Seagate Cuts Warranty Even Further

Seagate had just sent a letter to authorized distributors where they've said:

Effective December 31, 2011, Seagate will be changing its warranty policy from a 5 year to a 3 year warranty period for Nearline drives, 5 years to 1 year for certain Desktop and Notebook Bare Drives, 5 years to 3 years on Barracuda XT and Momentus XT, and from as much as 5 years to 2 years on Consumer Electronics.

The details on the new warranty periods are as follows:

Constellation 2 and ES.2 drives: 3 years
Barracuda and Barracuda Green 3.5-inch drives: 1 year
Barracuda XT: 3 years
Momentus 2.5-inch (5400 and 7200rpm): 1 year
Momentus XT: 3 years
SV35 Series - Video Surveillance: 2 years
Pipeline HD Mini, Pipeline HD: 2 years

Seagate stated that they are standardizing warranty "to be more consistent with those commonly applied throughout the consumer electronics and technology industries. By aligning to current industry standards Seagate can continue to focus its investments on technology innovation and unique product features that drive value for our customers rather than holding long-term reserves for warranty returns".

Western Digital Cuts Warranty

Western Digital sent out a letter to its channel partners informing them that Caviar Blue, Caviar Green, and Scorpio Blue drives will have their warranties slashed from three years to two years. Caviar Black and Scorpio Black will remain unaffected.

Channel partners have received a letter from SelectWD about this:

This new warranty policy will be effective for drives shipped from January 2nd, 2012. It is important that you take a moment to update your website(s) and collateral to reflect this change for effected drives shipped after January 1st, 2012.

All drives shipped to distributors prior to Jan. 2nd 2012 will retain the current warranty terms. Because of existing inventory in the distribution channel there will be a short period of time when some drives with a 3-year warranty will be sold at the same time as drives with a 2-year warranty.

If you have any doubt about the warranty of a drive you purchased, you can go to support.wdc.com, select Warranty and RMA Services and proceed to the Warranty Check page.

The letter goes on to say "In the near future we will be unveiling an extended warranty offering with special pricing." At this time, there's no explanation why WD is reducing its warranty term.

AMD and nVidia Refresh Mainstream Mobile GPUs

AMD and nVidia have both introduced their next-generation mobility GPUs, the Radeon HD 7000M and GeForce 600M, but initially only for mainstream.

AMD refreshes include Radeon HD 7600M, 7500M and 7400M. The HD 7400M series is based on the same Seymour XT chip powering HD 6400M. The same applies for HD 7600M, based on Whistler, which powered HD 6600M/6700M. However, in both cases, the HD 7000M parts should end up faster due to higher clocks. HD 7600M should end up performing more like HD 6700M. HD 7500M is now based on 480SP Whistler, over 400SP Capilano for the HD 6500M, and also introducing GDDR5 memory with a 64-bit memory bus. However, some SKUs in the HD 7500M series will continue to utilize DDR3.

nVidia's new products include GeForce GT 635M, GT 630M and 610M. There are no changes whatsoever and are direct rebrands of GeForce 500M GPUs. The GT 635M replaces all the variants of GT 555M, GT 540M is rebranded as GT 630M and GeForce 520MX is now GeForce 610M.

Those new GPUs are still manufactured with TSMC 40nm fab process. The true next-gen with 28nm will most likely find its way as HD 7700M, 7800M and 7900M, as well as GT 635M to GTX 690M, in 2012.

AMD Apologize for Incorrect Bulldozer Transistor Count

The company initially told everyone in the press, that Bulldozer/Zambezi chips were made up of two billion transistors. It turns out that the transistor count number AMD supplied to the press was incorrect. Today AMD made following statements:

We always strive to be proactive and open. Last week, AMD confirmed the transistor count in the AMD FX CPU line-up at 1.2 billion, a correction from the earlier count of 2 billion. The earlier figure of 2 billion transistors was unfortunately shared in error. This correction is not the result of a new revision to the Bulldozer design. The correct count of 1.2 billion applies to all recently introduced 8-core AMD processors that are based on the new Bulldozer core – AMD FX family of desktop CPUs and AMD Opteron™ family of server and HPC processors. We apologize for the confusion.

AMD Memory Goes Worldwide

In August, AMD introduced Radeon-branded memory modules and is running a test in Japan market. Looks like the results of that test were successful, since the company is coming with the whole product line globally.


AMD partnered with Patriot Memory to bring this type of products to the global market, while VisionTek is selected to be the North American retail partner. AMD will offer three lines of system memory, all in 2GB, 4GB and 8GB capacities: "Entertainment Edition", "Performance Edition" and "Radeon Edition". The line is fairly standard - DDR3-1333, DDR3-1600 and DDR3-1866.


