Saturday, April 25, 2009

Intel X25-M 80GB SATA Solid State Drive

Intel X25-M 80GB SATA Solid State Drive

There's an old cliche' that certainly applies to commodity semiconductor and electronics technology, as well as many other competitive arenas; "go big or go home". If you look at major semiconductor manufacturers, like Intel, AMD, Samsung and NVIDIA, you'll notice that they generally do not enter a new market lightly. In addition, they almost never partially resource a new market penetration effort. Timing is definitely key but it usually doesn't pay off to tread lightly when it's time to execute. It's simply a question of doing the business case analysis, justifying the ROI and then placing your bets. Go big or go home. It's all-in or sit on the sidelines and watch. And you know, when Intel decides they want in, the stack of chips they're playing with isn't the kind you find at the cheap tables.

With that in mind, let's consider the future of the Solid State Disk market and where it's going. We've said it before, the days of rotational media are numbered. Though SSDs and spinning drives will likely coexist for some time, traditional hard drive technology will eventually go the way of the dinosaur. SSDs have no moving parts to wear out, they consume much less power, produce very little heat and their performance will continue to improve over time, with the kind of scaling that comes along with a semiconductor performance evolution curve. Though the migration will be gradual, starting first at the consumer level, then moving into the industrial and enterprise space, it's a matter of time before the world literally goes solid state for its storage. In the short term, especially at the consumer level, the SSD market is expected to have explosive growth over the next year or so, some analysts predicting well in excess of 100% annually.

And so it goes without saying, Solid State Storage is a safe bet. Today Intel just bellied up to the table and dropped their chips down on the SSD market, and in typical Intel fashion, they're going in big. The following is a full evaluation of Intel's new consumer-targeted X25-M Solid State Drive. Is Intel playing to win? You tell us..


As a precursor to this product overview and performance evaluation, if you have an extra cycle of bandwidth or two, we'd highly suggest checking out our recent 4-way SSD round-up article, located here. This article steps through various aspects of Solid State Disk technology, including the different memory types and their advantages and disadvantages.

Intel is actually launching two flavors MLC-based Solid State Disks today, the X18-M and X25-M. We'll be looking at an 80GB X25-M drive that is built on a 2.5" form-factor, but Intel also has 160GB densities and 1.8" versions of the drive as well. From there, this spec table is straight-forward. Intel claims their drives are capable of a maximum read bandwidth of 250MB/sec and write bandwidth of up to 70MB/sec. Intel also specifies read latency of 85 microseconds,which is of course a fraction of even the fastest spinning hard drives at 4ms. or so. Intel also specifies a 1.2 million hour MTBF (mean time before failure), which is about on par with the average hard drive. Power consumption on the other hand is again a fraction of what most spinning discs are measured at. The average spinning drive weighs in with an active power consumption somewhere in between 8 and 10 watts, while most SSDs, including Intel's, offer sub-watt power consumption under "typical conditions", though as we'll show you in the pages that follow, that doesn't mean max power consumption is that low. However, as you can imagine, when you read from or write to an SSD, you don't have to light up all the flash memory in the drive to get at the data.

Intel's new line of SSDs looks pretty much like any other Solid State Drive on the exterior, but it's the interior components that make up Intel's "special sauce".



The outside label of the Intel X25-M 80GB SSD shows a model number of SSDSA2SH080G1GN and it's described as a 2.5", 3GB/s SATA SSD 80GB, 5V, 1A. As you can also see, we have an engineering sample here that is Pb-free (lead free, RoHS compliant) and made in China.

Under the hood is where all the magic happens, and as you can see save for one 128Mb Samsung DRAM chip, this SSD is all Intel inside. The Samsung DRAM is a rather shallow cache buffer at 128 megabit versus megabytes. This memory is temporary scratch-pad storage for Intel's flash memory controller ASIC. This chip provides access to 10X NAND Flash channels and offers features like Native Command Queuing and up to 32 concurrent read/write operations. In addition, this chip also offers a standard wear-leveling algorithm so that the erase/re-write cycle endurance of the drive is evenly spread across all memory locations.

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Friday, April 24, 2009

AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Processor

AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Processor


Over the course of a few months in late 2007 and early-to-mid 2008, AMD unveiled their Spider platform, consisting of AMD-built desktop processors, chipsets, and graphics cards, and refreshed said platform with faster processors and graphics cards. Fast forward to today, and AMD is doing the same thing, but this time with the newer, more powerful Dragon platform. It's like Déjà Vu all over again, as they say.



Even though some components have been available for much longer, the complete Dragon platform--consisting of Radeon HD 4000 series graphics, 7-series chipsets, and Phenom II processors--has been around since January of this year, when the Phenom II first arrived. Since the initial launch, AMD has updated the GPU portion of the platform with the excellent Radeon HD 4890, i.e. RV790, and introduced mainstream socket AM3 processors. And today, AMD ups the ante yet again with the highest clocked quad-core CPU to be offered by the company to date, the 3.2GHz Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition.

