Although Intel Corp. has significantly improved yields of chips made using 14nm process technology, the company is still not completely satisfied with the result. Lower-than-expected yields have already caused Intel to postpone mass production of its code-named “Broadwell” microprocessors and will likely affect the company for several more months. “Overall …
Read More »ARM: 20nm process tech will not be used by mainstream applications
Due to multiple reasons the majority of developers of various system-on-chip devices will skip 20nm process technology of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. and will use 14nm and 16nm FinFET fabrication processors of TSMC, GlobalFoundries and Samsung Electronics. Traditionally TSMC and other foundries develop multiple different process technologies for different kinds …
Read More »Lineup of mobile Skylake chips to feature tens of models in 2015
Intel Corp. plans to release a rather broad range of microprocessors based on the Skylake micro-architecture for mobile computers next year, according to a new media report. The upcoming central processing units (CPUs) will address all kinds of mobile devices, including tablets, 2-in-1s, mainstream notebooks as well as high-performance laptops. As expected, …
Read More »Analysts welcome Lisa Su as AMD’s CEO, but questions remain
Market analysts responded positively to the appointment of Lisa Su to the position of AMD’s chief executive officer. The observers believe that it was wise for the board of the company’s directors to choose someone with a chip design experience, however, many analysts question the timing when the decision was made …
Read More »Lisa Su becomes new CEO of AMD as Rory Read steps down
In a rather unexpected move, Rory Read late on Wednesday stepped down as the chief executive officer and president of Advanced Micro Devices. AMD has already appointed Lisa Su as the new CEO and president. The move possibly reflects AMD’s decision to replace a business executive with a highly-experienced technology …
Read More »AMD readies ARM-, x86-based system-on-chips for tablets
Advanced Micro Devices will introduce the first chips that belong to the Skybridge family of accelerated processing units (APUs) and system-on-chips (SoCs) in the third quarter of next year, according to unofficial information. Initially the project Skybridge offerings will target ultra-low-power applications, such as tablets. AMD’s Skybridge family of APUs …
Read More »Kitguru TV: Which Gigabyte X99 board to choose?
As the dust starts to settle from the launch of Intel's X99 platform and the latest GTX9xx cards from nVidia, level heads are looking at the benefits being offered by the new technologies, and beginning to think about making the investment. With prices varying so much, which mainboard is right …
Read More »AMD rumoured to unveil next-gen ‘Carrizo-L’ APUs this December
Advanced Micro Devices reportedly plans to release its next-generation code-named Carrizo-L accelerated processing units (APUs) already in December, according to a media report. If the information is correct, AMD’s competitive positions against Intel Corp. will get significantly better early in 2015. Traditionally AMD unveils new APUs early in calendar year …
Read More »AMD’s lowest-cost eight-core FX processor costs just $125/£79/€99
About a month ago Advanced Micro Devices unveiled several new FX-series eight-core microprocessors that featured either increased performance, or lower power consumption compared to previously released chips. Apparently, since then the company has also quietly rolled-out a new affordable eight-core chip that costs $125 now in the U.S. The AMD …
Read More »ARM and TSMC expect first 10nm tape-outs in late 2015
ARM Holdings and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. on Thursday outlined some details regarding transition of chip production to 10nm FinFET manufacturing technology. The company’s reaffirmed that risk production of chips made using 10nm FF fabrication process will start in late 2015. The two companies agreed to work together on 10nm FinFET …
Read More »Samsung to produce 14nm FinFET chips for AMD, Apple, Qualcomm – report
Samsung Electronics has lost exclusive chip manufacturing contract with Apple, but a new report claims that that the company has managed to land orders from Advanced Micro Devices and Qualcomm. ZDNet reports that Samsung is projected to begin producing application processors (APs) for clients such as Apple, AMD and Qualcomm …
Read More »Intel grabs No. 2 spot on the market of tablet SoCs in Q2 – analysts
Although Intel Corp.’s success on the market of application processors for smartphones deserves to be better, the company managed to become the world’s second largest supplier of system-on-chips for tablets, according to Strategy Analytics. The only company that ships more SoCs for slates is Apple, which only “ships” them to …
Read More »ARM and TSMC unveil 16nm FinFET heterogeneous multi-core CPU
ARM Holdings and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. on Tuesday unveiled the world’s first heterogeneous multi-core microprocessor made using 16nm FinFET (16FF) process technology. The chip, which integrates the ARM Cortex-A57 and the ARM Cortex-A53 cores, is designed to showcase that ARM’s designs and TSMC’s 16nm FinFET process technology are compatible …
Read More »Intel to introduce new Core i-series ‘Broadwell-U’ processors at CES 2015
Intel Corp. has already started to ship its Core M microprocessors based on the Broadwell micro-architecture for ultra-low-power notebooks, 2-in-1s and tablets. According to a new media report, the company will introduce its Core i3/i5-i7 central processing units made using 14nm process technology for mainstream mobile PCs at the Consumer …
Read More »Intel pays $1.5 billion to make SoC developer choose x86 over ARM
Intel Corp. and Tsinghua Unigroup, a China state-owned limited liability corporation, confirmed that they have signed an agreement under which Intel will acquire 20 per cent stake in the Chinese holding company, which controls two developers of mobile system-on-chips (SoCs), for $1.5 billion. It is believed that that the SoC …