DDR3L is making an appearance inside the "Performance Edition" with modules operating at 1.35V, while "Radeon Edition" operates at 1.5-1.65V at 1866MHz and supports overclocking via AMD Overdrive software.

Long DIMM RAM is not the only thing AMD silently launched. The company also launched its own brand of graphics memory, and we should see some vendors of graphic card use an NVIDIA GPU with AMD GDDR3 or GDDR5 memory :-P

40-years of Microprocessor

The timeline of the most significant PC microprocessor developments that have shaped our information technology landscape over the last four decades:



Download the full-size version

Sixth Anniversary of Vic Computer Medan

Today is the 6th Anniversary of Vic Computer Medan :-)

On November 19, 2005, we officially started to use the name Vic Computer for our business and below is the first and our updated logo :-D

Nabi - Tablet for Kids

Toys R Us has released their latest toy, a tablet for kids. The toy manufacturer hired Chinese/American Web 2.0 properties and app developer FUHU to create the "Nabi" tablet aimed at educating with fun for children. From first impressions, a very smart choice of reinforcing the corners of the tablet with seemingly soft material implies it can take some hard hitting from playful or careless children.


It features a 7-inch 800 x 480 capacitive touchscreen, 4GB of storage, and a 533Mhz dual-core ARM Cortex-A9, all packaged with the requisite Wi-Fi and a 1.3 megapixel front-facing camera.


The most interesting here is the software. A custom UI skin provides large tappable homescreen targets, a custom browser offers "kiddified" web surfing, and lots of children's software is pre-loaded, including Fooz Kids University which teaches mathematics, design and art oriented apps that allow for creative exploration, and not forgetting support for popular games. 30 children's ebooks to encourage reading are also included, and a special Nabi App Store will carry over 500 additional software titles aimed at children.

The tablet also features a “Mommy mode” which unleashes the full Android experience without any kind of restriction. The Nabi will satisfy both mother and child as it ships on December 1st. Pre-orders can be made at Toy R Us for US$199.99.

Asus Transformer Prime

Asus has officially unveiled the next-generation Transformer Prime. This slimmed-down successor measures just 1/3" thick, almost exactly matching the slender profile of the iPad 2. At 1.29lbs, the Prime is actually a little bit lighter than Apple's latest.


The Transformer Prime powered by an Nvidia Tegra 3 system-on-chip. Otherwise known as Kal El, this quad-core chip doubles the number of CPU cores in the Tegra 2 SoC found inside the original Transformer. The Tegra 3 also has an additional companion core designed to extend battery life when the system isn't being taxed. Asus calls the chip's graphics component a "12-core GeForce GPU."

Transformer Prime features a 10.1" IPS panel with a 1280x800 display resolution. The Prime also boasts a "Super IPS+" mode that's claimed to deliver a brightness level of about 600 nits. Asus says this mode offers better color reproduction and should make the screen easier to read in outdoor environments. The panel's scratch-resistant Gorilla Glass has been skinned with a "hydro-oleophobic" coating that's said to resist smudging. The same coating has been applied to the Prime's textured metal exterior.


The dock is thinner now, but it still packs a touchpad in addition to the chiclet keyboard. There's also an auxiliary battery in the dock that purportedly extends the Prime's 12-hour run time to an impressive 18 hours.

The dock host a full-sized USB port and an SD card slot, while the tablet has a Micro HDMI port, a Micro SD slot, and a 3.5-mm audio jack. Amazingly, the built-in speakers are actually slightly larger than the ones in the original Transformer—and Asus says they sound better, too. The cameras have also been upgraded to 8MP rear and 1.2MP front units, which can record 1080p videos.

The Prime will start at $500. Asus is going to keep selling both models (Transformer original & Prime), so it makes sense to price the Prime at a premium. Besides, it's still a better deal than the iPad 2. The base iPad model only gives you 16GB of built-in memory for $500, while the Prime offers 32GB. A 64GB model will be available at $600, the same price as the 32GB iPad 2.

Asus Transformer Prime is slated to launch in December. It will arrive with Android 3.2, a.k.a. Honeycomb, and receive an over-the-air upgrade to Android 4.0, otherwise known as Ice Cream Sandwich, when the new OS code has been "optimized, tested and approved."

HDD Prices SkyRocketing

Worst flooding at Thailand in over 50 years made the HDD prices skyrocketing wildly. PC makers face the very real possibility of running out of hard drives, and they're reportedly turning to the gray market to secure supply.

Here's how the Newegg pricing of a handful of popular desktop drives has changed since the beginning of October:


Some drives have been impacted more than others, the overall trend is clear. We're looking at price increases in the 80-190% range, with the uptick beginning around the middle of last month.

Those results only cover 3.5" desktop drives, but 2.5" mobile models are similarly afflicted. In fact, they may be in an even more precarious position as notebook makers scramble to ensure they have enough drives to put into systems.

