http://www.pcdoctors.co.za/ PC Doctors Online Technical Support en-gb This site is powered by e107, which is released under the terms of the GNU GPL License. it@nospam.com (Christo) it@nospam.com (Christo) Sat, 19 May 2012 19:05:46 +0200 Sat, 19 May 2012 19:05:46 +0200 http://backend.userland.com/rss e107 (http://e107.org) hourly 1 60 http://www.pcdoctors.co.za/e107_images/logo.png http://www.pcdoctors.co.za/ 88 31 PC Doctors Online Technical Support http://www.pcdoctors.co.za/news.php?item.630.2
The Microsoft Store officially posted an offer for a $99 Xbox 360/Kinect bundle on its website.

Last week, rumors circulated that Microsoft was planning on selling a 4GB Xbox 360 bundle with a Kinect sensor and two-year Xbox Live Gold service subscription. The only catch was that there'd be a $14.99 monthly service fee for the service, but gamers would receive the regular online gameplay features of an Xbox Live Gold subscription along with extra content from cable providers.

The total cost of the two-year bundle is $459, which is a bit of an increase from the current $418 4GB Xbox 360 and Kinect bundle with two years of Xbox Live Gold.

The Microsoft Store online published a redeemable coupon for the $99 bundle today, where offer code 885370366266 can be brought to a local Microsoft store in exchange for the latest deal.

Last week's report also noted that there may be an early termination fee (ETF), but the amount had not been specified at the time. Microsoft has now confirmed that there will, in fact, be an ETF that is set based on the number of months passed after the start of the two-year subscription. If the service is terminated within the first three months, the ETF will be $250. At the fourth month, the ETF is $240. From there, the ETF decreases by $12 each month until it hits $0 at 24 months.

Source: Microsoft Store


[Submitted by Christo [PCD]]



Click to discuss this news item in the forums
]]>
The Microsoft Store officially posted an offer for a $99 Xbox 360/Kinect bundle on its website.

Last week, rumors circulated that Microsoft was planning on selling a 4GB Xbox 360 bundle with a Kinect sensor and two-year Xbox Live Gold service subscription. The only catch was that there'd be a $14.99 monthly service fee for the service, but gamers would receive the regular online gameplay features of an Xbox Live Gold subscription along with extra content from cable providers.

The total cost of the two-year bundle is $459, which is a bit of an increase from the current $418 4GB Xbox 360 and Kinect bundle with two years of Xbox Live Gold.

The Microsoft Store online published a redeemable coupon for the $99 bundle today, where offer code 885370366266 can be brought to a local Microsoft store in exchange for the latest deal.

Last week's report also noted that there may be an early termination fee (ETF), but the amount had not been specified at the time. Microsoft has now confirmed that there will, in fact, be an ETF that is set based on the number of months passed after the start of the two-year subscription. If the service is terminated within the first three months, the ETF will be $250. At the fourth month, the ETF is $240. From there, the ETF decreases by $12 each month until it hits $0 at 24 months.

Source: Microsoft Store


[Submitted by Christo [PCD]]



Click to discuss this news item in the forums
]]> Hardware Christo [PCD] Fri, 11 May 2012 10:05:08 +0200 http://www.pcdoctors.co.za/news.php?item.630.2 http://www.pcdoctors.co.za/news.php?item.629.2
Micron has announced the development of its first fully functional DDR4 DRAM module. The company is currently sampling the modules and getting feedback from major customers to support the implementation of applications starting in 2013. Currently the majority of computers and other devices are using DDR3 DRAM.

The adoption of DDR4 memory will bring improvements to the high performance computing and consumer electronics markets. Micron expects enterprise and micro server markets to take full advantage of the new specification early. The modules are also appropriate for ultrathin client and tablet markets. The new DDR4 modules offer power savings and performance enhancements that are important for mobile devices, such as tablets.

"With the JEDEC definition for DDR4 very near finalization, we've put significant effort into ensuring that our first DDR4 product is as JEDEC-compatible as it can be at this final stage of its development," said Brian Shirley, vice president for Micron's DRAM Solutions Group. "We've provided samples to key partners in the market place with confidence that the die we give them now is the same die we will take into mass production."

