When Ivy Bridge launched we all expected CPU prices to drop a little, instead .... Ivy bridge was introduced a little more expensive keeping the rest in pace.

Digitimes sources however now seem to indicate that Intel will most likely lower prices of Sandy Bridge processors in June-July and it will be very helpful in increasing demand for PCs in emerging markets. Intel has so far declined to comment on its pricing strategy between the old gen and new gen platforms. We'll report more when we get new information.

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Awkward ... Last year AMD revealed that its Bulldozer processor has 1.2 billion transistors instead of 2 billion, and this week Bright Side of News discovered that the transistor count of the Trinity APU also differs from the number that AMD originally supplied at launch; it's 1.3 billion and not 1.45 billion:

While writing our article about Trinity APU we took the transistor count originally supplied at its launch last year. That number was confirmed in the Llano post-mortem presentation at the Hot Chips 2011 conference, and widely cited in various Llano reviews, including the AnandTech one. Back then the quad-core version of Llano counted no less than 1.45B transistors. Now, if you look at Trinity launch articles at various sites, you will find a different number, such as 1.178B transistors on AnandTech. You will also find sites such as Tom's Hardware and Tech Report state Llano as 1.45 billion transistors, while Trinity packs 1.30 billion. What remains unchanged is the die size, which has remained at the same 228mm

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DigiTimes reports AMD is prepping Hondo, a 40nm Bobcat based processor with a TDP of 4-5W. This chip will arrive in Q4 2012 and intends to take on Intel's Clover Trail-W CPUs in the Windows 8 tablet market.
AMD is also set to release Tamesh processors to replace Hondo in 2013 with architecture upgraded from Bobcat to Jaguar. The new CPU's performance and power consumption are both expected to be further enhanced from Hondo.

After recently announcing its Trinity processors for notebooks, AMD is ready to announce models for desktops including A10-5800k, A10-5700, A8-5600k and A8-5500. The company will then release A6-5400K and A4-5300 in the fourth quarter. All the processors are manufactured by Globalfoundries with a 32nm process.

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Advanced Micro Devices has launched the Embedded R-Series Platform, now officially. These are basically Trinity CPUs that are destined for embedded applications.

In the performance computing world, energy efficiency is mostly a new concept. The embedded market, on the other hand, is more about capability and how much performance can you get while maintaining a certain level of power consumption.

While during last week

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The new model PC Power & Cooling power supply is their Silencer Mk II series of PSU's. It's the 'bloke' PSU series again with a simple design, and hey -- nothing is modular so the PSU certainly is a squid inside your system with all the tentacles (wires), but yeah .. lots of you don't really care about cable management, they just want the best of the best and sure ...as you'll learn you can't really complain about the essence that is the Mk II Silence 750W power supply.

Check the review right here.

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The folks over at CPU-world report some news on AMD's Accelerated Processing Units (APUs) with "Trinity" core. At first, AMD will introduce mainstream mobile processors, and later this and next quarters we will see new desktop and low-voltage mobile APUs. AMD also readies several embedded SKUs, based on "Trinity" core. The processors will be branded as "R-Series", and in many aspects they will be similar to mobile "Trinity" parts. Some characteristics of these products, such as model number, TDP and performance in graphics applications, relative to Intel Sandy Bridge CPUs, surfaced on AMD website (PDF file):

The graph shows that AMD R-464L has 106%, and R-272F has 45% better performance than Intel i7-2710QE embedded chip in 3DMark 06 and Vantage v1.1.0 applications. Core i7-2710QE incorporates HD 3000 graphics, which is noticeably slower than HD 4000 GPU on Ivy Bridge line of processors. Nevertheless, if the benchmark results in the PDF file are correct, then AMD R-464L may still be faster in graphics applications than Core i7-3612QE, which is an Ivy Bridge successor of the i7-2710QE.

The PDF file on AMD website does not list CPU or GPU features of R-series APUs, but we were able to locate some details on the R-464L. This chip packs 4 CPU cores, clocked at 2.3 GHz, and HD 7660G graphics. These specifications, as well as 35 Watt TDP, closely match mobile A10-4600M microprocessor. As a result, we wouldn't be surprised to learn if R-464L and A10-4600M have the same remaining features, such as 4 MB L2 cache, turbo and GPU clock frequencies (whatever those are). We don't have any information on the R-272F, but we believe that it's a dual-core APU, and it comes with HD 7500G or HD 7400G series graphics.

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Japanese website Impress Personal Computer Watch has proven what many have suspected. They discovered that there's thermal paste between the CPU die and the internal heat spreader (IHS) in Intel's Ivy Bridge processors create the heat issues reported widely over the web. It was speculated that TIM may be part of the reason why Ivy Bridge runs hotter, as previous-generation processors used flux-less solder with a higher heat conductivity.

