sandy bridge | KitGuru https://www.kitguru.net KitGuru.net - Tech News | Hardware News | Hardware Reviews | IOS | Mobile | Gaming | Graphics Cards Wed, 16 Jul 2014 17:26:52 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.3 https://www.kitguru.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/cropped-KITGURU-Light-Background-SQUARE2-32x32.png sandy bridge | KitGuru https://www.kitguru.net 32 32 Intel sold highest amount of processors ever this past quarter https://www.kitguru.net/components/cpu/anton-shilov/intel-sold-highest-volume-of-processors-ever-this-past-quarter-company/ https://www.kitguru.net/components/cpu/anton-shilov/intel-sold-highest-volume-of-processors-ever-this-past-quarter-company/#comments Wed, 16 Jul 2014 16:56:54 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=203336 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 period. “The improving economic environment, …

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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 period.

“The improving economic environment, PC refresh, form factor innovation and the end-of-life of Windows XP combined to drive better than expected demand [for our products], said Brian Krzanich, chief executive officer of Intel, during the quarterly conference call with financial analysts and investors. “In fact microprocessor volume in the second quarter was an all-time record.”

Intel did not reveal the actual amount of microprocessors it sold during the quarter, but said it managed to ship ten million of chips for media tablets, which was in line with expectations. The company also sold more processors for desktops, notebooks and servers than it expected.

intel_microprocessors

Intel’s PC client group, which sells microprocessors, chipsets and other logic for desktops and laptops, had revenue of $8.7 billion, up 6 per cent year over year. The world’s largest chipmaker said that client platform volumes were up 9 per cent and platform average selling prices were down 4 per cent from a year ago.

According to Intel, desktop platform volumes were up 8 per cent and desktop platform average selling prices were up 2 per cent on a year-on-year basis in Q2 FY2014. Notebook platform volumes were up 9 per cent and notebook platform average selling prices were down 7 per cent compared to the second quarter of 2013. Relative to the first quarter, PC client group’s revenue was up 9 per cent with platform volumes up 12 per cent and platform average selling prices down 3 per cent.

The company’s data center group had revenue of $3.5 billion, up 19 per cent on a year-on-year basis. Platform volumes were up 9 per cent and platform average selling prices were up 11 per cent over the same period a year ago. DCG’s revenue was up 14 per cent from the first quarter with platform volumes up 12 per cent and platform average selling prices up 3 per cent.

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KitGuru Says: It looks like sales of PCs and microprocessors are indeed improving. While it is doubtful that Intel makes any significant amount of money selling processors for tablets, it looks like the company does not have to lower prices of PC and server CPUs in order to sell record volumes. Good news for Intel and the industry (i.e., AMD).

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Intel: replacement of Windows XP-based PCs will help us in 2014 https://www.kitguru.net/desktop-pc/anton-shilov/intel-replacement-of-windows-xp-based-pcs-will-help-us-2014/ https://www.kitguru.net/desktop-pc/anton-shilov/intel-replacement-of-windows-xp-based-pcs-will-help-us-2014/#comments Wed, 16 Jul 2014 16:42:07 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=203303 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 will continue in 2015. “We …

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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 will continue in 2015.

“We believe the [Windows] XP end-of-life kind of replacement will at least play through the end of the year and that’s as far as we have looked at it,” said Brian Krzanich, chief executive officer of Intel, during the quarterly conference call with financial analysts and investors. “It can go beyond that. […] We just have not really started to put our predictions and our estimates for 2015 together yet.”

Intel estimates that at present there are over 600 million of personal computers that are four years old and even older. A significant part of them are based on the Windows XP operating system and they are going to be replaced rather sooner than later, which represents additional opportunities going forward for Intel as well as its arch-rival Advanced Micro Devices.

What remains to be seen is when Windows 7-based systems made in 2010 – 2011 are set to be replaced. Such personal computers are powered by rather advanced microprocessors, offer decent performance and will be supported with security updates until 2020.

lenovo_think_idea_ultrabook_intel

After Microsoft ceased to provide security updates for its Windows XP operating system this April, businesses and enterprises started to replace their old personal computers with new ones powered by Windows 7 OS.

According to Intel, thanks to the end-of-life of Microsoft’s Windows XP operating system it managed to sell more processors for both desktops and notebooks.

