Platform Trends: AMD's Phenom-enal New Athlon By Vince Freeman -
Chips & Upgrades Article Published December 19, 2008
You've got to draw the line somewhere, and AMD has drawn it between dual- and triple-core processors: While its newest dual-core has the same DNA as the chipmaker's Phenom X3 and X4, it carries the older Athlon name instead of the prestigious Phenom moniker -- but, while it's the new top of the Athlon line, it isn't the fastest. In other words, what gives?
Platform Trends: Intel's Core i7: Quad-Core of Solace By Vince Freeman -
Chips & Upgrades Article Published November 21, 2008
It's not true that every new Intel processor brings a different new motherboard socket to dash upgrade hopes: The Core i7 brings two. Even so, Vince Freeman says, the new CPU shows such a combination of brute force and flair it might be called the i007. Here's a look under the hood, with some thoughts about why the Core i7 needs more than one chipset and why AMD might be more competitive than you think.
Platform Trends: Taking the X58 Express to the Future By Vince Freeman -
Chips & Upgrades Article Published November 7, 2008
Radical changes in Intel's Core i7 processor bring radical changes to the usually evolutionary, not revolutionary, desktop chipset sector. The X58 Express takes advantage of the i7's onboard memory controller to allow colossal bandwidth, with a new QuickPath Interface speeding communication between chipset and CPU. But when it comes to peripheral support, Intel's looking strictly forward, not back.
Platform Trends: Nvidia and AMD Take Graphics in Different Directions By Vince Freeman -
Chips & Upgrades Article Published October 28, 2008
No niche is too small for the PC graphics giants to cram in a new product, but AMD's ATI Radeon HD 4000 series has lacked an entry in the $100 to $150 price range preferred by avid but unwealthy gamers -- until now. Meanwhile, Nvidia targets even more frugal desktop shoppers with faster-than-Intel integrated graphics ... although both vendors have already done that with under-$60 dedicated cards.
Platform Trends: AMD's Entry-Entry-Level Graphics Processor By Vince Freeman -
Chips & Upgrades Article Published October 14, 2008
You've heard of sharing the wealth, but AMD is doing it with a vengeance: Even though its ATI Radeon HD 4870 X2, 4870, and 4670 graphics processing units now rule the high-end, mainstream, and entry-level segments, the company has added two more members to the HD 4000 family at a lower-than-low $55 and $39. Is there a market for deliberately limited-performance PC graphics? Vince Freeman says yes indeed.
Platform Trends: Nehalem Set to Fly with the X58 By Vince Freeman -
Chips & Upgrades Article Published September 29, 2008
After four years of LGA775 processors and motherboards, the socket-shufflers at Intel have struck again. But this time tossing your old platform is worth the cost. The Core i7 "Nehalem" CPU's all-new architecture promises a performance revolution. And the X58 desktop chipset may be even more impressive, combining colossal bandwidth with a three-channel memory controller, the return of Hyper-Threading, and a graphics-card surprise.
Platform Trends: AMD's Most Affordable R700s By Vince Freeman -
Chips & Upgrades Article Published September 15, 2008
Its ATI Radeon HD 4850 and 4870 are the champs of the mid-priced PC graphics market, and the 4870 X2 wears the single-card crown for high-end systems. Now AMD unveils more bad news for Nvidia by bringing the same R700 graphics processor architecture to the under-$100 segment -- and a mix of price, performance, and power consumption that surpasses anything yet seen.
Platform Trends: Budget GPUs Galore By Vince Freeman -
Chips & Upgrades Article Published September 1, 2008
We're used to reading about AMD's and Nvidia's fastest, fire-breathing graphics cards, but the rivals are now hunting bargain hunters -- Nvidia putting its GeForce 9 Series technology on a $59 diet, AMD revving up a fast integrated-graphics chipset while preparing new ATI Radeon HD 4400 cards. How do these strategies stack up against each other -- or against simple price cuts on last year's cards?
Platform Trends: Intel Gets Up and Atom By Vince Freeman -
Chips & Upgrades Article Published August 18, 2008
Suddenly, no small, light, low-priced notebook -- a.k.a. netbook, a.k.a. Asus Eee 901, Acer Aspire One, MSI Wind, or Dell Comingsoon -- is complete without Intel's battery-sipping Atom N270 processor. Actually, that 1.6GHz, Hyper-Threading CPU is just one of seven Atoms, with thermal design power as low as 0.65 watt, and they're destined for more than just netbooks. Here's a look under the hood.
Platform Trends: Nvidia Reseeds its Mainstream Line By Vince Freeman -
Chips & Upgrades Article Published August 4, 2008
Though its flagship GeForce 200 Series holds the spotlight, Nvidia Corp. has taken the opportunity of a switch to 55-nanometer-process engineering to perk up its formerly-elite-now-everyday GeForce 9 lineup of graphics processing units. You'll see some graphics cards that look awfully familiar, others that will put a grin on the faces of gamers with only $100 to spend, and still others in between. Vince Freeman helps you keep score.
Platform Trends: The Year of Serious Storage By Vince Freeman -
Chips & Upgrades Article Published July 21, 2008
One and one-half terabytes, people! Most of us remember when such storage capacity stretched the limits of a server RAID array, but next month Seagate will ship a 1.5TB desktop hard disk. Meanwhile, both old-fashioned and newfangled storage tech heats up the notebook market -- and PC enthusiasts and upgraders are getting their hands on the speedy solid-state drives once reserved for the most exotic, elite laptops.
Platform Trends: AMD's Massive Retaliation: The Radeon HD 4000 Series By Vince Freeman -
Chips & Upgrades Article Published July 7, 2008
Just nine days after Nvidia's launch of a new flagship GeForce GTX 200 series, AMD grabs the spotlight with formidable -- and more affordable -- ATI Radeon HD 4850 and 4870 graphics cards, packing a whopping 956 million transistors, 800 stream processors, and (for the 4870) unbelievably fast GDDR5 memory. The company also dusts off the classic All-in-Wonder name for a new DirectX 10.1 graphics/HDTV tuner combo.
Platform Trends: The GeForce GTX 200 Series: Big, Bad, and Proud of It By Eric Grevstad -
Chips & Upgrades Article Published June 20, 2008
As the Incredible Hulk rampages across movie screens, Nvidia introduces a giant of a graphics processor -- the GeForce GTX 280 (and only slightly tamer GTX 260), bringing 1.4 billion transistors, 240 stream processors, and over 240GB/sec of bandwidth to smash even current dual-GPU gaming, 3D rendering, and video-encoding graphics cards. But should you wait for a smaller, less power-hungry sequel?
Platform Trends: Intel Does the New Chipset Thing By Vince Freeman -
Chips & Upgrades Article Published June 9, 2008
Intel has finally filled out its lineup of supporting silicon for the 45-nanometer-process Core 2 Duo and Quad processors unveiled in January. The new 4 Series chipsets bring some of the benefits of Intel's fire-breathing X48 Express enthusiast platform to mainstream PC buyers, and the G45 Express gives a boost to the 1080p HD video bandwagon. So why does CPU guru Vince Freeman see a missed opportunity?
Platform Trends: AMD/ATI: Slowdown? What Slowdown? By Vince Freeman -
Chips & Upgrades Article Published May 26, 2008
Both product lifespans and prices are falling for PC graphics cards, but that hasn't stopped AMD from pushing the envelope with a new ATI Radeon HD 4000 series marking the industry debut of GDDR5 memory technology -- and a new brand campaign telling retail shoppers not to settle for the usual integrated graphics.
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