We've got one of AMD's new flagship desktop processors in house for a little benchmark action and have clocked it down to 3.0GHz as well to simulate the performance of the Phenom II X4 945, which is also arriving alongside the 955 BE. Read on for the full scoop...




As most of you probably know, and we've already mentioned, the Dragon platform as a whole is not new. Most of its core components have already been on the scene for quite some time now. As such, we have already covered them in-depth here on HotHardware in previous articles, so we won't do the same again here. We will, however, recommend that you take a look at a few recent articles to get familiar with some of the underlying technology and components that comprise AMD's Dragon platform.

he Radeon HD 4800 series articles detail the features and technology that have made the GPUs so successful in the 3D graphics space. And the various 7-series chipset, Phenom, Phenom II and Athlon processor, and Spider platform related articles cover the remainder of the platform specifics--with the exception of the new Phenom II 945 and 955 being announced today that is...

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Monday, April 20, 2009

IBM PC and the x86 architecture

IBM PC and the x86 architecture
Main articles: Am286, Am386, Am486, and Am5x86In February 1982, AMD signed a contract with Intel, becoming a licensed second-source manufacturer of 8086 and 8088 processors. IBM wanted to use the Intel 8088 in its IBM PC, but IBM's policy at the time was to require at least two sources for its chips. AMD later produced the Am286 under the same arrangement, but Intel canceled the agreement in 1986 and refused to convey technical details of the i386 part. AMD challenged Intel's decision to cancel the agreement and won in arbitration, but Intel disputed this decision. A long legal dispute followed, ending in 1994 when the Supreme Court of California sided with AMD. Subsequent legal disputes centered on whether AMD had legal rights to use derivatives of Intel's microcode. In the face of uncertainty, AMD was forced to develop "clean room" versions of Intel code.In 1991, AMD released the Am386, its clone of the Intel 386 processor. It took less than a year for the company to sell a million units. Later, the Am486 was used by a number of large original equipment manufacturers, including Compaq, and proved popular. Another Am486-based product, the Am5x86, continued AMD's success as a low-price alternative. However, as product cycles shortened in the PC industry, the process of reverse engineering Intel's products became an ever less viable strategy for AMD.
[edit] K5, K6 and AthlonMain articles: AMD K5, AMD K6, and AthlonAMD's first completely in-house x86 processor was the K5 which was launched in 1996.[4] The "K" was a reference to "Kryptonite", which from comic book lore, was the only substance that could harm Superman, with a clear reference to Intel, which dominated in the market at the time, as "Superman".[5]In 1996, AMD purchased NexGen specifically for the rights to their Nx series of x86-compatible processors. AMD gave the NexGen design team their own building, left them alone, and gave them time and money to rework the Nx686. The result was the K6 processor, introduced in 1997.The K7 was AMD's seventh generation x86 processor, making its debut on June 23, 1999, under the brand name Athlon. On October 9, 2001 the Athlon XP was released, followed by the Athlon XP with 512KB L2 Cache on February 10, 2003.[6]
[edit] Athlon 64, Opteron and Phenom
Quad-core "Barcelona" die-shot.Main articles: Athlon 64, Opteron, and Phenom (processor)The K8 was a major revision of the K7 architecture, with the most notable features being the addition of a 64-bit extension to the x86 instruction set (officially called AMD64), the incorporation of an on-chip memory controller, and the implementation of an extremely high performance point-to-point interconnect called HyperTransport, as part of the Direct Connect Architecture. The technology was initially launched as the Opteron server-oriented processor.[7] Shortly thereafter it was incorporated into a product for desktop PCs, branded Athlon 64.[8]AMD released the first dual core Opteron, an x86-based server CPU, on April 21, 2005.[9] The first desktop-based dual core processor family — the Athlon 64 X2 — came a month later.[10] In early May 2007, AMD had abandoned the string "64" in its dual-core desktop product branding, becoming Athlon X2, downplaying the significance of 64-bit computing in its processors while upcoming updates involves some of the improvements to the microarchitecture, and a shift of target market from mainstream desktop systems to value dual-core desktop systems. AMD has also started to release dual-core Sempron processors in early 2008 exclusively in China, branded as Sempron 2000 series, with lower HyperTransport speed and smaller L2 cache, thus the firm completes its dual-core product portfolio for each market segment.The latest AMD microprocessor architecture, known as K10, became the successor to the K8 microarchitecture. The first processors released on this architecture were introduced on September 10, 2007 consisting of nine quad-core Third Generation Opteron processors. This was followed by the Phenom processor for desktop. K10 processors will come in dual, triple-core,[11] and quad-core versions with all cores on one single die.
[edit] Fusion
Main articles: AMD Fusion, Bulldozer (processor), and Bobcat (processor)
This section contains information about scheduled or expected future computer chips.It may contain preliminary or speculative information, and may not reflect the final specification of the product.
