AMD’s triple-core processors have been on the horizon for months now and, after all the speculation and derision, they are finally here. The launch included three Phenom X3 processors: the 8750, 8650, and 8450, all of which will come in at under $200. AMD is, as expected, positioning these processors between their dual-core and quad-core offerings and is targeting cost-conscious consumers, people who will appreciate the performance boost but would rather save a few dollars than go with a quad-core.


The three 65nm models will arrive at 2.1, 2.3, and 2.4GHz frequencies, respectively priced at $145, $165, and a hefty $195 for the 8750. These models have a TDP of 95W and 1.5MB total L2 cache per processors as well as 2MB shared cache. Also included is HT 3.0, a 1.8GHz memory controller, and Dual Dynamic Power Management. And because this is a 50 series processor we know it is a B3 revision model. They are AM2+ (940 pin) compatible so consumers won’t necessarily need new hardware to run an X3.

Having the basic information in front of you, it’s not immediately clear whether AMD is fulfilling a need that no one has, offering an interesting new option to consumers, or just making the best out of their situation (by releasing “broken” quad-cores as X3s). What we do know though is that outside of enthusiasts circles there won’t be the clamoring and complaints about the third core, rather it’ll probably be seen as nothing more (or less) than something between two other options.

AMD is also touting a platform approach–not exactly admitting that they can’t compete with Intel on a processor-by-processor basis, but rather than their entire package is better than the competition’s. Specifically, this platform is “Cartwheel”, AMD’s current take on a main-stream computer with integrated graphics. By using the 780G chipset AMD could actually produce a better system (dollar-for-dollar) than Intel, so long as you subscribe to their platform approach, something that may actually make sense considering that most sub-$200 processors are found in pre-built computers.

Intel is announcing a new wireless technology, called the Rural Connectivity Platform (RCP), that can send a data signal up to sixty miles at speeds up to 6.5 mbps. The sixty mile limit is imposed by the curvature of the Earth, not necessarily any limitations on the wi-fi radios involved. The setup requires two radios, or nodes. The first is positioned on the outskirts of an urban center and possesses a wired connection to the area's network infrastructure. This node then relies upon directional antennae that push the signal up to sixty miles to the receiving node, located in a remote village.


Earlier attempts to make wi-fi technology go farther than a few kilometers met with limited success. The problem lies in the way standard wi-fi radios communicate. The transmitting radio will send its data then wait a specified period of time for an acknowledgment that the data arrived successfully. When it doesn't get the acknowledgment that it requires, it retransmits its request for acknowledgment and the cycle continues. This effectively consumed the bandwidth available with acknowledgment requests. Intel's RCP technology has redefined how wi-fi radios talk to each other over long distances better defining periods where its each radio's responsibility to transmit its data.

Intel has tested the technology in India, Vietnam, Panama, and South Africa, connecting small remote villages with larger urban centers. The radios require little power, perhaps only five or six watts. This means the technology could be solar powered, an important element in potential implementation in remote areas. Connectivity to the internet with actual usable bandwidth could ignite significant leaps forward in areas such as education, science, and medicine for remote villages in many poorer countries that would otherwise go without internet.

Let us discuss the two main quad core computers launched by Intel and AMD. Intel was the first one to launch this computer under the name of Kentsfield, which is also called Core 2 Extreme quad-core QX6700, and it is no less than 80% faster than Conroe or Core 2 Extreme X6800.


The chips of these quad core computers are based on the latest `Core` micro architecture technology. It is not just low powered but also gives high performance. But don`t be fooled into thinking that Kentsfield is a power-saving computer by any means.

This computer with a 2.66GHz chip having a 1066MHz front-side bus (FSB) is ideally suited for those users that require heavy or highly accurate scientific calculations. It is generally used in the fields of actuarial sciences, digital content creation, financial applications and engineering analysis, like CAD. The director of Intel`s operations for digital enterprise group, Mr. Steve Smith, has claimed that this quad core computer will be 58% faster for crating digital content system, and for video, digital audio and photo editing.

To talk in simple words, Kentsfield and other such computers are not meant for ordinary people`s desk. They are more suited for high-tech workstations and desktops. It will not be wise to think that the average customer who needs a computer for general applications like word, PowerPoint, games or internet and etc., will go for a complex, complicated and expensive computer like this. For these purposes, there are many other types of products made by Intel. Apart from this, as you must have guessed by now that this high-tech computer needs a lot of power and this feature makes it practically useless for people on the go. Perhaps it will take some more research and modifications before the quad core computer becomes popular as a laptop.

Intel has launched the mainstream and commercial version of these computers. This computer is known as Core 2 Quad Q6600. It runs at 2.4GHz and it is currently priced at around $210. This budget quad-core computer is estimated to have a somewhat smaller thermal envelope, and will be at 105 watts as compared to 130 watts of the Kentsfield Core 2 Extreme quad-core QX6700.

