Intel Punches Back at NVidia
Have you guys ever watched a fight break out? Or a near fight?
Usually starts out like this:
1. One person hits the other
2. The other person hits back
3. RAMPAGE, EVERYONE GATHER AROUND TO WATCH
4. Game over
So, Intel has recently been over-stepping its usual CPU boundaries and invading the GPU territory, pitting against AMD and NVidia; bad news for the latter two companies.
Well, looks like NVidia’s had enough. Now NVidia’s fighting back.
As I’ve said, NVidia’s been dabbing at the CPU industry for quite a while now, and is near the development stage. NVidia is not only combining a GPU and a CPU into a single chip for desktop, but also for mobile CPUs.
So, what’s this got to do with Intel? Well, Intel’s Atom CPUs have been rampaging all over the place in the netbook and laptop industry, but now NVidia’s trying to make its own move.
NVidia is developing a new mobile CPU that can do everything that a CPU and a GPU can do. All in one, ultra-energy-efficient chip.
So, one of two things can happen:
1. An all-out mobile processor war between Intel and NVidia
2. They try to play nice and try to compromise
Either way, we’re going to see some heated competition. I’d prefer the all-out war though. It means more competitive pricing, and that just means… more for less, at least for us!
But I want to know what you think. What’s going to happen between Intel and NVidia? More competition? Compromise? Or something out of the ordinary??
Stay tuned for more!
And don’t forget to comment and subscribe!! I love criticism, further analysis, and suggestions on what hardware you want reviewed!!
Cheers!!
~| Icarus
Related Posts
Icarus and Computers Top
Intel Brands Core i3, i5 and i7 Series!
Hey guys, Icarus here again! Today, I will be talking about Intel’s new branding of the Core series, the i3, i5 and i7 series of processors.
In one of my previous posts, I talked about the new features and some of the enormous capabilities of the i7. In this post, I’m going to be talking about the other two in the series also:
1. The meaning of the brand names(i3, i5 and i7)
2. Some of the new, future processors in the line-up
3. Why is Intel doing this?
The Meaning Behind the Name
Well, Core i7 sounds pretty “tech-y” and sleek right? Well, now Intel came up with two more similar names, just with different numbers.
Basically, what the series name now means is entry-level(i3), mid-level(i5) and high-level(i7). These are all pointing at the power and some features of each level of this new Core series.
The Future Processors in the Line-Up
We have the Lynnfield chip for the i5 and i7 series for desktops, Clarksfield for the i7 series mobile processor, Arrandale for all 3 levels, and the Clarksdale under the i3 and i5 brands.
I am sure that Intel has more and more processors in the making, and we have yet to see any benchmarks or leaks on these processors. Hopefully, some of them will start selling late this year and we will have more affordable, powerful processors.
So Why is Intel Doing this?
I was thinking, and many of you may be thinking, why would Intel split the new Core series into levels of power/use?
Well, my first guess is that Intel is trying to concentrate its efforts solely on this new Intel Core series. If you look back maybe for a few years, we have the Core 2 Duo, the Core 2 Quad, the Core 2 Extreme, Pentium, Pentium II, Petium III… the list goes on.
I am guessing that Intel, by concentrating its efforts and organizing the Intel Core iX series right now, is trying to “get rid” of some of these other names to simplify the Intel processor family name. The Pentium’s will die out soon, then the Core 2 series, then all that will be left is the Core iX series.
Another reason could be that Intel is making more powerful chipsets affordable early on. In this marketing strategy, the name will be known to all levels of computer builders(low-end, mid-level, and high-end budget builders). Basically, this plan kills two birds with one stone:
1. People are happy with the prices and the power the Core i3, i5, and i7 processors provide
2. The brand name Core i3, i5, and i7 will be more well known by many other people.
So, that’s it for today. Hope you enjoyed my post!
And please, please comment! I love comments, and I’ll take any suggestions.
Also, don’t forget to comment about what you want reviewed! I am holding back until I get more suggestions!
Have a great day, and see you tomorrow!
