platform” that AMD has been preaching for some time.

The new Athlon II quad-core processors that AMD announced include the 2.60GHz Athlon II X4 620 and 2.80GHz Athlon II X4 630. Newegg is selling the Athlon II X4 620 for $99 and Athlon II X4 630 is priced at $126. AMD first discussed these quad-cores back in June, when it introduced the first Athlon II series chip, the dual-core 3.0GHz Athlon II X2 250. This processor currently sells for around $76.

Despite the Athlon name, the chip actually uses the same basic design as the newer Phenom and Phenom II processors, known as the K10 microarchitecture. The major difference is that the Athlon II, or “Propus” core, does not have shared L3 cache, which means fewer transistors and a smaller chip that is less expensive to manufacture. There are numerous reviews of the chip (some links below), but here’s the short version: the Athlon II X4 620 is competitive with the $150 Core 2 Quad 8200–Intel’s cheapest quad-core chip–but nowhere near the performance of the recently released 2.66GHz Core i5-750, which is twice the price.

The Athlon II X4 is designed for mainstream desktops, and the platform includes the 785G chipset with Radeon HD 4200 graphics. The combination should deliver more than enough muscle to handle Windows 7, as well as features such as Blu-ray playback and support for ATI’s Stream technology, which like Nvidia’s CUDA, can speed-up certain tasks such as video encoding when using compatible software.

Given these capabilities, it will be interesting to see just how low computer makers can go with prices of quad-core systems. HP has already announced a business desktop, the HP Compaq 6005 Pro, that will use this platform. The 6005 Pro starts at $563, but it only offers dual-core Athlon IIs or triple- or quad-core Phenom IIs, so we’ll need to wait to see where consumer desktops with the quad-core Athlon II end up.

The Athlon II trickled down from AMD’s high-end Phenoms. Historically this is how both AMD and Intel have introduced their latest and greatest. But in another sign of just how important mainstream laptops and desktops have become, Intel plans to release its 32nm Westmere technology in mainstream processors first. This week Intel said the new chips–Clarkdale for desktops and Arrandale for laptops–were on track for early 2010 and posted a video with some details on the making of the first 32nm processors. Intel execs will no doubt have a lot more to say on Westmere at next week’s Intel Developer Forum.

AMD Athlon II X4 reviews:

• Anandtech
• Computer Shopper
• Hexus.net
• Maximum PC
• PC Perspective
• Techspot

August 21st, 2009

Netbooks with Nvidia's Ion wait on Windows 7

Posted by John Morris @ 1:31 pm

Categories: Desktops, Notebooks, PCs, Peripherals, and Software

Tags: Lenovo Group Ltd., NVidia Corp., Microsoft Windows, Netbook, Ion, Eee Top ET2002T, Netbooks, Nettops & MIDs, Microsoft Windows 7, Hardware, John Morris

Nvidia’s Ion platform may be off to a slow start, but that could change once Windows 7 arrives in late October. To date Ion has been used only in nettops–including two new ones from Asus and Lenovo–but the first netbooks should finally arrive around the time Microsoft releases its new operating system.

Ion is supposed to be a performance-enhancing drug for netbooks. Nearly all netbooks and nettops currently use an Intel Atom processor and basic integrated graphics–a combination that is easy on the battery but lacks the performance to, for example, play high-quality video. The Ion chipset, which includes an Nvidia GeForce 9400M GPU, promises to significantly boost performance.

Lenovo, which was the first to announce a netbook with Ion back in May, has confirmed that it will now ship this version of the IdeaPad S12 sometime after October 22 when Windows 7 arrives. The netbook was originally slated for late summer. The Ionized IdeaPad S12 will be priced at $549–$50 more than the current configuration. Similarly, Samsung will wait for Win7 to launch its N510, an 11.6-inch netbook with Ion, according to Laptopmag.com. It is expected to sell for around $599. Digitimes reported today that HP would also release an Ion-based netbook in September, and that Asustek planned to release both an all-in-one and a nettop using Nvidia’s chipset around the same time.

Earlier this week Lenovo announced a nettop that will be available with or without Nvidia’s Ion. The IdeaCentre Q110 will have a 1.60GHz Intel Atom 230 single-core processor, 2GB of memory, 250GB hard drive, Nvidia Ion chipset and either Windows XP or Vista Home Premium. The configuration without Ion, the Q100, will have 1GB of memory and a 160GB hard drive. Lenovo hasn’t announced pricing, but the Q1-00 series will be available in mid-September. The Acer AspireRevo, which has the same configuration as the Q110, sells for $299. (Lenovo also announced a new home theater PC, the IdeaCentre Q700, and a home server, the IdeaCentre D400.)