Micron's DDR4 technology was codeveloped with Nanya and is based on Micron's 30 nm technology. The modules developed are 4 Gb x 8 units and will be used in RDIMM, LRDIMM, 3DS, SODIMM, and UDIMM applications. The product will also be offered for soldered down spaces in x8, x16, and x32 with initial speeds up to 2400 megatransfers per second. Micron plans volume production the kickoff in Q4 2012 and has been sampling the key partners since the beginning of 2012.

The U.S. DRAM maker's South Korean rival Samsung has also been samping DDR4 memory.

It's been a sad year for Micron after seeing its long-time CEO Steven Appleton perish in a February plane crash. Appleton was replaced by Mark Durcan.

Source: Micron

Micron is among the pioneers in DDR4 memory. [Image Source: TweakTown]


[Submitted by Christo [PCD]]



Click to discuss this news item in the forums
]]>
Micron has announced the development of its first fully functional DDR4 DRAM module. The company is currently sampling the modules and getting feedback from major customers to support the implementation of applications starting in 2013. Currently the majority of computers and other devices are using DDR3 DRAM.

The adoption of DDR4 memory will bring improvements to the high performance computing and consumer electronics markets. Micron expects enterprise and micro server markets to take full advantage of the new specification early. The modules are also appropriate for ultrathin client and tablet markets. The new DDR4 modules offer power savings and performance enhancements that are important for mobile devices, such as tablets.

"With the JEDEC definition for DDR4 very near finalization, we've put significant effort into ensuring that our first DDR4 product is as JEDEC-compatible as it can be at this final stage of its development," said Brian Shirley, vice president for Micron's DRAM Solutions Group. "We've provided samples to key partners in the market place with confidence that the die we give them now is the same die we will take into mass production."

Micron's DDR4 technology was codeveloped with Nanya and is based on Micron's 30 nm technology. The modules developed are 4 Gb x 8 units and will be used in RDIMM, LRDIMM, 3DS, SODIMM, and UDIMM applications. The product will also be offered for soldered down spaces in x8, x16, and x32 with initial speeds up to 2400 megatransfers per second. Micron plans volume production the kickoff in Q4 2012 and has been sampling the key partners since the beginning of 2012.

The U.S. DRAM maker's South Korean rival Samsung has also been samping DDR4 memory.

It's been a sad year for Micron after seeing its long-time CEO Steven Appleton perish in a February plane crash. Appleton was replaced by Mark Durcan.

Source: Micron

Micron is among the pioneers in DDR4 memory. [Image Source: TweakTown]


[Submitted by Christo [PCD]]



Click to discuss this news item in the forums
]]> Hardware Christo [PCD] Fri, 11 May 2012 10:03:41 +0200 http://www.pcdoctors.co.za/news.php?item.629.2 http://www.pcdoctors.co.za/news.php?item.627.2
Yesterday when Apple unveiled the new iPad, the crew from Cupertino took some time to brag about its new A5X processor in comparison to NVIDIA’s Tegra 3. Apple certainly isn't widely known for offering up benchmarks on its own, so we'll likely have to wait until iPads land in the hands of reviewers and geeks around the web.

Apple used the iPad unveiling to boast that the A5X chip inside the new iPad is two times faster than A5, and four times more powerful in graphics performance than the Tegra 3.

NVIDIA isn't buying those claims without proof. The graphics company wants to know how Apple came by that number. Ken Brown, a spokesman for NVIDIA, stated, "[It was] certainly flattering " for Apple to compare its newest chip to their part.

Brown continued, “We don’t have the benchmark information. We have to understand what the application was that was used. Was it one or a variety of applications? What drivers were used? There are so many issues to get into with benchmark.”

Anyone that follows tech knows benchmarks are often handpicked to favor one particular brand over another when it comes to claims such as these. So it should be interesting to see if the new iPad’s performance lives up to the claims.

Source: ZDNet



[Submitted by Christo [PCD]]



Click to discuss this news item in the forums
]]>
Yesterday when Apple unveiled the new iPad, the crew from Cupertino took some time to brag about its new A5X processor in comparison to NVIDIA’s Tegra 3. Apple certainly isn't widely known for offering up benchmarks on its own, so we'll likely have to wait until iPads land in the hands of reviewers and geeks around the web.

Apple used the iPad unveiling to boast that the A5X chip inside the new iPad is two times faster than A5, and four times more powerful in graphics performance than the Tegra 3.

