Archived news: April 2011 - June 2011

I've made two changes to the "Benchmarks" tab on CPU pages, as well as to pages, displayed by the benchmark database. Previously, benchmark graphs displayed full CPU name, including OEM part number. Now the graphs will show only the manufacturer, family and model number for most of the modern processors. Sometimes it may show additional information, like TDP or core revision, for non-unique model numbers. Older microprocessors, that don't have model numbers, will have both core frequency and OEM part number appended to the CPU names. Also, the graphs now show small question mark on orange background after each CPU name. Click on the question mark to see complete details about tested processor.

MSI recently published a marketing document, titled "MSI A75-Series Mainboards". Besides specifications of four upcoming MSI socket FM1 motherboards, that will be launched in the third quarter 2011, the document also provides AMD APU roadmap with approximate launch dates of desktop Llano microprocessors.   [Full story]

Fudzilla reported today that desktop Llano microprocessors will be launched on Thursday, June 30 (see correction below). Last weekend, first ASUS F1A75-M PRO, F1A75-V PRO, Gigabyte GA-A75M-UD2H and GA-A75-UD4H socket FM1 mainboards appeared in stock of smaller internet stores. The prices are starting from about $110 for ASUS F1A75-M PRO and Gigabyte GA-A75M-UD2H micro-ATX boards, and up to $125 - $130 for ASUS F1A75-V PRO and GA-A75-UD4H ATX motherboards. The desktop Llano processors are not available for sale in US yet, although two of them, A6-3650 and A8-3850, can be pre-ordered for $120+ and $142+, respectively.   [Full story]

After several product launches in January, February and June of this year, Intel gradually replaced most of Westmere mobile processors with models, built on the latest Sandy Bridge microarchitecture. Intel Celeron line-up still includes two low budget SKUs, Celeron 763 and 925, based on three-year old Penryn core. Those will be replaced soon. The mainstream 925 will be superseded by Celeron B710, which is coming in the third quarter 2011. Also in the Q3, Intel will introduce two ultra-low voltage Celeron 787 and 857 processors, and the 787 model will displace Celeron 763.   [Full story]

The first AMD processor with "Zosma" core, Phenom II 960T, was introduced in the third quarter 2010, or just a few months after the launch of 6-core Phenom IIs. Unfortunately, the 960T model was released in 2010 only as an OEM processor, and it was difficult to find one for sale ... until now. ASCII.jp published pictures and prices of boxed version of Phenom II 960T, that went for sale this week in Japan.   [Full story]

At the beginning of May, PC Magazine reported on new Core i7 model, coming between June 26 and July 2. The new processor, Core i7-980, was supposed to be a speed-bump version of the i7-970. Today, this microprocessor was added to Intel's official price list. The CPU has the same $583 price tag, as Core i7-970 model has had before.   [Full story]

I've made quite a few changes to the Browse CPU benchmark database front page, which is used to select processors for generated benchmark charts. The page always displays CPU models and part numbers, and that eliminates extra click for those who want to select individual CPUs. The list of processors can be filtered by socket type, and all processors for specific socket(s) can be added to the final charts. It is also possible to add model numbers. The list of currently selected items shows them differently than before. Each selected item can be deleted individually, or all of them can be deleted at once. Finally, simple help text was added to the page.

Last summer, Intel ran a pilot program with the first upgradeable x86 CPU, Pentium G6951. The processor was shipped in a small number of systems, such as Gateway SX2841, and it allowed clients to upgrade CPU without physically replacing the Pentium chip. The idea behind this was that the G6951 came with certain disabled features, that could be re-enabled in firmware.   [Full story]

Since its introduction in 2004, AMD Sempron family of budget microprocessors went though three different microarchitecture generations. The last generation of this family, introduced in July 2009, used K10 / "Stars" core. Up until this May, this generation was comprised of 3 single-core and one dual-core SKUs. Earlier last month, new AMD Sempron 130 processor surfaced in inexpensive computers, sold in Latin America. By the end of May, NewEgg started selling tray version of this model in US for $29.99, or $8 cheaper than boxed Sempron 140.   [Full story]

