Filed under: Desktops

Get out your processor score sheets, folks (both of you), ’cause it looks like your world is about to get shook up again. According to some unnamed “industry sources,” AMD is going to be welcoming its new 45nm Phenom processors by slightly revising its conventional naming scheme, although it’s not going quite so far as to ditch the main Phenom X3 and Phenom X4 branding all together. Instead, it’s supposedly going to be switching the model numbers from four to five digits, with the lower-end processors following a 1xx00 format and the higher-end CPUs using a 20xx0 scheme. That, of course, is being done in the name of “simplying” things, although we’ll let you be the judge if that’s the first word that pops in your mind or not when you take a glance at the table available at the read link below.

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Filed under: Desktops

Get out your processor score sheets, folks (both of you), ’cause it looks like your world is about to get shook up again. According to some unnamed “industry sources,” AMD is going to be welcoming its new 45nm Phenom processors by slightly revising its conventional naming scheme, although it’s not going quite so far as to ditch the main Phenom X3 and Phenom X4 branding all together. Instead, it’s supposedly going to be switching the model numbers from four to five digits, with the lower-end processors following a 1xx00 format and the higher-end CPUs using a 20xx0 scheme. That, of course, is being done in the name of “simplifying” things, although we’ll let you be the judge if that’s the first word that pops in your mind or not when you take a glance at the table available at the read link below.

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Filed under: Desktops

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Filed under: Desktops

If it’s Thursday, then it must be time for more AMD rumors - this time a few different sources report the chipmaker’s given its channel partners the high sign indicating “Kuma” dual-core Phenom-based processors will finally see the light of day. For those too shy to indulge in triple- or even quad-core action, El Reg says Phenom X2 dual core chips will range from 2.3GHz to 1.90 Ghz, sporting 1MB L2 cache and 2MB L3 cache for. Freaky 3-core overclockers can look forward to new, better performing 2.4Ghz Black Edition Phenom 8750s, and more efficient 125-watt Phenom 9950 CPUs, if we can trust leaked German sales charts — and we always do, don’t you?

Read - The Register
Read - PC Perspective

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Filed under: Desktops, Gaming

AMD’s got a new performance-per-dollar platform for running Phenom processors without breaking the bank. The 790GX is being positioned right below AMD’s top of the line 790FX, with a typical motherboard built around the technology costing around $355. Primary advantages of the chipset include Advanced Clock Calibration, which allows Phenom speeds of 3.2GHz and up, and ATI Radeon HD 3300 integrated graphics — though of course you can ramp up to discreet graphics or CrossFireX if you’re really feeling it. The folks at HotHardware already took a chipset for a spin, and while it won’t be besting the best from Intel, it seems to be showing some strong leadership in its price category compared to related Intel and NVIDIA technologies. It’s shipping now.

Read - AMD PR
Read - Hot Hardware review

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Filed under: Desktops

Straight up, this one sounds just too bizarre to ever be true, but we suppose (almost) anything goes when talkin’ AMD. Now that you’re suitably skeptical, word on the street has it that AMD’s triple- and quad-core Phenom processors posses a half dozen “hidden pins” which can enable painfully easy overclocking when paired with the right chipsets. Yeah, this sounds way too much like some sort of Up / Down / Up / Down / Select / Start fantasy boost, but apparently a 2.8GHz Black Edition CPU can be taken to 3GHz with a SB700-equipped motherboard or an even more tantalizing 3.2GHz when used with a SB750. As expected, the release date for this tech is listed as unknown, but maybe that’s just some code trying to tell us we’re really stuck in the Twilight Zone.

[Thanks, kris120890]

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Filed under: Desktops, Laptops

Although most of the attention in the increasingly-competitive CPU market has been focused on Intel and newcomer NVIDIA lately, AMD’s still in it to win it, and it looks like it’s taking some bold moves. First up, the company says over 100 laptop designs based on the new Puma mobile platform are being developed for delivery in June, over twice as many as it’s had in the past. AMD’s touting Puma’s Hybrid Graphics mode that allows the system to intelligently switch between a Radeon HD3400 and integrated graphics for max power-savings, so it’ll be interesting to see how the system stacks up against Intel’s Atom and VIA’s Isaiah — like NVIDIA, AMD seems to be betting that consumers care more about graphics than raw horsepower.

That bet might also explain why AMD’s technical director of sales and marketing Guiseppe Amato also recently told CustomPC that its next generation of chips will look “completely different” than Phenom, and that it will be capable of solving “problems that today we think can never be addressed by hardware.” That’s a pretty bold claim — the whole processor market is getting pretty boastful lately, have you noticed? — but we’re at a loss to explain what it means. Any ideas?