NVIDIA isn't buying those claims without proof. The graphics company wants to know how Apple came by that number. Ken Brown, a spokesman for NVIDIA, stated, "[It was] certainly flattering " for Apple to compare its newest chip to their part.

Brown continued, “We don’t have the benchmark information. We have to understand what the application was that was used. Was it one or a variety of applications? What drivers were used? There are so many issues to get into with benchmark.”

Anyone that follows tech knows benchmarks are often handpicked to favor one particular brand over another when it comes to claims such as these. So it should be interesting to see if the new iPad’s performance lives up to the claims.

Source: ZDNet



[Submitted by Christo [PCD]]



Click to discuss this news item in the forums
]]> Hardware Christo [PCD] Thu, 15 Mar 2012 08:42:17 +0200 http://www.pcdoctors.co.za/news.php?item.627.2 http://www.pcdoctors.co.za/news.php?item.624.2
For many years, Nokia has been the top mobile phone maker in the world. Nokia was able to maintain that hold on the top spot with sales of its low-end and mid-range devices while its high-end smartphones were largely ignored in many markets. Samsung now has its sights set on Nokia.

Samsung is boasting that it is confident in 2012 it will be able to topple Nokia as the world's largest cell phone maker. If Samsung were able to pull that off, it would end the 14-year hold of Nokia on the top spot. Samsung's CEO Choi Gee-sung made the proclamation at CES in Las Vegas. Nokia is having a hard time of it recently with sales falling and it hopes that a tie up with Microsoft for smartphones will help bring it back to former glory. Few think that will happen.

Samsung isn't alone in predicting it will overtake Nokia. Reuters reports that analysts from the Royal Bank of Scotland and others think Samsung has the momentum to overtake Nokia this year. However, analysts are split with others expecting Nokia to hang onto its lead. Undoubtedly, Samsung's wide range of Android smartphones is helping push it ahead.

"Considering how strong Nokia still is in the emerging markets, Samsung's expectation seems to imply that Nokia will miserably fail in mature markets," said Gartner analyst Carolina Milanesi.

Analysts are predicting weaker demand in established markets like Europe, but strong growth in emerging markets where Nokia is very strong. This will make it hard for Samsung to overtake. Samsung is also on a path to reach its revenue prediction early say analysts.

Samsung is predicted to have a blow out quarter with huge sales.

Source: Reuters


[Submitted by Christo [PCD]]



Click to discuss this news item in the forums
]]>
For many years, Nokia has been the top mobile phone maker in the world. Nokia was able to maintain that hold on the top spot with sales of its low-end and mid-range devices while its high-end smartphones were largely ignored in many markets. Samsung now has its sights set on Nokia.

Samsung is boasting that it is confident in 2012 it will be able to topple Nokia as the world's largest cell phone maker. If Samsung were able to pull that off, it would end the 14-year hold of Nokia on the top spot. Samsung's CEO Choi Gee-sung made the proclamation at CES in Las Vegas. Nokia is having a hard time of it recently with sales falling and it hopes that a tie up with Microsoft for smartphones will help bring it back to former glory. Few think that will happen.

Samsung isn't alone in predicting it will overtake Nokia. Reuters reports that analysts from the Royal Bank of Scotland and others think Samsung has the momentum to overtake Nokia this year. However, analysts are split with others expecting Nokia to hang onto its lead. Undoubtedly, Samsung's wide range of Android smartphones is helping push it ahead.

"Considering how strong Nokia still is in the emerging markets, Samsung's expectation seems to imply that Nokia will miserably fail in mature markets," said Gartner analyst Carolina Milanesi.

Analysts are predicting weaker demand in established markets like Europe, but strong growth in emerging markets where Nokia is very strong. This will make it hard for Samsung to overtake. Samsung is also on a path to reach its revenue prediction early say analysts.

Samsung is predicted to have a blow out quarter with huge sales.

Source: Reuters


[Submitted by Christo [PCD]]



Click to discuss this news item in the forums
]]> Hardware Christo [PCD] Fri, 13 Jan 2012 12:31:41 +0200 http://www.pcdoctors.co.za/news.php?item.624.2 http://www.pcdoctors.co.za/news.php?item.622.2
For a few years, the netbook world was jumping with the small (and relatively inexpensive) machines were selling very well. That netbook heyday is over now with sales of the small machines dropping as the tablet becomes the portable computing device of choice for many people. One of the more popular Dell netbooks to launch was the Mini 10 back in 2009.