For the second quarter of fiscal 2014 the world’s largest chipmaker reported revenue of $13.8 billion, up from $13.0 billion expected previously. The firm attributed additional revenue to increased sales of microprocessors for business PCs, such as the Core i-series chips with the vPro technology. Intel’s PC client group’s revenue during the Q2 FY2014 was $8.7 billion, up 9 per cent sequentially and up 6 per cent year-over-year.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: over 600 million old PCs that need replacement is clearly a huge opportunity for Intel and other chipmakers. However, when it comes to enthusiast-class PCs, many of three-year old Sandy Bridge-based machines will not be replaced this year or next simply because modern quad-core processors hardly provide substantial performance advantage compared to those old machines…

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Cyberpower Fang III Black Mamba Review -the £4,000 system https://www.kitguru.net/desktop-pc/gaming-rig/henry-butt/cyberpower-fang-iii-black-mamba-review-the-4000-system/ https://www.kitguru.net/desktop-pc/gaming-rig/henry-butt/cyberpower-fang-iii-black-mamba-review-the-4000-system/#comments Fri, 10 Aug 2012 07:31:25 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=102756 This year we have reviewed a number of custom gaming PCs including the Palicomp Alpha Pulse, which we looked at quite recently.  This system offered good value for money and was ideal for someone looking for a capable gaming system without spending a ridiculous amount of money. We don't like to neglect any of our …

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This year we have reviewed a number of custom gaming PCs including the Palicomp Alpha Pulse, which we looked at quite recently.  This system offered good value for money and was ideal for someone looking for a capable gaming system without spending a ridiculous amount of money. We don't like to neglect any of our readers at KitGuru, though, so we thought we would take a look at what is available for those of you who do have a large wad of cash burning a hole in your pocket.

Enter the Cyberpower Fang III Black Mamba which boasts a massive £4000 price tag.

To put this in perspective, it's three times the cost of the Palicomp Alpha Pulse.

So, you ask.  What do get for all that money?

Well for a start you don't just get one computer… you actually get two computers which are built into the same mammoth case The main system consists of an Intel Core i7-3930K hex core processor which has been overclocked to 4.7 GHz and a pair of nVidia GeForce GTX 680 graphics cards.  All water-cooled, of course!  These are accompanied by 16 GB of DDR3 RAM and an Asus Rampage IV Extreme motherboard.

The secondary system looks rather underpowered in comparison as it's only meant to be used as a server.  This sub-system features an Intel Core i3-2120 CPU with 2 TB of storage.

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Ivy Bridge vs. Sandy Bridge at the same clock speed https://www.kitguru.net/components/stephen-dougherty/ivy-bridge-vs-sandy-bridge-at-the-same-clock-speed/ https://www.kitguru.net/components/stephen-dougherty/ivy-bridge-vs-sandy-bridge-at-the-same-clock-speed/#comments Sat, 18 Feb 2012 17:04:47 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=79475 The days leading up to the launch of Intel's next-gen Ivy Bridge processors where we start to see leaked benchmark results here and there are yet to come, but a small piece of info on the expected performance of Ivy Bridge versus the current crop of Sandy Bridge chips has already popped online. There's no …

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The days leading up to the launch of Intel's next-gen Ivy Bridge processors where we start to see leaked benchmark results here and there are yet to come, but a small piece of info on the expected performance of Ivy Bridge versus the current crop of Sandy Bridge chips has already popped online.

There's no doubt that the biggest question on most people's minds at this time is Ivy Bridge's performance compared to Sandy Bridge's when both are running at the same clock rates with the same amount of cache etc. and apparently Fudzilla were able to get a hold of some data from Intel that gives this comparison.

In a series of equally ran tests between a Sandy Bridge based Core i7-2600 and the soon to be launched Ivy Bridge based Core i7-3770, both of which were clocked at the same 3.4GHz with 8MB cache, four cores and eight threads each, the end result was that Ivy Bridge works out to be between seven and sixteen percent faster depending on the particular test ran.

Some may be quick to suggest that the 100MHz higher Turbo clock rate of 3.9GHz on the Ivy Bridge processor versus 3.8GHz on the Sandy Bridge would have mostly contributed to the boost, but that 100MHz only equates to a 2.5% difference, so at this point assuming the results shared by Fud are on the ball there has to be something in it for Ivy Bridge with the use of its new Tri-Gate transistor technology.

KitGuru says: 15% Sounds about right on par with Intel's usual performance boosts between each of its processor generations. The other interesting factor will of course be how well these 22nm puppies will overclock.

