CPU

IBM has reportedly started to search for a buyer for its semiconductor manufacturing business. While the move itself seems like a milestone for the whole industry, the potential transaction will not have a huge impact on the market since IBM is not a leading maker of chips. Moreover, chips today …

With companies like Sony struggling badly in the consumer electronics market, it's interesting to see that one area where the CEO does not want to back away from is 4K TVs. As 3D interest cools (awaiting the next instalment in the Cameron blockbusting Avatar series for renewed energy), 4K looks …

Foxconn Group, the world’s largest contract manufacturer of electronics, is set to take over Socle Technology, a developer of system-on-chip solutions. The buyout will bring additional capabilities to the holding also known as Hon Hai Precision Industry and will help it to gain more customers and diversify its business. Socle …

Advanced Micro Devices has released additional details regarding the first server-class AMD Opteron A1100 microprocessor code-named “Seattle” based on ARMv8 micro-architecture. In addition, the company said that it would begin to send the chips to software developers to help programmers to tune their apps to 64-bit ARM technology already this …

Qualcomm, the world’s largest developer of application processors for mobile devices, will not be the first chip designer to reveal a 64-bit ARM application processor, but what it reportedly plans to offer (if the unofficial information is accurate) will probably outshine everything that has been introduced so far. Qualcomm is …

Advanced Micro Devices on Wednesday introduced two new server-class Opteron central processing units (CPUs) based on the code-named “Warsaw” design. The new chips boast slightly better power efficiency compared to predecessors, but feature similar performance and a set of technologies compared to existing code-named “Abu Dhabi” multi-core processors. Initially, there …

Advanced Micro Devices on Tuesday reported its financial results for the fourth quarter as well as for the while fiscal year 2013. Thanks to sales of chips for video game consoles, such as Microsoft Xbox One and Sony PlayStation 4, the company managed to return to profitability and boost its …

Intel's Haswell line of CPUs has been out for a while now, but unlike previous generations of Intel chips that blew away the competition (it's been a long time since AMD really nipped at Intel's heels) Haswell didn't make such a big splash. It wasn't because of its default performance …

Although AMD’s new Opteron microprocessors code-named “Warsaw” have not been announced yet, select online stores are already taking pre-orders on the new chips. As it appears, the new multi-core central processing units s for high-end servers will not be too expensive, despite their improvements over existing products. AMD Opteron 6300-series …

Intel Corp. plans to cut its workforce this year to reduce its costs and realign its personnel to better meet the company’s business needs as well as market requirements. The reduction of headcount will also help Intel to invest more into growing segments of the market, such as ultra-mobile devices, …

Contemporary multi-core AMD Opteron microprocessors for high-end servers utilize multi-chip-module (MCM) technology that places two six-/eight-core dies onto the same piece of substrate to create 12-core or 16-core solutions. However, a new document from AMD suggests that the chip designer is working on “native” 16-core processors with all cores on …

AMD’s code-named “Llano” accelerated processing unit took around four years to develop and suffered from a lot teething problems. Market success of the “Llano” was moderate to say at least, but troubles with the chips caused massive losses for AMD. Nonetheless, it looks like AMD will have to suffer because …

Intel Corp. reiterated plans to start volume production of its next-generation microprocessors code-named “Broadwell” using 14nm process technology this quarter. Manufacturing yields of the chips have improved, according to the company. Commercial introduction of the new chips is expected in the second half of the year. Intel’s code-named “Broadwell” central …

Intel Corp. on Thursday revealed its financial results for the year 2013. The company's total sales were down 1% compared to the previous year due to soft demand for PCs. At the same time, the company sold more server-class hardware than in the previous year. The company reported full-year revenue …

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. on Thursday said it had begun mass production of chips using 20nm process technology ahead of its own schedule. The new fabrication process will help fabless chip designers (e.g., AMD, Nvidia, Qualcomm, etc.) to create processors with higher transistor count, lower power consumption and improved performance. …

