China's National Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund has reportedly approached GlobalFoundries about possible acquisition or cooperation. Chinese investors intend to take over GlobalFoundries in order to significantly improve Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC) and make it one of the world’s largest contract makers of semiconductors. China-based Hua Capital Management, which …
Read More »Asus TUF Sabertooth Z170 Mark 1: Extreme performance and durability
Asustek Computer has introduced its TUF Sabertooth Z170 Mark 1 mainboard for Intel Corp.’s latest “Skylake” processors, which combines excellent expansion capabilities, advanced connectivity, sophisticated overclocking features with ultimate durability and five-year warranty. The platform is designed for those, who not only want high performance, but maximum reliability too. The …
Read More »MSI readies Intel Z170 mini-ITX mainboard with premium features
MicroStar International is preparing to release one of the industry’s first premium mainboards for Intel Corp.’s “Skylake” microprocessors in mini-ITX form-factor. The new motherboard will support all features essential for modern high-performance personal computers and will even have overclocking capabilities. The MSI Z170I Gaming Pro AC platform is based on …
Read More »Intel: Our foundry business is well, we have new customers
Brian Krzanich, chief executive officer of Intel Corp., claims that despite of lack of any announcements concerning its contract semiconductor manufacturing business unit, the latter is growing and is still an important opportunity for the chip giant. Moreover, it has new customers that Intel just cannot name. Intel established its …
Read More »Samsung expects graphics cards with 6144-bit bus, 48GB of HBM memory onboard
Samsung Electronics indicated that it plans to start volume production of high-bandwidth memory (HBM) next year at the Intel Developer Forum this week. At the trade-show, the company revealed its current vision and expectations concerning HBM. Samsung foresees that eventually high-performance applications (such as GPUs) could feature up to six …
Read More »Intel to release 22-core Xeon E5 v4 “Broadwell-EP” late in 2015
Intel Corp. this week reaffirmed plans to release the next generation of its multi-core Xeon E5 v4 central processing units code-named “Broadwell-EP”, which were rumoured to be cancelled earlier this year. The new chips will emerge later this year, they will increase core-count, memory bandwidth and will also feature micro-architecture-level improvements. …
Read More »AMD readies three new GPUs: Greenland, Baffin and Ellesmere
In the recent years, Advanced Micro Devices has reduced the amount of new graphics processors it releases per annum, which lead to massive erosion of its market share and revenue. While the company hopes that its latest product lineup will help it to regain some of the lost share and …
Read More »Intel Core i7-6700K ‘Skylake’ hits nearly 7GHz
A professional overclocker has set a new record for Intel Core i7-6700K microprocessor frequency. This time the new code-named “Skylake” processor hit nearly 7GHz, which is among the highest frequencies ever achieved by any Intel Core i-series microprocessors. Chi-Kui Lam, a professional overclocker from Hong Kong-based HKEPC web-site, has managed …
Read More »Intel releases Quark microcontroller with 0.025W thermal design power
Intel Corp. has quietly released its new Quark D1000 microcontroller designed for smart electronics and embedded applications. The chip sports ultra-low power consumption and features x86 architecture. The Intel Quark D1000 microcontroller has one 32-bit x86 core clocked at 33MHz, lacks cache and has TDP of 0.025W. The Quark D1000 …
Read More »Intel ‘Skylake’ processors feature ‘reverse Hyper-Threading’ technology – report
Although Intel Corp. already sells its code-named “Skylake” microprocessors commercially, the company has not disclosed a lot of details about the new micro-architecture. Apparently, Intel’s new processors feature technology, which speeds up performance in single-threaded workloads using multiple cores. Heise.de reports that Intel’s new Core i7-6700K processor with four cores …
Read More »Intel ‘Skylake-U’ processor lineup for notebooks detailed
A web-site has published complete specifications of Intel Corp.’s upcoming “Skylake-U” microprocessors for low-power laptops. The new central processing units will have thermal design power of around 15W and promise to significantly increase performance of ultra-thin notebooks. As reported, Intel will release its code-named “Skylake-U” processors in September. The Core …
Read More »AMD: We have very strong roadmap for GCN architecture
Despite of ongoing problems and lowering research and development budget, Advanced Micro Devices maintains optimism and claims that it will keep financing development of key products. In the recent months, Advanced Micro Devices has been criticized heavily for re-introducing its previous-generation graphics processing units under new names. The release of …
Read More »Intel to release ‘unlocked’ Core i7 CPUs for enthusiast notebooks
High-performance laptops aimed at gamers have been available on the market for many years. Moreover, it is not a secret that it is possible to overclock mobile processors using BIOS settings. This week Intel announced plans to release mobile central processing units with unlocked multiplier that will be designed specifically …
Read More »Samsung to offer its Exynos SoCs to other smartphone makers
Samsung Electronics may become a new rival for Qualcomm, MediaTek and other suppliers of mobile system-on-chips as the company reportedly plans to sell its Exynos 7420 processors to third parties. For a long time, Samsung Electronics used application processors from Qualcomm inside its premium smartphones, but in the recent years …
Read More »Intel Core i7-6700K hits 6.8GHz with all cores active on MSI ‘Titanium’ platform
A professional overclocker this week managed to push Intel Corp.’s latest Core i7-6700K “Skylake-S” microprocessor to whopping 6.80GHz without disabling any cores or Hyper-Threading technology. The record was set on MicroStar International’s flagship MSI Z170A XPower Gaming Titanium mainboard. Toppc, a professional overclocker from Taiwan, this week overclocked an engineering …