The Reuters news agency reports that Asus only has enough mechanical hard drives in its inventory to last through this month.

The supply problems are expected to persist through the current quarter, which means we could see prices climb even higher in the coming months.

Bulldozer Lack of Fine Tuning?

Why performance of the long-awaited Bulldozer was below expectations is not only because it was late, but because AMD had adopted design techniques that did not allow it to tweak performance. At least that is according to Cliff A. Maier, an AMD engineer who left the company several years ago.

The management decided to abandon practice of hand-crafting various performance-critical parts of its chips and rely completely on automatic tools. While usage of tools that automatically implement certain technologies into silicon speeds up the design process, they cannot ensure maximum performance and efficiency.

Apparently, automatically-generated designs are 20% bigger and 20% slower than hand-crafted designs, which results in increased transistor count, die space, cost and power efficiency.

"I had been in charge of our design flow in the years before I left, and I had tested these tools by asking the companies who sold them to design blocks (adders, multipliers, etc.) using their tools. I let them take as long as they wanted. They always came back to me with designs that were 20% bigger, and 20% slower than our hand-crafted designs, and which suffered from electro-migration and other problems," the former AMD engineer said.

AMD publicly said that each Bulldozer dual-core CPU module with 2MB unified L2 cache contains 213 million transistors and is 30.9mm2 large. By contrast, die size of one processing engine of Llano processor (11-layer 32nm SOI, K10.5+ micro-architecture) is 9.69mm2 (without L2 cache).

As a result, all four CPU modules with L2 cache within Zambezi/Orochi processor consist of 852 million of transistors and take 123.6mm2 of die space. Assuming that 8MB of L3 cache (6 bits per cell) consist of 405 million of transistors, it leaves around whopping 800 million of transistors to various input/output interfaces, dual-channel DDR3 memory controller as well as various logic and routing inside the chip.

800 million of transistors - which take up a lot of die space - is an incredibly high number for various I/O, memory, logic, etc. For example, Intel's Core i-series "Sandy Bridge" quad-core chip with integrated graphics consists of 995 million.

As a consequence of inefficient design and relatively low performance, AMD has to sell its eight-core FX series processors (315mm2 die size) for up to $245 in 1000-unit quantities. By contrast, Intel sells hand-crafted Core i-series "Sandy Bridge" quad-core chips (216mm2 die size) for up to $317 in 1000-unit quantities. Given the fact that both microprocessors are made using 32nm process technology [and thus have comparable per-transistor/per square mm die cost], the Intel one carries much better profit margin than AMD's microprocessor.

For more information, read here:
Insideris : AMD Spreads Propaganda, Ex-Employee Speaks Out
Mr. Maier posting on MacRumor Forum

Bulldozer for Desktop is Finally Out

Zambezi is the fourth-longest river in Africa (the one with the beautiful Victoria Falls), and also the codename for the new FX series of "Bulldozer" desktop enthusiast CPUs from AMD. After months of speculation and spin about the launch date and performance numbers, the new processors have finally hit the online shops. Yes, we saw the launch today, and the long awaited Bulldozer is finally out.


That new AMD processors based on Bulldozer microarchitecture are one of the most highly anticipated products not only of the year, but at least of the last five years. There are several reasons for that as well as for the fact that AMD products have so many fans. Remember the times when AMD processors were better than Intel ones in all aspects? Some users like AMD products for the balanced combination of price and performance that they have to offer. And some may have been carried away by the passion, with which they talked about the advantages of the new microarchitecture they have been working on. All this combined with the years of waiting for the new Bulldozer processor generation produced high interest and excitement.

Here we bring you some reviews of the top of the line FX-8150:
Tech Report
X-Bit Labs
Guru3D
Bit-Tech
AnandTech

Trinity & AMD Mobile Roadmap 2012

According to the latest AMD Mobile Roadmap, Trinity scheduled to arrive in 2012, initially will co-exist with Llano. Trinity will be based on AMD's new Pilderiver core which is derived from Bulldozer, the same core which we'll see in the soon to launch AMD FX series of CPUs.


The platform will be known as Comal and will continue to use the same chipsets A70M and A60M, and as far as we can tell, the same socket FM1. We'll also be seeing improved graphics, currently codenamed London. The TDP will remain the same as for the current APUs.


The roadmap also contains some of what AMD is planning for 2013. Kaveri which is Trinity's replacement will feature Steamroller CPU cores and a yet unknown graphics core. Below that we have Kabini which will feature Jaguar cores, a feature it shares with the tablet friendly Samara APU. Kaveri will be teamed up with the Bolton FCH, while Kabini gets the integrated Yangtze FCH and finally Samara will feature the integrated Salton FCH.