That netbook was reasonably popular, but the sales waned during its production run. Dell has now announced that it is no longer going to sell netbooks. The company will instead focus on its more recent successes with thin and powerful machines that compete against the Apple MacBook Air and other models such as the new Dell 15z.

"We sold through the Dell Mini some time ago. We're committed to the highly portable space and have focused on delivering thin + powerful solutions, for which we've seen strong success, particularly in our XPS line," Matthew Hutchison, director of Dell Global Consumer PR told CNET in an email.

The fall from grace for the netbook began when Apple rolled out the iPad during the second half of 2010 and many consumers flocked to the tablets rather than netbooks and notebooks. Even Intel has moved on now with the company focusing on Ultrabooks rather than netbooks.

Intel is working hard to promote the Ultrabook, which was originally promised at a price of under $1,000. Some of the machines were offered at that low price, but many of the Ultrabooks on the market sell for much more than $1,000.

Some companies like Acer see the Ultrabook as a way to become more profitable like Apple. Apple is able to sell premium notebooks at very high prices (compared to its PC competition), and its customers still keep coming back for more.

Source: CNET


[Submitted by Christo [PCD]]



Click to discuss this news item in the forums
]]>
For a few years, the netbook world was jumping with the small (and relatively inexpensive) machines were selling very well. That netbook heyday is over now with sales of the small machines dropping as the tablet becomes the portable computing device of choice for many people. One of the more popular Dell netbooks to launch was the Mini 10 back in 2009.

That netbook was reasonably popular, but the sales waned during its production run. Dell has now announced that it is no longer going to sell netbooks. The company will instead focus on its more recent successes with thin and powerful machines that compete against the Apple MacBook Air and other models such as the new Dell 15z.

"We sold through the Dell Mini some time ago. We're committed to the highly portable space and have focused on delivering thin + powerful solutions, for which we've seen strong success, particularly in our XPS line," Matthew Hutchison, director of Dell Global Consumer PR told CNET in an email.

The fall from grace for the netbook began when Apple rolled out the iPad during the second half of 2010 and many consumers flocked to the tablets rather than netbooks and notebooks. Even Intel has moved on now with the company focusing on Ultrabooks rather than netbooks.

Intel is working hard to promote the Ultrabook, which was originally promised at a price of under $1,000. Some of the machines were offered at that low price, but many of the Ultrabooks on the market sell for much more than $1,000.

Some companies like Acer see the Ultrabook as a way to become more profitable like Apple. Apple is able to sell premium notebooks at very high prices (compared to its PC competition), and its customers still keep coming back for more.

Source: CNET


[Submitted by Christo [PCD]]



Click to discuss this news item in the forums
]]> Hardware Christo [PCD] Mon, 19 Dec 2011 11:31:54 +0200 http://www.pcdoctors.co.za/news.php?item.622.2 http://www.pcdoctors.co.za/news.php?item.621.2
Last week, Western Digital revealed that it was cutting the warranty on its Caviar Blue/Green and Scorpio Blue drives from three years to two years. Now, it looks like Seagate just couldn't stand by and let Western Digital have all fun when it comes to cutting hard drive warranties.

The Register is reporting that Seagate is upping the ante by slashing some warranties from five years down to one year. Here are some of the "highlights" of the warranty cuts:

Constellation 2 and ES.2 drives: 5 years reduced to 3 years
Barracuda and Barracuda Green drives: 5 years reduced to 1 year
Barracuda XT: 5 years reduced to 3 years
Momentus 2.5-inch (5400 and 7200rpm): 5 years reduced to 1 year
Momentus XT: 5 years reduced to 3 years

The new warranty policy will go into effect on December 31, 2011. According to The Register, Seagate made this "to be more consistent with those commonly applied throughout the consumer electronics and technology industries."

By aligning to current industry standards Seagate can continue to focus its investments on technology innovation and unique product features that drive value for our customers rather than holding long-term reserves for warranty returns."

If manufacturers and consumers ever had any doubts before about embracing solid state drive (SSD) technology, maybe now is the time to start making the shift to rid us all of spinning media.

Sources: The Register, PC World


[Submitted by Christo [PCD]]



Click to discuss this news item in the forums
]]>
Last week, Western Digital revealed that it was cutting the warranty on its Caviar Blue/Green and Scorpio Blue drives from three years to two years. Now, it looks like Seagate just couldn't stand by and let Western Digital have all fun when it comes to cutting hard drive warranties.