Intel Corp. said it had decided to postpone equipment move-in at its fab 42 cutting-edge semiconductor manufacturing facility. The move, which is aimed to improve utilisation of capital at the world’s largest maker of microprocessors, will leave the company without one fab capable of making next-generation chips using 14nm manufacturing …

Although the press mostly reports about high-end chip solutions designed for leading-edge electronics and made using state-of-the-art process technologies, the market continues to need very low-cost products that are far from being technological breakthroughs. On Tuesday ARM Holdings and United Microelectronics Corp. announced partnership to enable such devices. ARM has …

Intel Corp. may speed up introduction of its next-generation microprocessors based on the code-named “Broadwell” micro-architecture, according to sources with knowledge of the chip giant’s plans. Previously it was expected that the “Broadwell” line of chips will be released sometime in Q4 of 2014. It is now planned that some …

Intel Corp. is speedily transitioning its lineup of desktop central processing units (CPUs) to the “Haswell” micro-architecture. Broader availability of newer chips across various price segments ultimately makes Intel’s desktop microprocessor family more competitive against its arch-rival AMD. According to sources familiar with Intel’s plans, the share of desktop processors …

At the Consumer Electronics Show the world’s largest maker of microprocessors – Intel Corp. – demonstrated what looks to be the world’s smallest personal computer based on an x86 microprocessor. Intel Edison is a new Quark-based computer with built-in wireless connectivity housed in a Secure Digital card form-factor. Intel Edison …

Intel Corp., the world’s largest maker of microprocessors, has been selling various system-on-chips for mobile devices for years now. Unfortunately, it hasn't been that successful with the smartphones and tablets market. But the company remains optimistic and has given itself some pretty aggressive targets. This year Intel plans to sell …

AMD has announced a new initiative to bridge the gap between the traditional high powered, productivity focused “old Windows ecosystem,” and the high end displays and thin, light and easy to use Android/iOS ecoysystem, powered by a new line of AMD APUs set to be released over the next 12 …

Comparing the parallel computing performance of a graphic card to a CPU is like comparing the shoe-wearing ability of a centipede to a human. While the applications and environments around the GPU don't always allow it to maximise throughput, there is enough processing power under the bonnet to let it …

A little under two years after the release of Intel's high-end desktop – Sandy Bridge-E – LGA 2011 processors and the corresponding X79 chipset, it's time for the platform to go through its refresh phase. Featuring a die shrink from SB-E's 32nm to 22nm, Ivy Bridge-E is intended to take …

When KitGuru ran a preliminary analysis of the price/performance for the AMD FX-9590, we calculated a bang-per-buck based only on early info from the channel. The conclusion at that stage was clear: The price was well out. Now that has changed – and in a big way. The idea of …

For those AMD gamers who want a piece of the new ultra high end pie ARIA have a deal on the AMD FX9590 right now – the price on launch was £719.99, but it has dropped to £659.99. Our review stated around £700, so you can save £40 now and …

Today we are looking at the new AMD FX9590, clocked at an eye popping 5ghz. The FX9590 is shipped with a base clock of 4.7ghz and a maximum turbo speed of 5.0ghz – the all important figure which has already started a plethora of news stories across the net. AMD …

Quoting the physical speed of a processor is about as useful measure of performance as telling us that a car has a 5 litre engine. While there is an overall correlation, the winning-losing match-up is much more subtle. KitGuru scans the interwibble and finds an interesting Cinebench claim. With a …

Today we are going to take a look at the latest ‘Richland’ APUs from AMD which have been refreshed with ‘Piledriver’ cores to enhance performance. There are numerous other improvements including the addition of 2133 MHz memory support for the A10 models. Since AMD released their first APUs back in …

Regular readers will be aware that Intel recently launched their Haswell range of processors. Kitguru has already reviewed motherboards from partners such as MSI, ASUS and Gigabyte in the last week. Today we look at the new ASRock Z87 Extreme 6 – this is a 12 phase power design featuring …