Read - 100 laptops to be based on Puma at launch
Read - AMD’s next CPU architecture will be completely different

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Filed under: Desktops

There’s all the makings of a class-A debacle over at AMD headquarters, as it turns out that the chip maker’s quad-core Phenom processors are incompatible with some popular motherboard chipsets. Due to a thermal frequency mismatch, the 125-watt 9750 and 9850 CPUs don’t play well with 780G-based mobos — which are designed for AMD’s less power-hungry 9600 and 9550 processors. Instead, AMD warns that its quad-core processors should be paired with the company’s 790 chipset. Spokesman Jake Whitman blamed PC makers, stating that, “They’ve taken an enthusiast-class quad-core part and paired it with a mainstream motherboard.” Confused yet? Exactly.

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Filed under: Desktops

Remember those AMD Business Class desktops we told you about, oh, just hours ago? Looks like the first of the family are starting to roll out, beginning with the HP Compaq dc5850 and dx2450 Business Desktop PCs. Both rigs support “next-generation AMD Business Class processors” (that’s the Athlon X2, Phenom X3 and Phenom X4) along with the usual complement of slots / ports, and while the former gets integrated ATI Radeon 3100 graphics, AMD’s Cool’n'Quiet 2.0 technology, up to 8GB of RAM, an optional dual-drive RAID setup and a dual-layer DVD writer, the latter boasts NVIDIA GeForce 6150SE graphics, room for 4GB of RAM and up to 500GB of SATA HDD space. Best of all, both machines come in pretty easy on the wallet, with the dc5850 hitting in early May for $599 and the dx2450 available now for $369.

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Filed under: Desktops

What’s a flagging microprocessor company to do after an absolutely tumultuous 2007 (and start to 2008)? Why, dish out its own desktop family, of course! At least that’s what AMD is reckoning judging by the abrupt introduction of the Business Class desktop. Obviously the firm’s very first computer brand, the series is aimed at small and medium-sized businesses, but it’s noted that even the “biggest corporate clients” can find something to love. The company is planning to move the units via Acer, HP, Dell, Fujitsu-Siemens and Lenovo, and they’ll be available with Athlon X2 dual-core, Phenom X3 triple-core and Phenom X4 quad-core CPUs. Oh, and if you’re own outfit is totally over these “desktops,” AMD is looking to unveil Business Class laptops during the second half of 2008.

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Filed under: Desktops, Gaming

Check it: AMD’s potent Phenom 9850 processor, which had a fairly impressive showing during its recent benchmarking test, has teamed up with a pair of ATI’s Radeon HD 3870 X2s to bring the Aurora desktop back on the scene. Available now and starting at just $999, Alienware’s (potentially) “value-priced” gaming rig can be equipped with one of four AMD CPUs, a liquid-cooling system, twin 512MB 3870 X2 GPUs, up to 4GB of DDR2 RAM, a few terabytes of HDD space, a Blu-ray reader (or burner if you’ve got the cash), an optional (but totally necessary) Killer K1 gaming NIC, Ageia PhysX processor and your choice of colored enclosures. Of course, speccing this beauty into a rig worth gloating over will easily set you back four large or so, but hey, you only live once, right?

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Filed under: Desktops

We’d already seen a few early tests of AMD’s new top-end Phenom X4 9850 processor, but the folks at Extreme Tech have now taken it upon themselves to see just how well the processor stacks up against Intel’s similarly high-end offering, the Core 2 Quad Q9300. As was suggested by those other reviews, however, the AMD falls behind the (admittedly pricier) Intel processor in just about every respect, including its ability to be overclocked. On the upside, however, that lower cost will likely offset the performance issues for many users, and it does still boast “moderate overclockability” and run cooler than the Intel chip. ExtremeTech apparently isn’t convinced that AMD’s pricing is “sustainable over the long haul” though. For its part, the Q9300 makes the most of its four cores and 45nm manufacturing process, with the only significant downside being that it packs only have the cache of the rest of Intel’s quad core line. That wasn’t enough to stop it from snagging an impressive 9 out of 10 rating, however, with ExtremeTech declaring it “one of the best price/performance CPUs you can find.”

[Thanks, Mike]

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Filed under: Desktops, Gaming

Read — PC Perspective
Read — Hot Hardware

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Filed under: Desktops

It hasn’t exactly been the speediest of turnarounds but, according to Daily Tech, AMD is now finally getting its updated B3 stepping Opteron processors out into the hands of system integrators, making them the first K10-based Opteron processors to ship since the so-called TLB bug cropped up last December. What’s more, while there’s apparently only hard evidence of the Opterons (pictured at right), Daily Tech says that the B3 stepping Phenom processors are now shipping as well. Those will each obviously be heading to OEMs first, but vendors like Newegg will apparently be getting Opterons ranging from 1.8 GHz to 2.4 GHz starting in “early April,” while both Phenom and Opteron lines are set to hit 2.6GHz sometime in the fall — assuming there aren’t any further unforeseen delays, that is.