After the merger between AMD and ATI, an initiative codenamed Fusion was announced that merges a CPU and GPU on one chip, including a minimum 16 lane PCI Express link to accommodate external PCI Express peripherals, thereby eliminating the requirement of a northbridge chip completely from the motherboard. AMD will move to a modular design methodology named "M-SPACE", where two new processor cores, codenamed "Bulldozer" and "Bobcat" will be released in the 2009 timeframe.While very little preliminary information exists even in AMD's Technology Analyst Day 2007, both cores are to be built from the ground up. The Bulldozer core focused on 10 watt to 100 watt products, with optimizations for performance-per-watt ratios and HPC applications and includes newly announced SSE5 instructions, while the Bobcat core will focus on 1 watt to 10 watt products, given that the core is a simplified x86 core to reduce power draw. Both of the cores will be able to incorporate full DirectX compatible GPU core(s) under the Fusion label, or as standalone products as a general purpose CPU.
[edit] Other platforms and technologies
[edit] AMD chipsets
See also: Comparison of AMD chipsetsBefore the launch of Athlon 64 processors in 2003, AMD designed chipsets for their processors spanning the K6 and K7 processor generations. The chipsets include the AMD-640, AMD-751 and the AMD-761 chipsets. The situation changed in 2003 with the release of Athlon 64 processors, and AMD chose not to further design its own chipsets for its desktop processors while opening the desktop platform to allow other firms to design chipsets. This is the "Open Platform Initiative". The initiative was proven to be a success, with many firms such as Nvidia, ATI, VIA and SiS developing their own chipset for Athlon 64 processors and later Athlon 64 X2 and Athlon 64 FX processors, including the Quad FX platform chipset from Nvidia.The initiative went further with the release of Opteron server processors as AMD stopped the design of server chipsets in 2004 after releasing the AMD-8111 chipset, and again opened the server platform for firms to develop chipsets for Opteron processors. As of today, Nvidia and Broadcom are the sole designing firms of server chipsets for Opteron processors.As the company completed the acquisition of ATI Technologies in 2006, the firm gained the ATI design team for chipsets which previously designed the Radeon Xpress 200 and the Radeon Xpress 3200 chipsets. AMD then renamed the chipsets for AMD processors under AMD branding (for instance, the CrossFire Xpress 3200 chipset was renamed as AMD 580X CrossFire chipset). In February 2007, AMD announced the first AMD-branded chipset since 2004 with the release of the AMD 690G chipset (previously under the development codename RS690), targeted at mainstream IGP computing. It was the industry's first to implement a HDMI 1.2 port on motherboards, shipping for more than a million units. While ATI had aimed at releasing an Intel IGP chipset, the plan was scrapped and the inventories of Radeon Xpress 1250 (codenamed RS600, sold under ATI brand) was sold to two OEMs, Abit and AsRock. Although AMD states the firm will still produce Intel chipsets, Intel had not granted the license of 1333 MHz FSB to ATI. Considering the rivalry between AMD and Intel, AMD is less likely to release more Intel chipset designs in the foreseeable future.On November 15, 2007, AMD has announced a new chipset series portfolio, the AMD 7-Series chipsets, covering from enthusiast multi-graphics segment to value IGP segment, to replace the AMD 480/570/580 chipsets and AMD 690 series chipsets. Marking AMD's first enthusiast multi-graphics chipset. Discrete graphics chipsets were launched on November 15, 2007 as part of the codenamed Spider desktop platform, and IGP chipsets were launched at a later time in Spring 2008 as part of the codenamed Cartwheel platform.AMD will also return to the server chipsets market with the next-generation AMD 800S series server chipsets, scheduled to be released in 2009 timeframe.
[edit] AMD Live!
Main article: AMD Live!AMD LIVE! is a platform marketing initiative focusing the consumer electronics segment, with a recently announced Active TV initiative for streaming Internet videos from web video services such as YouTube, into AMD Live! PC as well as connected digital TVs, together with a scheme for an ecosystem of certified peripherals for the ease of customers to identify peripherals for AMD Live! systems for digital home experience, called "AMD Live! Ready".[12]
[edit] AMD Quad FX platform
Main article: AMD Quad FX platformThe AMD Quad FX platform, being an extreme enthusiast platform, allows two processors to connect through HyperTransport, which is a similar setup to dual-processor (2P) servers, excluding the use of buffered memory/registered memory DIMM modules, and a server motherboard, the current setup includes two Athlon 64 FX FX-70 series processors and a special motherboard. AMD pushed the platform for the surging demands for what AMD calls "megatasking" for true enthusiasts,[13] the ability to do more tasks on one single system. The platform refreshes with the introduction of Phenom FX processors and the next-generation RD790 chipset, codenamed "FASN8".
[edit] Commercial platform
