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...
The Real Conroe Successor: Clarkdale & All You Need to Know about Westmere
Intel's 32nm Nehalem tick is almost upon us. Westmere isn't a radical departure from Nehalem, but there are a few enhancements worth talking about. We go...
96 by Anand Lal Shimpi on 9/24/2009
The Lynnfield Followup: Turbo Mode and Overclocking Investigated
You asked for results with turbo disabled. You asked for overclocking results. We aim to please: here are the additional tests you requested of Intel's Core i5 and...
47 by Anand Lal Shimpi on 9/18/2009
The Intel Core i7 860 Review
The missing link in the Lynnfield lineup is the Core i7 860. Priced at $284 it's no more expensive than a Core i7 920, yet it runs at...
122 by Anand Lal Shimpi on 9/18/2009
AMD Athlon II X4 620 & 630: The First $99 Quad Core CPU
AMD's pricing department has struck gold. Armed with a brand new die, the Athlon II X4 620 performs like a $160 CPU but at 60% of the cost...
149 by Anand Lal Shimpi on 9/16/2009
Intel's Core i7 870 & i5 750, Lynnfield: Harder, Better, Faster Stronger
Today Intel unveils the Nehalem that we've all been waiting for. Starting at $196 and outperforming nearly everything on the market, Lynnfield is here. It's more than just another...
341 by Anand Lal Shimpi on 9/8/2009
How Much Does it Cost to Build a P55 Motherboard?
Recent discussions of P55 motherboard pricing inspired us to do some digging and figure out exactly how much it costs to build a motherboard. While we'll see ~$100...
54 by Anand Lal Shimpi on 8/21/2009
Phenom II X4 965: A Look at CPU/MB Bundle Pricing
AMD promised attractive bundle deals for the new Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition from North American vendors. We took a quick look at the current state of...
41 by Anand Lal Shimpi on 8/13/2009
AMD's Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition
It's literally the fastest chip AMD has ever shipped. At 3.4GHz this is the closest you're going to get to a Core i7 performance without going Nehalem. ...
56 by Anand Lal Shimpi on 8/13/2009
Globalfoundries Starts on 22nm Fab & Announces First non-AMD Customer
What used to be AMD's manufacturing arm is now officially known as Globalfoundries. The new company has started work on its first 22nm fab, due to start production...
51 by Anand Lal Shimpi on 7/29/2009
Intel Quietly Announces Core i5 and Core i3 Branding
Intel quietly announced the Core i5 and i3 branding for future Nehalem CPUs. I hope to add some additional light to the announcement.
56 by Anand Lal Shimpi on 6/17/2009
Intel’s Core i7-975 & 950: Preparing for Lynnfield
The world's fastest processor gets faster. The new Core i7-975 runs at 3.33GHz but will hit 3.60GHz when only one core is active. The end result is...
44 by Anand Lal Shimpi on 6/3/2009
The Athlon II X2 & Phenom II X2: 45nm Dual-Core from AMD
After months of begging, we finally have 45nm dual-core from AMD. And these new parts perform. Competition is alive and well in the lower price points.
56 by Anand Lal Shimpi on 6/2/2009
The Lynnfield Preview: Rumblings of Revenge
If executed properly, Lynnfield may be *the* chip to get in 2009. We've got the benchmarks and data to answer why.
96 by Anand Lal Shimpi on 5/29/2009
Intel Unveils Next-Generation Atom Details
The next netbook/nettop Atom platform is closer than you think. It's called Pine Trail and it brings both the memory controller and graphics core on-die. Expect lower...
27 by Anand Lal Shimpi on 5/19/2009
The Core 2 Quad Q8400: Intel's $183 Phenom II 940 Competitor
AMD and Intel have quietly been fighting a quad-core price war. AMD started by introducing a very competitive Phenom II X4 940 priced similarly to Intel's Core 2...
60 by Anand Lal Shimpi on 5/7/2009
AMD Athlon X2 7850 vs. Intel Pentium E5300: Choosing the Best $70 CPU
Here's a price point we don't usually talk about: $70. And here's another interesting fact. At $70 you can buy a CPU faster than a 3.73GHz dual-core...
56 by Anand Lal Shimpi on 4/28/2009
AMD's Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition
AMD continues to build its competitiveness with an even faster Phenom II. The 955 is AMD's answer to Intel's Core 2 Quad Q9550.
62 by Anand Lal Shimpi on 4/23/2009
Intel Announces Intent to Manufacture Atom SoCs at TSMC
What could have been a universe imploding sort of announcement amounted to something that just made sense: Intel will be making Atom SoCs at TSMC in addition to at...
9 by Anand Lal Shimpi on 3/2/2009
Intel's 32nm Update: The Follow-on to Core i7 and More
And you thought Core i7 was fast, how about a 6-core, 32nm version due out early next year? It's not all high performance though, Intel will be delivering...
64 by Anand Lal Shimpi on 2/11/2009
The Phenom II X4 810 & X3 720: AMD Gets DDR3 But Doesn't Need It
The first Socket-AM3 Phenom II parts are now here with full DDR2 and DDR3 support. It turns out that DDR3 isn't really necessary today, but with five new...
77 by Anand Lal Shimpi on 2/9/2009