The Register is reporting that Seagate is upping the ante by slashing some warranties from five years down to one year. Here are some of the "highlights" of the warranty cuts:

Constellation 2 and ES.2 drives: 5 years reduced to 3 years
Barracuda and Barracuda Green drives: 5 years reduced to 1 year
Barracuda XT: 5 years reduced to 3 years
Momentus 2.5-inch (5400 and 7200rpm): 5 years reduced to 1 year
Momentus XT: 5 years reduced to 3 years

The new warranty policy will go into effect on December 31, 2011. According to The Register, Seagate made this "to be more consistent with those commonly applied throughout the consumer electronics and technology industries."

By aligning to current industry standards Seagate can continue to focus its investments on technology innovation and unique product features that drive value for our customers rather than holding long-term reserves for warranty returns."

If manufacturers and consumers ever had any doubts before about embracing solid state drive (SSD) technology, maybe now is the time to start making the shift to rid us all of spinning media.

Sources: The Register, PC World


[Submitted by Christo [PCD]]



Click to discuss this news item in the forums
]]> Hardware Christo [PCD] Mon, 19 Dec 2011 11:31:09 +0200 http://www.pcdoctors.co.za/news.php?item.621.2 http://www.pcdoctors.co.za/news.php?item.620.2
AMD launched its much anticipated Bulldozer architecture for the consumer market last month, but many were disappointed at the performance numbers. Now the company has officially launched new processors using the same architecture for the server and workstation markets, but things have changed significantly.

The key difference is in the software used to process instructions. The consumer side is reliant upon Windows 7 and earlier operating systems, which are unaware of the shared nature of the Bulldozer architecture. Resource sharing is inefficient at best, and the full possibilities of higher Turbo Core frequencies are missed.

AMD has worked to ensure optimization and/or support on many commonly used server operating systems. Linux 2.6.37, Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1, Xen 41, Ubuntu 11.04, and VMware vSphere 5.0 already have OS hypervisor support for Bulldozer, while others such as RedHat Enterprise Linux 6.2 and Windows 8 Server are currently in development.

AMD is specifically targeting the High Performance Computing (HPC) segment, with over 500,000 Bulldozer cores already shipped to this market since September. The AVX, FMA4, and XOP instructions require software to be recompiled in order to take advantage of their performance enhancements. Java 7 was mentioned as a program that was being worked on.

The Opteron 6200 series was formerly codenamed Interlagos. It is scalable to 4 sockets supporting 16 Bulldozer cores each. The fastest model is the 6282 SE at 2.6Ghz, with a maximum Turbo Core frequency of 3.3GHz and a TDP of 140W. The Opteron 4200 series was formerly codenamed Valencia. It is the most similar to the FX series (Zambezi) launched in October, but it will support up to 2 sockets with 8 cores each.

Both series support DDR3-1600 memory natively, but there will be official support for DDR3-1866 through specific OEMs. Opteron 6200 CPUs have quad memory channels, while the Opteron 4200 chips have dual channels. 1.35v low voltage memory and 1.25v ultra-low voltage memory is also supported, as are Load Reduced DIMMs (LRDIMMs).

The L1 cache is arranged as 16KB data per core and 64KB instruction per module, while the L2 cache is 1MB per core. Opteron 6200s have a shared 16MB of L3 cache per socket, while Opteron 4200s only have a shared 8MB per socket.

In order to speed time to market and lower validation costs, AMD has designed its new Opterons to function on its previous platforms using the G34 and C32 sockets. The company believes that its lower total platform costs over Intel’s Xeon platforms impart a significant advantage. For example, the AMD Opteron 6276 will ship at the same price as the Xeon E5640, but will outperform it by 89%.

Cloud computing requires high throughput, scalability, density, and power efficiency. AMD thinks that it can gain significant market share by claiming the lowest x86 watts/core in the industry at 5.3W for Interlagos and 4.375W for Valencia. The new C6 power state reduces power consumption at idle by up to 46% over the previous generation by enabling core power gating When a core is halted, its context is exported to system memory and voltage is removed from the core.

Intel will be launching new server and workstation products based on the Sandy Bridge architecture next year, but AMD also has plans for the future with its Piledriver architecture. Sepang will use the C2012 socket and replace the Opteron 6200 series, while Terramar will use the G2012 socket. Both new platforms will support PCIe 3.0.