The first AMD server/workstation platform after ATI acquisition is scheduled to be released on 2009 timeframe. Codenamed Piranha, the server platform consists of AMD 870S/890S + SB700S server chipsets, supporting Socket G3 processors starting from 45 nm processors codenamed Montreal, with the implementation of G3MX memory buffering technology.AMD's virtualization extension to the 64-bit x86 architecture is named AMD Virtualization, also known by the abbreviation AMD-V, and is sometimes referred to by the code name "Pacifica". AMD processors using Socket AM2, Socket S1, and Socket F include AMD Virtualization support. AMD Virtualization is also supported by release two (8200, 2200 and 1200 series) of the Opteron processors. The third generation (8300 and 2300 series) of Opteron processors will see an update in virtualization technology, specifically the Rapid Virtualization Indexing (also known by the development name Nested Page Tables), alongside the Tagged TLB and Device Exclusion Vector (DEV).AMD also promotes the "AMD I/O Virtualization Technology" (also known as IOMMU) for I/O virtualization.[14] The AMD IOMMU specification has been updated to version 1.2.[15] The specification describes the use of a HyperTransport architecture.AMD's commercial initiatives include the following:AMD Trinity, provides support for virtualization, security and management. Key features include AMD-V technology, codenamed Presidio trusted computing platform technology, I/O Virtualization and Open Management Partition.[16]AMD Raiden, future clients similar to the Jack PC[17] to be connected through network to a blade server for central management, to reduce client form factor sizes with AMD Trinity features.Torrenza, coprocessors support through interconnects such as HyperTransport as PCI Express (though more focus was at HyperTransport enabled coprocessors), also opening processor socket architecture to other manufacturers, Sun and IBM are among the supporting consortium, with rumoured POWER7 processors would be socket-compatible to future Opteron processors. The move made rival Intel responded with the open of Front Side Bus (FSB) architecture as well as Geneseo,[18] a collaboration project with IBM for coprocessors connected through PCI Express. Note that AMD positioned Torrenza for commercial segment, whilst Intel positioned Geneseo for all segments including consumer desktop segments[citation needed].Various certified systems programs and platforms: AMD Commercial Stable Image Platform (CSIP), together with AMD Validated Server program, AMD True Server Solutions, AMD Thermally Tested Barebones Platforms and AMD Validated Server Program, providing certified systems for business from AMD.
[edit] Desktop platforms
Starting in 2007, AMD, following Intel, began using codenames for its desktop platforms such as Spider. The platforms, unlike Intel's approach, will refresh every year, putting focus on platform specialization. The platform includes components as AMD processors, chipsets, ATI graphics and other features, but continued to the open platform approach, and welcome components from other vendors such as VIA, SiS, and Nvidia, as well as wireless product vendors.Updates to the platform includes the implemtation of IOMMU I/O Virtualization with 45 nm generation of processors, and the AMD 800 chipset series in 2009.[19]
[edit] Embedded systems
Main articles: Alchemy (processor) and Geode (processor)In February 2002, AMD acquired Alchemy Semiconductor and continued its line of processor in MIPS architecture processors, targets the hand-held and Portable media player markets. On June 13, 2006, AMD officially announced that the Alchemy processor line was transferred to Raza Microelectronics Inc.[20]In August 2003, AMD also purchased the Geode business which was originally the Cyrix MediaGX from National Semiconductor to augment its existing line of embedded x86 processor products. During the second quarter of 2004, it launched new low-power Geode NX processors based on the K7 Thoroughbred architecture with speeds of fanless processors 667 MHz and 1 GHz, and 1.4 GHz processor with fan, of TDP 25 W. This technology is used in a variety of embedded systems (Casino slot machines and customer kiosks for instance), several UMPC designs in Asia markets, as well as the OLPC XO-1 computer, an inexpensive laptop computer intended to be distributed to children in developing countries around the world.For the past couple of years AMD has been introducing 64-bit processors into its embedded product line starting with the AMD Opteron processor. Leveraging the high throughput enabled through HyperTransport and the Direct Connect Architecture these server class processors have been targeted at high end telecom and storage applications. In 2006 AMD added the AMD Athlon, AMD Turion and Mobile AMD Sempron processors to its embedded product line. Leveraging the same 64-bit instruction set and Direct Connect Architecture as the AMD Opteron but at lower power levels and in smaller footprint packages[citation needed], these processors were well suited to a variety of traditional embedded applications. Throughout 2007 and into 2008 AMD has continued to add both single-core Mobile AMD Sempron and AMD Athlon processors and dual-core AMD Athlon X2 and AMD Turion processors to its embedded product line and now offers embedded 64-bit solutions starting with 8W TDP Mobile AMD Sempron and AMD Athlon processors for fan-less designs up to multi-processor systems leveraging multi-core AMD Opteron processors all supporting longer than standard availability.In April 2007, AMD announced the release of the M690T integrated graphics chipset for embedded designs. This enabled AMD to offer complete processor and chipset solutions targeted at embedded applications requiring high performance 3D and video such as emerging digital signage, kiosk and Point of Sale applications. The M690T was followed by the M690E specifically for embedded applications which removed the TV output, which required Macrovision licensing for OEMs, and enabled native support for dual TMDS outputs, enabling dual independent DVI interfaces.
[edit] Flash technology
Main article: Spansion
While less visible to the general public than its CPU business, AMD is also a global leader in flash memory. In 1993, AMD established a 50-50 partnership with Fujitsu called FASL, and merged into a new company called FASL LLC in 2003. The joint venture firm went public under ticker symbol SPSN in December 2005, with AMD shares drop to 37%.AMD no longer directly participates in the Flash memory devices market now as AMD entered into a non-competition agreement, as of December 21, 2005, with Fujitsu and Spansion, pursuant to which it agreed not to directly or indirectly engage in a business that manufactures or supplies standalone semiconductor devices (including single chip, multiple chip or system devices) containing only Flash memory.[21]
