StarCraft II only takes advantage of dual cores

StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty has now been available via digital distribution servers. StarCraft II marks the return of the three races from the original game: Protoss, Terran, and Zerg. This first installment only features the Terran campaign, with two planned expansion packs “Heart of the Swarm” and “Legacy of the Void” which will allow gamers to play the Zerg and Protoss campaigns.

The bad news is StarCraft II only takes advantage of dual cores, but still processing power plays a major role in this game. For example, the Core i3 540 processor only has half the L3 cache of the Core i5 750 and this makes the latter 27% faster when comparing the clock for clock data at 3.70GHz.


The extra threads of the Core i7 920 processor are no advantage when compared to the Core i5 750 in this game, but the additional memory capacity and bandwidth is. The Core i7 920 was 11% faster when comparing the clock for clock data at 3.70GHz which is quite significant.


An older processor like the Core 2 Quad Q6600 suffers compared to the other CPUs tested, serving as a bottleneck to a high-end GPU such as the GeForce GTX 480. The Phenom II processors delivered average performance and we saw no real difference between the Phenom II X2 (dual-core) and Phenom II X4 (quad-core processors).

It is a shame that StarCraft II can only utilize two cores, as this really hurts older quad-core processors such as the Core 2 Quad Q6600. Furthermore this will also mean that those with budget quad-core processors, such as the Athlon II X4, will also suffer.

AMD considering its own USB 3.0 implementation

AMD is getting ready to sign a deal with Renesas that will give AMD access to Renesas USB 3.0 implementation. This would allow AMD to quickly implement a stable USB 3.0 solution into its chipsets without having to spend time and money on developing its own solution and more importantly, software stack.

We’re hearing reports of Renesas competitors having problems with their software stacks and this is why we’re still waiting for all but Fresco Logic to get their products approved by the USBIF. If this rumour proves to be true, then it means that AMD has had enough of Intel’s silly game and decided to move forward without the blessing of Intel’s xHCI spec.

Digitimes claim that the first chipset from AMD to incorporate USB 3.0 support should be the Hudson D1 southbridge which is meant to go with AMD’s upcoming Ontario APUs which are set to launch sometime in the fourth quarter. This also means that we’ll see USB 3.0 from AMD on its notebook platform first, rather than its desktop platform which is usually the case for new technologies like this.

We’re starting to wonder how much Intel’s xHCI spec really matters, especially as Intel is in no hurry to launch its own USB 3.0 supporting chipset. NEC must also be kicking itself for selling off the NEC Electronics division to Renesas, as from what we’ve been told, NEC only expected USB 3.0 to be profitable for about six months or so before it got integrated into chipsets. Now it looks like this time period might well extend over two years or longer when it comes to Intel chipsets, as we have yet to hear or see anything that suggests that Intel will add USB 3.0 support to its chipsets over the next twelve months.

AMD Technology Helps Bring “Predators” To Life on the Big Screen

Troublemaker Studios utilized Six-Core AMD Opteron™ processors and ATI FirePro™ graphics accelerators to create animations and special effects for the new film “Predators”, now in theaters. Produced and executive directed by acclaimed film maker, Robert Rodriquez, Predators stars Academy Award winning actor Adrien Brody in a tale about a group of elite warriors who come to realize they’ve been brought together on an alien planet…as prey.

With a long history in the movie making industry, Troublemaker Studios is using AMD technology to push the envelope of digital movie making and special effects in several blockbuster films.

In addition to “Predators”, Rodriguez has looked to AMD technology to create six of his movies, including “Shorts”, “Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams”, “Spy Kids 3D: Game Over”, “Planet Terror”, and “Sin City”.

Rodriguez’s next film, “Machete”, is currently in production employing AMD technology as the movie’s digital hardware backbone, and is expected to be released on September 3, 2010.

The creative team at Rodriguez’s Troublemaker Studios use workstations based upon AMD’s superior ATI FirePro V8800 graphics solutions and Six-Core AMD Opteron processors which enable the digital artist to create and iterate at the speed of thought.”

“With the AMD platforms, my creative team has the freedom to quickly design and animate all the required concepts and designs,” said Robert Rodriguez, Troublemaker Studios. “AMD’s complete platform solution helps turn our visions into reality – we can easily and quickly manipulate images or scenes without the wait process previously associated with computer technology.”