AMD has officially announced the successor to its
790GX chipset, and the kids at
Hot Hardware have not only put it through its paces but have been kind enough to let us in on their results. Apparently the two 890GX they tested should at least perform “on par” with previous AMD platforms, although the integrated Radeon HD 4290 graphics (performing at a none-too-shabby 700MHz, according to the company) were found to be “superior to any other AMD IGP,” even surpassing the performance of Intel’s HD Graphics solution in a number of tests. If that ain’t enough for you, the Radeon HD 4290 natively supports DirectX 10.1 — but not DirectX 11. That’s what we call “tough love.” But that ain’t the whole sordid tale, not by a longshot: check out the plethora of links below if you dare, or simply peep the PR after the break.
Continue reading AMD’s new AMD 890GX HD chipset announced, reviewed, lauded
AMD’s new AMD 890GX HD chipset announced, reviewed, lauded originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 03 Mar 2010 13:39:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Intel’s existing line of Core chips just not potent enough for your tastes? Sicko. For those who just can’t sleep without longing for the next best thing, it seems that said “thing” is just a few days away from a proper reveal. Germany’s own Alternate has already listed Intel’s six-core Core i7-980X Extreme Edition chip for sale, enabling moneyed consumers to snap up a piece of Gulftown for the princely sum of €1,049 ($1,430). Yeah, that’s a stiff premium for a six-core chip that’s ready to do more than sit snugly within some under-appreciated server box, but do you have any idea how much more bodacious you’ll be than your dual- and quad-core owning contemporaries? Way.
[Thanks, Peter]
Intel’s six-core Core i7-980X Extreme Edition ‘Gulftown’ chip goes on sale in Germany originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 01 Mar 2010 11:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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E-readers are getting better without a doubt. But cheaper? Not so much. The upcoming Spring Design Alex will sell for $359 — way out of reach for those who cruise the used book store scene. Freescale’s i.MX508 processor might finally make these things more of a smart buy, an 800MHz ARM-based chip that includes, among other things, USB host functionality and dedicated circuitry for controlling E-Ink panels. It’s effectively a system on a chip for the next-generation of would-be Kindle killers and it’ll sell for just $10 at volume, resulting in more advanced readers that could, according to Freescale, retail for $150. That’s the kind of price point that might just make Grandma stop digging through piles of dog-eared Stephen King books and get with the times.
Freescale’s new i.MX508 processor could mean cheaper, faster e-readers originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 01 Mar 2010 09:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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This one slipped the net during the excitement that was MWC this year, but it’s such a promising development that we have to give it its due attention. ARM and Globalfoundries have announced plans to start building new systems-on-chip using the latter’s ultramodern 28nm high-k metal gate production process, with the resultant chips offering up to 40 percent greater computational power, 30 percent greater power efficiency, and a terrific 100 percent improvement in battery longevity relative to their current-gen siblings. Mass production of these Cortex-A9-based units is expected in the second half of 2010, which means they should be among the very first chips off Globalfoundries’ 28nm assembly line. The good news, though, is that the technology is described as “ready for high-volume implementation,” so there should be no shortages when things finally get rolling. Let the wild-eyed anticipation begin.
ARM and Globalfoundries partner up for 28nm Cortex-A9 SOCs, invite great expectations originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 24 Feb 2010 07:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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If there’s one thing that bugs us about desktop component reviews, it’s that they tend to compare the latest hardware against the stuff immediately preceding it. Everyone wants to know what the improvements between generations are, but for many it’s also equally useful to know how 2010’s freshness compares to their own computers, which might have been bought or built a few years back. For those precious prospective upgraders, Tech Report have put together an extremely thorough benchmarking session which compares the venerable Pentium 4 670 and its silly 3.8GHz clock speed to a pair of new budget parts: the Core i3-530 from Intel and quad-core Athlon II X4 635 from AMD. Naturally, they’ve also included other contemporary parts like the high-end Core i7s and Phenoms, as well as a Core 2 Quad Q6600 from a couple of years ago to bridge the gap between the ancient 90nm Prescott and the 32nm young pretenders. It’s all quite fascinating in the geekiest (and therefore best) of ways, so why not hit that source link and get reading.
Pentium 4 takes on modern CPUs in a benchmarking showdown, suffers ignominious defeat originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 17 Feb 2010 10:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Can’t get enough of hearing about implementations of ARM’s Cortex-A9 MPCore processors? Good. ST-Ericsson’s powerhouse U8500 system-on-chip has come a major step closer to appearing in mainstream devices with today’s newly announced support for the Android operating system. Having optimized the OS to take advantage of Symmetric Multi Processing — a method for extending battery life by sharing the load between the two processing cores and underclocking when necessary — the partner company is now ready to start dropping these 1.2GHz dual-core beasts inside the next generation of smartphones. The claim is that you’ll get all that additional power while sacrificing nothing, as devices based on the U8500 would maintain “the cost and power consumption characteristics of a traditional feature phone.” We’re promised built-in HDMI-out support, 1080p video recording, and 120 hours of audio playback or 12 hours of Full HD video off a 1,000mAh battery — pledges we’d very much like to see fulfilled.