[edit] Mobile platforms
Main article: AMD mobile platformAMD started a platform in 2003 aimed at mobile computing, but, with fewer advertisements and promotional schemes, very little was known about the platform. The platform used mobile Athlon 64 or mobile Sempron processors.As part of the "Better by design" initiative, the open mobile platform, announced February 2007 with announcement of general availability in May 2007, comes together with 65 nm fabrication process Turion 64 X2, and consists of three major components: an AMD processor, graphics from either Nvidia or ATI Technologies which also includes integrated graphics (IGP), and wireless connectivity solutions from Atheros, Broadcom, Marvell, Qualcomm or Realtek.The Puma platform and Turion Ultra processor was released on June 4, 2008. In the future, AMD plans quad-core processors with 3D graphics capabilities (Fusion) to be launched in 2009 as the Eagle platform.
[edit] Other initiatives
50x15, digital inclusion, with targeted 50% of world population to be connected through Internet via affordable computers by the year of 2015.The Green Grid,[22] founded by AMD together with other founders, such as IBM, Sun and Microsoft, to seek lower power consumption for grids. Intel was notably absent from the consortium when it was founded, and finally joined in early 2007.[23]Codenamed SIMFIRE interoperability testing tool for the Desktop and mobile Architecture for System Hardware (DASH) open architecture.
[edit] Software
Extensions for software parallelism (xSP), aimed at speeding up programs to enable multi-threaded and multi-core processing, announced in Technology Analyst Day 2007. One of the initiative being discussed since August 2007 is the Light Weight Profiling (LWP), providing internal hardware monitor with runtimes, to observe information about executing process and help the re-design of software to be optimized with multi-core and even multi-threaded programs. Another one is the extension of Streaming SIMD Extension (SSE) instruction set, the SSE5.
[edit] Technologies from ATI
After the takeover of ATI, AMD restructured some of the product lineups from both companies. Some products were being rebranded under the AMD brand, including the Imageon for mobile phones and handheld devices, the Xilleon for consumer electronics (digital TV sets), ATI Xpress chipsets (to AMD chipsets) for AMD processors platform and GPGPU computing line-up FireStream, previously known as AMD Stream Processor. Some others retained the use of ATI branding, including the Radeon line of graphics, and chipsets for Intel processors.
[edit] Production and fabrication
AMD produces their own processors in wholly owned semiconductor Fabrication Plants, called "FABs". AMD uses a "FAB x" naming convention for their production facilities, where "x" is the number of years that have passed between the founding of AMD and the date the FAB opened.At their Fabrication facilities, AMD utilizes a system called Automated Precision Manufacturing (APM). APM is a collection of manufacturing technologies AMD has developed over their history (many of which AMD holds patents for), which are designed to enhance the microprocessor production process, primarily in terms of yield. Much of APM is related to removing the "human equation" from the manufacturing process by isolating in-process wafers in containers that are only exposed to clean room facilities. AMD claims that the technologies that combine to make APM are unique to the industry and make it the foremost semiconductor manufacturer in the world - a fact which is lent some credence by their current agreement with Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing based in Singapore. India's first Fab City, a silicon chip manufacturing facility at Hyderabad, being setup with an investment of $3 billion by the AMD-SemIndia consortium.AMD currently has a production agreement with foundry Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing which allows Chartered access to AMD Automated Precision Manufacturing (APM) process technology, in exchange for which Chartered will act as extra production capacity for AMD.Through the acquisition of ATI, AMD also has manufacturing agreements with TSMC to produce ATI's lines of graphics and chipset processors. It is currently unclear how much of ATI's manufacturing needs will be moved to AMD's own fabs and how much will remain outsourced to other foundry companies, but AMD has announced plans for future processors to be outsourced to TSMC, while coincidently TSMC had announced it had received orders to fabricate x86 processors.
AMD Saxony in Dresden, Germany is the major wafer production site.AMD's main microprocessor manufacturing and design facilities are located in Dresden, Germany. Additionally, highly integrated microprocessors are manufactured in Taiwan made by third-party manufacturers under strict license from AMD. Between 2003 and 2005, they constructed a second manufacturing plant (300 mm 90 nm process SOI) in the same complex in order to increase the number of chips they can produce, thus becoming more competitive with Intel. The new plant has been named "Fab 36", in recognition of AMD's 36 years of operation, and is expected to reach full production in mid-2007. AMD recently announced that they have just completed the conversion of Fab 36 from 90 nm to 65 nm and have now shifted their focus to the 45 nm conversion.