AMD`s Quad Core computer is built on a 65mn process. They are using a new technology called Silicon-on-Insulator process. It allows faster transistors that have lower power leakage to be easily used and this unique feature helps greatly in reducing wasted heat and power. For more energy saving, each core of this computer is allowed to run at entirely different speeds or can be turned off totally with the help of the new `Enhanced Power Now` feature. This computer is also packed with an enhanced `Crossbar Switch` that enables the users to access different parts of cores at the same time. Some other vital features include the integrated memory controller along with the latest `Direct Connect Architecture 2.0` that allows much faster `Hyper Transport` speeds.

Though these features can extract exclamations of wonder and happiness from any geek but the fact remains that for the average PC buyer, this still means Latin and Greek. Definitely many more core computers using this technology are on their way and will revolutionize the computer industry but it will be some time before people embrace this technology as a part and parcel of their life. Computer makers claim that within a few years the popularity of quad core computers will triple itself.
Article Source: http://www.Free-Articles-Zone.com

Intel Extended Memory 64 Technology


Mostly compatible with AMD's AMD64 architecture

Introduced Spring 2004, with the Pentium 4F (D0 and later P4 steppings)

 Pentium 4F

Prescott-2M built on 0.09 µm (90 nm) process technology

2.8-3.8 GHz (model numbers 6x0)

Introduced February 20, 2005

Same features as Prescott with the addition of:-

2 MB cache

Intel 64bit

Enhanced Intel SpeedStep Technology (EIST)

Cedar Mill built on 0.065 µm (65 nm) process technology

3.0-3.6 (model numbers 6x1)

Introduced January 16, 2006

die shrink of Prescott-2M

Same features as Prescott-2M

 Pentium D

Main article: List of Intel Pentium D microprocessors

Dual-core microprocessor

No Hyper-Threading

800(4x200) MHz front side bus

Smithfield - 90 nm process technology (2.66–3.2 GHz)

Introduced May 26, 2005

2.66–3.2 GHz (model numbers 805-840)

Number of Transistors 230 million

1 MB x 2 (non-shared, 2 MB total) L2 cache

Cache coherency between cores requires communication over the FSB

Performance increase of 60% over similarly clocked Prescott

2.66 GHz (533 MHz FSB) Pentium D 805 introduced December 2005

Contains 2x Prescott dies in one package

Presler - 65 nm process technology (2.8–3.6 GHz)

Introduced January 16, 2006

2.8–3.6 GHz (model numbers 915-960)

Number of Transistors 376 million

2 MB x 2 (non-shared, 4 MB total) L2 cache

Contains 2x Cedar Mill dies in one package

Am2900 series (1975)


Am2901 4-bit-slice ALU (1975)

Am2902 Look-Ahead Carry Generator

Am2903 4-bit-slice ALU, with hardware multiply

Am2904 Status and Shift Control Unit

Am2905 Bus Transceiver

Am2906 Bus Transceiver with Parity

Am2907 Bus Transceiver with Parity

Am2908 Bus Transceiver with Parity

Am2909 4-bit-slice address sequencer

Am2910 12-bit address sequencer

Am2911 4-bit-slice address sequencer

Am2912 Bus Transceiver

Am2913 Priority Interrupt Expander

Am2914 Priority Interrupt Controller

 29000 (29K) (1987–95)

AMD 29000 (aka 29K) (1987)

AMD 29027 FPU

AMD 29030

AMD 29050 with on-chip FPU (1990)

AMD 292xx embedded processor

x86 architecture process

2nd source (1979–91)

(second-sourced x86 processors produced under contract with Intel)

8086

8088

Am286 (2nd-sourced 80286, so not a proper Amx86 member)

Amx86 series (1991–95)

Am386 (1991)

Am486 (1993)

Am5x86 (a 486-class µP) (1995)


K5 series (1995)

AMD K5 (SSA5/5k86)

 K6 series (1997–2001)

AMD K6 (NX686/Little Foot) (1997)

AMD K6-2 (Chompers/CXT)

AMD K6-2-P (Mobile K6-2)

AMD K6-III (Sharptooth)

AMD K6-III-P

AMD K6-2+

AMD K6-III+



K7 series (1999–2005)

Athlon (Slot A) (Argon,Pluto/Orion,Thunderbird) (1999)

Athlon (Socket A) (Thunderbird) (2000)

Duron (Spitfire,Morgan,Applebred) (2000)

Athlon MP (Palomino,Thoroughbred,Barton,Thorton) (2001)

Mobile Athlon 4 (Corvette/Mobile Palomino) (2001)

Athlon XP (Palomino,Thoroughbred (A/B),Barton,Thorton) (2001)

Mobile Athlon XP (Mobile Palomino) (2002)

Mobile Duron (Camaro/Mobile Morgan) (2002)

Sempron (Thoroughbred,Thorton,Barton) (2004)

Mobile Sempron

Before the launch of Athlon 64 processors in 2003, AMD designed chipsets for their processors spanning the K6 and K7 processor generations. The chipsets include the AMD-640, AMD-751 and the AMD-761 chipsets. The situation changed in 2003 with the release of Athlon 64 processors, and AMD chose not to further design its own chipsets for its desktop processors while opening the desktop platform to allow other firms to design chipsets. This is the "Open Platform Initiative". The initiative was proven to be a success, with many firms such as Nvidia, ATI, VIA and SiS developing their own chipset for Athlon 64 processors and later Athlon 64 X2 and Athlon 64 FX processors, including the Quad FX platform chipset from Nvidia.


