Although Advanced Micro Devices pins most of its hopes on hybrid accelerated processing units (APUs) these days, it continues to supply traditional central processing units for performance enthusiasts. In a bid to make its FX-series line a little bit more competitive, the company plans to cut-down their prices in the …
Read More »New photos of Core i7-5960X ‘Haswell-E’ show up on the web
While the photos of the upcoming Intel Core i7-5900-series “Haswell-E” processors are no longer considered a breakthrough news, they still pose a lot of interest, especially if they are in high-resolution and reveal the backside of the chips. The first image of an engineering sample of the Intel Core i7-5900-series …
Read More »Intel speeds up launch of next-gen Core i7 ‘Haswell-E’ processors
Intel Corp. has decided to speed up the introduction of its next-generation Core i7 5800/5900-series “Haswell-E” microprocessors by several days or weeks and introduce the new chips already in August. This should give Intel and its partners several additional days of sales and therefore additional revenue, but it will not …
Read More »Intel acquires LSI’s Axxia networking processor unit from Avago
Avago Technologies continues to resell assets it got from LSI last year. On Thursday Avago and Intel said that the latter will acquire the Axxia networking business from the former. The acquisition of Axxia essentially makes Intel a supplier of network processors based on ARM Cortex and IBM Power processing …
Read More »Intel finds erratum in Haswell and Broadwell chips, disables TSX instructions
One of the features of Intel Corp.’s Haswell micro-architecture (and Broadwell micro-architecture) were transactional synchronization extensions (TSX), which could significantly boost performance in multi-threaded applications that take advantage of them. As it appears, usage of the technology leads to unpredictable PC behaviour due to an erratum. As a result, Intel …
Read More »AMD ready to build custom 64-bit ARM processors for servers
Advanced Micro Devices yet has to commercially ship its first ARMv8-based system-on-chip for servers code-named Seattle. Nonetheless, the company already says that it is ready to develop semi-custom server-class SoCs for servers based on the 64-bit ARMv8 architecture. The company already offers customized Opteron chips powered by its x86 cores. …
Read More »Intel reaffirms plans to ship ‘Broadwell’ chips in late 2014
Intel Corp. on Monday reaffirmed plans to start shipments of its next-generation code-named “Broadwell” microprocessors in late 2014 and to make them available in mass quantities in 2015. The announcement is made to persuade investors and partners that there will be no further delays with Intel’s new products as well …
Read More »IBM offered GlobalFoundries $1 billion to take its foundry business away
As reported, the deal between International Business Machines Corp. and GlobalFoundries over chip manufacturing assets of the former has failed to materialize because the latter did not want to pay enough to the former. However, according to a new report, it was IBM, who was offering money to GlobalFoundries to take …
Read More »ARM server eco-system developing slower than expected – Dell
Although many market observers expect processors based on the ARM architecture to capture a significant part of server market going forward, delays of hardware and infrastructure development reduces ARM’s chances on this market. Intel Corp. is quickly developing new low-power x86 server chips that reduce appeal of ARM for server …
Read More »Intel demos its cooling solution for Core i7-5000 ‘Haswell-E’ chips
Intel Corp. this week demonstrated its new cooling system designed for the forthcoming high-end desktop (HEDT) processors code-named “Haswell-E”. The new cooler, which will be supplied with the Core i7-5800/5900-series microprocessors, will be bigger than the current one and will thus be able to dissipate more heat without creating too …
Read More »AMD begins to sell ARMv8 Opteron ‘Seattle’ kits to software developers
Advanced Micro Devices on Thursday began to sell server software development kits based on its multi-core AMD Opteron A1100-series code-named “Seattle” server microprocessors that employ the ARM Cortex-A57 cores. At present AMD is the only provider of 64-bit ARM server hardware with complete ARMv8 instruction set support to foster the …
Read More »Intel sells quad-core Atom for tablets for $5 per chip – report
It looks like the price war on the market of mobile system-on-chips is in full swing. Just a day after Allwinner announced a quad-core application processor that will be sold for $4, it transpired that Intel Corp. already sells its quad-core Atom products for $5. Without making any announcements, Intel has …
Read More »Production version of Pentium G3258 overclocked to 6.7GHz
Intel Corp.’s Pentium G3258 “anniversary edition” central processing unit promises to become a hit among overclockers in budget. Unfortunately, so far only engineering samples of such chips have demonstrated extreme clock-rates. Nonetheless, a South Korean enthusiast has managed to prove that production versions of the chip are also capable of …
Read More »Intel wants its ‘SoFIA’ chips to power $50 smartphones
It is not a secret that Intel Corp. pins a lot of hopes on its code-named SoFIA system-on-chips for affordable smartphones and tablets. The company needs to drive its x86 architecture to these markets so to ensure that it can sell chips for mobile devices going forward. While SoFIA promises …
Read More »Intel Core i7-5960X ‘Haswell-E’ de-lidded: interesting discoveries made
Intel Corp.’s next-generation high-end desktop microprocessors called “Haswell-E” are still a couple of months away from their launch, but select enthusiasts have already managed to obtain them. While unfortunately we do not have a lot of ideas about performance of the upcoming chips, the first discoveries about the Core i7-5960X …