Asus has started selling–at least in some markets–the Ion-based all-in-one it announced at Computex back in June. The Eee Top ET2002T has a 20-inch touchscreen, 1.60GHz Intel Atom 330 dual-core processor, 2GB of memory, Nvidia Ion chipset, 250GB hard drive and DVD drive.

Timing the release of Ion netbooks to Windows 7 make some sense. It’s hard to make the case for the added cost of Ion in a netbook running Windows XP, but with Windows 7 the GeForce GPU it should make a bigger difference. Some questions remain though. First, it’s not clear what Ion will do to battery life–one of the strengths of netbooks. Second, Intel isn’t standing still. Its upcoming netbook platform, Pine Trail-M will be out shortly after Windows 7–most likely January 2010–and it should offer better performance, including HD video playback. I’m also expecting to see more netbooks and ultraportables using AMD’s Athlon Neo processors and either Radeon X1250 integrated graphics or Radeon HD 3410 discrete graphics. All of which means Ion has an increasingly short window in which to prove its value in netbooks.

July 15th, 2009

Intel discusses upcoming laptop and Atom chips, why we need more performance in mobile devices

Posted by John Morris @ 6:07 am

Categories: Desktops, Notebooks, PCs, Peripherals, and Software

Tags: Performance, Mobile, Power Consumption, Mobile Device, Laptop Computer, Intel Corp., Chip, Advertising & Promotion, Performance Management, Notebooks

This week I’m at the Semicon West show in San Francisco. Most of this is inside baseball–the show is devoted to the companies that make the equipment used to manufacture chips–but in his opening keynote, Anand Chandrasekher, who heads up Intel’s Ultra Mobility Group, discussed some details of the company’s future mobile chips and demonstrated a few prototypes. Much of this has been shown before at recent Intel Developer Forums and other conferences, but Chandrasekher tied it all together and made a persuasive case for continued innovation to push the performance of laptops, netbooks and smartphones.

It’s no secret that it has been a tough year for the chip industry. To put it in context, Chandrasekher noted that Intel started working on Centrino nearly a decade ago in the midst of the dot-bomb downturn when desktops still dominated and for the first time PC sales declined sequentially. The iPod was also born during that downturn. In fact, he argued, many key technology innovations including the cell phone, IBM PC an even the World Wide Web had their origins in downturns.

“Every recession period, there was a fundamental invention that changed all of our lives,” Chandrasekher said. “We’re in the middle of this next cycle of difficult investment period. These tend to be periods where companies look hard at their investments and the bets that they make during this period usually tend to have long-lasting impact.”

So what is Intel betting on this time around? More mobile, or specifically the “convergence of communications and computers.” Chandrasekher repeated Intel’s oft-cited prediction of a billion mobile connected devices by 2015. This growth is driven by the Internet, which has evolved over the last decade from search to shopping to social networking. Every 24 hours, there are 10,000 new Web sites and 140 Facebook applications, he said. If recent history is any indication, five years from now a list of the top sites in the world will include several new names, including sites from China (baidu.com is already on that list), India and Latin America. Mobile data traffic will double by the end of 2012, primarily because of video streaming, though other areas such as data, audio and P2P are all growing.

You’d think that most of this growth was fueled by cell phones–unit sales of handsets dwarf PCs–but Intel of course says it’s all about notebooks, and that the billion devices in 2015 will be more like PCs than today’s cell phones. “Yes mobile Internet growth is happening today, but almost all of it is happening on a notebook computer,” Chandrasekher said. Apple probably wouldn’t agree with that statement, and there’s no denying that relatively expensive smartphones are growing at a rapid rate even in the teeth of a recession. But generally speaking, I’d agree with Intel’s contention that limitations in the performance, screens size, network bandwidth and application compatibility are still holding cell phones back.

Chandrasekher talked about what Intel is doing to address these limitations starting with efforts to stay on Moore’s Law, which is critical to increase the performance and reduce the power consumption of notebooks and other mobile devices. “That sounds easy, but it’s not,” he said. “The 45nm node and the high-k metal gate innovation were 10 years in the making.” The Westmere 32nm processors will use Intel’s second-generation HKMG, and will increase performance by 20 percent while reducing gate leakage (power consumption) by 10 times, he said. These technology “shrinks” are, of course, what enables thinner and lighter notebooks such as Acer Timeline series notebooks.