Yesterday, Intel posted new pricelist with four new ultra-low voltage consumer processors from Celeron, Core i3 and Core i5 families. We used this update as a base for yesterday's story, where we reported that more parts may surface in an official announcement, or in the Intel ARK product database. Today, several processors were added to the ARK database, including two new models that we hadn't covered before. The products, added to the database, are embedded Celeron 847E and B810E, consumer-class Celeron B800, Pentium B940 and B950, as well as 4 CPUs, previously found in the pricelist - Celeron 847, Core i5-2557M, Core i7-2637M and i7-2677M. Two new SKUs are Pentium 957 and Core i5-2467M.   [Full story]

After releasing large number of mid-class and high performance Sandy Bridge models earlier this year, Intel steps up efforts to launch budget microprocessors, based on the the new microarchitecture. First Sandy Bridge desktop Pentiums from G6xx and G8xx series were introduced in May, and, as was previously revealed by Fudzilla hardware news site, Intel plans to refresh the full desktop Pentium line-up in the third quarter 2011. Also in the Q3, Intel will introduce first Celeron "Sandy Bridge" SKUs. We recently learned about two new budget processors, Celeron G530T and Pentium G630T, that will be available in the third quarter as well.   [Full story]

Earlier this week we published a story about Intel "Sandy Bridge" mobile microprocessors, coming later this month. The list of confirmed models included Celeron 847, two embedded Celerons, Pentium B940, two embedded Core i3s, and three ultra-low voltage (ULV) Core i5/i7 SKUs. Today, Intel updated official price list with 4 ULV models: Celeron 847, Core i5-2557M, Core i7-2637M and i7-2677M.   [Full story]

In January, AMD released two Phenom II microprocessors, that were in fact top of the line Athlon II models, re-branded as Phenoms. One of them, Phenom II 840, was announced at the beginning of January, and that CPU had exactly the same specifications as never released quad-core Athlon II 650. Another Phenom II part, OEM-only dual-core 511, was sighted in HP Pavilion Slimline s5700 desktop PC. The specs of this processor were identical to Athlon II X2 270, that was not launched at that time. In the past couple of weeks, we acquired new Phenom II chip with part number HDX521OCK23GM. In the meantime, our site visitor "dnlbntl" discovered new Phenom II 521 model in HP Pavilion p7z desktop desktop PC, and commented on it on our Athlon II 275 CPU page.   [Full story]

In the past few months, we published several stories detailing soon to be released Sandy Bridge mobile microprocessors. The stories referred to budget Celeron and Pentium CPUs, mainstream Core-branded processors for mid-class laptops, and ultra low voltage (ULV) 2nd generation Core chips for thin and light notebooks. Using notebook product availability dates, our sources, and information, previously disclosed by Fudzilla, we came up with a list of processors that will be launched this month. The list includes ULV Celeron 847, embedded Celeron 847E and B810E, Pentium B940, embedded Core i3-2330E and i3-2340UE, and ULV Core i5-2557M, i7-2637M and i7-2677M.   [Full story]

AMD yesterday announced new 2011 AMD Notebook Platform, that includes seven dual-core and quad-core A-Series microprocessors, codenamed "Llano". The new processors are marketed by AMD as Accelerated Processing Units (APU), and, in addition of retaining the full functionality of CPUs from previous generation of mobile AMD "Danube" platform, add extensive video and graphics processing capabilities.   [Full story]

Recently, Fudzilla published two stories with specifications and prices of three Core i3 processors, as well as details on Core i5-2330 CPU. The new SKUs, planned for the third quarter 2011, are speed bump versions of existing Core i3 and i5 microprocessors, and provide insignificant improvements to CPU or graphics performance in comparison with older models. Yesterday Intel updated Material Declaration Data Sheets database, and added S-spec and box part numbers for upcoming chips.   [Full story]

Earlier this week Xbit laboratories revealed lineup of Llano-based Accelerated Processing Units (APUs) for the third and forth quarters of this year. According to slides, seen by Xbit labs, AMD plans to release 6 Llano-based microprocessors in the third quarter 2010, followed by another 5 models in the Q4. The slides provided partial APU specifications, including the number of cores, type of on-chip graphics, cache size and TDP, however they didn't show CPU's clock frequency and availability of Turbo Core technology.   [Full story]