Read More »IBM rejects GlobalFoundries’ proposal for semiconductor assets
International Business Machines Corp. and GlobalFoundries have ended negotiations regarding acquisition of IBM’s semiconductor manufacturing assets by the contract maker of chips. The two companies failed to agree on the price, according to a media report. Earlier this year it was reported that IBM wanted $2 billion for its money-losing …
Read More »First non-IBM Power8 servers set to emerge early in 2015
Last year IBM established the OpenPower consortium and opened up Power8 processor specifications and architecture to its partners. The goal of the organization is to create an eco-system of Power8-based servers designed for future data centers and cloud computing. The first fruits of the collaboration may become available already early …
Read More »ARM develops new-generation 64-bit ARMv8 microprocessors
ARM Holdings, the company whose microprocessor architectures power the vast majority of mobile devices, is working on the second-generation of 64-bit central processing units based on the ARMv8 micro-architecture. Not a lot of details are known about the chips now. What ARM has revealed so far is that they are …
Read More »AMD: We will ship 20nm products in 2015
Although there are rumours that Advanced Micro Devices and Nvidia Corp. are not really happy with 20nm process technology of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., they will inevitably have to use it. A vice president of AMD said last week that the company’s 20nm chips would be out next year. “20nm …
Read More »AMD posts higher revenue for the quarter, but still loses money
Advanced Micro Devices this week reported its financial results for the second quarter of 2014. The company did not manage to take advantage of corporate PC replacements, like its rival Intel did, but sales of chips for video game consoles allowed the firm to post rather significant increase in revenue compared …
Read More »Intel may delay next-gen Atom processors made using 14nm tech
Last year Intel announced plans to accelerate its Atom roadmap and produce its low-power/low-cost products at the same nodes as its leading-edge chips for desktops and notebooks. Apparently, the widely-discussed issues with the 14nm general-purpose process technology seem to also affect Intel’s 14nm process for low-power system-on-chips. According to a …
Read More »Fujitsu and UMC to form chip production joint venture
Fujitsu Limited and United Microelectronics Corp. plan to form a joint venture that will operate Fujitsu’s semiconductor manufacturing complex in Mie prefecture in Japan. While initially Fujitsu will hold the control stake of the new company, it is going to gradually reduce it. The Japanese conglomerate has been winding down …
Read More »AMD ‘Carrizo’ specifications, block-diagram get published
The first specifications as well as a block-diagram of AMD’s next-generation code-named “Carrizo” accelerated processing unit (APU) have been published by a web-site. Despite expectations, the “Carrizo” will not support high-bandwidth memory (HBM) technologies, at least, in its mainstream implementation. Nonetheless, the new chip will carry a fair amount of …
Read More »TSMC begins to ship 20nm wafers to customers, expects very rapid ramp
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. said this week that it had begun to ship the first wafers processed using its 20nm fabrication technology to customers. The company began mass production of chips using 20nm manufacturing process in early January, the first commercial wafers were shipped to undisclosed customers in June. The …
Read More »Intel: no change in 10nm schedule
Although Intel Corp. is behind the schedule with its 14nm manufacturing process, the company claims it has not made any changes to its 10nm schedule. Unfortunately, Intel has not officially revealed exact plans regarding production of chips using 10nm process technology. “We have done no changes or shift to our …
Read More »Intel sold highest amount of processors ever this past quarter
Thanks to strong sales of central processing units for personal computers, servers, tablets and other types of devices, Intel Corp. sold the record number of microprocessors in one quarter ever in the second quarter of its fiscal 2014. The company said that multiple factors affected demand for chips during the …
Read More »Intel: replacement of Windows XP-based PCs will help us in 2014
Chief executive officer of Intel Corp. said that replacement of Windows XP-based personal computers by businesses and enterprises will help the company to sell more microprocessors this fiscal year. While the company does not want to make predictions regarding next year, it does not exclude the possibility that the replacements …
Read More »Intel reports strong results as sales of PCs improve
Intel Corp. on Tuesday disclosed its financial results for the second quarter of the year. The company reported revenue of $13.8 billion, net income of $2.8 billion and gross margin of 64.5 per cent. As expected, Intel’s results improved because of better sales of personal computers and continued strong sales …
Read More »Intel preps second-gen Quark ‘Dublin Bay’ processor
Intel Corp.’s Quark microprocessor for ultra-low-power systems, wearable electronics and smart appliances, has not yet gained any traction on the market, but the world’s largest chipmaker is already working on its replacement that will be available in 2015. The new platform is code-named “Dublin Bay” and at present not a …
Read More »Intel to demonstrate 14nm chips, 10nm wafers in September
In a bid to convince its partners and investors that it is on-track with its Tick-Tock strategy, Intel Corp. reportedly plans to showcase several yet-unannounced products at the Intel Developer Forum event this September. While the company will demonstrate certain new things, it does not mean that everything goes truly …
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