CPU

While the launch of nVidia’s Fermi architecture and AMD’s Bulldozer might have had investors running to buy stocks in electricity production companies, overall, the trend for power consumption has been downward. KitGuru listens to rumours coming out of the east about possible changes to mainboard requirements for Intel’s Haswell in …

Over time, companies gain and lose people. In the natural sequence of events, when someone leaves, they are often replaced immediately by someone else with similar experience/salary demands. Right now, that’s not the case at AMD. KitGuru looks at the latest changes and believes it has found a pattern. If …

Rumours off the grapevine this morning indicate a big set of changes down at AMD, with the new Chief Sales Officer determined to put the company on the right track in the face of the toughest market conditions the chip specialists have ever faced. KitGuru stands around the mini-kitchenette and …

Today we are looking at the Gigabyte X79S-UP5-WIFI, an X79 motherboard based on the Intel C606 chipset. On paper this looks to be perfect as the foundation for a high end workstation system. Intel have also supplied an Xeon E5 2660 processor, an 8 core chip with hyperthreading support. How …

Still smarting from having to pay Apple over $1 Billion because it stole design ideas, Samsung has agreed to outlay around half that amount again to pick up 3% of Dutch photolithography firm ASML. It’s nice to get something tangible for your money. KitGuru does a quick check on who …

When Biswamohan Pani decided to leave Intel for AMD in the summer of 2008, he was asked point blank at an ‘exit interview’ if he still had any Intel information or property. He lied and, as Intel would later find out, he’d also began working for chip rival AMD. KitGuru …

The actual creation of next generation content is one of the most processor-intensive tasks you can demand from your system. With the launch of its next-generation Maximus products at SIGGRAPH in Los Angeles, nVidia is aiming to place the bar high enough that no one else can touch the customers …

AMD seem to be having a tough period right now facing stiff competition from Intel and Nvidia, however they have acquired a high profile chip veteran – Jim Keller. Jim Keller is returning to the roost, he worked for AMD for more than a decade, designing their chips. His recent …

Following AMD’s early heads-up to the market that it could miss its stated target for 2012, it comes as little surprise that today’s numbers are not strong. So what next for AMD and how should it react?  KitGuru leans against a Wall in the Street and ponders whether money ever …

Back in October we conducted an in-depth test of AMD’s FX-8150 Black Edition, the range topping processor based on their latest Bulldozer architecture.  We were reasonably impressed with the chip as it overclocked well and outperformed the Intel Core i5-2500K in a number of tests. Over the last few weeks, AMD …

High-end AMD Llano APUs and the Guinness World Record breaking FX Processors, with unrestricted power and unbeatable pricing, will soon be available at even better value. AMD has launched a cashback programme on the A8 and A6 APUs and also a range of FX CPUs including the FX 8120 and …

Today we are looking at the low cost, low power AMD APU – called the A4 3400. In terms of the hierarchy of the Llano APUs this particular chip is closer to the bottom of the pile. That said, while it isn’t aimed at an audience who enjoy playing the …

Back in the day, everything was all about DOS or CPM on Z-80. That was replaced by an era of Windows on Intel, but on 28th May the new world order prepares to feel smug and enjoy the new noodles in Hong Kong. KitGuru prepares to check into the Gold …

There are several things that affect the overall performance of a processor-based device. You can look for bottlenecks in the data transfer and try to improve them or get the internals of the chip itself to do more work per clock cycle. While balance is important, almost nothing can beat …

As the new Intel processors sweep through the publications and channel, we find ourselves in that twilight world where the new king is putting on its crown, while there’s still a few heatbeats left in the old one. KitGuru does a quick scan of the on line retail offers and …

Today we are looking at the new Asus P8Z77-V Deluxe motherboard when paired up with the flagship GTX680. Is this the ideal foundation for a new, high performance enthusiast system? A couple of weeks ago we reviewed the Asus Sabretooth Z77 motherboard when paired up with an overclocked Core i7 …

ASRock have made a name for themselves in the past few years, releasing some very impressive motherboards such as the Fatal1ty 990FX Professional that we reviewed a few months back. They have a wide range of motherboards across multiple platforms, from mini-ITX HTPC motherboards to high-end ATX boards with a …

Kitguru has been busy for the last week preparing multiple reviews for the latest Intel launch today. In this particular review we will look at the Asus Maximus V Gene when paired up with the Intel i7 3770k processor. In this review we will focus on this system as a …

We received this press release from ASROCK for immediate publication. It reads: “ASRock exclusive OC Master, Nick Shih, just managed our Z77 Extreme6 to overclock Intel’s Ivy Bridge Core i7 3770K processor to unbelievable 6.9GHz high speed. The system can even run all Super PI 1M programs stably and cost only …

When all nVidia did was graphic chips for graphic cards, there was always a decent amount of production capacity available in the world. Now that it’s busy pioneering in the phone sector – the numbers have caught Jen Hsun’s gang out. They need more and they’re gasping for it. KitGuru …

Real might have started life as a simple player, but over the years it has grown and developed in new and varied ways. Some have been successful and others less so. But today, it’s board will be patting themselves on the back, because they have just picked up a nice …

Its hard to say if the Ivy Bridge launch is the worst in Intel’s history, but it’s certainly been one of the most confusing. The staggered nature of the ‘event’ and complex nature of what can be released to who and by when, has caused a mish-mash of data and …

After many months of Ivy Bridge talk and still another month or so to go before its supposed launch date, it’s been discovered that there doesn’t appear to be any Core i3 models coming out for notebooks; rather, Ivy Bridge mobile parts will be confined to Intel’s Core i7, Core …

It can’t be fun trying to compete with a company like Intel. If you look at the $50Bn worth of engineering, marketing and sales muscle the sponsors of tomorrow has at its disposal, then look over at AMD’s $6.5Bn revenues, you you get an idea of the scale of the …

Details regarding the upcoming Intel Core i5 and Core i7 processors has been posted by Digitimes. They say “Intel is set to announce its next-generation 22nm-based Ivy Bridge processors by the end of April with 11 models including Core i7-3770K, Core i7-3770, Core i7-3770S, Core i7-3770T and Core i5-3550, expected …

Most times modern technology will launch under strict guidelines from manufacturer. Bigger launches have more rules and the possibility of serious consequences for flaunting them. All mainboard vendors were showing Z77 designs at CeBIT this week, but only MSI boards seem to have been reviewed or sold. We investigate. Like …

IBM scientists have created a prototype optical processor that is capable of transfering a terabit of data every second. According to a report on ArsTechnica they came up with the design by drilling 48 tiny holes into a standard CMOS chip which then allowed for the movement of light. The …

Addressing the incredible growth of data traffic in the cloud, Intel Corporation announced the record-breaking Intel Xeon processor E5-2600 product family. These new processors deliver leadership performance, best data center performance per watt, breakthrough I/O innovation and trusted hardware security features to enable IT to scale. These processors are not …

The first indication of Ivy Bridge processor pricing has come to light through a dealer in Singapore who felt like jumping the gun in sharing an online price list of 7 and 6 series motherboard + Ivy Bridge CPU combos. The table seen above quotes pricing in Singapore Dollars (SGD) …

To quote a classic video, “Overclocking is all about getting something you haven’t paid for. It’s dirty and you love it”. While that may be true in almost every case, it’s certainly much more true when the price you do pay gets slashed. KitGuru polishes its scales of justice and …