Last Friday, DonanimHaber published updated line-up from soon to be released A-Series and E2-Series desktop APUs. The new line-up includes 5 A-Series microprocessors with 2 and 4 CPU cores, and one budget dual-core E2-3200 model. All upcoming chips use "Llano" core, that merges 32nm version of K10 CPU with high-performance graphics engine. The newly-available specifications are close to A- and E2-Series specs, that appeared in March of this year. The final line-up uses different model numbers, and there are minor changes in the size of L2 cache and DDR3 memory support for the A4-3400 model.   [Full story]

In May, we published specifications of forthcoming mobile A-Series microprocessors with integrated graphics, marketed by AMD as Accelerated Processing Units (APU). At the launch, there will be 7 dual- and quad-core SKUs, clocked from 1.5 GHz to 2.1 GHz, and reaching as high as 2.6 GHz in Turbo Core mode. Two days ago "2011 AMD Notebook Platform" page, was updated with information of these models.   [Full story]

One week ago we reported that the first low budget Sandy Bridge CPU, Celeron B810, may launch in March. Today this processor was added to Intel's official price list. The B810 is priced at $86, which is identical to Celeron P4500 and P4600 offerings. Detailed specifications of the new SKU are not yet available on Intel's website.   [Full story]

In March 2011, Intel introduced the first, and so far the only one, mobile Celeron processor with Sandy Bridge core. From previously published stories you may know that there are four other planned Celeron microprocessors, ultra-low power 847, and three embedded models, 827E, 847E and B810E. According to roadmap documents we've seen, there will be two additional consumer class Celeron SKUs, B710 and B810, available in the third quarter 2011.   [Full story]

Today, DonanimHaber published a slide from AMD document, that depicts socket AM3+ processor longevity roadmap for the rest of this year and for the first quarter 2012. The slide, which can be seen here, shows 8 FX-Series models. Four FX microprocessors are FX-4100, FX-6100, FX-8100 and FX-8150, and their model numbers, as well as production and launch dates first appeared at the end of May.   [Full story]

You may already know that in the near future Intel will release three embedded Celerons, dual-core 847E and B810E, and single-core 827E. As we recently learned, in addition to these Celerons Intel will also introduce two Core-branded microprocessors, embedded Core i3-2330E and i3-2340UE. Both processors will be built on Sandy Bridge microarchitecture, and they will come with 3 MB L3 cache, AVX extensions to instruction set, but will lack support for AES acceleration instructions.   [Full story]

Exactly one month ago, on May 3, AMD launched a few speed bump versions of Athlon II and Phenom II microprocessors. Reviews of the flagship quad-core Phenom II 980 model were posted all over the net, and it was added to official pricelist along with Athlon II X3 460. Specifications of three additional processors, Athlon II X3 425e, Athlon II X4 620e, and Phenom II X2 570, were posted on AMD website. Overall, the launch of 5 new chips seemed like a newsworthy event, expect that the processors never made it to the stores.   [Full story]

Earlier this week, at Computex 2011 show in Taipei, AMD announced 2011 HD Tablet Platform. The platform, based on AMD "Fusion" technology, currently consists of one APU, Z Series Z-01. This model, built on enhanced Bobcat "Desna" core, sports lower power consumption while providing the same level of performance as Bobcat "Ontario" processors, released earlier this year. The first tablet, utilizing the Z-01 APU, was also revealed at the show.   [Full story]

CPU-World Member area now has a page, that displays all member's CPUID submissions for the past three months. From that page you can choose to edit any CPUID submission, or view any public one.

The first two Intel Atom processors for tablets, Z650 and Z670, were introduced in April 2011. As all Atom CPUs, released this year, they were based on 45nm technology. Distinctive features of these two models were ultra low 3 Watt maximum power consumption, and single CPU core, DDR2 memory controller and on-chip graphics, integrated together in 13.8mm x 13.8mm package. According to Fudzilla, Intel is working on the next generation of Atom "Z" CPUs for tablets, that will replace the Z650 and Z670 microprocessors in the first half 2012.   [Full story]

We previously reported on Xeon E3-1290 microprocessor, which was supposedly coming in the second quarter 2011. The expected launch date was deduced from the fact, that chip specifications were disclosed on Intel website in a document, titled "Processor reference chart for Q2 2011". According to the latest Intel price list, published today, the Intel E3-1290 was launched last Sunday.   [Full story]

New information page was added to member area. The page shows all comments, submitted by forum user, in the past six months. Right now there is no way to edit, move or delete comments, although eventually I may add this functionality.