[24]AMD has planned expansions in their production capacity. In addition to the completion of Fab 36 in Dresden, AMD is planning to upgrade Fab 30 (adjacent to Fab 36) in Dresden from 200 mm 90 nm process SOI to a 300 mm 65 nm process SOI facility and rename it Fab 38. Originally, Fab 30 was supposed to begin 65 nm production in late 2007 but AMD recently announced they would slow down the upgrade to reduce capital expenditures.[25]Packaging and testing facilities for its microprocessor products are located in Singapore, Malaysia and China.Furthermore, AMD announced plans to open a new $3.2 billion facility at the Luther Forest Technology Campus across the towns of Malta and Stillwater in Saratoga County, New York. This new Fab 4x will likely produce 300 mm 32 nm process SOI production, with construction taking place from 2009 to 2010. Some speculation exists as to whether this facility will use high-K/metal gate technology that AMD obtained from IBM.[26]AMD has also invested $3billion to build a chip fabrication plant in India. Currently, AMD is manufacturing chips in India as a result of their partnership with SemIndia, a group of investors aiming at building a wafer fab, as well as assembly and test operation centers. "AMD ponders over new chip plant in India"In June 2006, Chartered Semiconductor began shipments of manufactured AMD microprocessors, many of which are shipped from Singapore to Taiwanese and Chinese OEM/ODM manufacturing companies that build computers for companies like Lenovo and Dell.[27]AMD maintains major design facilities in Fort Collins, CO, Sunnyvale, CA, Austin, TX, Boxborough, MA, Bangalore, India, and Hyderabad, India. With the acquisition of ATI Technologies, the company gained ownership over major design facilities in Markham, ON and Santa Clara, CA.
[edit] Corporate affairs
[edit] Partnerships
AMD utilizes strategic industry partnerships to further its business interests as well as to tackle Intel's dominance and resources. Notably Nvidia's nForce2 chipset generated substantial revenues for Nvidia as a popular enthusiast part.A partnership between AMD and Alpha Processor Inc. developed HyperTransport, a point-to-point interconnect standard which was turned over to an industry standards body for finalization. It is now used in modern AMD processor compatible motherboards.AMD also formed a strategic partnership with IBM, under which AMD gained silicon on insulator (SOI) manufacturing technology, and detailed advice on 90 nm implementation, the partnership was announced by AMD to be extended to 2011 for 32 nm and 22 nm fabrication related technologies.[28] Further, AMD is loosely partnered with end-user companies such as HP, Compaq, ASUS, Alienware, Acer, Evesham Technology, Dell and several others to facilitate processor distribution and sales.On May 18, 2006, Dell announced that it would roll out new servers based on AMD's Opteron chips by years end, thus ending an exclusive relationship with Intel. Dell also began offering AMD Athlon X2 chips in their desktop line-up in September 2006.AMD is also a sponsor of the Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro F1 Team since 2002 and the Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team since 2004.
[edit] Litigation with Intel
See also: AMD v. Intel
AMD has a long history of litigation with former partner and x86 creator Intel.[29][30][31]In 1986 Intel broke an agreement it had with AMD to allow them to produce Intel's micro-chips for IBM; AMD filed for arbitration in 1987 and the arbitrator decided in AMD's favor in 1992. Intel disputed this, and the case ended up in the Supreme Court of California. In 1994, that court upheld the arbitrator's decision and awarded damages for breach of contract.In 1990, Intel brought a copyright infringement action alleging illegal use of its 287 microcode. The case ended in 1994 with a jury finding for AMD and its right to use Intel's microcode in its microprocessors through the 486 generation.In 1997, Intel filed suit against AMD and Cyrix Corp. for misuse of the term MMX. AMD and Intel settled, with AMD acknowledging MMX as a trademark owned by Intel, and with Intel granting AMD rights to market the AMD K6 MMX processor.In 2005, following an investigation, the Japan Federal Trade Commission found Intel guilty on a number of violations. On June 27, 2005, AMD won an antitrust suit against Intel in Japan, and on the same day, AMD filed a broad antitrust complaint against Intel in the U.S. Federal District Court in Delaware. The complaint alleges systematic use of secret rebates, special discounts, threats, and other means used by Intel to lock AMD processors out of the global market. Since the start of this action, The Court has issued subpoenas to major computer manufacturers including Acer, Dell, Lenovo, HP and Toshiba.
[edit] Events and publications
Although AMD has frequently stated the inability of providing information about upcoming products and plans, AMD holds Technology Analyst Days (which often shorten as simply "Analyst Day") annually or semi-annually to reveal and explain key future technologies, as well as official technology roadmaps. While the event held in mid-year is named as "Technology Analyst Day" with main focus on upcoming technologies and trends[32] and the end-of-year event is named "Financial Analyst Day" and focused on the financial performance of the company during the previous quarters of the year[33]AMD also publishes printed media. Publications include the AMD Accelerate and the discontinued AMDEdge. The AMD Accelerate magazine, published through Ziff Davis Media, puts focus on SME and business applications while AMD Edge focused on overall technologies from AMD. After Ziff Davis Media filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, the AMD Accelerate magazine is published through IDG. AMD also has electronic newsletters to promote server Opteron processors and related business solutions.
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Processor Latest technology

