The Phenom for December The HD-DVD increases to 51 GB! OCZ: 1st with XMP for the X38 Intel & AMD: all in 300mm The RV620 and RV635 for January

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The Phenom for December   Posted on 12/09/2007 at 15:02 by Marc

	It’s now AMD that has given us the real release date for its next desktop processors, the Phenom. In its presentation devoted to the release of the Quad-Core Opteron, they state they are expected in December. So this puts to an end the various rumors. In June, while there was mention of a launch in November, some motherboard manufacturers then put forth a potential release for the beginning of 2008. Now we will just have to see which models this will apply to.

The HD-DVD increases to 51 GB!   Posted on 12/09/2007 at 00:10 by Nicolas - source: screendigest

	The DVD Forum, whose members include Hitachi, Time Warner, Mitsubishi, Pioneer, and Philips, has approved the standard proposed by another member, Toshiba, last April concerning triple layer HD-DVDs whose capacity will now attain 51 GB. While the HD-DVD will now be better able to compete with Blu-Ray, the rival format which can go as high as 50 GB on two layers, there are still a certain number of unanswered questions related to the compatibility of this large capacity media with existing HD-DVD players and their costs compared to double layer Blu-Ray discs. Otherwise, a hybrid disc format, a triple layer HD-DVD/DVD, should be approved before the end of the year. The DVD layer will be able to be read by simple players that use this aging standard.

OCZ: 1st with XMP for the X38   Posted on 12/09/2007 at 00:06 by Nicolas

	OCZ has announced modules of 1 GB of DDR3-1600, baptized the PC3-12800 Intel XMP Ready Titanium Edition. While the voltage is normally 1.8 volts and can even go as high as 1.95 without endangering the lifetime warranty, two XMP profiles will be possible: one with latencies of 8-8-8 and another more aggressive one at 7-6-6. Of course, it will be necessary to install the modules on a motherboard equipped with an Intel X38 chipset to readily use these profiles. Sold separately under the reference OCZ3T1600XM1G or OCZ3T1600XM2GK for the 2X 1GB kit, they will be available in the near future. The only thing is between Nvidia’s SLI Memory and Intel’s Extreme Memory, we would have more preferred a JEDEC standardization of an eventual « SPD+ ».

Intel & AMD: all in 300mm   Posted on 12/09/2007 at 00:04 by Nicolas

	In the company of Chinese officials, Craig Barrett, Intel’s Chairman of the Board, was on hand for the groundbreaking ceremony at the future Fab 68 in Dalian site. This will be a factory capable of producing chips on 300mm silicon wafers, but there is no precise information on the size of the engraving process. The first chipsets should come off production lines in 2010. This project should be seen in the context of two larger areas. On the one hand, the Californian giant will work with Dalian University of Technology and local authorities to create the Semiconductor Technology Institute which will notably receive a production line conceived for 200mm wafers from Intel. This will enable members of the new entity to familiarize themselves with the latest processes. On the other hand, Intel will continue to develop 300mm factories throughout the world. There is the Fab 11x in New Mexico equipped for 45nm, as well as the D1D in Oregon. Finally, the ones in Chandler, Arizona and in Kiryat Gat, Israel should be operational starting next year. For its part, AMD which already has the Fab 36 in Dresden for 65nm engraving on 300mm wafers, according to fabtech, they have now started the conversion of the adjacent Fab 30 which currently produces 90 nm processors on 200mm wafers. Once the work it finished, the factory will be renamed Fab 38 and like its neighbor will concentrate on 65nm with 300mm wafers. While it is reassuring to see AMD continue to invest in its production capacity (though slightly aided by the German government), it still is a length behind the competition.

The RV620 and RV635 for January   Posted on 12/09/2007 at 00:01 by Nicolas

	According to information obtained by Digitimes from graphic card manufacturers, AMD will soon offer two new GPUs, the RV620 and RV635. Engraved in 55nm and set at frequencies as high as 800 MHz, they should benefit from the PCI-Express 2.0 interface and support the Shader Model 4.1 (and therefore DirectX 10.1). In addition, there will be DisplayPort output. This recent invention, upon which ATI seems to be advancing quickly, will theoretically be the main innovation apart from the obvious reduction in cost related to the smaller engraving process. Actually, this will simply be an update of the RV610 and RV630, which respectively equip the Radeon HD 2400 and 2600. The Radeon HD 2600 XT is already set at 800 MHz and is not limited by the PCI-Express 1.0 interface, and Shader Model 4.1 support will be neither revolutionary nor totally devoid of interest. Moreover, AMD’s graphic division intends that these new GPUs be able to use the same PCBs as their predecessors and, as was also the case, Pro and XT versions are planned. If everything goes well, partners should receive EVT (engineering validation test) samples starting next month in order that cards can be available in January.