DC Universe Online will be free starting October

Developed by Sony Online Entertainment, DC Universe Online is a massive multiplayer (MMO) game where players get to choose to be virtual heroes or villains, as well as a mentor for their character - from Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman for heroes, and Lex Luthor and The Joker for villains. DC Universe Online was released in January as a monthly subscription-based game (US$15 a month), but it looks like the company has decided to make it free-to-play, starting October 2011.


The market for MMO games is extremely competitive and it is tough for traditional MMO to compete with free-to-play social games including Mafia Wars and Maple Story that profit from selling virtual items and power-ups. Sony said it will offer three tiers of service for DC Universe Online — free, premium and legendary. The free tier comes with limits on how many characters and items players can hold in their inventory; premium access gives players slightly more capacity. And the legendary, those who continue to pay US$15 a month will get maximum features.

AMD FX Sets a Guinness World Record

On August 31, an AMD FX processor achieved a frequency of 8.429GHz, a stunning result for a modern, multi-core processor. The record was achieved with several days of preparation and an amazing and inspired run in front of world renowned technology press in Austin, Texas. This frequency bests the prior record of 8.309GHz, and completely blows away any modern desktop processor.

The result was achieved in a technology grand prix that must be seen to be believed. The refinement of techniques employed by the world’s finest overclockers creates a stunning scene that looks as if we are about to bring the machine to life. It was recorded by a fantastic video team and validated with a most useful tool called CPU-Z, the de facto standard for overclockers looking to capture a moment of stability under extreme conditions, or more practically under conservative tuning. The video has now launched and you will enjoy the spectacle of extreme overclocking and the record-breaking capabilities of upcoming AMD FX processors.

Rory Read as AMD New CEO

AMD announced that its board of directors has appointed Rory P. Read, 49, President and Chief Executive Officer of AMD. Mr. Read joins AMD from Lenovo Group, where he was most recently President and Chief Operating Officer.

“I’m very pleased to be joining AMD at this important time in its history. AMD is a true innovator and is uniquely positioned to lead the industry forward, delivering the next big thing both within the PC ecosystem and beyond. AMD has strong momentum and the opportunity to continue profitably gaining share based on its highly differentiated products, solid financial foundation, and passionate and committed employees. I’m excited to be joining AMD’s employees as we write the next chapter not just for the company, but for the industry and consumers around the world," said Mr. Read.

While managing Lenovo’s Americas group, Read drove double-digit revenue growth and market share gains, reversing operating losses and delivering consistent profitability. He was promoted to president and COO in 2009, helping to transform Lenovo into the world’s fastest growing major PC manufacturer and achieving its largest worldwide market share ever.

Prior to Lenovo, Read spent 23 years at IBM where he held a broad range of management positions. While at IBM, Read consistently grew revenues while significantly improving the operating profitability for the groups under his management, including IBM’s business consulting services division, global business transformation of IBM global services and business consulting services/Asia Pacific.

Read's arrival means that Thomas Seifert, who served as interim CEO after Dirk Meyer's resignation, has returned to his role as as AMD's Chief Financial Officer. Bruce Clafin has also dropped the "Executive" from his title and is now, once again, AMD's Chairman.

Seagate Cutting Warranty

Seagate has decided to shorten the warranty period for most of its consumer-based hard drives in order to cut costs. The warranty affects only the channel drives that are sold through distributors, which is usually in bulk. Here is the list:

A6-3500 Triple Core Imminent

News circulating about imminent availability of a new model of desktop APU based on Llano silicon, the A6-3500. Like the four other desktop variants of Llano, this processor will drop into a Socket FM1 motherboard and provide both CPU and graphics processing power to the system.

The specs for the A6-3500 almost exactly like the specs for the next model up, the A6-3600. Both run their CPU cores at 2.1GHz and can raise them to 2.4GHz via Turbo Core, both have 444MHz Radeon IGPs with 320 shader ALUs, and both will fit into a 65W TDP envelope. The difference? The A6-3500 has only three cores and 3MB of L2 cache, versus the A6-3600's quad cores and 4MB of L2.

The A6-3500 is priced at $95, about $40 below the fastest desktop Llano, the A8-3850.

AMD Radeon Memory for Systems

No, this is not a joke, AMD has quietly started selling DDR3 system memory under its Radeon brand. AMD's website confirms the product's existence.

AMD says Radeon DDR3 memory is "ideally suited" to the company's CPU and APU, tested to the highest industry standards on AMD platforms to guarantee reliability and performance. Right now, the product line includes 2GB Entertainment modules (rated for operation at 1333MHz with 9-9-9 timings) and 2GB UltraPro Gaming modules (which can hit 1600MHz at 11-11-11). The company is also preparing Enterprise modules. All three modules are apparently designed to operate at their rated speeds with a 1.5V voltage setting—the JEDEC-specified standard for DDR3.

