Biostar, a well-known maker of mainboards, said this week that its mainboards will be equipped with a technology that helps to protect personal computers against power surges in Ethernet networks as well as against electrostatics. It is not a secret that PC components can be damaged or even destroyed by …
Read More »Sapphire Technology teases NFC brand
Sapphire Technology on Wednesday uploaded a teaser video to its account on YouTube, teasing, possibly, new graphics cards featuring mysterious NFC technology. Like with many viral videos, Sapphire’s video does not explain what exactly it advertises. “Passion is hard,” says the voice in the video. “Sometimes it hurts. People tell …
Read More »Nintendo contracts AMD to power next-generation game console
Back in May Nintendo already confirmed that it had started development of its next-generation home console. In October it also transpired that the company would design system-on-chip for its forthcoming system in the U.S. According to a new media report, Nintendo contracted AMD to provide graphics processing technologies for the …
Read More »Asus preps external device for extreme overclocking of graphics cards
Asustek Computer is working on external voltage regulator module (VRM) card for graphics cards that will enable extreme overclocking by allowing massive overvoltage. Asus follows EVGA and Gigabyte Technology who have been selling similar external VRM solutions for years now. Although a lot of modern graphics cards (e.g., Asus Strix …
Read More »GlobalFoundries: Customized and SOI process technologies gain importance
While non-standard fabrication processes are sometimes challenging and make it harder to re-use intellectual property across different product lineups, they are just what the doctor ordered when one needs to achieve certain goals. According to GlobalFoundries, the No. 2 contract maker of chips, many customized process technologies are gaining importance …
Read More »GlobalFoundries to produce 14nm chips in the first half of 2015
GlobalFoundries, the world’s second largest contract maker of semiconductors, plans to start volume production of chips using 14nm fabrication process in the first half of 2015, a little later than Samsung Electronics, but, possibly, earlier than Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. The company does not reveal who will be the first …
Read More »AMD to limit performance of Radeon GPUs in games to cut-down power consumption
For many years all developers of graphics processors for notebooks limited display refresh rates in cases when they did not matter in order to cut-down their power consumption. In addition, designers of GPUs reduced performance of chips in cases when it was not required. One of the things that no …
Read More »AMD Radeon prices may stabilize soon as channel inventory depletes
Following months of excessive inventory of AMD Radeon graphics cards in the channel, the situation has finally gotten better for Advanced Micro Devices. As a result, rapid price drops on Radeon graphics cards may stop shortly. Early this year the value of cryptocurrency increased to new heights and mining enthusiasts …
Read More »Web-site compares performance of next-gen GPUs from AMD and Nvidia
A web-site has published alleged benchmark results of next-generation graphics cards from Advanced Micro Devices and Nvidia Corp., such as code-named “Bermuda XT”, “Fiji XT” as well as GM200. Without a lot of surprises, the new single-chip graphics solutions from AMD and Nvidia will offer a noticeable performance improvement compared …
Read More »GlobalFoundries may seriously expand GPU manufacturing for AMD
GlobalFoundries may significantly expand production of graphics processing units for Advanced Micro Devices next year, according to a new market rumour. If the unofficial information is correct, then GlobalFoundries will produce at least two high-end AMD Radeon graphics chips in 2015. At present GlobalFoundries produces the bulk of high-performance accelerated processing units …
Read More »AMD’s Catalyst Omega driver downloaded 2 million times in first week
Last week, AMD made a big end of 2014 splash with the launch of its new Catalyst Omega driver and it looks like it has certainly paid off as word has come down to us straight from AMD that the new driver has been downloaded over two million times in its …
Read More »Analyst: Sony’s PlayStation 4 will have a massive lead in titles in 2015
Although Microsoft Corp.’s Xbox One has managed to outsell Sony’s PlayStation 4 in numerous countries in November, it will get massively harder for the system to compete against its arch-rival next year. The number of quality titles for PlayStation 4 will be considerably higher than the number of quality games …
Read More »AMD appoints new consumer sales chief
Advanced Micro Devices on Monday promoted Mario Silveira to lead worldwide consumer sales within the company's computing and graphics business unit. Mario Silveira, who is 40 years old, joined AMD in 2010 and most recently served as head of consumer go-to-market sales for the EMEA region. Mr. Silveira will report …
Read More »Xbox One outsold PlayStation 4 by 400 thousand units in November – leaked NPD data
Leaked data allegedly from NPD Group suggests that Microsoft Corp.’s Xbox One video game console outsold its main rival Sony PlayStation 4 system by staggering 400 thousand units in the U.S. in November. If the situation persists, this holiday season will be won by Microsoft, at least in North America. …
Read More »AMD cuts prices of professional GPUs by 50% to gain market share
Advanced Micro Devices offers to sell its professional graphics cards for workstations or servers with a massive discount to first time buyers in an attempt to increase its revenue and market share. ATI Technologies and then Advanced Micro Devices was an underdog on the market of professional graphics processing unit (GPU) hardware …
Read More »Microsoft Xbox One finally outsells Sony PlayStation 4 in U.S., U.K.