Processor Latest technology
The latest trend in the processor technology that you don't need processor for your computing. the computer has only one device that connect you to internet. this device require very little computing power for itself but very high connecting facility. this make computer very light and portable as small as a tiny mobile.
The latest trend in the processor technology that you don't need processor for your computing. the computer has only one device that connect you to internet. this device require very little computing power for itself but very high connecting facility. this make computer very light and portable as small as a tiny mobile.
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Doewnload GoodSync 7.73

Doewnload GoodSync 7.73


Good Sync is FREE file and folder synchronization software for Windows.

GoodSync uses an innovative synchronization algorithm to synchronize your data between desktop PCs,
USB drives, laptops and more. Good Sync combines bulletproof reliability with an extremely easy-to-use interface.Here are some key features of "GoodSync":

Easy to Use Windows Interface· Do routine multiple folder synchronizations with one click.
· Automatic, on-screen, context sensitive hints.
· Minimal questions asked before file sync starts.
· Multilingual user interface with localized file names supportPerforms real all-way file and folder synchronization· File modifications and deletions are stored in a database.
· The innovative algorithm does not rely on file system precision or accuracy.
· Actual folder (directory) synchronization.
· Virtually any file system is supportedCan be used in various scenarios· Sync data between your desktop PC and laptop (notebook).
· Update and backup files over a local network or the Internet.
· Synchronize more than 2 directories.
· Do data replication and backup between home and work computers.
· Synchronize a removable (USB key, flash drive, CDRW) device with a local drive.

::Download Link::

http://www.goodsync.com/download/GoodSync-Setup.exe

You will combine the performance of local file devices with the absolute mobility of a removable drive.
And don't be so afraid of losing your USB key or even of your hard drive crashing: be at ease, knowing you have kept a copy of your most important data
Size:1.5MB

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Download WavePurity Professional v6.30

Download WavePurity Professional v6.30


Professional audio reconditionfor old vinyl records and music tapesRestore your music from old vinyl records and music tapes.Remove crackling and noise from old audio recordings.Correct muffled or shrill-sounding audio recordings.Preserve your favorite songs and store them in digital CD quality..
WavePurity’s digital filters can eliminate interfering crackling and noise
from your old recordings.

You will have reconditioned high-quality music titles of almost CD quality.WavePurity can revise automatically an entire part of a record by detecting the titles and editing wave files.

::Download Link::
http://www.difitec.de/wavepurity/eng/download.htm
They are ready now for burning on a CD.Wave Purity is easy in handling and an excellent shareware.WavePurity includes powerful tools, editors and filters for editing audio files. It supports the data formats WAV and MP3 .
Size:5.7MB
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Friday, April 17, 2009

Intel Core 2 Quad Q8200S and Q9550S 65W CPUs

Intel Core 2 Quad Q8200S and Q9550S 65W CPUs



Since the launch of their latest processor architecture in the form of the Core i7 processor line, Intel has been busy slowly reorganizing their desktop CPU offerings. While the Core i7 line-up currently takes a performance leadership position, it only covers the high end of the market at this time, and a new Core i7 capable platform can be a bit on the pricey side. This means the aging but trusty Core 2 line-up still has a place in Intel's front-line battle plans.

AMD's recent release of the refined Phenom II processor line has put quite a bit of pressure on Intel's Core i7 plans. While Phenom II can't compete toe-to-toe with Core i7 in pure performance, it's certainly very competitive when it comes to overall value, as we found out in our evaluation recently. However, in terms of performance for your dollar, Core 2 still holds the line for Intel and a series of price cuts over the last few months have positioned Core 2 to better compete in the mainstream and value segments.

In order to make room for Core i7 and to better compete with AMD's offerings, Intel has been busy cutting prices on Core 2 processors and phasings out many models. Some of the first to go were the bulk of the Core 2 Extreme line-up. The QX6800, QX6850, QX9770, and QX9650 have all been retired and their former market segment, now filled by the new Core i7 chips. Most of the 65nm Core 2 Duo models have also been cleared out and a few models are also on the chopping block, including the extremely popular 65nm Q6600 and the relatively new 45nm Q9450.