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Intel to roll out ‘graphics less’ Sandy Bridge chips https://www.kitguru.net/components/cpu/simon/intel-to-roll-out-graphics-less-sandy-bridge-chips/ https://www.kitguru.net/components/cpu/simon/intel-to-roll-out-graphics-less-sandy-bridge-chips/#comments Fri, 30 Dec 2011 10:04:35 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=71983 VR Zone have published a news article which indicates that Intel will be releasing three new Sandy Bridge SKUs which won't feature integrated graphics. VR Zone say “In a last minute attempt at getting rid of some more Sandy Bridge processors, Intel will be launching three new SKUs, one of which will be the rumoured …

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VR Zone have published a news article which indicates that Intel will be releasing three new Sandy Bridge SKUs which won't feature integrated graphics.

VR Zone say “In a last minute attempt at getting rid of some more Sandy Bridge processors, Intel will be launching three new SKUs, one of which will be the rumoured Core i5-2550K. The big news here isn't actually the new models themselves, but the fact that none of the three new models feature built in graphics.”

The new chips will be called Core i5-2380P (3.1ghz) and the Core i5-2450P (3.2ghz), with the P indicating a lack of graphics core. It is a clever way of selling chips with faulty manufactured graphics cores, which can simply be disabled and sold as rebadged ‘graphics less' models. Both chips have 6MB of cache.

We don't think this is such a big deal, as very few enthusiast users will take advantage of weak onboard graphics capabilities anyway, but as VR Zone point out, there will no longer be support for Intel's Quick Sync technology.

Kitguru says: Pricing has yet to be announced, but the cost should be lower than those chips with built in graphics enabled.

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New Intel Core i3 chips set to hit stores https://www.kitguru.net/components/cpu/faith/new-intel-core-i3-chips-set-to-hit-stores/ https://www.kitguru.net/components/cpu/faith/new-intel-core-i3-chips-set-to-hit-stores/#comments Sat, 19 Feb 2011 09:22:57 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=34649 While the Sandy Bridge/Cougar Point affair is still very much in the public domain, Intel is pushing ahead with its launch schedule unhindered. We're presently hearing that the launch for the new chips will be on a Sunday. Strange timing. KitGuru gives the specs a once over. Searching Google for the correct page in Intel's …

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While the Sandy Bridge/Cougar Point affair is still very much in the public domain, Intel is pushing ahead with its launch schedule unhindered. We're presently hearing that the launch for the new chips will be on a Sunday. Strange timing. KitGuru gives the specs a once over.

Searching Google for the correct page in Intel's Ark, seems to return an error. However, clicking on ‘cache' ensures that the original versions of the Intel second generation Core i3 processor specs do appear.

Steve Smith, in charge of delivering platforms, with a new Sandy Bridge chip

We can't be sure if that is a genuine server error, or if some fundamental changes have been made. Just in case, we've done the useful thing and grabbed a snapshot in all its weirdly highlighted glory. That said, clicking ‘compare' seemed to load up the right specification. Here's the compare screen, ever so slightly modified to get more on one page.

Intel's i3 530 processors offered stunning value, mainly due to their overclocking ability. What now for the OC?

Probably the single biggest shame with these new low-end chips, is the removal of ‘simple overclocking for everyone at affordable prices'.  Many a budget-limited enthusiast was able to buy a chip like the Core i3 530 and simply clock it up by way more than 1GHz. In the process, the performance characteristics changed completely and you were able to get some very powerful performance results.

Intel's new cheap chips are locked down tight. While we expect to see a ‘K' version of this bantamweight battler, the really cheap option for peak performance seems to have been taken off the table for good by Intel.

When Intel had the weakened P4 architecture and AMD was delivering on its Athlon/FX strategy, Intel's decision to lock down the processors proved to be a mistake. Tons of market share went AMD's way.

This time round, we're left asking “Are locked-down Intel processors really a mistake, and will AMD be able to capitalise again?”

KitGuru says: Now's the time for AMD to step up. Enthusiasts are a fickle bunch. While many do have strong preferences, many of those will go out of the windows if enhanced power arrives on the desktop in the form of a low-cost, highly overclockable AMD part. Should Intel be listening for the rumbling of Bulldozers (desktop power) and growling of Lynx (quad core Fusion APU) ?

Comments below.

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Working around Sandy Bridge problem https://www.kitguru.net/components/motherboard/jules/working-around-sandy-bridge-problem-is-easy-with-asus/ https://www.kitguru.net/components/motherboard/jules/working-around-sandy-bridge-problem-is-easy-with-asus/#comments Sun, 06 Feb 2011 12:39:09 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=32620 But how safe is it? Intel doesn't really do ‘Total Recalls' like this. It's scary stuff. The company that effectively made the global market for microprocessors is such a galactically huge corporation, with advanced R&D the like of which has never been seen before, that no one ever really expected it to get knocked off …

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But how safe is it? Intel doesn't really do ‘Total Recalls' like this. It's scary stuff. The company that effectively made the global market for microprocessors is such a galactically huge corporation, with advanced R&D the like of which has never been seen before, that no one ever really expected it to get knocked off track. Not even for a quarter. That's what happened, so what can be done now?

