Intel Archive

Intel Unveils New Atom CPUs

Intel 12 Comments
Not only has Intel teamed up TSMC to produce Atom CPUs, the company has also unveiled four Atom chips that will go into devices such as entertainment systems for cars, videoconferencing devices, robots and interactive kiosks. "The Z500-series Atom processors are integrated chips the size of a penny that draw little power and do not require fans to operate. The chips draw 2.5 watts of power or less and run at speeds of between 1.10GHz and 1.6GHz. They offer integrated 2D and 3D graphics and will be manufactured using Intel's existing 45-nanometer process."
Read More

Intel Outsources Atom Production to TSMC

Intel 10 Comments
The Atom processor, the only bright spot on Intel's balance sheet, will soon no longer be manufactured by Intel itself (CNet has more). Intel has signed an agreement with the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), outsourcing the production of the successful chip to Taiwan. While it's not the first time Intel outsources production of its silicon, it is still an unusual move for the company to outsource the production of such a major chip.
Read More

First Ever 32nm Processor

Intel 13 Comments
Intel demoed the world's first 32-nanometer processor today, showing it off in several test desktop and laptop configurations. There aren't any hard-set specifications or benchmarks just yet, but here's the scoop on the upcoming processors, according to Intel: The 45nm desktop and laptop processors (the Clarksfield and Lynnfield) with four cores will transitionally be replaced by dual core alternative 32nm processors (the Clarkdale and Arrandale) that also have an integrated graphics processor all with the same form factor as the 45nm chips. Two exciting side-notes: The first, Intel will be investing over $8 billion into the 32nm era (alright, so not immensely exciting, but definitely interesting, especially in this economy where money isn't shouldn't be thrown around without a mighty good cause). The second bit, according to one of Intel's charts, apparently there will be a 32nm high-end desktop processor (the Gulftown) that will have six cores. The good news? Parts of the platform will be going into production in 2009 for sure. The bad news? They said "parts." Be warned: that Core i7 you have your eye on will be a thing of the past come the newer and higher-end quad-core 32nm beauties.
Read More

Moblin 2 Alpha Available: Get Out the Trusty Netbook

Intel 12 Comments
Intel just announced the Moblin 2 alpha release available to the public for testing. Get out the good old netbook and have a go with the release; it's confirmed to work relatively well with the Acer Aspire One and the Dell Mini 9. Those of you with bitty Eee netbooks aren't completely left out in the cold-- you'll just have to go without wireless for the time being.
Read More

More Information on Next-Generation Atom Chip

Intel 16 Comments
We already reported on the fact that updated Intel Atom chips are expected to arrive somewhere in the second half of 2009. With the Atom being Intel's only platform that's actually profitable, it makes sense for the chip maker to focus a lot of effort into improving the platform. Information provided by the usually-reliable DigiTimes points to some serious improvements making their way to Intel's Atom chip. The new chip is codenamed Pineview.
Read More

Intel’s Core i7: In-Depth Reviews

Intel 28 Comments
Not too long ago, Intel unleashed Nehalem, or Core i7, upon the world. The new Core i7 chips are not just new processors; they also introduce an entirely new platform, and this combination produces some impressive performance figures, according to Ars Technica. "The new performance gap between Nehalem and pretty much everything else of comparable cost is the result of upgrades to both the CPUs core architecture and the platform on which the multicore chip now runs." Respected in-depth review sites AnandTech and Tom's Hardware agree with Ars' findings.
Read More

The Intel Core i7 Nehalem Processor

  Submitted by Dan Warne Intel 33 Comments
APCMag has tested Intel's latest Core i7 processor architecture that does away with the Front Side Bus and replaces it with the company's QuickPath Interconnect and has (back from the dead) hyperthreading. "This month, Intel moves on from the Core microarchitecture to the next generation of processors for mobile, desktop and servers, codenamed Nehalem and officially named the Core i7 family. We've spent a few weeks with Intel's test kit for the new desktop part, codenamed Bloomfield, as well as the new compatible motherboard chipset the X58 Express, codenamed Tylersburg."
Read More

Clutter is Good for Intel’s Moblin Linux

Intel 9 Comments
With Moblin 2.0, Intel is integrating in an open source technology called Clutter. Clutter is an open source animation framework that allows for the development of applications in the same way you would develop games. The underlying complexity is abstracted such that intricate UI can be built with a minimum of code. "Because it's developed like a game engine, all the graphics happen on the GPU, freeing up CPU do to application work," he said. "When combing with Atom and the various GPU's we use in Moblin supported platforms, you end up with advanced UI platforms. We really think it will create a huge opportunity for application innovation on top of Moblin."
Read More

Intel Gives ‘turbo’ Boost to Nehalem

  Submitted by Vito Melecka Intel 26 Comments
Intel unveiled a power gate feature incorporating a "turbo" mode for its upcoming Nehalem family of processors. With the turbo mode, in a situation where not all the cores are necessary for a particular workload, the ones that are idle will be turned off and power is channeled to the cores that are active, making them more efficient. Intel also showcased the Nehalem-EX for the expandable server market, which consists of eight-core processors on a single die.
Read More

Intel’s Centrino 2 Platform is Finally Here

Intel 16 Comments
After a few delays and tons of rumors, Intel's fifth generation notebook platform has arrived. Centrino 2, previously known as Montevina, comes with with it a line of new Core 2 Duo processors, upgraded graphics and Wi-Fi, and DDR3 RAM. One of the first notebooks to be released with Centrino 2 is Lenovo's newest ThinkPad, the X200. This is the update to the X61 which not only had all the new Centrino gear, but moves to a widescreen display.
Read More

What You Need to Know About Intel’s Nehalem CPU

Intel 8 Comments
"Atom is the brand name for Intel's newly-launched ultramobile processor line, but it could just as well be the name for Intel's next-generation 45nm microarchitecture. This new core microarchitecture, codenamed Nehalem, forms the basic building block from which Intel will assemble the brains for everything from high-end servers to svelte notebooks. Insofar as Nehalem represents a lot more than just a new processor, it's a significant shift for Intel at almost every level. In this article, I'll give a general overview of Nehalem, focusing on the major changes and big new features that the architecture will eventually bring to Intel's entire x86 processor line. A more in-depth examination of Nehalem from me will show up later in the spring; for now, read on for the highlights. Here's what you need to know about Nehalem."
Read More

Intel: ‘We Can Transform Single Thread to Multithread’

  Submitted by Dan Warne Intel 30 Comments
Intel today revealed it can convert single threaded software to multithreaded mode without any code modification. The new 'speculative parallel threading' process monitors software and examines whether its processes can be run in parallel. If they can execute succesfully, the software can be recompiled to run as a multithreaded app. Intel says it has realised that programmers are going to need machine help to get software running as multithreaded. "We can't blame the programmers," an Intel spokesman said. "The industry has been complaining for 30 years about how difficult parallel programming is."
Read More