After IBM failed to produce enough code-named “NV40” graphics processing units for Nvidia Corp. back in 2004, the latter decided to make Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. its strategic manufacturing partner. Since then, virtually all of Nvidia GPUs have been produced by TSMC with one or two exceptions. Apparently, Nvidia wants …
Read More »Nvidia: Expect developers to license our GPU tech in coming months
It has been well over 1.5 years since Nvidia Corp. started to license its graphics cores to third parties in an attempt to address growing opportunities in the world of smart consumer electronics and mobile devices. So far, no third-party chip designer has licensed “Kepler” or “Maxwell” graphics processing technologies …
Read More »Nvidia refocuses Tegra business: targets gaming and automotive markets
For many years Nvidia has tried to enter the market of system-on-chips for media tablets and smartphones with its Tegra application processors. Even though the company has managed to win a number of contracts, in the recent years competitors like Intel, Qualcomm and MediaTek left Nvidia almost no chances to …
Read More »SK Hynix to speed up its DDR4 memory chips this year
SK Hynix plans to introduce new versions of its DDR4 dynamic random access memory chips capable of operating at higher clock-rates compared to those available today. The new chips will boost performance of high-end and performance-mainstream PCs in the second half of this year. Nowadays SK Hynix, Samsung Electronics and …
Read More »Analysts: It makes no sense to buy AMD, it seems right to invest in it
Rumours about takeover of Advanced Micro Devices surface pretty frequently and given the current financial woes of the company, it was only a matter of time before they emerge once again. But while it is unlikely that AMD will be purchased by any other company, it is possible that the …
Read More »SK Hynix to mass produce 128GB DDR4 memory modules in Q4 2015
SK Hynix has notified its partners regarding availability of its high-capacity DDR4 memory modules for servers. A good news is that the company will improve performance of such memory solutions, however, a not very good news is that the firm will delay mass production of its flagship 128GB LRDIMM by …
Read More »Seagate to discontinue Thunderbolt storage solutions
Seagate Technology, one of the major makers of external storage solutions, plans to discontinue storage devices with Thunderbolt interface. The company’s subsidiary LaCie, which sells more expensive hardware, will continue to offer products with Thunderbolt. The Thunderbolt interface introduced in 2011 provides leading-edge bandwidth (10Gb/s or 20Gb/s) required by professionals. …
Read More »Microsoft lowers price of Xbox One with Kinect
Although Microsoft Corp. decided not to promote its second-generation Kinect motion sensing accessory last year, it looks like the company wants give it another try. The software giant has slashed the price of its Xbox One with Kinect to $449 in the U.S. For two weeks, starting Sunday, the 8th …
Read More »Microsoft may speed up release of Windows 10
Microsoft Corp. will try to make sure that its next-generation Windows 10 operating system is available for systems that will ship during the back-to-school (BTS) season, according to a media report. If the information is correct, then it is completely logical for the software giant to roll-out its new OS …
Read More »Intel: Our lead over the rest of the industry is extending
Intel Corp. had to delay its code-named “Broadwell” microprocessors by about a year because of yield issues with its 14nm manufacturing technology. The move has affected plans of PC makers and will have an impact on PC business this year. However, Intel’s dominant positions will hardly be threatened since the …
Read More »TSMC to invest $15.9 billion in expansion of manufacturing capacities
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. has announced that it will invest NT$500 billion ($15.9 billion) in expansion of its manufacturing capacities in central Taiwan. The company did not outline details of the upgrade plan, but it looks like the company is getting ready to significantly increase its abilities to produce semiconductors …
Read More »SK Hynix: LPDDR4 memory hits mass production
SK Hynix has announced that its 8Gb LPDDDR4 memory, which is in mass production now, has been chosen by a major smartphone maker for a new flagship model. The forthcoming handset will be among the first phones to use the new type of memory. SK Hynix’s 8Gb LPDDR4 memory chips …
Read More »Microsoft trademarks ‘Windows 365’ brand-name
When Microsoft releases its Windows 10 operating system later this year, the company will offer a software-as-a-service version of the OS. Last month the company filed an application with the U.S. patent and trademark office for the “Windows 365” brand name, which potentially confirms plan to introduce a subscription-based model …
Read More »VESA’s new eDP 1.4a standard enables 8K UHD embedded displays
The Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) on Monday published the Embedded DisplayPort (eDP) standard version 1.4a. The new standard allows to build ultra-high-definition panels for embedded applications with up to 8K*4K (7680*4320) resolutions. The new eDP 1.4a standard also supports AdaptiveSync technology. The eDP v1.4a standard leverages the VESA DisplayPort …
Read More »Details about AMD Radeon R9 300-series product line emerge
As reported, Advanced Micro Devices plans to introduce its new Radeon R9 and Radeon R7 300-series products in the second quarter of the year. While the new product line will carry new model numbers, it will include graphics processing units that will not be exactly new. The Radeon R9 300-series …
Read More »Nvidia will not admit guilt of the GeForce GTX 970 scandal