Intel's processors work perfectly. The company guarantees that this is true. However, every CPU needs to sit on a mainboard. Apart from providing comfortable living accommodation, the mainboard provides the meeting point for the CPU to link up with the other parts of your system.

That mainboard is, pretty much, divided down the middle into slow and fast. On the very quick side of the board, you have memory and graphics. Over on the slow side, you have hard drive controllers. Looking at the hard drive controllers, you get a further break down into slow(er) and fast(er). While many old kit gurus will remember transfer rates in the Mb per second range, those speeds are now so slow that we only use them for the Internet (cue the creaking of the rocking chair and shuffle of slippers).

All H67 and P67 boards have two sets of SATA ports. Four of these support 3 Gbps operation and two support the faster 6Gbps speeds. Each of these sets requires its own PLL source. This problem in the chipset has been traced back to a transistor in the 3Gbps PLL clocking tree. This transistor has a very thin gate oxide which allows you to turn it on with a very low voltage. The mistake that Intel made was biasing the transistor with too high of a voltage which caused a higher than expected leakage current. Each transistor will operate slightly differently, so over time the leakage current can cause a failure on the 3Gbps ports. Luckily the fact that the 3Gbps and 6Gbps circuits have their own independent clocking trees helps ensure that the problem will be only limited to ports 2-5 of the controller.

OK. Now we know where the problem is – we need to ask “How much of an issue is it ?”

.For Intel, the answer is simple. The product is outside the specification which they set, which means it is not correct and must be cancelled/returned/buried in a pit and forgotten about.

But the real world does not work that way. IT is a business and companies need to sell. Checking around, no one in the UK channel seems to have missed much of a beat.

So the real question is, “Can you safely sell/buy/use a Sandy Bridge system?”.

The answer is, quite obviously ‘Yes – as long as you are aware of the issues and you're sure they won't affect you'. Especially if you choose a mainboard from one of the top vendors like Asus.

KitGuru has no specific brand preference when it comes to mainboards, but what looked like ‘Asus overkill' a month ago, may well turn out to be a life jacket for the channel over the next few months as Intel scrambles to re-build its reputation.

Here's a question: In an average system, how many SATA devices does the normal user have?

Here's the KitGuru reply: Booting from an SSD and then loading programs onto a big system drive from a DVD/BluRay is about as many attachments as the majority of people will make. Add in a second hard drive (either internally – or through an eSATA port on the front of your system) and you have solution that probably works for >95% of the world's users.

That means as long as you use the correct 4 headers, you should not only enjoy carefree data transfers for the life of your system – those transfers will also be as fast as (presently) mechanically possible.

This image is being passed around the industry right now and it helpfully shows you where up to 4 drives can be attached on an Asus board with no risk whatsoever.

Slow is relative. That's around 300MB/sec. Damn fast in most people's books.

So there you have it. As long as your system builder, local store or KitGuru knows what they are doing – you can build a perfectly good Sandy Bridge system, without ever experiencing an issue.

AMD will, no doubt, be creating some new, faster Phenom II X6 SKUs for launch in the next 4-8 weeks and they also have Bulldozer coming soon. Competition is a good thing, so we hope AMD gets these new launches right. Them's your options.

Not many seem to have stopped selling the 'known to have a fault' Intel Sandy Bridge mainboards

KitGuru says: If you really want to buy a Sandy Bridge product before it has been fixed by Intel, then that's your call. You will be paying full price for a board which has a documented problem and which the original chipset manufacturer has recalled. That said, deals seem to have been reached with Asus, Gigabyte, MSI and Intel that say the boards can be sold and, if you like, swapped out later.

AMD also has solutions – fully functional and guaranteed.

Choosing a pre-assembled system from a ‘known' company who offers a full warranty, is a smart way to go. In most cases, the cost of buying assembled will be close to buying yourself and building. With pre-assembly, you get to blame someone else if it goes wrong (although your data is still your responsibility).

If it's Intel you really want, KitGuru suggests waiting for the fixed boards. But at least you know the risks of buying sooner.

Comments below please – or unload in the KitGuru forum.

