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Apple Xserve Quad-Core and 8-Core Servers

admin — Fri, 01 May 2009 08:15:52 +0000

Apple has recently released its new line of servers making use of Intel’s Xeon family of processors. The Apple Xserve Quad Core and 8 Core servers feature the Intel Xeon Nehalem processor and is touted to have sizable improvements in performance and power efficiency capabilities. Its features speak for itself.

The new Apple Xserve servers, using the next generation Intel processors and with a new system architecture, are said to offer twice the performance of previous Xserve servers. Along with that, the new Xserve models are more energy efficient than its predecessors, using 19 percent less energy when idle than previous Xserve models.

The new Apple Xserve servers make use of either one 2.26 GHz, 2.66GHz or 2.93 GHz Quad Core Intel Xeon 5500 processors. Make that two for the 8 Core server version. The single Quad-Core version has 3GB worth of 1066MHz DDR3 ECC internal memory, a 160 GB SATA drive and an Nvidia GeForce GT 120 graphics card with 256MB memory. The Apple Xserve Quad-Core server starts at US$2,999 and is available at the Apple Store.

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New ATI Radeon HD 4890 GPU offers 1.36Tflops

admin — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 19:36:46 +0000

AMD on Thursday morning further expanded its “Dragon” desktop platform with the introduction of the ATI Radeon HD 4890 graphics card, featuring 1.36 TeraFLOPs of computing power, faster GDDR5 memory, and engine clock speeds capable of nearly 1GHz. The GPU card offers support for DirectX 10.1 titles, including Ubisoft’s Tom Clancy’s H.A.W.X., Electronic Art’s BattleForge and SEGA’s Stormrise released last month, as well as GSC Gameworld’s S.T.A.L.K.E.R: Clear Sky. According to the company, the new graphics card is not only designed to provide exceptional value to OEMs and channel partners but also to do-it-yourself (DIY) consumers. According to the company, the new desktop graphics card can handle “the most intense games at high resolutions and image quality settings” and can be tuned for further performance enhancements as well as combined with as many as three other ATI Radeon HD 4890 cards in a single PC utilizing ATI CrossFireX technology.

The card also features ATI Stream technology, which in combination with a number of ATI Stream-enabled applications, can accelerate the conversion of standard and HD video into multiple formats for use on differing consumer electronics devices. Software companies such as CyberLink has optimized its video editing software PowerDirector 7 to make use of ATI Stream technology to provide GPU accelerated video conversion.As with previous generation chips, the ATI Radeon HD 4800 series cards supports smooth playback of HD digital content using AMD’s second-generation Unified Video Decoder (UVD 2.0). In addition, the cards support HDMI, picture-in-picture and 7.1 surround sound.

The ATI Radeon HD 4890 graphics card is expected to be integrated PCs from OEMs such as ASUS, Club 3D, Diamond Multimedia, and MSI. The cards also available immediately for $250 (and priced at select etailers as low as $230 after mail-in rebate).

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NVIDIA updates Quadro line, adds multi-OS SLI

admin — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 15:04:20 +0000

NVIDIA on Monday launched what it considers a sweeping change to its pro graphics with significant re-launches and updates to much of its Quadro line. The FX 3800, 4800 and 5800 now all support a new technique known as multi-OS SLI: in systems with multiple supporting cards, a card can be dedicated to an individual virtual OS in Parallels Workstation Extreme and give it nearly the same performance as if the graphics were native. It can also be used for CUDA or other general-purpose tasks that would normally be off-limits to a virtual machine. The cards start with the flagship FX 5800, which continues to have 240 visual effects cores and 4GB of memory; the FX 4800 occupies the upper mid-range with 192 cores and 1.5GB of memory, while the FX 3800 uses the same amount of cores but 1GB of memory and reduced bandwidth in return for using up the space of one regular video card. At the mid-range and lower end, the FX 1800, 580 and 380 scale through 64, 32 and 16 cores while scaling memory from 768MB through to 512MB and 256MB respectively.A lone Quadro NVS update, the 295, tackles many-monitor output. It has just 8 cores and 256MB of memory but has dual DisplayPort outputs that can handle two 30-inch displays, including through DVI when using adapters.

NVIDIA has pricing for the cards scaling from “sub-$100″ for the NVS 295 to $3,150 for the FX 5800. Support officially extends to Linux and Windows systems so far.