Cheers,
~| Icarus
Related Posts
Icarus and Computers Top
Common Myths of CPU’s and GPU’s
Hey guys, it’s Icarus here, gone for the last 2 days. I apologize for that… my Internet was just so slow and by the time I got on my blog to write my next post… my Internet just wouldn’t work with me. But I’m here to tell all of you that I’m still going to write articles every day. In the last post, I promised an article talking about processors and graphics cards, so I’m going to start out with that.
I also got some advice from my father and observations of my own, so I’m going to be implementing that.
So, talking about “processors and graphics cards” is a little vague. Here’s a start for all of you:
1. A Few Common myths of processors and graphics cards
2. The power of processors and graphics cards
3. If one were to reign supreme and have most of the computer under its control, which one will have that control?
In this article, I will be talking about some common myths.
Common Myths of Processors and Graphics Cards
Now, many of you are new to computers, some who are pretty good with computer hardware, and there’re us, the experts. But there’re always common myths lurking around rising from misconceptions of a few people and spreading around through forums and websites. But I’m going to crack some of them.
One common myth I come across is this one: “A computer cannot exist without a graphics card installed.” Well, most of you would probably want a graphics card installed on your computer for kicks and giggles, and maybe for shows. But that’s not true; computers can run WITHOUT graphics cards. A common and one of the only options for running computers without graphics cards is to have a motherboard with integrated graphics. This is a really cool feature for those of you who don’t really need the graphics power because you save money from not buying a graphics card. These motherboards with integrated graphics is definitely not as powerful as some of the mid-range and high-range graphics cards, but it will churn out more than enough power to give you a display on your monitor.
Another common myth I hear a lot is “Oh no, my Core2 processor is only 1.45 GHz, it’s so slow!!!!!” Again, that’s definitely NOT true. The processing speed of CPUs and its efficiency depends on many factors. One main factor is the number of cores.
As technology keeps developing and revolutionizing itself, programs and hardware must both keep up. Today, we have single-core processors, dual-core processors, tri-core processors(AMD’s Phenom) and the quad-core processors. Now, if you have been “trapped” by this common myth, you will think that a 3.00 GHz Pentium processor will be faster and more efficient than a Core2 1.45Ghz processor. Well, that’s wrong; take into consideration the number of cores: the Pentium has 1, and the Core2 has two cores(in this example). Now, when you have two cores PLUS hyper-threading, this means that you essentially have 4 cores, just not written on the box or the computer. This means that you have cores just as powerful or more powerful than the one in the Pentium, and you have four of them. As you start using more and more programs simultaneously, the Core 2 processor will have an easy time utilizing its cores, but the Pentium will have a hard time because it will only have 1 core, and it can only take on so many threads and tasks. That’s why processor speeds, at first glance, do not really matter.
Well, there’re a few of the common myths of processors and graphics cards. Tomorrow, I will be talking about the potential of processors and graphics cards. Come back tomorrow for more awesome information!
And don’t forget to comment! I will be writing at least one quality article everyday, and suggestions/criticism/compliments help a lot! Also, don’t forget to subscribe to my blog!
See you all later!
~| Icarus
Related Posts
Icarus and Computers Top
The History of CPU’s and GPU’s
Have you ever thought of a day when only a CPU or GPU controlled the whole system, and the other option was not there anymore? Recently, I have. It’s Icarus here again, and I’m just going to start this out by talking about the two: CPU’s and GPU’s.
This thought came to mind when I was thinking about the recent court case between Intel and NVidia, fighting over licensing rights for developing chipsets that supported the Core i7 Nehalem processors. Intel is the processor powerhouse, and NVidia is a large GPU competitor against ATI.
Now, years and years ago, when computers were still at lower levels, and Intel was competing against stronghold AMD with its new Pentium processors, not much was integrated; memory controllers were in a separate location on the motherboard, memory was still controlled via the memory controller, there was only DDR memory, and the GPU was at its separate location, receiving commands from the CPU. Initially, a computer could not work without a CPU or a GPU; the computer had to have both. You’d definitely need a CPU to send commands to other components through the motherboard for the computer to even function, and you’d need a GPU to have a display to look at.
