quad-core

AMD's quad-core Barcelona chip for servers is ready to launch--really launch this time.

AMD is shipping the quad-core Barcelona Opteron to channel and distribution partners this week, according to an AMD representative on Thursday. System vendors such as Dell and Hewlett-Packard are readying systems for shipment in the second quarter.

(Correction: AMD is shipping samples of the Barcelona processor to channel and distribution partners not production versions of the chip.)

AMD is shipping the B3 version of the processor that fixes a TLB bug. Large vendors such as Dell, HP, and IBM have been waiting for this version of … Read more

Roadmaps are made to be changed. And in the case of AMD quad-core processor timelines, quite often. That said, they provide a clear blueprint to work from. The most recent AMD roadmap (dated late January) indicates that triple-core processors are coming fairly soon (March at the latest) and that they are initially targeted at commercial users.

On the chart, "triple-core" is clumped with the "Hardcastle" and "Perseus" business platforms, meaning that triple-core is initially a commercial offering--and AMD confirms this.

The chart also shows quad-core Opteron, a.k.a. "Barcelona," production beginning … Read more

Hewlett-Packard has committed to Advanced Micro Devices' quad-core Opteron "Barcelona" processors in its Proliant DL585 servers, according to company documents.

This comes as AMD is preparing to send samples of its "B3" quad-core Opteron processor to customers. The B3 stepping (or version) fixes, in silicon, a rarely occurring glitch in the Barcelona chip, referred to as the TLB bug. The bug has delayed shipment of quad-core chips to top-tier U.S. server vendors, giving Intel a leg-up in the high-end server market.

Currently, Proliant DL585 G2 servers use dual-core Opteron processors. But HP documentation updated last … Read more

Let the quad-core competition begin. The arrival of consumer systems based on AMD's quad-core Phenom processor at retail stores will finally bring much-needed four-core rivalry to the high-end PC segment, where, until January, there was only one choice: Intel. Gateway Computer's Phenom-based models had a widely publicized debut at Best Buy this week, making the Irvine, CA-based company the second major U.S. PC vendor after Hewlett-Packard (HP) to adopt the Phenom processor. Earlier in January, Wal-Mart began selling the HP Phenom-based Pavilion M8330F desktop (which, according to Wal-Mart's Web site, is now out of stock).

Gateway'… Read more

I'm going to buy a new desktop computer to feed my digital photography appetites, and it's time to let the wisdom of the crowds steer me in the right direction.

There are innumerable options, but there's one particular choice I'm wrestling with: is my money better spent on a PC with a dual-core processor or a quad-core chip with a lower clock frequency?

For the benefit of anybody else in my situation, I thought I'd seek expert guidance from Adobe Systems, Microsoft, Advanced Micro Devices, and Intel and publish the results, but I got conflicting … Read more

Here's what we find most interesting about Intel's new additions to its Core 2 Quad line later this quarter. Of the three new quad-core desktop chips it announced this morning, only the 2.5GHz Core 2 Quad Q9300 has a low enough price at $266 to compete with AMD's Phenom 9500 ($251) and 9600 ($283). True, Intel's previous generation Q6600 ($266) will likely drop in price, and it's faster than either current Phenom, but it wasn't quite the crushing blow to AMD's 2008 hopes we thought we might see.

Intel has dominated AMD … Read more

Update: I added a bit more detail, news of the CFO switcheroo, and a self-congratulatory but illuminating quotation from Intel's CEO.

Intel on Tuesday stomped all over estimates of its quarterly financial performance--not only Wall Street's but its own.

Three months ago, the Santa Clara, Calif.-based chipmaker in September predicted revenue of $9 billion to $9.6 billion for the third quarter of 2007. Then, in September, it raised it to a range of $9.4 billion to $9.8 billion.

The real number: $10.1 billion, a 15 percent increase from the year-earlier quarter. And net … Read more

The government will spend $26 million on high-end computers to cut costs and standardize systems among the three U.S. labs charged with ensuring the safety and reliability of the nation's aging nuclear stockpile.

The Energy Department's National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) awarded the multimillion-dollar contract to Milpitas, Calif.-based Appro to supply Lawrence Livermore, Los Alamos and Sandia national laboratories with 438 teraflop high-performance computing clusters based on the Quad-Core AMD Opteron processor. To date, each of these labs had used its own combination of computer systems, which were not always compatible with the others.

"This … Read more

On the heels of its new Gateway One all-in-one, today we got word of Gateway's retail holiday desktop lineup. Prices for the fixed-config retail models will start at $599 and scale upward of $1,000. Based on the price and specs of at least one model, it seems as though Gateway beats Hewlett-Packard's new Pavilion Elite m9040n. Here's how the two stack up:

Both also have multiformat media card readers and a bay for a removable upsell hard drive. Although the HP might have faster RAM and the nod for its TV tuner's overall features, the … Read more