CPU

FOLLOW UP: AMD clarifies cross-license with Intel: change of control terminates agreement for both UPDATED: Certain terms and statements have been corrected. Devinder Kumar, chief financial officer of Advanced Micro Devices, said in a statement last week that the company could enter into joint ventures, mergers or acquisitions (M&A) agreements without …

Altera and Intel Corp. have resume talks regarding possible acquisition of the former by the latter. The deal could be Intel’s largest acquisition in history and may be announced in the coming weeks, according to media reports. The New York Post reports that Altera and Intel are talking about a …

For many years Intel’s highest-performing Core i7 processors for mainstream platforms cost $300 – $349. However, Intel may change its policy regarding prices of its advanced Core i7 and Core i5 processors with unlocked multiplier going forward, based on prices leaked by a U.S.-based online store. NCIX, a well-known online …

ARM Holdings may be  accelerating its development cycles in a bid to offer better solutions for the booming market of smartphones and the emerging market of low-power servers, according to a high-tech analyst. Faster design cycles mean that ARM is making a step closer to Intel's tick-tock cadence. Technologies developed …

Intel Corp. is set to start selling desktop microprocessors based on the “Broadwell” micro-architecture in early June, according to a report from a Japanese web-site. The family will include only two models and will hardly be very popular among performance enthusiasts and overclockers. Intel and its partners will start to …

Intel Corp.’s “Skylake-S” central processing units for desktops are still months away from their launch, but the company’s partners in China are already testing the final chips in their labs. A web-site has published a CPU-Z screenshot, which proves specifications of Intel’s flagship “Skylake-S” model, the Core i7-6700K. Intel is …

Chief executive officer of Asustek Computer has revealed that Intel Corp.’s code-named “Skylake” microprocessors as well as Microsoft Corp.’s Windows 10 operating system will both debut in the third quarter of the year. He also disclosed that his company’s products with new chips inside will use the next-generation operating system …

Intel Corp. has announced plans to integrate programmable logic from eASIC into its future standard Xeon processors. Programmable logic will allow big server customers to add their own features into Xeon central processing units in order to speed up security, big data and other applications. In a bid to offer …

A Chinese overclocker has managed to obtain an engineering sample of Intel Corp.’s Core i7-5775C central processing unit and overclock it to rather whopping 5GHz frequency using an air cooler. As it turns out, Intel’s “Broadwell Unlocked” chips can run at rather high clock-rates. Albertfu, a PC enthusiast from China, overclocked his …

Intel Corp.’s high-end desktop (HEDT) processors for enthusiasts deliver unbeatable performance, but are based on rather outdated micro-architectures compared to mainstream chips. In a bid to fix that, the world’s No. 1 maker of microprocessors for personal computers may abandon its next-generation “Broadwell-E” and bring more advanced “Skylake-E” forward. Intel …

Intel Corp. will speed up development and launch of its future-generation code-named “Cannonlake” processors, if an alleged slide from the company’s roadmap is genuine. The first chips to be made using 10nm process technology may hit the market as early as in the middle of next year, but they will …

Advanced Micro Devices develops world-class graphics processing hardware. The company’s GPUs pose serious competition to Nvidia Corp.’s graphics solutions on the PC market. However, when it comes to professional graphics or high-performance computing applications, Nvidia has loads of advantages thanks to its fine drivers and comprehensive software suite. Apparently, AMD …

Intel Core M “Broadwell” processors already feature impressively low power consumption, but the upcoming Core M “Skylake” chips will sport not only all-new micro-architecture, but also even lower power consumption, according to an excerpt from Intel’s document. Manufacturers of notebooks and high-performance tablets will be able to make their devices thinner and …

Advanced Micro Devices said this week that its accelerated processing units code-named “Amur” and “Nolan” will probably never go into mass production. The company believes that their performance will not be competitive and its future products made using FinFET fabrication processes have better chances to become successful. After Lisa Su …

Next year Advanced Micro Devices plans to introduce not only all-new accelerated processing units and central processing units, but also fresh platforms for client PCs. While AMD will do a lot to unify its next-gen platforms, there will still be major differences between systems powered by different microprocessors. AMD’s client …

Advanced Micro Devices on Wednesday confirmed development of its first accelerated processing unit for high-performance computing and workstation applications. The chip will integrate many high-performance general-purpose cores as well as high-performance graphics processing unit. The company did not reveal any exact information about the upcoming chip. “In 2016 – 2017 …

