A bevy of new desktop processors arrives
AMD and Intel have deluged us with new CPUs. The result? An enormous roundup of 26 different types of processors, including five brand-new ones. We've poked, prodded, tested for performance, measured power efficiency, overclocked, and considered the value propositions for CPUs from $87 to $999. Read more...
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Last by blockhead at 8:54 PM on 06/20/09
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AMD's 'Istanbul' six-core Opteron processors
The new "Istanbul" Opteron packs six cores into a single chip, which makes it the fastest, most power-efficient Opteron yet. But can it match Intel's formidable Nehalem Xeons? The answer might surprise you in more ways than one. Read more...
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Last by pluscard at 9:35 PM on 06/13/09 -
GlobalFoundries gears up
Last week, we traveled to the offices of GlobalFoundries to meet with the firm's executives and to understand their plans for the newly minted chip foundry created by the spin-off of AMD's manufacturing division. Read more...
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Last by moritzgedig at 4:06 AM on 05/12/09 -
AMD's Phenom II X4 955 processor
With the introduction of the Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition, AMD matches its world record for longest CPU name. Even better, this is the fastest desktop CPU the company has ever produced, and it goes toe to toe with one of Intel's best Core 2 Quad processors. Read more...
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Last by ish718 at 8:26 AM on 04/30/09 -
Intel's Xeon W5580 processors
Intel's Nehalem-based Xeons are finally here, and they've left us gasping for air. This may well be the largest performance jump from one CPU generation to the next that we've ever seen. The downside? We're still looking for one. Read more...
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Last by Sunburn74 at 7:26 PM on 04/06/09 -
A fresh look at processor value
17 processors. 22 benchmarks. 64 graphs. One epic study of how some of today's most popular enthusiast processors compare in terms of performance per dollar. Read more...
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Last by lycium at 10:42 PM on 03/28/09 -
AMD puts on the ritz with six-core Opteron demo
How does 24 cores in Task Manager sound? We saw it happen when AMD gave us an exclusive first demo of its upcoming six-core Opteron in action. Could this be the answer to Nehalem that AMD needs? Read more...
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Last by pogsnet at 6:12 PM on 03/02/09 -
AMD's Socket AM3 Phenom II processors
The latest processors from AMD add support for DDR3 memory and come in more affordable triple- and quad-core flavors. We like one of them quite well. Which one? And how does DDR3 memory affect performance? Keep reading for the answers. Read more...
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Last by ish718 at 8:40 PM on 02/26/09 -
AMD's Phenom II processors
Little more than a year after the introduction of the original Phenom, the Phenom II has arrived with more of everything good--cache, clock speeds, features, and performance--and less of everything bad, including power consumption. But is it enough to put AMD back in the game? Read more...
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Last by dpaus at 11:18 AM on 01/29/09 -
A closer look at the Core i7-940
We first tested a "simulated" Core i7-940 by underclocking a Core i7-965 Extreme, but we missed a couple of the "uncore" clocks, including the one that governs the L3 cache. Just how much do those clocks affect performance, and how does a real Core i7-940 perform? Read more...
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Last by henfactor at 5:12 PM on 12/22/08 -
Exploring the impact of memory speed on Core i7 performance
The Core i7's triple-channel DDR3 memory controller offers mind-boggling peak theoretical bandwidth, but does the CPU need fancy DIMMs to excel? Join us as we explore the performance impact of memory bus speed, latencies, and even the number of channels on a couple of Core i7 processors. Read more...
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Last by moshpit at 4:12 PM on 03/06/09 -
AMD's 'Shanghai' 45nm Opterons
With higher clock speeds, lower power consumption, more cache, and a multitude of tweaks, the "Shanghai" Opterons aim to restore AMD's competitiveness in the server and workstation worlds. But are they good enough to match Intel's 45nm Xeons? Read more...
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Last by moose17145 at 1:47 PM on 12/05/08 -
Intel's Core i7 processors
Core i7 processors have secretly been shattering records in Damage Labs for the past few weeks. Now we can tell all. Read on for the low-down on Intel's new system architecture and CPU. Read more...
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Last by Azmount at 2:11 AM on 12/05/08 -
Live blog from Justin Rattner's R&D keynote at IDF
Peek in on us as we peek in on Intel's research and development horizons—live from IDF San Francisco. Read more...
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Last by bfellow at 3:34 PM on 08/25/08 - More features...
