There are two non-negotiables in building a PC these days: the cost of Intel silicon and the cost of the Windows license. You can play with everything else but Intel and Microsoft are going to get their share. Those two relatively fixed costs in the PC bill of materials can do one of two things: encourage OEMs to skimp on component cost elsewhere, or drive the entire ecosystem to supply higher quality components at lower prices. If you’ve been following the PC industry for the past decade, I think we’ve seen more of the former and less of the latter. Apple occupying the high-end of the notebook PC space has forced many OEMs to reconsider their approach, but that’s a more recent change. What AMD...
AT News Update: Centrino and Xeon 2004 Roadmaps
Does Pentium M excite you too? This week we have some upcoming information on the release schedule for Dothan, as well as Itanium 2 and Xeon release dates.
6 by Kristopher Kubicki on 3/13/2004AT News Update: Removing the MHz Myth, Again
With Dothan and Socket T on the way, Intel's newest marketing decision may be something right out of AMD's playbook.
31 by Kristopher Kubicki on 3/12/2004AT News Update: Athlon 64 name revisions
Or how I learned to stop worrying and let AMD change the rating on its upcoming Socket 939 processors. Updated roadmaps inside.
12 by Kristopher Kubicki on 3/3/2004AT News Update: Grantsdale's Memory Strategies
Our sources say the DDR2 transition won't be as clear cut Intel would like it to be....
16 by Kristopher Kubicki on 2/27/2004PCI Speed and Overclocking: A Closer Look at A64 and P4 Chipsets
One of the more contentious areas in Athlon 64 reviews is whether the PCI/AGP bus is really locked when you increase the CPU speed. This is also a...
26 by Wesley Fink on 2/16/2004Intel 3.2E vs. 3.2EE vs. 3.2C: Comparing Baseline Performance
The 3.2E Prescott brings the number of Intel 3.2GHz processors to 3. We compare the performance of the three 3.2 CPUs on our reference Asus P4C800-E using our...
19 by Wesley Fink on 2/12/2004SiS offers DDR2-800, PCI Express and no AGP in 2004
Unveiled: SiS' plans for 2004
8 by Anand Lal Shimpi on 2/6/2004Intel's Pentium 4 E: Prescott Arrives with Luggage
Intel's first 90nm processor is here and after delays and much waiting, we're getting much more than we bargained for. If you thought this chip was just a...
103 by Anand Lal Shimpi & Derek Wilson on 2/1/2004VIA Picks up the Pieces: AGP <b><i>and</b></i> PCI Express on 2004 Roadmap
VIA's 2004 chipset roadmap reveals plans to lengthen the PCI Express transition...
11 by Anand Lal Shimpi on 1/31/2004Intel Chipsets to Lack AGP Support?
Another look at Intel's roadmaps reveal that 925X and 915 (Alderwood and Grantsdale) may lack AGP support in an attempt to move to PCI Express right away.
37 by Anand Lal Shimpi on 1/30/2004Intel 2004 CPU/Chipset Roadmap Update
Ask and you shall receive, we brought you information about AMD's 2004 Roadmap in a concise package and now after hearing your requests we've done the same for Intel's CPUs...
20 by Anand Lal Shimpi, Kris Kubicki and Wesley Fink on 1/21/2004AMD 2004 CPU Roadmap Update
AMD's roadmap can be a bit confusing, so we put together a quick one-pager to help clear things up...
60 by Anand Lal Shimpi on 1/13/2004Athlon64 3400+: Part 2
AMD has been busy the last few weeks. First came the 3000+, which established a new lower price point for the Athlon64 family. Then, AMD announced their...
20 by Wesley Fink on 1/12/2004Covert Ops in Taiwan - Intel Tejas & Socket 775 Unveiled
While we're off in Vegas a very good friend of ours got us some pictures and information about the successor to Intel's Prescott - codenamed Tejas and Intel's new...
27 by Anand Lal Shimpi on 1/9/2004AMD's Athlon 64 3400+: Death of the FX-51
AMD's Athlon 64 FX-51 had a very short lived life, the final nail in its coffin being the Athlon 64 3400+ at around half its price and offering all...
38 by Anand Lal Shimpi on 1/6/2004Athlon64 3000+: 64-bit at Half the Price
AMD gives us a Christmas present with the early release of the Athlon64 3000+. The operating speed is the same as the 3200+, but cache is reduced...
74 by Wesley Fink on 12/22/2003Budget CPU Shootout: Clash of the 'rons
Both AMD and Intel offer a large selection of budget CPUs. With the holiday season upon us, we take a look at 10 processors for less than $100. What...
97 by Derek Wilson on 12/4/2003SiS755 Reference Board: Athlon64 from SiS
SiS introduces a new Athlon 64 chipset with both 800 HyperTransport speed and AGP/PCI lock. This combination of features is not available from either VIA or nForce3-150. ...
14 by Wesley Fink on 11/23/2003AMD Athlon 64 & Athlon 64 FX - It's Judgment Day
Since February 2002 we've been waiting and today, AMD has finally given us the Athlon 64. How does it compare to the Pentium 4 and the new Extreme...
121 by Anand Lal Shimpi on 9/23/2003Athlon64 Preview: nForce3 at 2.0GHz
With the Athlon64 launch just a few weeks away, we take a look at how Athlon64 will likely perform. Does AMD have another winner?
79 by Wesley Fink on 9/4/2003