About a month ago, we reported on two embedded Celeron B810E and 847E microprocessors. Both CPUs are similar to mobile B810 and 847 Sandy Bridge models with added support for ECC memory, and they will be coming in the third quarter 2011. Another embedded Sandy Bridge Celeron with processor number 827E was recently spotted in specifications of F21P CPU board from Men Micro, Inc.   [Full story]

I've made a few changes to the Interesting eBay auctions pages. I added <All categories> option to the list of categories, which is useful if you want to browse or search all categories at once. Also, forum users, who submits auction data, can now edit their submissions from the auction details page. To help forum users to find all their recent submissions, I added a separate page, called "Manage recent eBay auctions", to CPU-World member area.

For about a year we had a feature, where long-standing forum users could have their eBay auctions featured on CPU-World home page. Unfortunately, this required me to enter all auction data manually, and then manually remove the auctions after they are expired. There is now an automated way, explained here, of adding these auctions. My intervention into this process is no longer required, which should save my time. I also hope that this functionality will become more popular.

A few days ago AMD introduced two embedded T40E and T40R CPUs, or, as AMD calls them, APUs. One of the major selling points of these embedded microprocessors is very low, less than 6.5 Watt, maximum power consumption, paired with x86 instruction set compatibility and discrete-level graphics. The part numbers of new models had "GVE" suffix, which was different from "GTE" suffix on all previously launched G-Series APUs. As a matter of fact, all G-Series part numbers were changed in the Product Selection Guide (PDF file) to use new "GVE" suffix.   [Full story]

Less than a week passed since the launch of the first four Sandy Bridge Pentium chips, and there are already news about new Pentium SKUs. Fudzilla reported today that in the third quarter 2011 Intel will launch faster versions of G850 and G620 processors, which were assigned G860 and G630 processor numbers.   [Full story]

Earlier this week DonanimHaber published details of forthcoming AMD mobile "Llano" microprocessors from "Sabine" platform. Based on their information, the mobile line-up will be comprised of four families, targeting different sectors of the mobile market: high-performance A8-Series, mid- to high-performance A6-Series, budget and mid-class A4-Series, and entry-level E2-Series.   [Full story]

Intel Core i3 Sandy Bridge CPUs are not overly expensive dual-core processors, that were introduced in February of this year. Common features of these microprocessors include 3 MB level 3 cache, HyperThreading and Virtualization technologies, as well as support for SSE4 and Advanced Vector Extensions instructions. Although this family was expanded with new i3-2105 CPU only a few days ago, there are reports that more Core i3-branded models will be coming soon. According to Fudzilla, in the third quarter Intel will introduce three Core i3 SKUs with increased clock frequency or improved graphics capabilities. The new models are low-power Core i3-2120T, and mainstream Core i3-2125 and i3-2130, all priced in the $120 - $140 range.   [Full story]

Today Fudzilla published prices and approximate launch date of first 32nm Atom processors. As you may know, these Atom CPUs are part of Intel Cedar Trail platform, which includes "Cedarview-D" chips, aimed at nettops and ultra-low power desktops, and "Cedarview-M" microprocessors for netbooks and other mobile devices.   [Full story]

DigiTimes revealed today prices for upcoming AMD A-, E2- and FX-Series microprocessors. According to their sources, the processors will be priced from $70 for dual-core E2-3250 CPU, and up to $320 for flagship octo-core FX-8130P.   [Full story]

AMD today released two models for G-Series family of low-power x86-compatible microprocessors, aimed at embedded devices. New processors, marketed by AMD as APUs or "Accelerated Processing Units", are T40E with two CPU cores, and T40R with a single core. The new parts combine adequate raw CPU performance with advanced 3D DX11-enabled graphics, while consuming less than 7 Watt on average. This makes them ideal for fanless embedded devices with rich multimedia and 3D graphics capabilities. The first devices, utilizing new CPUs, are already available, or will be available in the near future from Amtek, Axiomtek, datakamp, and iBASE.   [Full story]

Today Intel updated official pricelist with information on 7 new microprocessors, all built on the latest Sandy Bridge microarchitecture. Prices of existing processors were left unchanged. The list of new models includes mainstream Pentium G620, G840 and G850, low-power Pentium G620T, Core i3-2105 and i5-2405S with beefed-up graphics, and incrementally faster Core i5-2310.   [Full story]