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Filed under: Desktops

You know that potent 2.6GHz Phenom 9900 CPU that quite a few folks are waiting for? Apparently, exactly one of said chips has escaped the labs (with AMD’s blessing, of course) and made its way into the sponsored (and recently completed) Project: Phenom gaming rig. Of course, the design here is way, way over the top, and while folks allergic to chrome and not so fond of blatant overkill may be scrunching their noses up right about now, there’s no denying that it’s packin’ a nice set of internals. Hit up the read link for a gazillion and one images along with a number of construction videos — just slip on your shades beforehand, cool?

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Filed under: Desktops

TG Daily’s reporting that Dell’s on the verge of releasing a new OptiPlex called the 740 Enhanced with options for triple and quad-core Phenom processors. It won’t be any big deal for the majority AMD-spurned end users, but if you’re an AMD-loving systems buyer your ears probably just perked up a bit.

[Thanks, Schnucki, Tom]

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Filed under: Desktops

digg_url = ‘http://digg.com/hardware/AMD_delaying_quad_core_Phenom_9700_and_9900_once_again’; The sun just refuses to shine on AMD — according to several Taiwanese motherboard manufacturers, AMD is saying that the quad-core Phenom 9700 and 9900 are going to be delayed yet again, this time to the end of Q3. Apparently there’s a buffer-related glitch in the original design, so AMD is actually “canceling” the two chips and “reintroducing” the revised versions in Q3 as the 9750 and 9950 to “improve consumer confidence.” That’s certainly an interesting tactic for a chip that’s never seen the light of day — but we’d say that the best thing AMD could do to improve consumer confidence is stop talking and start shipping, no?

Update: We just got off the phone with AMD, who told us that they’re actually ahead of schedule on the “B3″ Phenom silicon, which fixes that buffer error without requiring a new BIOS, and that they expect to ship higher frequency quad-core Phenoms in Q2 as planned. They would not, however, give us model numbers or clock speeds, and wouldn’t commit to a date in Q2 — so don’t be surprised if these hit as the 9750 and 9950 on the last day of Q2 after all.

[Thanks, Mack S.]

[Via X-bit Labs]

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Filed under: Desktops, Laptops

At this point we’ve heard so much and seen so little of AMD’s Fusion hybrid CPU / GPU chip that we’re honestly starting to consider it vapor — AMD first announced it in 2006, after all. Still, the company’s VP of marketing chatted up PC World about new Fusion chips today, saying that a 45nm notebook-optimized version codenamed “Swift” based on the Phenom core would be the first off the line. That doesn’t line up with the last roadmap we saw out of Sunnyvale, which had the first Fusion chip based on the workstation-class Bulldozer core, but hey, we’ll let AMD say whatever it wants, just as long as see some actual chips sometime soon.

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Filed under: Desktops, Laptops

As things go from bad to worse, AMD just slipped the shipping date of their 2.4GHz Phenom 9700 and 2.6GHz 9900 CPUs. Announced for Q1, the quad-core CPUs are now expected for Q2. That means their 2.8GHz and 3GHz procs, expected in late Q2, will likely slip as well. However, that’s not all good news for Intel fans if Intel chooses to delay the release of their own processors to maximize sales of existing processor line-ups. In the mean time, AMD is expected to focus on its tri-core “Toliman” processors. Well, there’s always hope that you can accomplish in court what you couldn’t in the marketplace, eh AMD?

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Filed under: Desktops, HDTV, Media PCs

Remember those tasty Phenom chips AMD loosed back on November? We sure hope so, because that’s the CPU HP’s relying on in its forthcoming Pavilion Media Center m8330f PC. Here’s the specifics:

• 2.2GHz AMD Phenom 9500 quad-core CPU
• NVIDIA’s nForce 430 chipset
• 3GB of DDR2 RAM
• Twin 320GB 7,200 RPM SATA hard drives
• HP’s Personal Media Drive Bay
• LightScribe-enabled SuperMulti DVD burner
• NTSC / ATSC / FM tuners
• HP Media Center remote control with IR receiver
• Front-mounted 15-in-1 multicard reader

Beyond that, you can expect six USB 2.0 ports, a pair of FireWire connectors, audio in / out, HDMI and DVI sockets and an HP mouse / keyboard combo. Like the s3330f PC already mentioned, this too will be landing real soon with a price tag starting at $959.

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