In the midst of the Core 2 line-up restructuring, Intel has released a new line of low power Core 2 Quad processors. The first three members of the new S-series line-up are the Q9550S, Q9400S and Q8200S. As their names suggest, these three chips are closely related to the existing, standard non-S Q9550, Q9400 and Q8200 chips. In fact, the new S-series is identical to existing Core 2 Quad models with one significant exception; a Thermal Design Power (TDP) of just 65W.

At just 65W, Intel's new S-series quads have a TDP that's 30W lower than standard Core 2 Quad chips which are all rated for 95W. In fact, the only other 65W chips Intel offers are from the line-up of dual-core processors. AMD has offered a line-up of low power 65W TDP quad-cores for some time in their Phenom e-series, but AMD achieves the lower TDP by significantly downclocking existing Phenom models. The latest Phenom e-series chip, the recently released 9450e only manages 2.1GHz. Intel's new S-series, on the other hand, pulls no punches and they are available up to 2.83GHz. High performance quad-core chips with the thermal envelope of dual-cores? It almost sounds too good to be true. Let's look and see if they are..


The new low power Core 2 Quad S-series initially consists of 3 chips, the Q9550S, Q9400S and the Q8200S. A fourth chip, the Q8400S will be arriving on April 19th. It will be a higher clocked version of the Q8200S and it will offer the same clock frequency as the Q9400S. Just like the Q8200S, the Q8400S will only have 4MB of L2 cache and no support for Intel's virtualization tech. It will initially be offered for an MSRP of $245 and it should fit in well between the Q8200S and the Q9400S. A standard, full-power 95W model, the Q8400, will also be launched at the same time for $183.

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Sunday, April 12, 2009

Intel® Itanium® Processor 9000 Sequence

Intel® Itanium® Processor 9000 Sequence

Itanium®-based servers deliver the scalable performance, reliability, and headroom for your most compute-intensive workloads, including direct replacement for RISC and mainframe platforms. Because Itanium processors are available in commercial off-the-shelf hardware from a rich ecosystem of system and solution providers, they can quickly meet mission-critical needs.

Itanium-based servers are incredibly scalable, allowing configuration in systems of as many as 512 processors and a full petabyte (1024TB) of RAM. Together with full support for both 32-bit and 64-bit applications, that capacity provides unmatched flexibility in tailoring systems to your enterprise needs.

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Intel® Xeon® Processor 3000 Sequence

Intel® Xeon® Processor 3000 Sequence

The Intel® Xeon® processor 3000 sequence-based platforms unleash the computing power of Intel® Xeon® processors. The new 45 nm Quad and Dual-Core processors feature enhanced Intel® Core™ microarchitecture that provides your business with exceptional performance and power efficiency at a very affordable cost.

These servers are ideal for small business owners looking for ways to grow business, manage operation more effectively and efficiently, and protect and secure one of their most important assets - information.

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Intel® Xeon® Processor 5000 Sequence

Intel® Xeon® Processor 5000 Sequence

The breakthrough performance, energy efficiency, and reliability of Intel® Xeon® processor-based server systems make them the ideal choice for all of your data demanding or standard enterprise infrastructure applications.

Intel® processor-based servers enable businesses worldwide to do more and spend less—with outstanding price/performance and broad 64-bit choice across OEMs, operating systems, and applications. Supported by a single stable mainstream 2P server platform supporting a range of CPU options for IT flexibility, investment protection and easy migration.

Reliable, efficient, proven performance. Why would you depend on anything else? Intel® Xeon® processor-based servers deliver it all. Put Intel® server technology to work in your datacenter.

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Intel® Xeon® Processor 7000 Sequence

Intel® Xeon® Processor 7000 Sequence

The Intel® Xeon® processor 7400 series, offers the industry's highest virtualization performance so you can do more with less. With key platform innovations built-in, the Intel® Xeon® processor 7400 series offers more headroom, reliability, and the highest expandability for large-scale server consolidation.

Best-in-class performance

With enhanced 45nm Intel® Core™ microarchitecture, the new Intel® Xeon® processor 7400 series is best-in-class for demanding enterprise workloads with almost 50% better performance in some cases and up to 10% reduction in platform power compared to previous generation expandable servers.◊¹ Designed and optimized for IT, these 6-core processors provide industry-leading multi-core processing and greater computing performance without increasing footprint and power demands.

With 16MB shared L3 cache, scalability beyond four sockets, 1066 million transfers per second (MT/s), and support for up to 256GB of RAM, the Intel® Xeon® processor 7400 series is the ideal choice for your data-intensive, business-critical performance requirements.

Headroom and scalability built in

Offering more low voltage options including 65W 6-core and 50W 4-core processors, Intel® Xeon® processor 7400 series for blade and ultra-dense platforms reduce cooling requirements, lowering IT costs. In addition, these processors are designed with Intel® Virtualization Technology (Intel® VT), enabling an ecosystem of software-based virtualization from industry leading software providers.

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