The first Sandy Bridge server family, Xeon E3-1200 series for entry-level workstations and servers, was introduced on April 3, 2011. The E3-1200 family launch event included 11 microprocessors, starting from dual-core E3-1220L 20W model, and up to a flagship quad-core E3-1280, operating at 3.5 GHz. There is even faster Intel E3-1290 processor in the works, and we already reported on it in April. The specs of the new SKU were found in CPU support list for Type1U-XPUS 1U rackmount server, produced by Japan Computing Systems. Also in April, Intel published processor reference chart for Q2 2011, which purposely or mistakenly included details on Xeon E3-1290.   [Full story]

As you may already know, later this year AMD is going to introduce LLano microprocessor core, that will be used in both desktop and mobile markets. The Llano core is a 32nm shrink of current K10 (Stars) core, and, in addition to features, we've become accustomed on Athlon II and Phenom II lines of CPUs, it will also integrate Radeon 6000 series graphics. Yesterday, DonanimHaber disclosed details of mobile processor A8-3530MX, based on Llano core.   [Full story]

With the launch of dual-core Sandy Bridge mobile CPUs in February of this year, Intel also introduced several low-voltage and ultra-low voltage (ULV) models. ULV parts were assigned i5-25x7 and i7-26x7 processor numbers, and they featured 17 Watt combined Thermal Design Power for CPU cores and graphics, smaller BGA package, and generally higher, than Arrandale CPUs, core frequencies. Later this year, Intel plans to expand Sandy Bridge ULV line-up with three new processors, Core i5-2557M, Core i7-2637M and Core i7-2677M.   [Full story]

CPUD differences information will now be displayed in "CPUIDs" tab on all CPU comparison pages. When our script generates the comparison page, it now gets two random public CPUIDs for selected processors from CPUID database, and adds their differences to the page. I also tweaked the comparison pages a little, to make them look more like CPU pages. For example, see how it looks on Core i3-540 vs i3-560 page.

Yesterday VIA announced the first VIA quad-core microprocessor for desktop and HTPC market. The new 1.2+ GHz CPU, branded as QuadCore, is based on superscalar out-of-order x86 architecture, and, as the company puts it, "delivers awesome multi-threaded performance" for low-power desktop sector.   [Full story]

At the beginning of this January, Biostar updated CPU support list with specifications of several forthcoming AMD desktop microprocessors. In addition to faster versions of Athlon II and Phenom II CPUs, some of which were introduced less than two weeks ago, the specs included quite unusual quad-core Athlon II with part number ADX640WFK42GR.   [Full story]

We added a new feature to CPUID information page, that you can use to compare two or more CPUID records at a time. To use the feature, select two or more records and click on the "Compare selected" button at the bottom of the page. The feature is especially useful for spotting differences between different steppings of the same model, or even different models. For example, as can be seen on this page, not only Core i3-2100 includes AVX instructions and differs from Core i3-540 by associativity and the size of on-chip caches, it also supports PCLMULDQ instruction, XSAVE/XRESTORE states, and has a couple of extra micro-features enabled.

One month ago we published a story about three new Celeron "Sandy Bridge" microprocessors, planned for the third quarter 2011. The Celerons with processor numbers G440, G530 and G540 were revealed by leaked roadmap slide, posted by mydrivers.com, but no other information about these models was available at the time. We now have basic specifications of these Celeron parts, including core frequencies and some CPU features.   [Full story]

AMD 2010 mainstream mobile platform, codenamed Danube, was launched almost one year ago, on May 12, 2010. New CPU features of this platform were triple- and quad-core CPU options, support for DDR3 memory, and unlocked clock multiplier on selected microprocessors, which were marketed as "Black Edition". At first, only dual-core X620 and quad-core X920 SKUs had an unlocked multiplier. In January of this year AMD launched Phenom II X940 BE, which was a slightly faster version of X920. We recently learned that there was yet another Black Edition microprocessor with model number X640.   [Full story]