Llano Chipsets and Socket

Llano processor is not the only component of the Lynx platform. It also uses chipsets. Since the APU already contains the memory and PCI Express bus controllers, the chipsets consist of only one chip – the South Bridge also known as FCH (Fusion Controller Hub).

AMD currently offers two FCH variants: A55 and A75. The A75 model has native support for all contemporary interfaces, including USB 3.0 and SATA 6 Gbps. The lower-end model A55 supports only old SATA 3 Gbps and USB 2.0 interfaces.


Mainboards for desktop Llano processors based on the above described chipsets come with a special Socket FM1 which is incompatible with AM3. Socket FM1 has significantly different number of pins – 905. All these pins are necessary to ensure that the CPU is connected not only with the chipset and the memory sub-system, but also with the PCI Express x16 graphics bus and monitors.


For the cooling systems, AMD tried to maintain compatibility with the existing infrastructure, so the old Socket AM3 coolers will work just fine with the new processors.

Desktop Llano Lineup

The first batch of desktop Llano processors includes four APU models with four x86 cores inside. Just like the mobile Llano APUs, they don’t have a marketing name and are assigned A8 and A6 series numbers. A8 series includes higher-end APU models with a "Sumo" graphics core featuring 400 stream processors, while the A6 series includes slower modifications with lower clock frequencies and “lighter” graphics core with only 320 stream processors.

Here is the complete list of currently available Llano processors for the desktop Lynx platform:


There are significant differences in the specs not only between the two different APU series. Two models within each series are, in fact, two totally different products with dramatically diverse heat dissipation levels. The highest-performing models have 100 W TDP, but at the same time there are models with 65 W TDP and Turbo Core support. The clock frequency of the energy-efficient processors has been reduced by about 20-25% below that of their 100 W counterparts, but the features and frequency of their graphics cores remain the same.

Llano’s clock speeds are lower than the frequencies reached by the latest Athlon II and Phenom II processors. And it means that Llano are slower processors, which major advantage will be not the performance of x86 cores, but the performance of their graphics core. So, it makes sense to upgrade from a Socket AM3 to a Socket FM1 platform only for the sake of achieving better energy-efficiency and not in an attempt to boost the performance.

In the desktop segment, AMD’s pricing strategy is to make the A8 Llano processors an alternative to junior Core i3 Sandy Bridge models. The A8-3850's main competition will be the US$134 Core i3-2105. This is a fairly new part which has the same CPU clock as the i3-2100 but a fully enabled HD Graphics 3000.

Thermaltake Commander MS-I

Thermaltake's new Commander MS-I is the latest eSPORTS chassis for enthusiasts with a pretty affordable price (just $49.99).

It features a side window, a bottom-mounted PSU area, a black-tinted motherboard tray with cut-outs for cable management and behind the CPU socket, support for graphics cards as long as 12.5", a 120-mm silent LED fan at the back, and a multitude of tool-less drive bays. Three 5.25" bays and one 3.5" bay face the outside of the case, while an additional five 3.5" bays and one 2.5" bay can play host to your hard drives and SSDs. Built-in latest USB3.0 SuperSpeed connector (for VN400A1W2N only).

Zosma Appeared at Japan

Still remember codename Zosma? It is a new Phenom II quad-core processor line based on the same six-core Thuban silicon, but with two cores disabled. Beside the two "potentially" unlockable cores, Zosma also brought the AMD's Turbo Core technology, which previously only found on Six Core Phenom II.

Phenom II X4 960T Black Edition "Zosma" recently spotted at Japan market. This quad-core chip with unlocked multipler comes with the part number HD96ZTWFK4DGR, and is sold in PIB (processor in a box) packages. The chip was tested to allow unlocking of the disabled fifth and sixth cores, proving it's based on the Zosma silicon. It comes with a stock clock speed of 3.00 GHz (15 x 200 MHz), but can bump clock speeds up to 3.40 GHz (17 x 200 MHz). The chip features 512 KB of L2 cache per core, and 6 MB of shared L3 cache.

Mobile A-series Llano finally launches

AMD has launched seven mobile parts of A-series "Llano" Fusion APU today, and the desktop models have yet to make an official appearance soon.


AMD is making some bold claims, in terms of battery life where the company is promising up to 10.5h of usable battery life. In fact, AMD claims that its A8-3510MX APU has 3.5h better battery life than a similar notebook with Intel's Core i5-2410M processor.



When it comes to graphics performance, AMD has always had a huge lead here over Intel, but AMD has thrown in a few new features that should further boost the appeal of its APUs. First up AMD has added what the company called Perfect Picture HD which is a post-processing option for cleaning up 1080p video, a feature that might prove popular with people shooting their own HD home videos. The second feature, called Steady Video is rather quite impressive, it actually pre and post processes the video to reduce camera shake and it even works with online videos.

