Monday, January 5, 2009
Intel CPU roadmap extends to 32nm in 2H 2009, AMD falls behind
AMD may face tougher competition by Intel if it does not come out with a new product roadmap and more powerful technologies to show within two years, sources at Taiwan PC manufacturers expressed.
New Quad-Core AMD and Intel Chips Surface
Computer chip makers Intel and AMD are ending 2008 with a quad-core bang. Intel has a new mobile processor - the Intel Core 2 Quad Mobile Processor Q9000 - that is being hyped by Acer in its just announced Acer laptop. AMD reportedly already has its upcoming Phenom II processors popping up online for pre-orders to consumers. The catch, neither AMD or Intel have made official announcements about either chips - yet.
The Intel Core 2 Quad Mobile Processor Q9000 is at the heart of Acer's new Aspire 8930G-7665 notebook PC. This latest quad core processor is running inside this laptop with 12MB of shared L2 cache, a 1066 MHz front side bus and a clock speed rate upwards of 2.53 GHz.
The Acer notebook, besides the Q9000 processor, has respectable features such as an 18.4-inch LCD, 4GB of DDR3 memory, a NVIDIA GeForce 9700M GT graphics set and a 500GB SATA hard drive. The 8930G-7665 is said to be available now for around $1,800.
Intel, besides putting forth the Q9000, is also said to have released four other mobile processors. This comes as AMD is getting ready to publicly debut its new quad-core Phenom II processors at the 2f009 Consumer Electronics Show. The new AMD processor, which some retailers already have available for pre-orders, will run at speeds up to 3GHz and includes an 8MB cache.
The Intel Core 2 Quad Mobile Processor Q9000 is at the heart of Acer's new Aspire 8930G-7665 notebook PC. This latest quad core processor is running inside this laptop with 12MB of shared L2 cache, a 1066 MHz front side bus and a clock speed rate upwards of 2.53 GHz.
The Acer notebook, besides the Q9000 processor, has respectable features such as an 18.4-inch LCD, 4GB of DDR3 memory, a NVIDIA GeForce 9700M GT graphics set and a 500GB SATA hard drive. The 8930G-7665 is said to be available now for around $1,800.
Intel, besides putting forth the Q9000, is also said to have released four other mobile processors. This comes as AMD is getting ready to publicly debut its new quad-core Phenom II processors at the 2f009 Consumer Electronics Show. The new AMD processor, which some retailers already have available for pre-orders, will run at speeds up to 3GHz and includes an 8MB cache.
AMD releases Shanghai ahead of schedule
Shanghai, Advanced Micro Devices' next-generation processor, is being released ahead of schedule and, the company says, minus the mistakes of its last generation, Barcelona. "Originally the plan was that Shanghai would launch in Q1 of '09 and we were able to pull that into Q4," stated Pat Patla, general manager of AMD's server and workstation chip business.The product will not only be announced in the fourth quarter but vendors will also be shipping servers in the fourth quarter that feature Shanghai.
Shanghai is a quad-core product targeted at servers and will be AMD's first 45-nanometer processor, whereas Barcelona was 65-nanometer. Typically, the smaller the geometries, the faster and more power efficient the chip. Intel has been shipping 45-nanometer processors since last year and these processors now make up most of Intel's offerings.
AMD is also boosting the size of the cache memory, which typically speeds performance, from two megabytes to six megabytes. Another speed improvement will come from increasing "instructions per clock." Shanghai will also feature HyperTransport 3, a high-speed communication link technology between silicon.
Shanghai is a quad-core product targeted at servers and will be AMD's first 45-nanometer processor, whereas Barcelona was 65-nanometer. Typically, the smaller the geometries, the faster and more power efficient the chip. Intel has been shipping 45-nanometer processors since last year and these processors now make up most of Intel's offerings.
AMD is also boosting the size of the cache memory, which typically speeds performance, from two megabytes to six megabytes. Another speed improvement will come from increasing "instructions per clock." Shanghai will also feature HyperTransport 3, a high-speed communication link technology between silicon.
VIA’s Nano CPU represents foray into 64-bit world
VIA has been a long-time maker of competing x86-based products. Their products have not always been well known as their market share is very small due to limited manufacturing abilities and poorly performing products (their x86 FPU was half-clocked until the most recent iteration before Nano). Still, they have kept the pace over the years and have produced processors that require very little power suitable for low-end notebooks and desktop computer system.s And now, they are prepping a 64-bit version, called VIA Nano.
Nano was officially announced in May, 2008, though no individual products have yet been sold. Some websites have had reviews and benchmarks out. VIA’s new Trinity platform, a Mini-ITX 2.0 reference system employing their VX800 low-power chipset and either a Nano or C7 CPU and S3 Chrome graphics allow for DirectX 10.1 and hardware support for Blu-ray and other popular HD video formats using an HDMI interface.
Isaiah, the codename for Nano, is believed to be releasing to the general public in early 2009 as a pin-compatible replacement for existing C7 and C7-M models. It will provide full x86-64 support while also extending performance levels above the previous C7 core design. It uses VIA’s proprietary 800MHz FSB technology (following a licensing dispute with Intel which forced it away from using Intel’s bus architecture), and has been shown to compete really well against Intel’s Atom-based systems, often outperforming them and routinely coming in with better power numbers, despite the 65nm process technology compared to Atom’s 45nm.
Nano was officially announced in May, 2008, though no individual products have yet been sold. Some websites have had reviews and benchmarks out. VIA’s new Trinity platform, a Mini-ITX 2.0 reference system employing their VX800 low-power chipset and either a Nano or C7 CPU and S3 Chrome graphics allow for DirectX 10.1 and hardware support for Blu-ray and other popular HD video formats using an HDMI interface.
Isaiah, the codename for Nano, is believed to be releasing to the general public in early 2009 as a pin-compatible replacement for existing C7 and C7-M models. It will provide full x86-64 support while also extending performance levels above the previous C7 core design. It uses VIA’s proprietary 800MHz FSB technology (following a licensing dispute with Intel which forced it away from using Intel’s bus architecture), and has been shown to compete really well against Intel’s Atom-based systems, often outperforming them and routinely coming in with better power numbers, despite the 65nm process technology compared to Atom’s 45nm.
Intel and AMD In 2009
Choosing a processor is an exercise in predicting the future. Given the rapid pace of technology, you'd ideally like a CPU—and the other parts of the system—to last a few years. Choose a CPU that's too new and you end up on the pricey, bleeding edge of the envelope. Choose one that's been around too long and you may find yourself struggling to run new software. Whether you're buying a PC, making an upgrade, or building a new system from scratch, you'll face the same problems.
There are also different manufacturers and product lines to consider, though when it comes to the processor game, Intel has been firing on all cylinders while AMD has been playing catch-up. This year 2009 looks to be more of the same. Both companies are poised to introduce new product lines. Intel is moving forward with a substantially new microarchitecture, whereas AMD is just now making the move to the 45nm manufacturing process, which Intel has been using for nearly a year. The smaller architecture allows CPU manufacturers to build processors that use lower power and run at higher clock speeds, as well as cram more transistors on a CPU die.
There are also different manufacturers and product lines to consider, though when it comes to the processor game, Intel has been firing on all cylinders while AMD has been playing catch-up. This year 2009 looks to be more of the same. Both companies are poised to introduce new product lines. Intel is moving forward with a substantially new microarchitecture, whereas AMD is just now making the move to the 45nm manufacturing process, which Intel has been using for nearly a year. The smaller architecture allows CPU manufacturers to build processors that use lower power and run at higher clock speeds, as well as cram more transistors on a CPU die.
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