What was discovered is that by replacing the cheap TIM (thermal compound) with other alternatives the website noticed big pretty significant temperature drops.

IPCW compared the stock TIM (thermal grease) with OCZ's Freeze Extreme and Coollaboratory's Liquid Pro while using a Thermalright Silver Arrow SB-E as the cooler of choice (a fairly strong heatpipe based  cooler). They then compared all three TIMs at stock 3.5GHz and overclocked at 4.6GHz 1.2v.

The interesting thing here is that at stock clocks and stock TIM the I7 3770K hit 61C while usining OCZ TIM the  temperature already dropped temps to 53C and the Liquid Pro TIM dropped temps down to 50C that's a full 8-11C lower then the stock TIM Intel used on the CPU's IHS. When overclocked to 4.6GHz things get way better, the load temps with stock TIM skyrocketed to 84C, meanwhile the OCZ TIM dropped temps down to 69C with the Liquid Pro dropping temps all the way down to 64C.

That means at full load and overclocked simply replacing the TIM used between the CPU die and IHS showed insane temp drops of 15-20C.

    

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Intel is working on NUC (Next Unit of Computing), a Mini PC with a 100mm x 100mm form factor. The system is equipped with an Intel Core i3/i5 Sandy Bridge processor, integrated graphics (Intel HD 3000), Thunderbolt, HDMI, and USB 3.0. The system is designed for the digital signage market.
There's a heatsink and fan assembly on board, too, and the mini PCIe connectors leave the door open for added functionality. Because it runs an Intel Core i5 CPU instead of the ARM processors found in options such as the Cotton Candy and Raspberry Pi, the NUC promises to be a more powerful mini-desktop. But don't get too excited: Intel envisions it as a component in digital signage instead. Look for Intel's mini-PC at a kiosk near you in the second half of 2012, when it's expected to drop.

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Intel will cut pricing of its popular Core i7-2600K and Core i7-2700K "Sandy Bridge" processors:
The Core i7-2600K has taken a fall of about 10

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AMD\'s FX series and the A-series Llano APUs received price cuts. Here's the new price list as of 27 April, 2012:

Model	Old	New	Dif
FX-8150	245 dollar	205 dollar	16,3 percent
FX-8120	185 dollar	165 dollar	10,8 percent
FX-6200	165 dollar	155 dollar	6,1 percent
FX-6100	145 dollar	135 dollar	6,9 percent

Model	Old	New	Dif
A8-3870K	135 dollar	115 dollar	14,8 percent
A8-3850	135 dollar	105 dollar	22,2 percent
A8-3820	129 dollar	115 dollar	10,9 percent
A8-3800	129 dollar	105 dollar	18,6 percent
A6-3670K	115 dollar	100 dollar	13 percent
A6-3650	115 dollar	95 dollar	17,4 percent
A6-3600	109 dollar	95 dollar	12,8 percent
A6-3500	85 dollar	75 dollar	11,8 percent
A4-3400	71 dollar	59 dollar	16,9 percent
A4-3300	66 dollar	55 dollar	16,7 percent

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X-bit Labs shared some more details about AMD's price cuts since the arrival of Intel's Ivy Bridge lineup. The AMD FX-8150 is now available for $215 (down from $245), while the FX-6200 fell from $165 to $149.

Advanced Micro Devices has quietly slashed pricing of its top-of-the-range eight-core AMD FX-8150 central processing units and adjusted pricing of some other chips in the light of the Intel Core i-series "Ivy Bridge" product launch. The eight-core flagship offering from AMD can now be obtained starting at $215 in the U.S.

AMD FX-8150 Black Edition (3.60GHz/4.20GHz, eight cores, 16MB total cache, 125W TDP, AM3+ form-factor) microprocessor officially costs $245 in 1000-unit quantities, but at present it can be acquired starting from $215 in the U.S. and starting from

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An infographic from AMD Korea reveals details about the performance of the A10-4600M, an upcoming 32nm Trinity APU.
It has four x86-64 cores spread across two "Piledriver" architecture modules, 4 MB of total cache (2x 2 MB), CPU clock speeds of 2.30 GHz (3.00 GHz TurboCore), and integrated Radeon HD 7660G graphics that has 384 VLIW4 stream processors, and GPU core speed of 685 MHz. The chip integrates a PCI-Express 2.0 root complex, and dual-channel DDR3-1600 MHz integrated memory controller.
CPU performance isn't mentioned, instead AMD focuses on GPU performance.

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Despite the fact that Intel's upcoming Ivy Bridge based Core i3 processors aren't expected to arrive until early June, pricing for three of Intel's upcoming models have now made an appearance at several online retailers. We don't know Intel's pricing for these models, but at least the pricing available should give us a good indication as to how Intel is planning to position the new models in the market.