Although Nvidia Corp.’s partners will clearly suffer financial losses because of the scandal with incorrect specifications of the GeForce GTX 970, the designer of graphics processing units does not plan to admit its mistake at all costs, according to a media report. Even though return rates of the GeForce GTX …
Read More »Intel: As AMD exited the server market, ARM chips get chances
At present Intel Corp. controls shipments of around 98 microprocessors for servers on the planet. Advanced Micro Devices is no longer a significant competitor for the chip giant, but a crowd of ARM-based chip developers seems to be. Server customers and makers need alternative processors to Intel Xeon, which is …
Read More »Asrock loses mainboard market share, hopes to regain in 2015
Asrock did not manage to achieve its mainboards shipments target in 2014 because it did not want to lower prices. This year the situation on the motherboard market promises to be significantly different than last year and leading vendors are reportedly not going to start price wars. As a result, Asrock …
Read More »Overclocker sets new GPU clock-rate record with GeForce GTX 980
A top overclocker has managed to set a new frequency record for graphics processing units after he pushed GPU frequency of EVGA GeForce GTX 980 Classified all the way to 2250MHz. The incredibly high clock-rate also allowed him to set a new 3DMark FireStrike Extreme record for single-GPU setups. Steponz, a …
Read More »Showa Denko to enable 10TB HDDs with eighth-generation PMR media
Showa Denko K.K., an independent producer of platters for hard disk drives, has announced its first eighth-generation perpendicular magnetic recording platters for HDDs. The first eighth-gen media is aimed at hard drives in 2.5” form-factor and has 750GB capacity. Toshiba will use such platters for its latest 3TB 2.5” HDDs. The …
Read More »Intel: First full-custom Xeon CPUs are due next year
The needs of modern cloud datacenters require developers of microprocessors to implement certain custom functionality into their products. As reported, Intel Corp. has incorporated multiple special-purpose technologies into its latest Xeon platform and offers optimized versions of CPUs to select customers. However, the company still does not offer chips that …
Read More »Allwinner A64: a $5 64-bit quad-core chip for 4K tablets and CE
Allwinner, a Chinese maker of application processors for mobile devices and consumer electronics, recently introduced the world’s cheapest 64-bit application processor. The system-on-chip, which costs just $5, will power high-performance tablets and CE devices with 4K ultra-high-definition displays. The Allwinner A64 SoC integrates four ARM Cortex-A53 general-purpose cores, an unknown …
Read More »AMD: We are putting the finishing touches on the Radeon R9 300-series
A representative of Advanced Micro Devices has confirmed that the development of its forthcoming product family based on a new breed of graphics processing units is on the finish line. While the novelties will not hit the market shortly, they will likely enter production in the coming weeks. “We are still …
Read More »Return rate of GeForce GTX 970 after memory scandal is below 5%
Although the buzz in various forums and social networks about memory allocation issues of Nvidia Corp.’s GeForce GTX 970 is fairly loud, the amount of customers wishing to return their graphics cards to stores or manufacturers is fairly low. According to various sources polled by KitGuru, the actual return rate …
Read More »Toshiba and SK Hynix to jointly develop nanoimprint lithography
Toshiba Corp. and SK Hynix on Thursday signed a formal agreement under which the two companies will jointly develop a nanoimprint lithography (NIL) process technology. The two producers of chips and computer memory plan to start using NIL technology in 2017. The companies believe that the tech will allow them …
Read More »Supermicro unveils X99 mainboard with optional USB 3.1 10Gb/s ports
Supermicro, a leading manufacturer of high-end mainboards for workstations and servers, has revealed its first motherboard based on Intel Corp.’s X99 core-logic. The new platform not only supports Intel’s latest Core i7 Extreme and Xeon processors and overclocking capabilities, but can be equipped with USB 3.1 ports with 10Gb/s bandwidth. …
Read More »Intel vows to ship 10nm chips in early 2017, retracts its promise
While Intel Corp. has confirmed development of 10nm fabrication process as well as appropriate microprocessors, the company has never revealed exactly when it plans to introduce chips that will succeed its next-generation code-named “Skylake” CPUs. A couple of weeks ago a representative for Intel finally said that its first 10nm …
Read More »Samsung to produce chips for Nvidia, Qualcomm – analyst
Samsung Electronics is expected to significantly improve its contract semiconductor manufacturing business this year thanks to early start of production using 14nm FinFET fabrication process. While Apple, the largest customer of Samsung, now orders chips not only to Samsung, but to TSMC as well, it continues to work with the …
Read More »Samsung integrates LPDDR3 and NAND flash into one chip
Samsung Electronics on Wednesday introduced the industry’s first memory solution that integrates dynamic random access memory (DRAM) and NAND flash into one package. The new package will help Samsung and its customers to make smartphones thinner and more cost efficient. The new ePoP (embedded package on package) memory package consists …
Read More »Alleged performance of AMD Radeon R9 380X in 3DMark revealed
A Chinese web-site has published what it claims to be preliminary performance benchmarks of an upcoming high-performance graphics card from Advanced Micro Devices. Just like previous unofficial test results, the new ones indicate that AMD’s forthcoming high-end graphics solution will beat everything that is available on the market today except …
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