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Global Foundries ready to step up production for AMD https://www.kitguru.net/components/cpu/jules/global-foundries-ready-to-step-up-production-for-amd/ https://www.kitguru.net/components/cpu/jules/global-foundries-ready-to-step-up-production-for-amd/#comments Tue, 01 Feb 2011 09:28:29 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=31862 Following yesterday's announcement from Intel that there is a problem with the chipset necessary to support the 2nd generation Core processors, codenamed Sandy Bridge, a lot of eyes have turned to AMD. KitGuru's been asking the important questions. Yesterday, we were all struggling to remember the last time that Intel had any kind of problem, …

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Following yesterday's announcement from Intel that there is a problem with the chipset necessary to support the 2nd generation Core processors, codenamed Sandy Bridge, a lot of eyes have turned to AMD. KitGuru's been asking the important questions.

Yesterday, we were all struggling to remember the last time that Intel had any kind of problem, with any of its parts, that might actually slow the giant down.

Over the past 5 years, we couldn't think of any. Essentially, since the launch of Conroe and the Tick-Tock/Copy-Exactly strategies, Intel has delivered product more regularly than a midwife in an NHS hospital.

GloFo have confirmed that they're ready to help AMD eat Intel's pie - creamy goodness and all

While the company's main efforts have obviously been focused on the CPU itself, a bug in the supporting chipset was missed and Intel is now working to rectify that. You can't say that it's lucky to have a problem when you transition to a new chip, but it's probably as good a time as ever. More on that angle from KitGuru a little later, once we've spoken with industry analysts.

OK, so Intel has mis-stepped on the stage. Momentarily, all eyes now move to AMD. Honestly, if they had the Bulldozer parts launching now, then it would seem like Xmas/New Year and a World Cup/Superbowl/Stanley Cup (delete as applicable in your region) winning moment for them, all rolled up into one.

But that isn't the case. What AMD has is some great 6 core products centred on the Phenom II X6. The next question must be, if AMD is able to sweep through the market and make additional sales, while Intel is working furiously to recover, then can they actually produce enough product.

AMD ready to walk right across Intel's Sandy Bridge following chipset issues

KitGuru has spoken with Global Foundries and the response was unambiguous, “We're confident that we can support AMD's CPU and APU capacity requirements for 2011”.

So there you have it, straight from the horse's mouth. If AMD can capitalise on Intel's wobble, then Global Foundries can guarantee supply.

KitGuru says: All eyes move to the AMD sales teams – and we'll be watching the Q1 results like hawks to see if they did manage to take advantage of this rather unique set of circumstances.

Comment below or in the KitGuru forum.

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Intel announce anti theft technology for Sandy Bridge https://www.kitguru.net/components/cpu/carl/intel-announce-anti-theft-technology-for-sandy-bridge/ https://www.kitguru.net/components/cpu/carl/intel-announce-anti-theft-technology-for-sandy-bridge/#comments Tue, 21 Dec 2010 09:18:52 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=27243 Intel's David Allen has confirmed that they are going to include the ability to remotely disable Sandy Bridge systems from a remote administration console. This will be a great asset to corporations and Intel will include this anti theft technology in the vPro equipped chips. Allen spoke to IT Business and explained that corporate IT …

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Intel's David Allen has confirmed that they are going to include the ability to remotely disable Sandy Bridge systems from a remote administration console. This will be a great asset to corporations and Intel will include this anti theft technology in the vPro equipped chips.

Allen spoke to IT Business and explained that corporate IT departments could configure Sandy Bridge laptops to be deactivated on demand, providing a security layer in a remote environment – a ‘kill switch' to disable a stolen machine.

This technology is basically an enhancement of what is already available on some corporate Intel platforms but it gives a good indication that Intel are seriously marketing the new range of processors at high end business organisations. There is no information yet that this will be released on a consumer level, although the need for this would be significantly less.

Allen said “Sandy Bridge will deliver the security, connectivity and performance options that businesses need, and we'll rely on our channel to help deliver this to the SMB market.'

KitGuru says: A remote ‘kill switch' would certainly bring peace of mind to company sensitive materials, but would you like this for the home too?

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Asus P8P67 and Maximus IV Extreme Motherboard Preview https://www.kitguru.net/components/henry-butt/asus-p8p67-and-maximus-iv-extreme-motherboard-preview/ https://www.kitguru.net/components/henry-butt/asus-p8p67-and-maximus-iv-extreme-motherboard-preview/#comments Mon, 15 Nov 2010 02:03:38 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=21829 KitGuru spent a day in London learning about Asus’ next range of motherboards which are based on the next generation Intel platform. There are a number of new features that excite us and we look forward to testing the motherboards fully when they’re released. Asus had four motherboards on show to give us an idea …

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KitGuru spent a day in London learning about Asus’ next range of motherboards which are based on the next generation Intel platform. There are a number of new features that excite us and we look forward to testing the motherboards fully when they’re released.