While Sony Corp.’s PlayStation 4 video game console was outselling Microsoft Corp.’s Xbox One for the bigger part of the year, in November the latest gaming system from software giant managed to finally leave its arch-rival behind in terms of sales in both the U.S. and the U.K. But will it become a …
Read More »AMD may roll-out GCN successor in 2016
Advanced Micro Devices may introduce its all-new graphics architecture in late 2015 and then ramp it up in 2016. At least, Mark Papermaster, chief technology officer of AMD, implied on such scenario this week. Graphics architectures from ATI Technologies and Advanced Micro Devices live active life for about four years …
Read More »AMD could power yet another gaming device – chief financial officer
An accelerated processing unit from Advanced Micro Devices could power yet another gaming device, chief financial officer of the company implied this week. The high-ranking executive did not provide any details, but given the revenue opportunities the company outlined with the deal several weeks ago, we are talking about a …
Read More »AMD will explore graphics IP licensing opportunities going forward
In a bid to boost its revenue streams, Advanced Micro Devices could start licensing its graphics processing technologies to third parties, just like ARM Holdings, Imagination Technologies, Nvidia Corp. and Vivante. But will that business make sense to AMD? AMD and Nvidia Corp. are the last two remaining developers of discrete …
Read More »AMD: We have bright future in 2016 and ahead
Advanced Micro Devices may not have a clear product roadmap for 2015, when it essentially will continue selling current-generation products and will not increase performance of its chips significantly. Nonetheless, the company pins many hopes on its 2016 lineup when it will have a number of new products that are …
Read More »AMD: first products made using 14nm/16nm FinFET are ‘on track’
Although Advanced Micro Devices has not revealed any details about its 2015 roadmap this year, the company continues to unveil pieces of the puzzle. Last week the firm implied that it will use 20nm fabrication process for select products, but on Tuesday AMD hinted that products made using 14nm and 16nm …
Read More »AMD readies ‘Caribbean Islands’ graphics processors – report
Advanced Micro Devices is working on a new family of graphics processing units code-named “Caribbean Islands”. At present the details about the new lineup of graphics products are absent. The only thing that is known is that AMD plans to release the new graphics processors next summer. Fudzilla reports that …
Read More »Dying Light PC specifications revealed
The minimum and recommended PC specifications for upcoming Zombie game, Dying Light, have been released. Originally, the spec sheet on Steam recommended 16GB of RAM alongside a GTX 780 or R9 290 graphics card. However, the page has since been updated to reduce these specifications a bit. The minimum spec …
Read More »Overclockers UK introduces Renda frequency enhanced workstations
Professional graphics workstations are aimed at creative professionals who are supposed to generate beautiful visuals and inspiring designs. Ironically, virtually all workstations lack any creative touch themselves, whether it is about style or enhancements in terms of performance. Overclockers UK decided to change that with Renda family of workstations. The …
Read More »AMD: Console chip business is thriving, margins to grow to 20%+
Semi-custom system-on-chips for video-game consoles account for a significant portion of AMD’s sales. Many market observers have been concerned that while SoCs for Microsoft Xbox One and Sony PlayStation 4 bring in huge revenue, profit margin of such business may be negligible. While the margins of the SoCs are below …
Read More »AMD: 50% of revenue will come from non-PC sector by late 2015
In the coming quarters Advanced Micro Devices will continue to shift its focus from personal computers to other devices. By the end of 2015 about half of the company’s revenue will come from products that are not related to personal computers, in line with the company’s plans. For many years …
Read More »AMD downplays 20nm process tech: only ‘certain’ products will use it
Advanced Micro Devices on Wednesday implied that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.’s 20nm fabrication process would only be used for select products, whereas the main focus of the chip designer is on more advanced fabrication processes with FinFET transistors. Unfortunately, AMD did not reveal any actual plans. “From an overall standpoint, today …
Read More »AMD: GlobalFoundries makes APUs, CPUs, GPUs and console chips for us
GlobalFoundries, the world’s second largest contract maker of semiconductors, has leading edge process technologies and advanced fabs. However, in the recent years the company had to significantly alter its plans, which affected its performance and relations with customers. Fortunately, according to AMD, a key client of GF, the problems seem …
Read More »AMD’s partners to sell Radeon R9 295X2 at £500 for a limited time
Advanced Micro Devices has announced that select retailers will sell its flagship dual-chip AMD Radeon R9 295X2 graphics card for £500 for a limited time. A number of leading stores in the U.K. already offered the dual-GPU graphics board for about £500 on Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Apparently, the …
Read More »Samsung’s own CPU and GPU cores in design stage, due next year
Samsung Electronics has world-class semiconductor manufacturing facilities and leading-edge process technologies. While the company designs its own system-on-chips for mobile devices, Samsung continues to use application processors from Qualcomm for its high-end smartphones and extensively uses intellectual property from ARM Holdings and Imagination Technologies. Apparently, Samsung wants to change that …
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