ST-Ericsson’s U8500 brings dual-core 1.2GHz ARM Cortex-A9 to the Android world originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 15 Feb 2010 08:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Texas Instruments has just made its OMAP 4 system-on-chip official, and garnished the announcement with the first development platform for it, aggressively titled Blaze. We already caught a glimpse of it in prototype form earlier this month, and the thing is quite a whopper — you can see it on video after the break and we doubt you’ll accuse TI of placing form before function with this one. The company’s focus will be on promoting innovative new modes of interaction, with touchless gesturing (or “in the air” gesture recognition) figuring strongly in its vision of the future. Looking at the SOC diagram (available after the break), you’ll find that its grunt will be provided by the same ARM Cortex-A9 MPCore class of CPU that powers the iPad, though TI claims it will be the only mobile platform capable of outputting stereoscopic 720p video at 30fps per channel. Perhaps its uniqueness will come from the fact that nobody else cares for the overkill that is 3D-HD on a mobile phone, whether it requires glasses or not. It’ll still be fascinating to see if anybody picks up the chunky Blaze idea and tries to produce a viable mobile device out of it — we could be convinced we need multiple displays while on the move, we’re just not particularly hot on the 90s style bezel overflow.
Continue reading Texas Instruments introduces ARM-based OMAP 4 SOC, Blaze development platform
Texas Instruments introduces ARM-based OMAP 4 SOC, Blaze development platform originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 15 Feb 2010 08:09:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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In case you haven’t noticed, Mobile World Congress is upon us, and you can bet that Samsung is here in a big way. The outfit is kicking things off with a couple of low-key releases: the S5K4E2 and S5K5CA CMOS image sensors. The former is a 5 megapixel chip that utilizes Samsung’s own Enhanced Energy Steering technology and can capture video at up to 15 frames per second. We’re told that it’s also pretty darn good at reducing noise, and better still, it can slip into some of the slimmest and smallest handsets this world has ever seen. Moving on, there’s the S5K5CA SoC imager, a 3 megapixel chip that combines both the image signal processor (ISP) with the CMOS image sensor. As the story goes, this one’s some 25 percent smaller than prior 3 megapixel chips and the 720p video capture capabilities aren’t too shabby, either. Both slabs are expected to hit mass production later this year, so go ahead and get ready to break the bad news to your existing cameraphone now. It’s better this way, we promise.
New Samsung chips bring HD image sensors to slimmer, smarter mobiles originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 14 Feb 2010 19:49:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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In a presumed effort to get its news out before the whirlwind that is Mobile World Congress officially begins, Marvell has just shot out two vital pieces of information that may very well impact the price and performance of your next smartphone. First off, we’ve got the new Pantheon platform, which is designed to “provide breakthrough levels of integration that lower the bill of materials for mobile devices while offering consumers excellent performance, connectivity, and a compelling user experience.” In other words, this is said to be the core ingredient in a future wave of “$99 smartphones” that can handle 3D gaming, HD media and some random thing called “calling.” Next up is the latest member of the Armada family, the 618. Packed with a 1GHz clock speed and the ability to chew through 1080p content, 3D graphics and pretty much anything else you can throw at it, there’s a halfway decent chance we’ll see this under the hood of a few upcoming tablets, e-readers and bodacious smartphones. Hopefully we’ll learn more at MWC next week, and we’ll be sure to share it as soon as we get it.
Marvell’s Pantheon platform to bring $99 smartphones, Armada 618 to dominate HD clips originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 12 Feb 2010 15:47:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Sure, there’s not much chance of popping down to your local hypermarket and picking up something with a Power7 roaring inside, but there’s also nothing stopping you from a bit of vicarious investigation, now is there? IBM’s eight-core, 1.2 billion-transistor Power7 chips have begun shipping as promised, with the entry-level Power 750 Express starting at a few bucks over $34,000. That offers you some truly supreme computing power, as each of the eight cores can run four simultaneous threads for up to 32 parallel tasks, with 8MB of embedded DRAM (acting as L3 cache) per core. The top-tier POWER 780 system maxes out with either eight 3.8GHz eight-core chips or eight 4.1GHz quad-core units, allied to a maximum of 2TB of DDR3 RAM and up to 24 SSDs — though you’ll have to call IBM to find out the price (presumably so that a trained professional can counsel you after hearing the spectacular number). Watch the video after the break while we try to cajole IBM into sending us one for benchmarking.
Continue reading IBM specs out Power7 systems, starts shipping them to your local server farm
IBM specs out Power7 systems, starts shipping them to your local server farm originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 12 Feb 2010 09:38:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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