Asus had four motherboards on show to give us an idea of what’s to come.  At the bottom end of the range there is the P8P67 and P8P67 Deluxe which should be more than adequate for the majority of users. But for those who want a more durable product, Asus have also created the  Sabertooth P67 which is the latest in their ‘TUF’ series.  Finally, for extreme overclockers and the extremely rich, the Maximus IV Extreme will be the board of choice.

Asus P8P67 and P8P67 Deluxe

We expect that these two motherboards will be the best sellers of the four motherboards on show as they boast all the features that the majority of users will require without being too expensive.

Asus Sabertooth P67


The third motherboard that Asus showcased was the Sabertooth P67 which is part of their ultra-durable ‘TUF’ series.  For those who are wondering, ‘TUF’ stands for ‘The Ultimate Force’.  These motherboards are built using the most durable components and are certified by military standards.

One feature that really makes this stand out from the crowd is the TUF Tactical Vest.  This is essentially a sheet of plastic which sites over the majority of the board, enhancing airflow and protecting the board from the heat produced by the graphics card.  There are no official figures yet but it is said to reduce the temperature of key motherboard components by around 5c.

Keeping on the theme of heat, Asus have also integrated nine thermal sensors (in addition to those which would usually be included as standard) into the motherboard in key locations.  These are monitored using a software utility dubbed ‘TUF Thermal Radar’.

Asus Maximus IV Extreme


The Maxmus IV Extreme comes in at the top of the range as a PC enthusiasts wet dream.  Many of its features are similar to the Rampage III Extreme motherboard which we reviewed a few months back with a few improvements and additions.

ROG Connect is Asus’ remote management system for overclocking and adjusting settings.  It has been revamped to allow you to overclock the graphics card although, at the moment, only Asus’ own cards are officially supported.  It lets you adjust the core clock, memory clock and the shader clock but doesn’t currently allow you to set the fan speed.

Additionally, you can overclock your system, via Bluetooth, from a whole range of mobile platforms including iPhone, iPad and Andriod.  This is done independently of the CPU for most devices but restrictions on the Bluetooth of Apple’s devices results in a very small CPU load of around 1%.

Asus have tried to remove all those unnecessary legacy connections that crowd the I/O plate of most motherboards, including USB2.0.  Yes, that’s right; Asus have ditched USB2.0 and have crammed eight USB3.0 ports onto the backplate.  They haven’t been entirely successful, though, as they’ve left a lone USB2.0 port for ROG connect.  They’ve also included two eSATA ports which may be useful but will ultimately be replaced by USB3.0. Those, like myself, who use a SteelSeries 7G keyboard don’t need to worry as Asus have retained a single PS2 connector for this purpose.

We were also given a sneak peak of ROG ThunderBolt which should improve the gaming performance of ROG motherboards.  The first part of this is a Network Processing Unit (NPU) which reduces latency, offloads CPU resources, prioritises gaming packets and controls bandwidth.  The second part is an inbuilt headphone amplifier which enhances detail and powers up sound when gaming.

Dual Intelligent Processors 2

Building on the success of their DIP (Dual Intelligent Processors) feature from their current range of motherboards, Asus are introducing DIP2 with their next generation of products.  For those who aren’t aware, the dual intelligent processors consist of the DIGI+ VRM / EPU and the TPU.

The DIGI+ VRM is a micro-processor which aims to improve power efficiency and system stability.  With Spread Spectrum, it’s able to dynamically change the VRM frequency to improve stability and a fixed frequency can be set to increase the system’s OC potential.  It can either be controlled from the BIOS or through a software interface.

The TPU or ‘TurboV Processing Unit’ is a processor which is designed to overclock the system automatically.  It is activated either through the software utility or via on onboard switch on the motherboard.

BT GO!

All of the boards also features Asus’ BT GO! Bluetooth functionality which has a number of interesting applications.  This can be used for file sharing, remote controlling and ‘life entertainment’.

The remote control function can be used for controlling media playback (although exclusively through Windows Media Player) from a mobile phone.  This also contains the ‘BT Turbo Remote’ which allows you to overclock from your phone.  Applications will be made available for all the current major mobile platforms when the motherboards are released.

A New Generation of BIOS

All the new boards feature an EFI (Extensible Firmware Interface) BIOS which replaces the BIOS of old with a simple intuitive interface for changing the basic settings.  The more advanced settings can be found by clicking (yes mouse input is supported) the ‘advanced’ tab.