As always, AMD is being very competitive on price and the company is expect notebook with its new APU's to start at US$499 with an A4 APU, whereas with an A6 we're looking at around US$599 and finally A8 models will come in at around US$699. Of course these are best case scenarios and we'd expect a lot more expensive machine to be available as well, depending on configuration. For those looking for a boost to the graphics performance beyond the APU's integrated solution, AMD supports CrossFire on the platform and claim up to a 75 percent performance boost for its discrete mobile GPUs when pairing them up with an APU.

AMD Confirms Delay of Bulldozer

During the company's press conference dedicated to the launch of AMD 9-series core-logic sets, AMD announced that its long-awaited FX-series microprocessors will be available within the next 60 to 90 days from now, which points to August or September. Mainboards based on the new AMD 9-series chipsets with AM3+ socket will support both existing high-performance multi-core Phenom II microprocessors as well as AMD FX-series chips with up to eight cores.


Below is official rendered image of AMD 8-Core FX Processor Black Edition box (PIB):

Bulldozer Maybe Delayed and Need More Tuning

Advanced Micro Devices may further delay release of its highly-anticipated FX-series microprocessors code-named Zambezi that are based on the Bulldozer micro-architecture, according to leaked slides published by a Chinese web-site.


The slides also point to new model numbers for the chips: FX-8150, FX-8100, FX-6100 and FX-4100, which may indicate that the company intends to alter previously set specifications of the chips.

Earlier it was believed that AMD would launch its FX-series of chips in June, 2011. It was also reported that the highest-performing eight-core offering would cost $320, which is in line with the top-of-the-range Core i-series "Sandy Bridge" CPU.

The long-awaited CPUs are now fully-functional and work without flaws, according to a person who wished to remain anonymous. The problem with the delay of the AMD FX family of chips is that they currently cannot operate at truly high-speeds and thus cannot achieve performance levels that AMD wanted them to. As result, AMD will need to design a new stepping of the processor and therefore delay the commercial launch to September.

The currently available B0 and B1 stepping Zambezi/Bulldozer processors can function at around 2.50GHz/3.50GHz (nominal/turbo) clock-speeds and at such frequency they cannot deliver performance AMD considers competitive, a person with knowledge of the situation said on Monday. As a consequence, AMD needs to tune the design of the processor and create B2 stepping of the chip with better clock-speed potential amid similar thermal design power (TDP), which will take several months to complete.

This will slowdown revenue growth of the chip-maker and will also hit its reputation, as this is by far not the first or second delay of Bulldozer in general and Zambezi in particular.

Llano Competitive Positioning

According to some new leaked slides, systems based on AMD's top-of-the-line, A8-series Llano APUs will in fact compete against those based on higher-end Core i5 and lower-end Core i7 processors, with prices of $699 and upward. A6-series Llano chips look set to go against higher-end Core i3s and lower-end Core i5s, while the A4 series will seemingly tackle the lower end of the Core i3 family.


More shocking still, the slide suggests that PCs based on AMD's next-generation E-series processors—Zacate's successor—will compete dollar-for-dollar with systems based on Intel's Pentium processors. However, the slides are dated May 17, which predates the introduction of Intel's new Sandy Bridge-based Pentiums.

AMD's Llano APUs Expected to be Affordable

Desktop versions of Fusion - Llano accelerated processing units (APUs) by Advanced Micro Devices are likely to be rather inexpensive, which may make them popular among PC builders as well as end-users. According to media reports, the new desktop chips will cost starting from $70.

The initial family of AMD A-series "Llano" APUs will include five chips and beside that, AMD will also offer a low-end E2-series solution featuring Llano design. The most affordable solution in FM1 form-factor will cost $70 (E2-3250), whereas the most powerful A-series chip will be priced at $170 (A8-3550P).


AMD A-series desktop APUs will have either four K10.5+/Husky x86 cores as well as Radeon HD 6000-class "BeaverCreek" (320 or 400 stream processors) graphics core or two x86 cores and "WinterPark" (160 stream processors) integrated graphics engine. The chips will support dual-channel DDR3 memory controllers, up to 4MB of cache, select processors may also feature AMD Turbo Core dynamic acceleration technology as well as a special multi-GPU graphics support.

AMD A8- and A6-series APUs set to compete against Intel Core i3-2100-series microprocessors, whereas the A4- and E2-series chips will rival Pentium and Celeron solutions.

MSI WindPad 110W

MSI's WindPad 110W slate has appeared at ExcaliberPC online store, where it's listed with a June 1st arrival date and a $599 price tag. This new 10.1-inch device runs Windows 7 Home Premium and is based on AMD's Brazos platform.

The WindPad 110W has an 1280 x 800 touchscreen, an E-350 APU (two x86 core @ 1.6 GHz, Radeon HD 6310 DX11 graphics), 2GB of RAM, a 32GB SSD, an SD card slot, 802.11 b/g/n WiFi, Bluetooth 3.0, a webcam, USB 2.0 and mini HDMI ports, and a 4200 mAh battery.