Less than two weeks remains before introduction of the next wave of Sandy Bridge microprocessors for desktop market. The processor lineup, that will be released on Sunday, May 22, consists of 7 new Pentium, Core i3 and Core i5 SKUs. Pentium models will be the first budget CPUs, built on Sandy Bridge micro-architecture. Core i3s and i5s, on the other hand, are updated versions of previously released chips with slightly better CPU or graphics performance.   [Full story]

Quite some time ago we added breadcrumbs navigation to CPU and s-specs pages. This type of navigation is very useful if you need to return back to the top list of CPUs, or family group page, or family page. Today, we modified this navigation, and it now shows a pull-down menu with a list of resources (CPUs or families) when a mouse moves over manufacturer or family name. The navigation still can be used as before, i.e. you can click on the links and you will get back to one of parent pages. For example, to see how it looks on AMD E-Series E-350 CPU page, move a mouse over the "CPU > AMD > Bobcat family > E-Series > E-350" links. At this time, the displayed menus will not show pages that are not in the CPU chart! In the near future similar menus may be added to S-spec pages.

Two days ago we published an article, detailing features of upcoming Xeon E5-1600 and E5-2600 microprocessors with Sandy Bridge-EP core. These processors will be available in the 4th quarter 2011, and they will utilize socket 2011. In the first quarter 2012 Intel will introduce a variation of the Sandy Bridge core, codenamed Sandy Bridge-EN, that will use different socket B2 (socket 1356). These chips will be branded as Xeon E5-2400, and they will be coupled with C600-series chipset.   [Full story]

In the second half of April, we published two stories about upcoming Pentium B940 and B950 mobile processors, as well as Core i3-2330M. Details about these microprocessors were discovered in specifications of new Fujitsu, HP and Lenovo notebooks, and, based on May release date of one of those notebooks, we presumed that the processors will be introduced in May. Recently we found two new second-generation CPUs, Core i3-2350M and Core i5-2430M.   [Full story]

Three months ago, we published a story, that included high-level details on four different Xeon E5 families. Two of these families, E5-1600 and E5-2600, are scheduled to launch in the forth quarter 2011. Initially, the Xeon processors, coupled with C600 series (Patsburg-B) chipset, will be introduced as part of Romley platform.   [Full story]

It's been three years since the launch of first Atom processors built on 45nm Bonnell microarchitecture. Over time, the Atoms added more features, such as two CPU cores, on-chip graphics, Intel 64 and Virtualization, and others, but the latest Atom chips still use the same 0.045 micron process. Last year it was rumored that the first 32nm Atom chips from Cedar Trail platform will launch in the second half 2011. Last Friday, Anandtech confirmed 4th quarter launch date for the platform, and disclosed details on two processors, D2500 and D2700. Fudzilla revealed today two other CPUs from the Cedar Trail platform - N2600 and N2800.   [Full story]

As you may already know, today AMD launched Phenom II X4 980 flagship model, as well as a few desktop processors from Athlon II and Phenom II families. At the same time, AMD dropped prices on existing desktop CPUs. As a matter of fact, every Athlon II and Phenom II desktop model was reduced in price on average by 11.6%.   [Full story]

Today, AMD launched several microprocessors from Athlon II and Phenom II series, including a couple of energy-efficient models. Newly released Phenom II CPUs are dual-core X2 570 and quad-core X4 980. New Athlon IIs are standard voltage X3 460, and low-power X3 425e and X4 620e.   [Full story]

Intel today published Product Change Notification PCN110593, which notifies its customers about fan cable wires modifications on boxed microprocessors. The most interesting part in the document (for us) is the list of boxed CPUs, affected by the change. In addition to many Pentium, Core i3 / i5 / i7 and Xeon parts, that are already in production, the document contains several upcoming models.   [Full story]

I changed how S-Spec numbers are displayed on the CPU pages. Before all S-Spec numbers, associated with specific part, were listed in parenthesis after the part number in the "CPU part number" or "Box part number" fields. The S-Spec numbers were moved into their own section, which now displays cross-reference of part numbers and S-Spec numbers. The old method was good if you wanted to see which S-Spec numbers correspond to certain part number. The new method still good for that, and it's also good for checking which part numbers relate to specific S-Spec number. For example, see how it looks on a Celeron D 320 page.