The three models in question are the Core i3-3220, Core i3-3225 and the Core i3-3240. Several European online retailers has priced the Core i3-3220 at around

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AMD announced on its blog that its A-series APUs (Trinity) began shipping last quarter. The chip designer says Trinity and Brazos 2.0 systems will be available globally soon.

The 2012 AMD A-Series APU helps improve on virtually every aspect of our current A-Series APUs while doubling the performance-per-watt over our previous generation. It enables Brilliant HD, amazing productivity and accelerated applications across a spectrum of form factors

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It seems that Ivy Bridge processors will be released one week sooner than previously announced. Previously targeted for an April 29 announcement, Ivy bridge is now set for an April 23 introduction with Acer, HP and Lenovo expected to launch notebooks based on the new 22 nm processors.

Retailers across Europe apparently have posted Ivy Bridge CPUs ahead of their official availability as well. According to Heise.de, the models Core i7-3770K, Core i7-3770, Core i5-3570K, Core i5-3550 and Core i5-3450 have surfaced on price comparison sites for prices between 189 and 340 Euros. The website noted that Ivy Bridge processors are substantially more expensive than Sandy Bridge versions with the same clock speed. Those who can wait should probably hold off until there is a balance of supply and demand in the market.

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Intel first-quarter profit comes in at $2.7 billionIntel announced first-quarter revenue of $12.9 billion and net income of $2.7 billion, or 53 cents per share. In the same period last year, the chip giant pulled in a profit of $3.16 billion, or 56 cents a share. For the current quarter Intel anticipates revenue of $13.6 billion, plus or minus $500 million, thereby besting analyst expectations of $13.43 billion, according to data collected by Bloomberg.

Intel Corporation today reported quarterly revenue of $12.9 billion, operating income of $3.8 billion, net income of $2.7 billion and EPS of $0.53. The company generated approximately $3.0 billion in cash from operations, paid dividends of $1.0 billion and used $1.5 billion to repurchase stock.

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ARM announced the Cortex-A15 Quad-Core Hard Macro. This new 28nm quad-core chip runs at 2GHz and promises a performance level in excess of 20,000DMIPS.

ARM today announced the availability of a high performance, power-optimized quad-core hard macro implementation of its flagship ARM

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Intel has given some of its Ivy Bridge processors a price cut, even though the chips aren't even launched yet.
With Intel having had a hard time making up its mind with regards to when to actually launch its upcoming Ivy Bridge processors, we finally have some good news to report just ahead of the actual launch, Intel has decided to sell the new processors for less than initially expected. We've seen recent pricing details with the older prices still mentioned and although the price cuts aren't huge, any saving is a saving, right?

As you can see in the chart below, the average price cuts end up somewhere between US$7-8, not a massive amount, but considering that early price estimates were even higher, this is all good news. Do note that this is Intel's recommended customer pricing for 1,000 units and not the actual retail pricing.

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This time, VR-Zone has provided info on the Core i3 chips that will be utilized in desktop computers later in the year.

And by later in the year we mean the third quarter of 2012, or the July-September three-month period. Five models have been mentioned so far, called Core i3-3220T, Core i3-3220, Core i3-3225, Core i3-3240T and Core i3-3240. That is essentially the bottom-up order, which means that the Core i3-3220T is the lowest-end and the Core i3-3240 the strongest.

The clock speeds aren't the only traits that earn them those spots though. After all, the clock speeds are of 2.8 GHz, 3.3 GHz, 3.3 GHz, 3 GHz and 3.4 GHz, not an exact decreasing trend.

Some may have assumed that the T models have something to do with this and, lo and behold, they are right.

The normal chips are the regular, desktop processors, while the T Core i3 CPUs are intended for all-in-one systems and have a lower power draw.

Thus, the Core i3-3240, Core i3-3225 and Core i3-3220 have a TDP (thermal design power) of 55W, while the Core i3-3240T and Core i3-3220T only need 35W.

Moving on, all CPUs will sport AES hardware-accelerated encryption, 3 MB shared L3 cache, two cores and hyper threading.

As for graphics, only the Core i3-3225 has the Intel GMA HD 4000, while the rest make do with GMA HD 2500. Too bad, really. We have only just seen how good the former is going to be.

The report did not have any pricing information, but the tags shouldn't be too different from those of the Sandy Bridge that will be replaced.

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Don't underestimate the importance of this discovery if implemented it will make a HUGE breakthrough in the computer processor development (over time). If this is validated and developped it means a completely new computer processor revolution in say 15 years time, similar to what current technology has done for us.

Binary would never be the same with 0 and 1, but with quantum bits it can do both:

A team of scientists at the MPQ realizes a first elementary quantum network based on interfaces between single atoms and photons. Whether it comes to phoning a friend or to using the internet

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