Tag: CPU
ARM's Cortex-A7 CPU will improve smartphone battery life
Chip makers ARM have introduced the new Cortex-A7 processor, claiming it's so efficient that it can boost smartphone battery life considerably. Built using a 28nm process, entry-level smartphones will see the biggest improvements, with ARM boasting that cheaper smartphones may…
Intel to supply Nokia with mobile chips
Intel has reportedly struck a deal with Nokia to supply processors for the mobile phone giant. The arrangement would be a major coup for Intel who dominate the computer processor market but who have struggled to make an impact in the mobile phone market.
Intel’s Atom Processor, which is a low powered version of their x86 chip and is currently popular in the netbook market, is rumoured to be the chip that will be used. It will have to be lower powered than it currently is but if it proves successful it will come as a relief to the organisation who, in 2006, scrapped a $5billion investment into mobile chips as they thought they had missed the boat.
Most Nokia releases currently come with chips made by Texas, Qualcomm or Freescale. The single CPU, 434 MHz, ARM11 chip that powers Nokia’s latest flagship smartphone – the N97 – has faced early criticism for being sluggish.
This partnership could prove monumental in terms of the future of mobile phone development. Nokia are the world’s biggest manufacturer of mobile phones and Intel are the clear leaders in terms of CPU production. You do the math…s.
This deal should be confirmed later on today, so be sure to check back later for any updates.
(via Bloomberg)
Atom hits 2GHz with the Intel Z550
Intel has broken the 2GHz barrier with their Atom Z550 CPU announced earlier today. The chip-type, made famous by the netbook and other UMPCs, will support Intel’s Hyperthreading technology and run up to 2GB of 533MHz DDR2 RAM.
The new hardware was shown off today in a conference in Beijing. It coincides with the first birthday of the Atom and this latest incarnation continues in the same mould by supplying the processing power at just 3W. Obviously a busy day for Intel.
(via Bit-Tech)
Graphics cards are much better than CPUs at cracking Wi-Fi passwords
There’s a lot of software out there for cracking wireless passwords, and most of it’s legal. Why? Because it’s sold as a way for network administrators to ‘test’ their network’s security. Of course, there’s nothing to stop you ‘testing’ a network that you don’t own, in a coffee shop or airport, for example.
Most cracking programs use your PC’s CPU to do the hardcore number-crunching, but it turns out that the graphics card is actually far better at doing the kinds of calculations necessary. How good? Well, an above average quad-core CPU, the Intel Q6600 can only accomplish 1,100 passwords per second, whereas a similarly above-average ATI HD4870 graphics card can smash through 15,750 passwords per seconds.
Who woulda thunk it? Luckily, we might be seeing some of this power hit regular programs too, with Nvidia’s CUDA, ATI’s Stream, and Apple’s OpenCL frameworks. The graphics card isn’t best at every type of calculation, but if a program can intelligently route calculations to their fastest solver, then we could see blazing program speed increases in the near future.
(via HotHardware)
Related posts: Lightbulbs to replace Wi-Fi? | Another wi-fi detecting thing – this time it’s a SHOE
Freescale Semiconductor planning 1GHz, low-power netbook chip
At CES this week, chip makers Freescale Semiconductor will be launching a ARM chip architecture-based i.MX51 processor, that Freescale reckon could bring about $199 (£140ish) 1GHz netbooks. It’ll be a competitor to Intel’s Atom chip, which powers many of the netbooks in the market today.
However, Freescale don’t see themselves as competing with Intel, because their product is targeted at the lower end of the market, with machines running Linux rather than Windows XP. You’ll start to see machines with these chips in entering production towards the middle of the year, and showing up to buy in time for Christmas 2009.
Freescale Semiconductor (via Cnet)
Related posts: Intel chip roadmap emerges, “Medfield” and “Pineview” promised | Intel’s Xeons: faster, more eco-friendly quad core chips on the loose
Intel chip roadmap emerges, "Medfield" and "Pineview" promised
Exciting news from the world of processors! Open the champagne, because the details have turned up about Intel’s forthcoming processors. There’s the “Medfield”, and the “Pineview”, not to be confused with residential homes for the elderly.
The Pineview is expected to be a full “System-on-a-chip”, where all the functions of the PC – the memory controller, I/O, graphics chip, etc, are all on one chip. There are dual-core and single-core versions, and it’ll be built from a 45nm process, just like Intel’s current little champ, the Atom, which powers most netbooks in the market today.
The Medfield will take the same system-on-a-chip approach, but will be built from a 32nm process. It’s expected sometime in 2010, and will be preceded by the Pineview, which is due in 2009. Intel has confirmed that “Medfield” is an Intel codename, but won’t say any more than that.
Intel (via vnunet)
Related posts: Intel’s Xeons: faster, more eco-friendly quad core chips on the loose | Dual core Atom chip in the works at Intel
Dual core Atom chip in the works at Intel
The Atom chip is a low-power chip that powers the vast majority of the rapidly expanding netbook market of tiny, cheap computers, and Intel have just announced the arrival of a dual-core version…
AMD announces triple core Phenom processors
Yes, I know that we’re already looking at quad core processors and beyond, but AMD hopes that its Phenom triple core offering will encourage the mainstream adoption of processors more powerful than the popular dual core chips, without breaking the bank.
The new Phenom X3 models include the 2.1GHz 8400, 2.3GHz 8600, 2.1GHz 8450, 2.3GHz 8650, and 2.4GHz 8750, arriving over the coming months…
AMD gets in on the 45nm scene – announces "Shanghai" and "Deneb" Quad-Cores for 2008
In an incredibly unsurprising development at CeBIT 2008, a computer company has announced it’s making something smaller yet also simultaneously more powerful.
It’s AMD’s turn to rewrite the laws of physics, thanks to its two new 45nm Quad-Core processors which the company has given the rather mystical and alluring codenames of “Shanghai” and “Deneb.”
Both are quad-core for ultimate power, both 45nm for extra smallness