Read More »TSMC builds world’s first 32-core networking chip using 16nm FinFET process technology
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. on Thursday said that it has built the world’s first many-core networking processor for next-generation wireless communications and routers using 16nm FinFET fabrication technology. The ultra-thin manufacturing process will allow the many-core chip to deliver high performance and rich feature-set while consuming low amounts of power. …
Read More »ARM unveils Cortex-M7 for smart devices, industrial equipment
ARM Holdings this week introduced its new Cortex-M7 processor that promises to double the compute and digital signal processing (DSP) capability for high-end embedded applications used in next generation vehicles, connected devices (including the so-called Internet-of-things devices), and smart homes and factories. The ARM Cortex-M7 core is based on the …
Read More »Intel to spend $6 billion on 10nm fab in Israel
The Israeli government announced this week that it has approved a plan submitted by Intel Corp. regarding upgrading its fab in Kiryat Gat. Under the terms of the plan the chip giant intends to significantly modernize its semiconductor manufacturing facility in order to build chips using 10nm process technology there. Intel …
Read More »Eight-core Core i7-5960X overclocked to 6GHz+ with all cores active
Although Intel Corp. decided to set pretty moderate default clock-rate for its eight-core desktop chips aimed at performance enthusiasts, the new Core i7-5960X “Haswell-E” central processing units appear to be pretty good overclockers. Recently a German enthusiast managed to boost clock-rate of the new processor by two times from default …
Read More »AMD FX8370E Review
AMD has updated its FX range of CPUs with three new models that use Socket AM3+. FX-8370 slots in above FX-8350, just as you would expect, but the real interest lies with FX-8370E and FX-8320E with a TDP that has been reduced from 125W to 95W. That ‘E' suffix appears …
Read More »AMD to use Synopsys IP to design 14nm/16nm, 10nm APU, GPU products
Advanced Micro Devices and Synopsys, a company that helps to implement complex semiconductor devices like APUs, CPUs and GPUs, this week signed a multi-year agreement that gives AMD access to a range of Synopsys DesignWare intellectual property on advanced 16nm/14nm and 10nm FinFET process technologies. In exchange, AMD transfers certain …
Read More »Intel reportedly looking for another x86 SoC partner in China
Earlier this year Intel Corp. signed an agreement with Rockchip semiconductor, a developer of low-lost application processors based in China, under which the latter would develop a quad-core SoFIA system-on-chip for affordable tablets based on Intel's Silvermont cores. Apparently, Intel is now looking for another SoC partner in China in …
Read More »Core i7-4790K ‘Devil’s Canyon’ overclocked to 6GHz with all cores active
A Spanish enthusiast has managed to overclock his Intel Core i7-4790K “Devil’s Canyon” microprocessor from 4.0GHz to 6.0GHz with all cores and the Hyper-Threading technology active, which seems to be a new world’s record. The vast majority of contemporary microprocessor overclocking records are broken using chips with deactivated cores since …
Read More »AMD: ‘Bulldozer’ was not a game-changer, but next-gen ‘Zen’ will be
Advanced Micro Devices on Wednesday confirmed that it is developing an all-new high-performance x86 micro-architecture code-named “Zen”. Rory Read, chief executive officer of Advanced Micro Devices, admitted that the current-generation “Bulldozer” micro-architectures could not improve AMD’s positions on the market of central processing units, so, at present AMD pins hopes on …
Read More »Intel unveils new-generation Xeon E5 v3 chips with up to 18 cores
Intel Corp. on Monday rolled-out its new Xeon E5 2600/1600 v3 server processors based on the code-named “Haswell” micro-architecture. The latest server central processing units feature up to 18 cores per chip and quad-channel DDR4 memory controllers, whereas the new C612 platform code-named “Grantley” features a number of innovations that will be …
Read More »AMD: New chip designs are more than 18 months away
Advanced Micro Devices has significantly reinvented itself in the recent years. The company changed its strategy and improved its execution. Still, in order to be successful and profitable the company needs new competitive products since currently AMD cannot compete against Intel on the market of high-performance microprocessors. Unfortunately, brand new …
Read More »Intel reveals detailed specifications of Core M ‘Broadwell’ chips
Intel Corp. has revealed detailed specifications of the first Core M microprocessors based on the “Broadwell” architecture. While the new processors will clearly not be performance champions, they will consume significantly lower amount of energy compared to existing chips and will enable extremely thin tablets, 2-in-1s and laptops. “We've been …
Read More »Intel: Transitions to thinner process tech will get harder
Although Intel Corp. imagines its future many years down the road and has a solid vision, it admits that going forward it will be much harder to achieve certain goals as manufacturing technologies get much more complex. Like other huge companies, Intel Corp. has big plans for the future. Recently …
Read More »Intel: We will not need EUV for 10nm process technology
Intel Corp. officially confirmed on Wednesday that it will not use extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography for its 10nm process technology allegedly due to come online in 2016. Apparently, not only the EUV scanners are not ready, but backbones of certain fabs may not support the new equipment due to its …
Read More »Intel: we need to develop processors for devices that could cost $0.5
Chief executive officer of Intel Corp. said at a conference on Wednesday that while ten years down the road the company will continue to get a bulk of its revenue from PCs and servers, a significant part of its revenue will come from mobile, Internet-of-Things and other emerging market segments. …
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