GPU: hign end and middle line dominate X-Fi Auzentech daughterboards Preview of the after Bearlake Core 2E QX6850: FSB 1333MHz & 3GHz

Avril 2007 L M M J V S D 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 You can read previous news using our archives. [ Print all news of this day ]

<< Previous day's news April 12, 2007

Next day of news >> April 17, 2007

GPU: hign end and middle line dominate   Posted on 16/04/2007 at 23:03 by Nicolas - source: X-bit labs

	Jon Peddie Research has published a report regarding the segmentation of graphic card market shares for the fourth quarter 2006. These figures (the incomes are expressed in million) show that the segment of graphic cards priced $150 to $249 represents the majority of sales with 63.70% units sold and 72.75% incomes. The average price of a card, $245.15 is quite high. Unsurprisingly, it is followed by the Mainstream card segment ($80 to $149). However, if the latter represents 22.5% of discrete card sales, the incomes of this segment are only of 13.63%. Finally, we have noted the counter performance of the value segment a 3.16%. Some might be surprised by the very small gap ($3.85) between the average prices of the performance segment compared to the above one. We know that this company is specialized in financial studies but these reports would most probably gain in interest if the segmentation was modified to take into consideration the evolutions of the market during the past few years.

X-Fi Auzentech daughterboards   Posted on 16/04/2007 at 21:29 by Nicolas - source: Auzentech

	Apparently concerned about the inexorable erosion of soundcard sales because of the growing competition of integrated circuits, Creative has authorized the production and commercialization by a tierce company, Auzentech, of soundcards featuring an X-Fi chip. Up until today, Creative controlled the entire production chain from the conception of the chip to the commercialization of the card except for the occasional arrangements for a few high end motherboards. This more open strategy has been a success for other markets such as the graphic cards even if recently the tendency has been slightly reversed mostly because of technical rather than commercial reasons. Today, the reasons of this choice aren't always that clear. The release of the Auzen X-Fi Prelude 7.1 is scheduled for May. The support of the EAX 5.0 is of course included and the manufacturer announced that real time Dolby Digital Live encoding will be added during the fourth quarter 2007. If the change in the attitude of the father of the Sound Blaster is a good thing, we hope that it will go along with an extended support of existing products and better prices.

Preview of the after Bearlake   Posted on 16/04/2007 at 20:48 by Nicolas - source: HKEPC

	The successors of the future X38, P35 and G33 and their principal characteristics are already available. Scheduled to be released during the second quarter 2008, the whole family of Eaglelake chipsets will support the DDR3-1333 and PCI-Express 2.0 (this year, the exclusivity of this support will be for the X38). The support of the DDR2-800 will be maintained, the FSB frequency will stagnate at 1333 MHz and they will be coupled to an ICH 10. Two versions are currently scheduled: the EagleLake-P and EagleLake-G. The latter integrates a graphic circuit and if its predecessor, the G35, won't probably support the HDMI interface, it will be the case of the EagleLake-G. The Display Port will also apparently be supported. Another possible improvement is Clear Video. This technology will improve the reading of HD-DVD and Blu-Ray movies. Now, we have hope that Intel won't reduce the specification of these IGP just before their official announcement as it recently did with other products.

Core 2E QX6850: FSB 1333MHz & 3GHz   Posted on 16/04/2007 at 20:15 by Nicolas - source: HKEPC

	To accompany the release of the X38 Express (Bearlake-X) chipsets, Intel is currently working on the Core2 Extreme QX6850, a processor scheduled to be released in Q3. Also based on the Kentsfield core (quad cores), it mostly singles out from the QX6800 because of the FSB of 1333MHz and the cores clocked at 3 GHZ. The TDP and price are unchanged at 130 Watts and $999. The reason of the similar price is probably the small foreseeable performance gap.