As developers and manufacturers created new and better computer hardware at an alarming rate, things started to become integrated; AMD went on to be the first to include the on-die memory controller in its CPU’s, NVidia was established and began to create its own GPU’s, Intel began the development of the Core2 series, and motherboard chipsets became more and more advanced for CPUs to be able to process and send commands and data to components of the computers more quickly. CPU’s and GPU’s developed at a neck-to-neck rate, and both were progressively becoming much more powerful and efficient.
And now, here we are today, with the Core i7 Nehalmen processors, ATI’s popular 4870 X2 and NVidia’s GTX 295 GPU’s, one with 2 GPU’s on one graphics card and the latter with one powerful GPU. Intel now includes its on-die memory controller in the CPU itself, and now there’re motherboards with integrated GPU’s powerful enough to produce a good display on monitors. Everything is becoming INTEGRATED.
So, what’s next on the menu? Well, I’m going to talk about the hypothetical situations I thought of when either the CPU or GPU completely takes control of a computer, meaning that one can live without the other(CPU won’t even need on-board integrated GPU).
Don’t forget to comment!! Comments are always welcome; criticisms, compliments, suggestions, whatever you want covered in my blogs. And please, when you put criticisms, put it in a mannered fashion. It’s a blog, not a flame war zone Xp
And don’t forget to subscribe! I’m going to be writing at least one good blog post a day, and that’s a promise!
Well, that’s all I got for tonight! See you all later! Come back tomorrow!
~| Icarus
Related Posts
Icarus and Computers Top
The Value of the Core i7, Part 2
Hey guys, Icarus here again on a Saturday night with not much to do, but giving you all, my readers, my analysis on the value of the Core i7!!
Well, I’m going to start this article off by telling you two things that’ll matter to you most: use of your computer, and your budget. Depending on these two things, the value of the Core i7 will vary.
So, I will talk about three levels of budgets for everyone: high-end, middle, and low-end. High end is generally anything above 2000 dollars, middle budget between 1000 and 2000 dollars, and the low-end is… well, you can do the math. Generally, there’re a lot of people in the low-end and middle budget level, and a few people in the high-end budget. For those of you in the high-end… I am jealous. Very.
Now, onto the uses. When I said “uses”, I meant things like Internet surfing, gaming, watching videos, using Photoshop; those kinds of things. Now, if you’re going to just use your custom computer for Internet surfing and light gaming… well, you obviously won’t need a Core i7. I mean, a Core 2 series processor can handle that for ease. Now, if you’re going to multitask like crazy, gaming, Photoshop, many windows open and operating all at once… then you might want to consider the Core i7.
Now, personally, I wouldn’t suggest the Core i7 processors for low-end budget users, even the lowest processor, the 920, simply because of the price right now; because the 920 and the other Core i7 processors are relatively new in the market, they are still expensive; and on top of that, the motherboard costs around 200 dollars. That’s almost 500 dollars alone in just the motherboard and the Core i7 processor! If you’re going to spend that much money on just the two components, you might as well bump your budget up and invest in other high quality parts such as good graphics cards, long-lasting and efficient power supply, and some good memory.
Now, how will the Core i7 effect you, the consumers, in the future? Well, when new Core i7 processors come out, no doubt will Intel drop prices on some of the older ones like the 920 and 940. What would I do? Personally, I’d wait until the prices drop down; these processors are still new and expensive, and if I wanted to step up to a Core i7, I’d have to buy a brand-new motherboard too. So I’m just going to sit tight and wait. Patience is the key!
Well, that should be all for the Core i7 in this series. Tomorrow, I will most likely start talking about another new feature of the Inte X58 motherboard, so stay tuned for much more to come!
And again, please leave comments about my articles, or just to talk to me, because I LOVE comments! And don’t forget to subscribe to my blog, I will be writing at least one new article EVERYDAY.
So, without further ado, see you all later(In my blog :D) and good night! Oh, and for those of you still living in the time zone where it’s still February the 14th… Happy Valentine’s Day!
~| Icarus
Related Posts
Icarus and Computers Top Newer Posts »