The initiative went further with the release of Opteron server processors as AMD stopped the design of server chipsets in 2004 after releasing the AMD-8111 chipset, and again opened the server platform for firms to develop chipsets for Opteron processors. As of today, Nvidia and Broadcom are the sole designing firms of server chipsets for Opteron processors.
As the company completed the acquisition of ATI Technologies in 2006, the firm gained the ATI design team for chipsets which previously designed the Radeon Xpress 200 and the Radeon Xpress 3200 chipsets. AMD then renamed the chipsets for AMD processors under AMD branding (for instance, the CrossFire Xpress 3200 chipset was renamed as AMD 580X CrossFire chipset). In February 2007, AMD announced the first AMD-branded chipset since 2004 with the release of the AMD 690G chipset (previously under the development codename RS690), targeted at mainstream IGP computing. It was the industry's first to implement a HDMI 1.2 port on motherboards, shipping for more than a million units. While ATI had aimed at releasing an Intel IGP chipset, the plan was scrapped and the inventories of Radeon Xpress 1250 (codenamed RS600, sold under ATI brand) was sold to two OEMs, Abit and AsRock. Although AMD states the firm will still produce Intel chipsets, Intel had not granted the license of 1333 MHz FSB to ATI. Considering the rivalry between AMD and Intel, AMD is less likely to release more Intel chipset designs in the foreseeable future.

On November 15, 2007, AMD has announced a new chipset series portfolio, the AMD 7-Series chipsets, covering from enthusiast multi-graphics segment to value IGP segment, to replace the AMD 480/570/580 chipsets and AMD 690 series chipsets. Marking AMD's first enthusiast multi-graphics chipset. Discrete graphics chipsets were launched on November 15, 2007 as part of the codenamed Spider desktop platform, and IGP chipsets were launched at a later time in Spring 2008 as part of the codenamed Cartwheel platform.

AMD will also return to the server chipsets market with the next-generation AMD 800S series server chipsets, scheduled to be released in 2009 timeframe.

AMD's first completely in-house x86 processor was the K5 which was launched in 1996. The "K" was a reference to "Kryptonite", which from comic book lore, was the only substance that could harm Superman, with a clear reference to Intel, which dominated in the market at the time, as "Superman".


In 1996, AMD purchased NexGen specifically for the rights to their Nx series of x86-compatible processors. AMD gave the NexGen design team their own building, left them alone, and gave them time and money to rework the Nx686. The result was the K6 processor, introduced in 1997.

The K7 was AMD's seventh generation x86 processor, making its debut on June 23, 1999, under the brand name Athlon. On October 9, 2001 the Athlon XP was released, followed by the Athlon XP with 512KB L2 Cache on February 10, 2003.

Athlon 64, Opteron and Phenom

Quad-core "Barcelona" die-shot.Main articles: Athlon 64, Opteron, and Phenom (processor)

The K8 was a major revision of the K7 architecture, with the most notable features being the addition of a 64-bit extension to the x86 instruction set (officially called AMD64), the incorporation of an on-chip memory controller, and the implementation of an extremely high performance point-to-point interconnect called HyperTransport, as part of the Direct Connect Architecture. The technology was initially launched as the Opteron server-oriented processor. Shortly thereafter it was incorporated into a product for desktop PCs, branded Athlon 64.

AMD released the first dual core Opteron, an x86-based server CPU, on April 21, 2005. The first desktop-based dual core processor family — the Athlon 64 X2 — came a month later.[10] In early May 2007, AMD had abandoned the string "64" in its dual-core desktop product branding, becoming Athlon X2, downplaying the significance of 64-bit computing in its processors while upcoming updates involves some of the improvements to the microarchitecture, and a shift of target market from mainstream desktop systems to value dual-core desktop systems. AMD has also started to release dual-core Sempron processors in early 2008 exclusively in China, branded as Sempron 2000 series, with lower HyperTransport speed and smaller L2 cache, thus the firm completes its dual-core product portfolio for each market segment.

The latest AMD microprocessor architecture, known as K10, became the successor to the K8 microarchitecture. The first processors released on this architecture were introduced on September 10, 2007 consisting of nine quad-core Third Generation Opteron processors. This was followed by the Phenom processor for desktop. K10 processors will come in dual, triple-core,and quad-core versions with all cores on one single die.