During the second half of 2010 and the first quarter of this year, low-power value sector of Intel's embedded market was represented by three Celeron processors: standard voltage P4500 and P4505 parts in PGA and BGA packages respectively, and ultra-low power U3405. In March, Intel released Celeron B810, the first, and so far the only one low budget mobile Sandy Bridge microprocessor.   [Full story]

Introduced in March 2010, Xeon 5600 family of server processors for dual-socket systems was refreshed in February of this year, bringing the total number of available models to more than 20. Specifications of these microprocessors are well known, and you can find them on our website or in the Intel ARK database. There are three Xeon 5600 CPUs that you won't find on Intel ARK site, though. One of them is a dual-core Xeon X5698, clocked at impressively high for x86 architecture 4.4 GHz. Two other SKUs, virtually unknown to public, are L5639 and X5679.   [Full story]

Xbit labs reported earlier this month about new AMD Fusion logo and sticker designs, coming out in mid-2011. In addition to these design changes, AMD will also introduce new hologram for boxed processors.   [Full story]

Intel published today Product Change Notification (PCN), which notified its customer about impending discontinuation of large number of CE 3100 media processors. The PCN document provides October 27, 2011 last order date, and January 27 last shipment date for 17 chips from CE 3100 family.   [Full story]

In the past few weeks there were several reports of upcoming Phenom II microprocessors, including quad-core 850 and 980 models, and dual-core 570. Today AMD published desktop processor roadmap for the second quarter of this year, which confirms imminent launch of these CPUs, and also shows a few soon to be released Athlon II SKUs.   [Full story]

Many AMD and Intel CPU pages now include "CPUID" or "CPUIDs" field, that lists all CPUIDs used by specific processor, as well as S-Spec numbers, associated with those IDs.

In January of this year, at Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Lenovo announced several G-series notebooks with AMD and Intel processors, including a few notebooks with the latest Sandy Bridge CPUs. One of these laptops, that hasn't been launched yet, is a G770 with 17.3" widescreen display, and up to Radeon HD 6650M graphics, 8 GB of RAM, and 750 GB HDD. There are a few things that make this notebook interesting for us. First, G770 datasheet (PDF file) references not-yet-released Core i3-2330M mobile microprocessor.   [Full story]

AMD 270 dual-core microprocessor with part number ADX270OCK23GM was supposed to launch in the 4 quarter 2010 along with two other Athlon II members, triple-core 455 and quad-core 650. One of these Athlons, X3 455, was indeed released in December as a retail processor. Two other parts, X2 270 and X4 650, eventually emerged in HP computers, so it was evident that these CPUs were released only for OEM market.   [Full story]

CPU-World home page now includes "Recent benchmarks" box in the right sidebar. The box displays links to up to 5 processors, which were benchmarked in the past two weeks. I think that displaying the links to recently benchmarked CPUs should be a good compromise between posting news about it, like I did long time ago, and not posting any information at all, like I did in the recent times.

Yesterday, XFastest published a roadmap of Sandy Bridge-E microprocessors, covering the rest of this year and the first half 2012. "Sandy Bridge-E" is a variation of Sandy Bridge core, used in the next generation of Core i7/i7 Extreme processors. According to the roadmap, there will be three new SKUs released in the 4th quarter 2011.   [Full story]

I've made two changes, that affect all "Benchmark" tab content on many CPU pages. "Show benchmarks" form, which was displayed in the right sidebar, was replaced by more compact pull-down menu, located at the top of the "Benchmarks" tab. Also, a list of benchmark results with meaningless numbers was removed from the "Benchmarks" tab. The tab now displays "compare with family/other CPUs" buttons, brief info on tested processor, and integer/floating-point/SSE graphs.

Since introduction of the first Sandy Bridge microprocessors from Core i5 and i7 families in January 2011, Intel released Sandy Bridge parts for most of its mobile families, but Pentium. Recently, Hewlett Packard updated specifications of HP 431 and HP 630 business laptops, revealing two forthcoming Pentium processors, B940 and B950.   [Full story]

Macles blog yesterday revealed upcoming AMD Fusion microprocessor with model number C-60, that will be launched in the third quarter 2011. The new C-series SKU is based on low-power "Ontario" core, and, consequentially, it boasts very low 9W Thermal Design Power.   [Full story]

Intel today introduced Oak Trail platform, aimed at tablets and other fanless mobile devices. The platform consists of Atom Z650 and Z670 "Lincroft" microprocessors, coupled with SM35 Express chipset, and supports several popular mobile operating systems, including Android, MeeGo and Windows.   [Full story]