Advanced Micro Devices on Wednesday said that it will delay high-volume shipments of microprocessors powered by its custom ARMv8-compatible “K12” cores to 2017. The company did not reveal any reasons behind the postponement. AMD’s “K12” core is the company’s first 64-bit ARMv8-A-compatible microprocessor engine designed entirely in-house. Development of the …

Advanced Micro Devices on Wednesday confirmed that its next-generation high-performance x86 micro-architecture code-named “Zen” will power its leading-edge microprocessors in 2016. The company also revealed that its developers are already working on “Zen+” micro-architecture for its future processors. Mark Papermaster, chief technology officer of AMD, said that “Zen” x86 processor …

Intel Corp. has unveiled its new Xeon E7-8800/4800 v3 microprocessors designed for mission critical, real-time analytics, Big Data and in-memory applications. The new chips integrate up to 18 cores, feature all-new RAS [reliability, availability, serviceability] features and support a number of new technologies that greatly improve performance of specific applications. …

MicroStar International has announced the launch of eight new FM2+ mainboards designed for AMD’s latest accelerated processing units. The new motherboards fully support the upcoming code-named “Godavari” (Kaveri Refresh) APUs, but retain compatibility with existing hybrid microprocessors with integrated graphics from AMD. The new FM2+ mainboards from MSI are new …

Without making any loud announcements, Intel Corp. has started to ship its new-generation microprocessors code-named “Broadwell” to system makers. At least one high-end PC manufacturer is already offering computers featuring Intel’s new central processing units. CyberPowerPC currently sells Gamer Xtreme GXi320OS system featuring quad-core Intel Core i7-5775C (3.3GHz/3.7GHz) microprocessor with …

STMicroelectronics, one of a few semiconductor manufacturers from Europe, said that it would not develop 10nm process technology. Essentially, this means that the company will close its chip manufacturing facility in Crolles, France, at some point in the future. “We do not have any 10nm planned, and we do not …

A newly published roadmap of Intel Corp. confirms that the company is on track to release its code-named “Broadwell” and “Skylake-S” microprocessors this year as well as “Broadwell-E” chips early in 2016. PCOnline has published a slide from Intel’s roadmap, which reveals model numbers of Intel’s upcoming central processing units. …

Just like other contract makers of semiconductors, GlobalFoundries is already developing its next-generation 10nm process technology. However, despite of the fact that GlobalFoundries is about to acquire IBM’s semiconductor manufacturing business and the company’s close ties to Samsung Electronics, the 10nm fabrication tech is developed completely internally at the moment. …

Although leaked roadmaps of Advanced Micro Devices indicate that the company’s next year’s accelerated processing units and central processing units will all be made using 14nm FinFET fabrication process at GlobalFoundries, this does not mean that AMD plans to cease using Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. as a production partner. For …

The U.S. government recently banned sales of Xeon Phi co-processors for high-performance computing applications to numerous supercomputer sites in China, slowing down development of local research. But perhaps, China will not need any HPC chips from the world’s renowned suppliers in the future as domestic companies are developing a number …

Gigabyte Technology on Thursday said that it had released new BIOS versions for all of its latest LGA1150 mainboards that add support for Intel Corp.’s upcoming Core i-series 5000-sequence “Broadwell” microprocessors. The move confirms imminent introduction of Intel’s new central processing units. From now on, all Gigabyte mainboards based on …

United Microelectronics Corp., the world’s second largest contract maker of semiconductors, said that it would not offer 20nm planar fabrication process, but will jump directly to 16nm FinFET manufacturing technology. Skipping the node will help the company to catch up with its competitors. Although it was widely expected that UMC …

Advanced Micro Devices first revealed plans to develop special low-power/low-cost x86 micro-architectures in mid-2007 in a bid to compete for ultra-portable and inexpensive devices. The micro-architectures got their names – Bobcat, Jaguar and Puma – from cats to emphasize their agility and efficiency. Eight years later AMD abandons development of …

An alleged AMD insider has published what it appears to be the company’s microprocessor roadmap for 2016. If the plan is accurate and AMD manages to execute it, then next year the company will release a top-to-bottom family of central processing units based on “Zen” micro-architecture as well as one …