[Submitted by Christo [PCD]]



Click to discuss this news item in the forums
]]>
AMD launched its much anticipated Bulldozer architecture for the consumer market last month, but many were disappointed at the performance numbers. Now the company has officially launched new processors using the same architecture for the server and workstation markets, but things have changed significantly.

The key difference is in the software used to process instructions. The consumer side is reliant upon Windows 7 and earlier operating systems, which are unaware of the shared nature of the Bulldozer architecture. Resource sharing is inefficient at best, and the full possibilities of higher Turbo Core frequencies are missed.

AMD has worked to ensure optimization and/or support on many commonly used server operating systems. Linux 2.6.37, Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1, Xen 41, Ubuntu 11.04, and VMware vSphere 5.0 already have OS hypervisor support for Bulldozer, while others such as RedHat Enterprise Linux 6.2 and Windows 8 Server are currently in development.

AMD is specifically targeting the High Performance Computing (HPC) segment, with over 500,000 Bulldozer cores already shipped to this market since September. The AVX, FMA4, and XOP instructions require software to be recompiled in order to take advantage of their performance enhancements. Java 7 was mentioned as a program that was being worked on.

The Opteron 6200 series was formerly codenamed Interlagos. It is scalable to 4 sockets supporting 16 Bulldozer cores each. The fastest model is the 6282 SE at 2.6Ghz, with a maximum Turbo Core frequency of 3.3GHz and a TDP of 140W. The Opteron 4200 series was formerly codenamed Valencia. It is the most similar to the FX series (Zambezi) launched in October, but it will support up to 2 sockets with 8 cores each.

Both series support DDR3-1600 memory natively, but there will be official support for DDR3-1866 through specific OEMs. Opteron 6200 CPUs have quad memory channels, while the Opteron 4200 chips have dual channels. 1.35v low voltage memory and 1.25v ultra-low voltage memory is also supported, as are Load Reduced DIMMs (LRDIMMs).

The L1 cache is arranged as 16KB data per core and 64KB instruction per module, while the L2 cache is 1MB per core. Opteron 6200s have a shared 16MB of L3 cache per socket, while Opteron 4200s only have a shared 8MB per socket.

In order to speed time to market and lower validation costs, AMD has designed its new Opterons to function on its previous platforms using the G34 and C32 sockets. The company believes that its lower total platform costs over Intel’s Xeon platforms impart a significant advantage. For example, the AMD Opteron 6276 will ship at the same price as the Xeon E5640, but will outperform it by 89%.

Cloud computing requires high throughput, scalability, density, and power efficiency. AMD thinks that it can gain significant market share by claiming the lowest x86 watts/core in the industry at 5.3W for Interlagos and 4.375W for Valencia. The new C6 power state reduces power consumption at idle by up to 46% over the previous generation by enabling core power gating When a core is halted, its context is exported to system memory and voltage is removed from the core.

Intel will be launching new server and workstation products based on the Sandy Bridge architecture next year, but AMD also has plans for the future with its Piledriver architecture. Sepang will use the C2012 socket and replace the Opteron 6200 series, while Terramar will use the G2012 socket. Both new platforms will support PCIe 3.0.


[Submitted by Christo [PCD]]



Click to discuss this news item in the forums
]]> Hardware Christo [PCD] Thu, 08 Dec 2011 13:08:17 +0200 http://www.pcdoctors.co.za/news.php?item.620.2 http://www.pcdoctors.co.za/news.php?item.617.2
DDR3 SDRAM is now the standard memory for servers and workstations, but its supremacy was never assured. The introduction of Fully-Buffered DIMMs was slated as a substitute, but its high costs and power consumption heralded its doom. 1333MHz has been the top speed for servers using DDR3 during the last two and a half years, but things are about to change. A number of new product launches from Intel and AMD are leading to some faster memory from Samsung, Hynix, and Micron.

Although DDR3 was first introduced in 2007, it didn't make its way to servers until March 2009. Intel's 5500 series servers were the first to make use of DDR3's higher clocks speeds and lower power consumption, while AMD followed with its Socket AM3 quad-core Opterons, code-named "Suzuka."

