For budget and entry-level systems, the APU — a CPU with an onboard GPU  — is most certainly the future. While AMD’s ambitions in this field won’t turn up until 2011, Intel is priming a selection of Westmere APUs for the winter months. Engineering samples of Westmere APUs are already circulating in the Orient, and HKEPC has one of them on the bench for review.

The roundup pits a Westmere APU (Clarkdale) and a Lynnfield APU (Havendale, more on that in a minute) against a Lynnfield-based Core i3 540 and a Core 2 Duo E8400. In all, the 540 trounces the competitors, but the APUs turn in fairly respectable numbers in computationally-heavy tasks.

There are a few issues with the review, however:

• HKEPC claims it is testing a Havendale, but Havendale was canceled for the 32nm Clarkdale and Arrandale models. Clarkdale serves the dekstop, while Arrandale serves mobile products, respectively. Even Intel’s own roadmaps from April support Havendale’s cancellation.
• HKEPC claims it has the Clarkdale at 3.06GHz in its test platform table, but all subsequent tables indicate 2.4GHz. HKEPC claims that it downclocked the Clarkdale part to match the maximum Havendale frequency of 2.4GHz.
• HKEPC regularly provides the incorrect spelling of “Havendale” as “Havandale.”

Does HKEPC really have an engineering sample of the ill-fated 45nm Havendale? The world may never know, but it raises enough questions that we must take the benchmarks with a grain of salt.

That said, the APU Intel is definitely launching, the Clarkdale, is within a stone’s throw of the Lynnfield Core i3 with a 600MHz clock deficit. If the benchmarks are at all legit, it appears Westmere has some significant bounce in its step.

If loose lips sink ships then those mobo vendors in ol’ Taipei could down an armada in a single lunch break. As the Bismarck goes under, we’re learning that Intel’s socket 1156 Lynnfield chips are edging closer to a September 8-11 introduction.

Intel has previously granted Lynnfield an ambiguous autumn launch window, but recent rumors emerging from the Orient have helped to cement a day. These rumors are not entirely unfounded, as it is mid-July and the ducks better be lining up if the world’s largest processor company hopes to launch on time.

Parts alleged to be on tap for the launch include:

• Core 2 Extreme (2GHz)
• Core 2 Quad P2 (1.73GHz)
• Core 2 Quad P1 (1.6GHz)
• Xeon W5590
• Xeon W3580
• Xeon W3550
• Xeon L5530

Meanwhile, other publications have reported that the enthusiast mainstream parts (screw you, Intel branding) will clock in at 2.66GHz, 2.8GHz and 2.93GHz.

Intel is smack dab in the middle of a process they’re touting as “aggressive brand simplification.” In addition to new logos that took effect for all their processors on April 1, the company is also adopting a system of stars to rate the performance of their processors.

Valid for a period between April 1 and September 30, the five-star system gives retail workers and their customers the ability to quickly evaluate the heart of an Intel box at a glance. A five star CPU gives you the power to “maximize your computing speed and possibilities” through “ultimate intelligence and breakthrough technologies.” Er, right.

spinspinitsforcustomers!spinspinspin

Right now the chart actually looks pretty good. The Q9000 series is a few percentage points ahead of the Q8000 series. The QX9000 series does indeed stand on even ground with the fresh Core i7s, and all the proper performance points are respected on the mobile side of the equation. Honesty in marketing? Great googly moogly!