To make the case for more performance, Intel showed a Calpella laptop with a 32nm processor running a brain scan application from a company called Vital Imaging. This application takes 10 minutes to run on current Intel laptops, but the next-generation can complete the scan in only two minutes, according to Intel. “EMTs can take this on the road and do imaging on the fly in an ambulance,” Chandrasekher said. “At the point of care delivery, the caregiver will be able to make decision 5X faster.” Calpella, the next iteration of Intel’s Centrino mobile platform, is due late this year, initially with 45nm Clarksfield processors based on the Nehalem architecture, followed by 32nm Arrandale chips sometime in the first half of 2010.

The next version of Intel’s Atom processor, known as Moorestown, will still be based on 45nm manufacturing technology, but it has a new design. Previously, Intel had said Moorestown would reduce power consumption by 10X, but in May the company announced that it would actually reduce power consumption by 50 times. Though Intel isn’t giving any numbers yet–most likely to avoid direct comparisons with ARM processors–Chandrasekher showed a demo comparing standby power of the current Atom with a Moorestown Customer Develoment Kit (CDK), as well as some data on power consumption when watching video or listening to music. “Trust me, it’s a 50X reduction in standby power,” he said. A Moorestown device will be capable of playing music for 100 hours before recharging, according to Intel.

Intel showed several prototype Moorestown devices. One prototype, from a mobile company in Finland, looked a lot like an iPhone, but Chandrasekher said it had about the same performance as notebook PC circa 2004 with the power consumption of today’s smartphones. To illustrate the performance, he also showed a Compal prototype playing a 3D game, Quake Open Arena, and playing 720p video while performing other tasks. Moorestown will be “in production shortly, but it’s not yet in production,” Chandrasekher said. “It’s just the early silicon that we’re putting through its paces.”

Finally, Chandrasekher pointed out that it will take more than technology to make mobile convergence happen. It will also require huge manufacturing scale “because these are not small markets.” Intel has promised to spend $7 billion over the next couple of years in four manufacturing fabs in Oregon, Arizona and New Mexico to crank out 32nm processors. Those investments are already well underway, he said.

June 30th, 2009

Desktops aren't dead (yet)

Posted by John Morris @ 2:06 pm

Categories: Desktops, PCs, Peripherals, and Software

Tags: Hard Drive, Hewlett-Packard Co., Memory, Configuration, HP Pavilion, Advanced Micro Devices Inc., Graphics, Intel Corp., Dell Inspiron, Aspire M800 Series

Laptops have long since overtaken their desk-bound brethren in terms of revenues, and more recently unit sales. In the first quarter, desktop unit sales dropped 23 percent, while notebook sales actually increased 10 percent compared with the same period last year, according to iSuppli. Gizmodo even penned an obituary for the desktop this week. But rumors of the desktop’s demise are premature. Take a closer look at iSuppli’s numbers: Desktops still accounted for 47 percent of all PCs sold worldwide–more than 30 million units–in the first quarter. Desktops are still big business.

Over the past week or so, PC makers have been rolling out their Back to School boxes. The laptops and netbooks get more coverage, but these new desktops are still worth a look, especially to see the sort of features you can get in systems ranging from $300 to $900.

HP has announced several new models. As usual, all of the HP-branded desktops have an AMD-based configuration at the low-end as well as slightly high-priced configurations with Intel processors. The Slimline s5000 is a small form factor desktop that currently starts at $290 (s5100z) with a 2.8GHz AMD Athlon LE-1660 single-core processor, 2GB of memory, Nvidia GeForce 6150 integrated graphics, and a 320GB hard drive. The $370 s5110t has a 2.50GHz Pentium E5200 dual-core processor, 3GB, and a 320GB hard drive; the $450 s5150t has a 2.60GHz Pentium E5300, 4GB, and a 500GB hard drive. The Pavilion p6000 is a low- to mid-range mini-tower desktop that starts at $270 with a 2.3GHz AMD Sempron LE-1300 single-core processor, 2GB of memory, Nvidia GeForce 6150 graphics and a 320GB hard drive. The p6110t and p6150t have the same basic configuration and pricing as the Slimline series.

At the high-end, the HP’s Pavilion Elite e9000 series starts at $600 (e9100z) with a 3.0GHz AMD Phenom II X2 545 dual-core processor, 4GB of memory, Nvidia GeForce G210 graphics with 512MB, and a 500GB hard drive. The $700 e9110t has an older Intel Core 2 Quad chip and the top-of-the-line e9150t starts at $900 with the newer Core i7-920 quad-core processor, 6GB of memory, ATI Radeon HD 4650 graphics with 1GB, and a 750GB hard drive. Finally, the Compaq Presario CQ5110F is a basic mini-tower available in only one $350 configuration with an AMD dual-core processor.

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