KitGuru says: We’re very excited to see what Asus has in store for their next generation of Intel motherboards and are even more excited to see what other manufacturers come out with in the following weeks.

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AMD Fusion discussion with Bob Grim https://www.kitguru.net/components/graphic-cards/faith/amd-fusion-plans-revealed-by-amd-marketing-guru/ https://www.kitguru.net/components/graphic-cards/faith/amd-fusion-plans-revealed-by-amd-marketing-guru/#comments Wed, 22 Sep 2010 07:10:47 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=17048 We're surrounded by integrated graphics.   From Blackberries to iPhones, from netbooks to iPads. KitGuru spends more hours in a day using integrated graphics than discrete cards. As users, we represent the elite. The top 5% of users – with serious knowledge, skills and access to as much technology as we can eat. The integrated graphics …

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We're surrounded by integrated graphics.   From Blackberries to iPhones, from netbooks to iPads. KitGuru spends more hours in a day using integrated graphics than discrete cards. As users, we represent the elite. The top 5% of users – with serious knowledge, skills and access to as much technology as we can eat. The integrated graphics market is huge. Armed with Fusion, can AMD do serious long-term damage to Intel's market share? KitGuru investigates.

AMD gave the first, full and very public APU demonstration at Computex back in June, which showed it had a lead in terms of getting the new technology to market, albeit a slim one. Now Intel's started to show off its own Fusion-class processors, at IDF in San Francisco last week, we're all starting to wonder when this new APU technology will hit and how much impact it will make.

We had loads of questions.

Fortunately AMD Marketing Director, Bob Grim, was on hand to provide the answers.

Welcome to another Kitguru exclusive!

Background: A history of Fusion
We start off with a little background. When AMD bought ATI, it almost straight away started to speak about Fusion. Not just the bringing together of 2 companies, but also the next generation of products that would bring the main processor and graphics core together. Over time, things can change. We asked Bob how AMD sees Fusion right now, in the second half of 2010.

“AMD Fusion APUs represent a new type of  x86 processor design and software development”, said Bob. “This will enable breakthroughs in visual computing, performance-per-watt and device form factor. AMD Fusion APUs are engineered to deliver powerful CPU and GPU compute capabilities in a single-die processor for today’s HD video, 3D and data-intensive workloads”.

Sounds like a 1-stop-shop to us, but how long will we have to wait  until this kind of technology is in production.

Availability: When can we buy it in stores?
With Sandy Bridge expected in stores around February 2011 and just 3 full months left in 2010, Bob said “We’re gearing up for production of our Brazos-platform AMD Fusion processors, and we expect designs in the marketplace early in 2011”.

To KitGuru, it sounds as though everyone's ‘Fusion delivery roadmap' is running pretty much in parallel.

AMD's Bob Grim

Competition: How will the battle play out?

While Sandy Bridge is going to displace all of the existing Core i3, i5 and i7 product lines, Bob wasn't prepared to let us know how much of AMD's 2011 roadmap would have Fusion-power.

Feeling that Bob was happier to discuss AMD's products by comparison to Intel's, we decided to probe a little deeper.

From our discussions with Intel, a key focus seems to be offering consumers a ‘hugely powerful quad core processor, under 65w, complete with powerful graphics’. We asked Bob if he expected AMD Fusion to be able to compete with this kind of i5 processor?

“AMD believes that users don’t buy cores or clock speeds; they buy a great user experience.  With gaming, video, web browsing and rich multimedia becoming more central to the user experience, we expect AMD’s world class graphics technology to be a very compelling proposition for end users”.

With a little smile, Bob added “We’re already seeing our mainstream ‘Zacate’ processor soundly beating Core i5 in a number of real world usage scenarios”.

Confident stuff. We saw the start of this simpler messaging when the Radeon HD 5000 series launched a year ago. It fits more into the way consumers think of things that are slow, medium or fast. Basic, flexible or fully featured.

Desktop AMD Fusion APU - as revealed exclusively by KitGuru

Graphics: Who will render the most successful financials?
Given ATI's heritage, we moved onto graphics performance. Given that Intel is lining up the GT1 graphics engine for its low end processors – probably up to the i5, how well does AMD expect to compete at the entry level, in terms of graphics performance?

“We’ve always been very competitive against Intel on graphics performance, even at the entry level, and we’ll be the only vendor with state-of-the-art discrete-level DirectX11 support for entry-level PCs”. OK. What about further up the product stack?