JUMP TO CPU PAGE box, which is present on many pages in the "Information" section of the site, was changed to JUMP TO CPU / FAMILY. If you type partial manufacturer and/or family name into the box, it now displays a list of matching families before a list of matching processors. Click on the family name to jump to related page. The list of matching processors was also modified, and it now includes brief CPU specs. The look and feel of the pull-down menu was tweaked a bit. Some of these changes also apply to "Compare with..." processor selection field on all CPU pages. And, finally, I replaced all JUMP TO FAMILY boxes with JUMP TO CPU PAGE box, because it uses more current data, and provides more functionality using less screen space.

Intel Material Declaration Data Sheets (MDDS) database today revealed not-yet-released Core i7 microprocessor with box part number BX80613I7980, which correspond to processor number i7-980. Core i7 Extreme family already has i7-980X CPU with unlocked clock multiplier, although that SKU has slightly different box part number BX80613I7980X. Not only that, but the BX80613I7980 have different S-Spec and tray part numbers from the i7-980X, which leads us to believe that the new microprocessor will be have different feature set.   [Full story]

It's been a few days since the launch of Xeon E3-1200 family for entry-level workstations. At present, the E3 family is comprised of dual- and quad-core Sandy Bridge-based microprocessors, with clock frequencies maxed out at 3.5 GHz. Upcoming Xeon E3-1290 CPU will come with higher 3.6 GHz frequency, and have the same set of features as the current flagship E3-1280 model.   [Full story]

I've made many minor changes to CPU and S-Spec pages. Some on-page links, like "Compare with...", "Get HTML code", "Add comment", and a few others are now implemented as buttons. "Add comment" and "Add comment" links were also removed from the right sidebar, and renamed to "Post comment" and "Post picture" in the Pictures and Comments tabs. Design of "Get HTML code", "Link to this page", comment posting, and S-Spec/AMD stepping submission pages was updated in line with other site page.

With the launch of Sandy Bridge micro-architecture in January of this year, Intel is gradually updating their desktop families beginning from the most expensive ones. The first Sandy Bridge CPUs were introduced for Core i7 and Core i5 families, and more Core i3 SKUs were added in February. Pentium SB parts with processor numbers G620, G620T, G840 and G850 will be available this quarter. According to slides we've seen, Intel is going to launch three Celeron Sandy Bridge models G440, G530 and G540 in the third quarter.   [Full story]

Last Sunday Intel added 29 Xeon processor models to official price list. The new additions to Xeon family of server-class CPUs are comprised of four families: E3-1200 for one-way workstations and entry-level servers, E7-2800 for dual-processor servers, E7-4800 for up to 4-processor configurations, and E7-8800 for top-of-the-line servers with up to 8 CPU sockets.   [Full story]

Today Intel published Product Discontinuation Notifications (PDN) for Westmere Core i7 and Core i5 microprocessors from Calpella platform. According to these documents, 9 standard-, low- and ultra-low voltage consumer models will be end-of-lifed in the 4th quarter of this year.   [Full story]

Today, in a blog post titled "LLano APU is Shipping", AMD disclosed that they began shipments of production quad-core Llano microprocessors to OEM partners. AMD market these processors as "APU", or "Accelerated Processing Units", justifying the name by the fact that the chips include additional circuitry to accelerate certain operations.   [Full story]

As we already reported today, Intel updated price-list with new Xeon E3 microprocessors. In addition to that, 18 models from Xeon E7-2800, E7-4800 and E7-8800 families were added to the list. The specifications and April 4th introduction date of E7 CPUs were revealed in January of this year. It seems that the processors will be launched on time, unlike Xeon E3 family, that was delayed by one and half months.   [Full story]

Intel Xeon E3-1200 server processors for single-CPU workstations and entry-level servers were added today to official Intel price-list. This update confirms earlier reports of the Xeon E3 family launch, planned for the next week. The first details of the Intel E3-1200 microprocessors emerged last October, and, as we can tell from the brief specs in the price list, they stayed without changes. Xeon E3 launch date, though, was delayed by a few weeks due to a SATA ports defect, discovered in January in Series 6 "Cougar Point" chipsets.   [Full story]