Read More »MSI overclocks DDR4 memory to 4605MHz on latest platform
MicroStar International on Wednesday said that an overclocker had managed to set a new clock-speed record for DDR4 memory using the company’s flagship MSI Z170A XPower Gaming Titanium mainboard. The achievement underlines that both the new motherboard and Intel Corp.’s new “Skylake” microprocessors are excellent overclockers when it comes to …
Read More »Prices of Intel “Skylake” processors for desktops revealed
A web-site has published the finalized prices of Intel Corp.’s “Skylake-S” processors for desktops. The new central processing units will cost about the same amount of money as existing chips, the world’s largest maker of microprocessors will not increase prices of its products. The flagship Intel Core i7-6700K (four cores …
Read More »AMD is researching multi-core ‘exascale heterogeneous processor’
Advanced Micro Devices has confirmed that it is researching a multi-core accelerated processing unit based on “Zen” micro-architecture, which will eventually power supercomputers with extreme performance. At present the company is only considering a concept design and it is unclear when AMD decides to actually develop such processor. AMD, just …
Read More »Intel Core “Skylake-S” CPUs to sport advanced power supply circuitry
Intel Corp.’s “Devil’s Canyon” processors have demonstrated that it is possible to significantly improve overclocking potential of a central processing unit without re-spinning it by revamping its power supply circuitry. As it appears, Intel’s new “Skylake-S” microprocessors with unlocked multiplier will also feature a very advanced power supply circuitry, which …
Read More »MSI unveils ultimate Z170A Xpower Gaming Titanium mainboard
MicroStar International on Wednesday released the first details about its upcoming Z170A Xpower Gaming Titanium Edition mainboard for the upcoming Intel “Skylake” microprocessors. The new motherboard sports ultimate overclocking capabilities, unique silver coating and even all-new solid-state chokes that should improve durability and overclockability. One of the key features of the …
Read More »Intel ‘Skylake’ processors to be in short supply initially – report
Intel Corp. will formally introduce its Core i5 and Core i7 “Skylake-S” processors with unlocked multiplier next week and will start to sell such chips to end-users. The new central processing units are expected to become rather popular among enthusiasts, but far not all of them will be able to …
Read More »Asus to install LGA1151 O.C. socket on new Intel Z170 mainboards
In a bid to enhance overclocking potential of Intel Corp.’s upcoming Core i7-6700K and Core i5-6600K “Skylake-S” central processing units, Asustek Computer plans to install modified LGA1151 sockets on its Intel Z170-based mainboards. Intel’s default LGA1151 socket features exactly 1151 pins, but Asustek will use a different socket with higher …
Read More »Intel: ‘Skylake’ to have 10–20% higher performance than ‘Broadwell’
It is not a secret that Intel Corp.’s upcoming “Skylake” processors will have a number of micro-architecture-related advantages over predecessors. Various leaks point to different kind of performance gains, but Intel itself, apparently, expects its new central processing units to be 10 – 20% faster than “Broadwell” products depending on …
Read More »Samsung adds 10nm FinFET tech to roadmap, mass production in 2016
Samsung Foundry this week said that it had officially added its 10nm FinFET fabrication technology into its foundry roadmap. The company also clarified that it will start mass production of chips using its third-generation manufacturing process with FinFET transistors in late 2016, which means that the first 16nm commercial chips …
Read More »Notebook makers need to adjust inventory before releasing ‘Skylake’ laptops – report
It is not a secret that Intel Corp. plans to formally introduce its code-named “Skylake” processors for mobile computers in late September or early October, 2015. Apparently, notebook makers are ready to mass produce new generation of laptops based on the next-gen central processing units, according to a media report. …
Read More »Intel Core i7-6700K ‘Skylake’ overclocked to 6.50GHz with LN2
A computer enthusiast has managed to set a new record in overclocking of Intel Corp.’s Core i7-6700K processor. The chip was pushed to 6.50GHz about a month ago, which is the highest frequency achieved by a “Skylake” microprocessor so far. While the record was set using liquid nitrogen cooling, this …
Read More »MSI unveils its Intel Z170 Gaming platforms for Intel ‘Skylake’ CPUs
MicroStar International on Tuesday gave a sneak peek on its new mainboards based on Intel Z170 core-logic set designed for gamers. The MSI Z170A Gaming family of mainboards provides ultimate performance and innovative features, but are aimed at different segments of the market. The upcoming MSI Z170A Gaming mainboards designed …
Read More »Intel Core i7-6700K ‘Skylake’ overclocked to 5.20GHz with air cooling
Intel Corp.’s upcoming Core i7-6700K “Skylake” processor will hit the market only in August, but samples of the chips have already been shipped to select Intel’s partners, who test them in their labs. According to a new report from a Chinese web-site, the new chips are pretty good overclockers: one …
Read More »AMD vows to keep R&D investments at appropriate levels
Despite of tough times, Advanced Micro Devices plans to sustain its research and development investments on certain levels in a bid to ensure that its products are competitive in the future. Research and development are two corner stones of high-tech companies. Without fundamental research of things that may not seem important today …
Read More »AMD: We have taped out our first FinFET products
Advanced Micro Devices said on Thursday that it had taped out its first products, which will be made using a FinFET process technology. While AMD does not reveal which products it had taped out, it is highly-likely that one of them is a highly-anticipated microprocessor based on “Zen” micro-architecture. “We …
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