ASUS X42DE the Colorful Triple Core

Want to be more powerful and stylish than A42N-VX091D? ASUS X42DE - Available in four fun colors with a scratch-resistant IMR design to bring out your personal style. Bigger RAM (2 GB DDR3) and discrete GPU (Radeon HD 5470 512MB)

AMD Phenom II X3 N830 (Triple Core, 2.1 Ghz)
RAM 2 GB DDR3
HDD 320 GB
VGA AMD RADEON HD 5470 with dedicated 512MB
Screen 14” LED (1366 x 768)
DVDRW Super Multi
WebCam, CardReader, HDMI, WiFi, LAN
SRS Surround Sound with Altec Lansing Speaker
6-cell Li-Ion 4400mAh Battery
DOS (Support Windows 7)

Acer Iconia Tab W500

Acer Iconia Tab W500, the AMD Fusion powered 10-inch tablet PC has already begun to ship in the US with a keyboard docking station is priced at 549 USD but for Japan Acer will charge 60,000 Yen which is about 720 USD.

Right now Acer appears to be offering two different body colors for the W500 as wells as options for the keyboard dock to come with or without the tablet PC. For the US the W500 models spotted have had a light Silver look to them but the models spotted for the UK are darker in color.


The new launch dates displayed on the Amazon.co.uk listings for the tablets show them coming May 1st, 2011.

The Acer Iconia Tab W500 technical specifications below:

Processor AMD C-50 (1 MB L2 cache, 1 GHz, DDR3 1066 MHz, 9 W)
Chipset A50M Fusion Controller Hub
Operating System Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium (32-bit)
HD CrystalBrite LED-backlit TFT LCD with multi-touch screen
Resolution 1280 x 800
Brightness 350 cd/m²
Screen Size (Diagonal) 10.1" (25.7 cm)
Memory 2GB DDR3 onboard
Storage 32 GB SSD, with mini-SATA (mSATA) interface connector
Graphics AMD Radeon HD 6250 Graphics with 256 MB of dedicated system memory
Supports: Unified Video Decoder 3 (UVD3), OpenCL 1.1, OpenGL 3.1, OpenEXR High Dynamic-Range (HDR) technology, Shader Model 5.0, Microsoft DirectX 11
Interface HDMI port with HDCP, RJ-45 LAN
Dual USB 2.0 ports
Acer InviLink Nplify 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi Certified
10/100 Mbps Fast Ethernet
Bluetooth
Card Slot 2-in-1
WebCam Dual Acer Crystal Eye webcams with 1280 x 1024 resolution
Docking Connector Bottom US Keyboard Dock
Battery Lithium-ion battery 3-cells
Battery Life Up to 6 hrs (depending on configuration and usage)
Dimensions (WxHxD) 10.8 x 0.6 x 7.6? (27.4 x 1.5 x 19.3 cm)
Weight 2.14 lb (0.97 kg)

More info and gallery HERE

ASUS A42N-VX091D with Triple Core

Why choose Dual Core if we can have TRIPLE CORE at Rp. 3.xxx.xxx ?

ASUS A42N-VX091D

AMD Phenom II X3 N830 (Triple Core, 2.1 Ghz)
RAM 1 GB DDR3
HDD 320 GB
VGA AMD RADEON HD 4250
Screen 14” LED (1366 x 768)
DVDRW Super Multi
WebCam, CardReader, HDMI, WiFi, LAN
SRS Surround Sound with Altec Lansing Speaker
6-cell Li-Ion 4400mAh Battery
DOS (Support Windows 7)
Color : Full Glossy Black Metalic

AMD to Fight i7 Sandy Bridge with Bulldozer

Advanced Micro Devices at present is not able to compete in terms of pure performance against Intel Corp.’s Core i7-series “Sandy Bridge” microprocessors, according to benchmark results, but with its next-generation Bulldozer-based chips the company fully aims to fight.


A leaked document from AMD seen by us here claims that AMD FX-series central processing unit (CPUs) powered by the Bulldozer micro-architecture will be fully able to rival Core i7 2600-series chips. Below is the art-work for FX processor box:


AMD plans to introduce AMD 900-series chipsets compatible with Zambezi processors in Q2 2011. The Bulldozer processors, Radeon HD 6000 "Northern Islands" discrete graphics cards and AMD 900-series core-logic sets will power AMD's next-generation enthusiast-class platform code-named Scorpius.

The initial family of AMD's FX-series microprocessors based on Bulldozer micro-architecture will include four models with eight, six or four cores and 95W or 125W thermal design power (TDP).

