The latest version of Intel's Media SDK open sourced a key component of the QuickSync pipeline that would allow the open source community to begin to integrate QuickSync into their applications (if you're not familiar with QS, it's Intel's hardware accelerated video transcode engine included in most modern Core processors). I mentioned this open source victory back at CES this year, and today the HandBrake team is officially announcing support for QuickSync. The support has been in testing for a while, but the HandBrake folks say that they expect to get comparable speedups to other QuickSync enabled applications. No word on exactly when we'll see an official build of HandBrake with QuickSync support, although I fully expect Intel to want to have something neat to...
Eagle Ridge: The Cheaper, (optionally) Smaller Thunderbolt Controller
If you've seen any of the new Thunderbolt Macs torn apart you will recognize the piece of silicon above. That flip-chip package is Intel's first Thunderbolt controller, codename: Light...
20 by Anand Lal Shimpi on 7/28/2011
Sandy Bridge Memory Scaling: Choosing the Best DDR3
Intel's Second Generation Core processors, based on the Sandy Bridge architecture, include a number of improvements over the previous generation's Nehalem architecture. We’ll be testing one specific area today...
76 by Jared Bell on 7/25/2011
Details on AMD Bulldozer: Opterons to Feature Configurable TDP
AMD’s new Bulldozer-based CPUs are just around the corner. AMD has said the release of Zambezi CPUs will happen in Q3, which means any time from now. The latest...
62 by Johan De Gelas & Kristian Vättö on 7/15/2011
AMD A8-3850 : An HTPC Perspective
Today is all about Lynx, the desktop version of the Llano platform from AMD. Anand is reviewing the A8-3850 from a generic PC perspective, and Ian is covering its...
107 by Ganesh T S on 6/30/2011
The AMD A8-3850 Review: Llano on the Desktop
Ever since the arrival of Conroe back in 2006, we've only really recommended AMD for its (sometimes incredible) value. Recommending AMD for those looking for absolute performance pretty much...
100 by Anand Lal Shimpi on 6/30/2011
The Llano Desktop Preview: AMD A8-3850 CPU & GPU Performance
If you haven't gotten the hint, today is all about Llano. The big story is of course Llano's notebook appearance; however, in the coming weeks you'll be hearing a...
134 by Anand Lal Shimpi on 6/14/2011
Windows 8 on AMD, Intel, NVIDIA, Qualcomm & TI: Let the Race Begin
I'm in the audience of Microsoft's Partner Preview for Computex 2011, basically an event to give a sneak peak of the future of Windows to press and MS partners...
32 by Anand Lal Shimpi on 6/1/2011
The Brazos Update: AMD's E-450
At Computex there are a few systems floating around with an updated version of AMD's Brazos platform. The E-350 we reviewed not too long ago featured two Bobcat cores...
33 by Anand Lal Shimpi on 6/1/2011
Correction: Ivy Bridge and Thunderbolt - Featured, not Integrated
Intel just emailed me to clarify a point from its Ivy Bridge presentation on Tuesday. While USB 3.0 will finally be integrated into the chipset, Thunderbolt will not. Intel...
20 by Anand Lal Shimpi on 6/1/2011
Computex 2011: AMD Announces Bobcat-based Z Series APUs for Tablet Market
While AMD does not have a true SoC to combat the likes of Intel, NVIDIA, and ARM, this doesn’t mean they’re completely ignoring the market for the type of...
8 by Ryan Smith on 6/1/2011
Computex 2011: AMD Bulldozer, Llano, Trinity, & New VISION Branding
AMD’s Computex 2011 conference just wrapped up. Computex is not AMD’s traditional grounds for major new announcements – they’d rather have their own events for that – but alongside...
26 by Ryan Smith on 6/1/2011
A Quick Look at a 22nm Ivy Bridge Wafer
Just before a couple of key Ivy Bridge disclosures, Mooly Eden held up a wafer of 22nm Ivy Bridge CPUs. Presumably these are quad-core versions with 16 EUs, the...
31 by Anand Lal Shimpi on 5/31/2011
Computex 2011: Intel Mentions Haswell Will Support "Multiple OSes", But Why?
I hate that I didn't pull my camera out quickly enough to catch this slide, but Intel's Mooly Eden just mentioned an interesting feature of Haswell. He stated that...
31 by Anand Lal Shimpi on 5/31/2011
Ivy Bridge: A Tick+ With Configurable TDP
With Turbo boost and power gating we took a step towards configurable CPUs. It didn't matter whether you needed one core or four, with power gating and turbo you...
18 by Anand Lal Shimpi on 5/31/2011
Intel Integrates USB 3.0 into Ivy Bridge Platform, Thunderbolt Optional
We knew about the first feature on this list (USB 3.0) would come with Ivy Bridge's 7-series chipset, but the second one was something I just heard about today...
26 by Anand Lal Shimpi on 5/31/2011
Computex 2011: Intel's Thin miniITX Sandy Bridge Platform
Intel's Mooly Eden just showed off its new thin mini ITX Sandy Bridge platform. The form factor is a standard mini ITX but with a low profile backplane so...
11 by Anand Lal Shimpi on 5/31/2011
The Ultrabook: Meet the New Thin and Light Intel Notebook
It's too cliché to proclaim netbooks are dead. Perhaps the appropriate phrase is netbooks are no longer interesting to write about, but they do have a roadmap going forward...
36 by Anand Lal Shimpi on 5/31/2011
Intel’s 2011 Investor Meeting - Intel’s Architecture Group: 14nm Airmont Atom In 2014
Today Intel is holding their annual investors meeting at their Santa Clara headquarters. In true Intel fashion it’s being treated as a big event (ed: it’s so big they...
63 by Ryan Smith on 5/17/2011
Intel's Silvermont: A New Atom Architecture
Brooke Crothers broke a very important story today - he published the name Silvermont. Atom's first incarnation came to us in 2008 as a Pentium-like dual-issue in-order microprocessor. The...
53 by Anand Lal Shimpi on 5/12/2011
VIA's QuadCore: Nano Gets Bigger
Two days ago I flew out to VIA's Centaur headquarters in Austin, Texas to be briefed on a new CPU. When I wrote about VIA's Dual-Core Nano I expected...
36 by Anand Lal Shimpi on 5/12/2011