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Intel officially launches Nehalem-based Xeons

admin — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 14:47:24 +0000

Intel this afternoon finally made its Nehalem-based Xeon processors available to a wider audience. First introduced in the Mac Pro, the single-socket Xeon 3500 (not used by Apple) and the dual-socket Xeon 5500 share the same roots as Core i7 and drop the old northbridge system controller and system bus in favor of a point-to-point architecture known as the QuickPath Interface that talks directly to memory and peripherals. The memory controller is now built-in and can talk to three memory channels, improving bandwidth even as it drops lag. They also add support for HyperThreading, which potentially runs as many as eight program instructions at once on a quad-core processor. For apps that don’t depend on heavily parallel code, a Turbo Boost feature that dynamically shuts down unused cores but ramps up clock speeds on the remaining cores. Both moves let ordinarily lower-clocked Xeons at times outperform the earlier 5400 and 3300 models.The Xeon 5500 line’s bulk prices range from $188 for a 1.86GHz dual-core part up to $1,600 for a 3.2GHz quad-core example. Xeon 3500 models are currently limited to just three models between 2.66GHz and 3.2GHz, but their reduced tolerance for multiple sockets lets Intel drop the prices to $284 for the base CPU and $999 for the 3.2GHz version.

While Apple was the first to get access to the processors, Dell has just recently started offering Precision systems with the new chips, while HP’s new Z800 tower also uses the faster technology.

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Intel readying 3.33GHz Core i7, new Core 2 Quad S

admin — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 05:44:04 +0000

A new roadmap of upcoming Intel chip upgrades has Intel ramping up clock speeds for its range-topping Core i7 chip as well as adding newer speed grades for its Core 2 line, including the Core 2 Quad S. On May 31st, the chip designer is understood to be introducing a 3.33GHz Core i7 quad-core part, tbe i7-975, that will effectively replace the 3.2GHz model. A 3.06GHz version (i7-950) will also supplant the 2.93GHz model at the same time. The two should be priced at $999 and $562 respectively in large batches.

Ahead of this, Intel is also expected to introduce a new, mid-tier version of its Core 2 Quad S designed for small form factor PCs. The 2.66GHz Q8400S appears a budget alternative to the similar Q9400S and will slot in between this last chip and the Q9300 in both performance and price, coming in at $245 on April 19th. The remaining Core 2 Quad S chips themselves will get price cuts with the 2.83GHz Q9550S falling to $320, the 2.66GHZ Q9400S to $277, and the 2.33GHz Q8300S to $213. A full-power equivalent to the newer 2.66GHz moel, the Q8400, will appear at the same time as its more efficient counterpart and will be priced at $183.

A handful of dual-core processors should also be launched on May 31st with unspecified clock speeds. The Core 2 Duo E7600, Pentium dual-core E6300 and Celeron dual-core E1600 should serve the very low end of desktops with price points of $133, $84 and $53.

Rounding out Intel’s changes, a series of price cuts on July 19th will drop the prices of budget Core 2 Quad, Core 2 Duo, Pentium and Celeron chips by about $10 or $20 depending on the price of the component.

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Intel Suggests Atom-Powered Home Phone

admin — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 16:43:53 +0000

Intel is looking for a new place to put it’s Atom in. Besides all the netbooks which carry it, Intel suggests a media phone which should use the Atom and replace current home phones. Essentially the concept phone would basically be a more powerful MID capable of doing more stuff than your regular home phone. The phone will most likely look like a touchscreen nettop running on Mobiln and making calls for you. When will we see a prototype?

Here’s what Intel’s Atom phone should feature:

Dimensions • 5.4 inch x 9.6 inch (137.3 mm x 243.7 mm)

Processor • Intel Atom processor Z5XX 533 MHz FSB

Chipset • Intel System Controller Hub (SCH) US15W

Supported operating systems • Moblin

Memory • 1 GB DDR2 533 MHz SODIMM

Storage • 8 GB Compact Flash• 1 SATA optional

Display/Video/Graphics • 8.9-inch resistant-touch LCD (16:9 aspect ratio LVDS)

Audio • HD audio, up to 4 audio streams

I/O connectivity • 2 SDIO/MMC serial interfaces • RS232 • 1 PCI Express port • 6 USB (5 external, 1 internal) • 2X RJ45 (LAN and PC) • 1 HDMI • 1 RJ22 • 3.0 mm audio jacks – mic input headset output • 2.0 mm phone headset jack • Internal speakers and mic

Modular options • Wi-Fi/Bluetooth • USB port (DECT FXO) • (Camera optional) • 1 mini PCIe slot

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