(more…)

Digitimes says Intel price cuts are coming, as well as new processors. It looks like the energy saving S-series quads will get most of the cuts early on, with the mainstream processors seeing a price drop in July. Here’s the dish:

April 19 cuts:

• Core 2 Quad Q9300 price cut from $266 to $213 (19.92%)
• Core 2 Quad Q9550S price cut from $369 to $320 (13.28%)
• Core 2 Quad Q9400S price cut from $320 to $277 (13.44%)
• Core 2 Quad Q8200S price cut from $245 to $213 (13.06%)

July 19 cuts:

• Core 2 Quad Q8300 price cut from $183 to $163 (10.93%)
• Core 2 Duo E7500 price cut from $133 to $113 (15.04%)
• Pentium E5400 price cut from $84 to $74 (11.90%)
• Pentium E5300 price cut from $74 to $64 (13.51%)
• Celeron E1500 price cut from $53 to $43 (18.87%)

New releases hit April 19 and May 31. The big May release has our interest piqued due to the inclusion of new Core i7 models. We can only hope they’ll mean price cuts for the existing line. The Core 2 Duo E7600 is another chip we anticipate will be popular with budget gamers. The release coordinates nicely with this year’s ExPO Icrontic, and should bode well for anyone needing to assemble a LAN box to take to the event.

April 19 releases:

• Core 2 Quad Q8400 will cost $183
• Core 2 Quad Q8400S will cost $245

May 31 releases:

• Core i7 975 will cost $999
• Core i7 950 will cost $562
• Core 2 Duo E7600 will cost $133
• Pentium Dual-Core E6300 will cost $84
• Celeron Dual-Core E1600 will cost $53

Rollin’ phat cache. MadShrimps pits the Intel Core 2 Duo E7400 against its baller brother, the E8600.

Core i7 and Phenom II are the hot topics in the world of processors right now, but Intel hasn’t given up yet on the venerable Core 2 Duo line. The new chip boasts a 3.5GHz clock speed, 1333mhz fsb, and 6MB of L2 cache with a 65W TDP at 1.25V.

The 45nm dual core processors have been well-received by the enthusiast community for their overclocking headroom and cool running. The E8700, with its 10.5 multiplier, should push some impressive numbers upon its release.

As usual with Intel, new chips mean price cuts. An educated guess would suggest the E8700 hits streets just under $270.

Santa Clara CPU firm Intel has released their November/December tray prices which has quietly revealed the introduction of three new CPUs.

Intel Core 2 Quad Q8300
2.5GHz Yorkfield (45nm)
4MB L3 cache
1333GT/s FSB
$224 MSRP

Intel Pentium E5300
2.6GHZ Wolfdale (45nm)
2MB L2 cache
800GT/s FSB
$86 MSRP

Intel Celeron E1500
2.2GHz Allendale (65nm)
512k L2 cache
800GT/s FSB
$53 MSRP

It’s the holiday season, and that means it’s time to send yourself spiraling into crushing debt made possible by the power of plastic. While you could responsibly commit to a reasonable budget, we know that the seductive potential of a $600 PC that isn’t terrible may be too much for your feeble will. If you’re looking for a little rationalization to pull the trigger, chalk it up to aiding our abyss of an economy.

(more…)

Techware Labs reviews the Intel E7200 processor.

Nordic Hardware delves into the changes presented by Intel’s new Core 2 Duo E0 stepping. Mature hardware at its finest.

Aside from RIM’s official unveiling of the Storm, not much is at play in the world of gadgets today. Nevertheless, here are a few links to get you started:

• Harnessing the power of frickin’ laser beams for 20Gbps terrestrial wireless? 10Gbps at 800m? Daddy like!
• Just in case you haven’t heard, Intel released the Core 2 Duo E7300 and E5200 some weeks back. While you probably wouldn’t want to court the E5200, the 7xxx series is rather a fantastic bargain.
• RIM’s BlackBerry Storm was officially unveiled. It supports quad-band GSM, EV-DO Rev. A, HSPA/UMTS, no WiFi, a weird clicky touchscreen, a wacky app store and some other bits and bobs. Give it a peek if you’re a smartphone afficianado.
• AMD will soon start pushing its GPU-on-CPU “Fusion” technology pretty hard. To prep the market for its coming, AMD is resorting to a bizarre and arguably useless utility to “prep your computer for gaming.” Seriously, it’s just weird.

As usual, check back to this post as news rolls in throughout the day.