The first breed of AMD FX8000, FX6000 and FX4000 currently known under Zambezi code-name will completely support all the advantages that the Bulldozer micro-architecture is supposed to bring, including new Flex FP floating point processing unit. The new chips in maximum eight-core configurations are projected - by AMD's internal documents - to offer roughly 50% performance improvement over Phenom II-series microprocessors in multimedia applications.


The primary family of AMD FX-series central processing units (CPUs) will feature two eight-core models, one six-core flavour as well as a quad-core version. The chips will support dual-channel DDR3 1866MHz memory, will support Turbo Core dynamic acceleration technology and will come in AM3+ form-factor and will have 125W and 95W TDP. The second "wave" of Bulldozer chips will also include four microprocessors and will improve performance of the initial breed of CPUs.

Gigabyte GA-E350N-USB3 AMD Fusion mobo

This little mini-ITX motherboard comes with one of the first AMD Fusion APU’s (Accelerated Processing Unit): the Zacate Dual-Core E-350 (1.6 GHz, 18W TDP) with a Radeon HD6310 (clock 500 MHz) graphics core. It also comes with 4 SATA 6Gbps ports and 2 USB3.0 ports, making it a very attractive little motherboard for users who value a power efficient system that still has teeth enough to show 1080p video and play the occasional lighter game.

This is an Ultra Durable 3 Classic motherboard. This means that GIGABYTE has used 2 ounces of copper for both the power and ground layers of the motherboard. It also has Japanese Solid Capacitors and GIGABYTE's DualBIOS technology. As mentioned earlier, this is a mini-ITX motherboard, meaning it measures just 17x17cm (6.7x6.7 inches). GIGABYTE still managed to put a x16 PCI-E-slot and space for 2 DDR3-memory sticks on the motherboard.

The main feature on the motherboard is the big heatsink/fan. This cooler keeps both the APU and the AMD Hudson-M1 FCH (Fusion Controller Hub) cool. The FCH is responsible for 8 USB2.0 ports (4 on the back panels and 4 via the internal USB headers) and the 4 SATA 6 Gbps connectors.


On the back panel we find:
• 1 x PS/2 keyboard/ mouse port
• 1 x VGA port
• 1 x DVI-D port
• 1 x HDMI port
• 1 x optical S/PDIF Out connector
• 4 x USB 2.0/1.1 ports
• 2 x USB 3.0/2.0 ports
• 1 x RJ-45 port
• 6 x audio jacks (Center/Subwoofer Speaker Out/Rear Speaker Out/Side Speaker Out/Line In/Line Out/Microphone)

The motherboard also comes with features like HDMI 1.3, Dolby Home Theather Support, and On/Off Charge, which allows users to quickly charge an iPad/iPod/iPhone -- and other USB-charged devices -- even if the computer is sleeping or off.

AC Ryan Playon!HD Essential

The AC Ryan Playon!HD Essential allows you to store and enjoy all of your precious movies, music and photos in the comfort of your own living room. Free your media content from the limitations of your PC and let the Essential bring them to life in Full HD quality on your TV.

The Playon!HD Essential is designed for users who prefer an easy to use media player without the fuss of networking. Setting a new standard of performance in the class of media players with no network, this inexpensive, user friendly, no-network media player supports the most file formats including Blu-ray and DVD ISO. With exceptional quality and ease, the Playon!HD Essential, plays your media files from external drives (USB drives, USB hard disks, and media cards such as SD Cards). The pre-installed eco friendly, low noise, low power consumption HDD up to 2TB allows you to conveniently store all your media files in one central location.

The Playon!HD Essential makes entertainment simple and enjoyable for you, your family and friends. Simply transfer, store and play your media content with the Essential and enjoy High Definition entertainment, the way it should be.

* More format support than any other no network media player.
* Superior video quality High Definition 1080p.
* Plays BD-ISO files including BD basic navigation.
* Plays DVD IFO/ISO with full DVD menu and navigation support.
* Supports more character sets (for non-English subtitles).
* Completely unique, newly designed user interface (Playon!GUI2.0).
* Smart content management (auto file indexing).

The Essential has similar styling to previous A.C. Ryan devices and has the front panel has a reflective finish with company logo in the centre. Beneath the logo is the on/off button which lights red when in standby and blue when on. The Essential sized 185x150x55mm and weighs approximately 610g.


On the right side of the device we find the input connectors. On the left is a media card slot which supports SD, SDHCm MMC, MS and MSPro. Then there are two USB 2.0 inputs and a USB 2.0 slave port.


Turning round to the back of the Essential we find an exhaust vent for the 40mm cooling fan, power socket and the systems outputs. Starting from the left we have an optical output, HDMI 1.3, Composite audio/video and coaxial audio. There are no network connectors on the back panel of the device as it is designed for those who want a stand-alone player. A.C. Ryan will however offer a Wireless-N dongle for the player.


This is the bundled components consist of a manual, composite video cables, remote, batteries, PSU and replacement feet.