We’re hearing that Intel has AMD’s discrete notebook market share firmly in its sites with the more powerful GT2 – are you concerned that as you win low end notebook SKUs, you will take a (market share) hit on the higher value segment?

“We are offering a wide variety of platform solutions including 3 Fusion APUs in the notebook space to address multiple segments, including our processors codenamed “Ontario”,”Zacate” and “Llano”.  We expect AMD's 2011 notebook platforms to be very competitive against Intel in each of these markets”.

DirectX 11: Will Intel and AMD both be getting in the game?
Intel’s roadmap shows no sign of DX11 – even after the die shrink in 18 months’ time. Will having DX11 support at the low end be a real benefit ? Will AMD fund sensible DevRel programmes to maximise your advantage in this area?

That's when Bob touched on something new. “Through the AMD Fusion Fund, we’re working with the ISV ecosystem to infuse parallelism into a wide range of consumer applications with the goal of enabling a massively improved end user experience including next generation user interfaces”.

Complex answer, but it sounds a lot like AMD is ploughing fresh money into software developers who want to help create new applications. Good thing, yes?

Bob explained in more detail, “Some of these applications will be based on industry standard APIs including DirectCompute11.  In addition, we expect dozens of DirectX11 games to be available by the time AMD Fusion platforms come to market in 2011. We’ve been actively engaged with developers to infuse DirectX11 features into games since early 2009”.

Will AMD's spicy Fusion be to Intel's taste?

Graphics RAM: Thanks for the memories
With graphic cards, the amount and speed of memory has an impact on performance. Recently, we've been seeing stories about Intel and DDR4, however when we psuhed our sources, they said that it was unlikely for Intel to move to a new system memory memory configuration until a future platform comes to market. That sounds like 18 months. Minimum. Unfortunately, at this stage, Bob wasn't going to be drawn on memory support options within AMD Fusion.

He did acknowledge that there is an effect, but suggested we check back closer to December for more info.

Which we will.

So there you have it, in a nutshell and straight from Bob's mouth. AMD will be gunning for serious market share with Fusion – right from launch. There are AMD Fusion-specific software development programmes already in place and full support for DX11.

As AMD's Fusion lines up against Intel's Sandy Bridge to compete for the largest slices of the market, one thing strikes you very clearly. There are only 2 players in this market. Intel already has a massive, dominating market share and AMD will try to wrestle some of those sales across to its own coffers. But there is no nVidia offering anywhere in these new markets. When you think about Fiat and Ferrari or Skoda/Seat/VW and Lamborghini, you can see that it's always the very mundane, normal, average, everyday products that sell in the mass market, which provide the finance to develop the super cars. Notoriously camera shy, we will try to discuss these matters with nVidia over the next 2 weeks. We will let you know what they say.

KitGuru says: We can't wait to get our hands on the first production models to see just how far forward this technology can push the market. It's strange the way things always come around. At first, graphics were always processed in the CPU – where else could you do it? And now, with the whole PC world evolving into the new century, graphics power is moving back into the main processor – albeit in a brand new and far more sophisticated way. Roll on December!

Love what you've heard (Fusion) or want to differ (Fission)? No matter, let us know either way – below or in the KitGuru forum.

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Sandy Bridge Launch line up – info leaked https://www.kitguru.net/components/cpu/zardon/sandy-bridge-launch-line-up/ https://www.kitguru.net/components/cpu/zardon/sandy-bridge-launch-line-up/#comments Fri, 13 Aug 2010 08:03:57 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=12171 Computerbase appear to have leaked information on the Intel launch lineup for Sandy bridge. Both mobile and desktop parts are listed and while this is not confirmed it looks to be reasonably realistic going on previous reports. The move to Sandy Bridge will give customers new solutions with power via desktop quad core parts in …

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Computerbase appear to have leaked information on the Intel launch lineup for Sandy bridge. Both mobile and desktop parts are listed and while this is not confirmed it looks to be reasonably realistic going on previous reports.

Source: Computer Base

The move to Sandy Bridge will give customers new solutions with power via desktop quad core parts in the 45-95W range. The new top end Core i7-2600K quad core unit will run at 3.4ghz (3.8ghz with Turbo Boost) on a 8MB L3 cache and a TDP of 95W. We are particularly interested in the mobile based Core i7-2920XM at 2.5ghz (3.5ghz with Turbo boost) – which is a four core processor with 8MB of L3 cache and a TDP of 55W.

Still no sign of Sandy Bridge Ultra Low Voltage processors however, but we are positive that is just around the corner.

KitGuru says: Does this get you excited or are you happy with your current solution?

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