AMD's FX series of CPUs using the Bulldozer core are the first to officially support DDR3-1866 at stock speeds. Although its performance was not as high as anticipated, there is a lot of interest in using the FX series in the workstation market due to ECC support in its dual channel integrated memory controller. Intel's Xeon processors are dominant in that market, but they are much more expensive.

Samsung is the largest DRAM manufacturer in the world, and is currently mass producing several DIMMs to address this opportunity. The most interesting is an 8GB unbuffered ECC DIMM (M391B1G73BH0-CMA), which uses 4Gb chips running at DDR3-1866 (PC3-14900). A fully populated AM3+ motherboard like the ASUS Crosshair V Formula would be able to address 32GB of this RAM. 4GB (M391B5273DH0-CMA), 2GB (M391B5773DH0-CMA), and 1GB (M391B2873GB0-CMA) capacities will also be available.

Hynix is currently sampling a similar 8GB ECC module (HMT41GU7MFR8C-RD), but 4GB (HMT351U7CFR8C-RD) and 2GB (HMT325U7CFR8C-RD) DIMMs are already in mass production. Micron, the last U.S.-based DRAM manufacturer, has similar products in the works as well. They declined to comment at this time, but they do have 2Gb DDR3-1866 chips in mass production. All three firms are utilizing a CAS latency of 13 at this speed.

AMD's upcoming 16 core Interlagos servers and some of Intel's Sandy Bridge-E server CPUs will feature quad-channel DDR3-1600 (PC3-12800) integrated memory controllers. This is the most lucrative market for Samsung, Hynix, and Micron. All three already have 16GB and smaller capacity ECC Registered DIMMs in mass production at that speed. Hynix is sampling a 32GB DIMM, while Micron has the only DIMMs with a CAS latency of 10.

Lower voltage (1.35v) versions of these DIMMs will be the most in demand due to their reduced power consumption. However, the largest servers will use Load Reduced DIMMS (LR-DIMMs). These are the successors to FBDIMMs, but without the problematic serial interface. In addition to the address signals normally buffered by registered DIMMs, LR-DIMMs also buffer the datalines. This allows the number of memory chips that can be used per channel to be greatly increased at the cost of additional latency. Servers using as much as 2TB of memory have been proposed using this technology.

Future server CPUs based on Ivy Bridge and Piledriver architectures are expected to make use of DDR3-1866 ECC Registered DIMMs or LR-DIMMs, and all three firms have plans for those as well. DDR3-1600 is a 20% increase in memory bandwidth over DDR3-1333, while DDR3-1866 is a 40% increase. Given the pace of memory advances in the server and workstation markets, these will have to do for the next couple of years.


[Submitted by Christo [PCD]]



Click to discuss this news item in the forums
]]>
DDR3 SDRAM is now the standard memory for servers and workstations, but its supremacy was never assured. The introduction of Fully-Buffered DIMMs was slated as a substitute, but its high costs and power consumption heralded its doom. 1333MHz has been the top speed for servers using DDR3 during the last two and a half years, but things are about to change. A number of new product launches from Intel and AMD are leading to some faster memory from Samsung, Hynix, and Micron.

Although DDR3 was first introduced in 2007, it didn't make its way to servers until March 2009. Intel's 5500 series servers were the first to make use of DDR3's higher clocks speeds and lower power consumption, while AMD followed with its Socket AM3 quad-core Opterons, code-named "Suzuka."

AMD's FX series of CPUs using the Bulldozer core are the first to officially support DDR3-1866 at stock speeds. Although its performance was not as high as anticipated, there is a lot of interest in using the FX series in the workstation market due to ECC support in its dual channel integrated memory controller. Intel's Xeon processors are dominant in that market, but they are much more expensive.

Samsung is the largest DRAM manufacturer in the world, and is currently mass producing several DIMMs to address this opportunity. The most interesting is an 8GB unbuffered ECC DIMM (M391B1G73BH0-CMA), which uses 4Gb chips running at DDR3-1866 (PC3-14900). A fully populated AM3+ motherboard like the ASUS Crosshair V Formula would be able to address 32GB of this RAM. 4GB (M391B5273DH0-CMA), 2GB (M391B5773DH0-CMA), and 1GB (M391B2873GB0-CMA) capacities will also be available.

Hynix is currently sampling a similar 8GB ECC module (HMT41GU7MFR8C-RD), but 4GB (HMT351U7CFR8C-RD) and 2GB (HMT325U7CFR8C-RD) DIMMs are already in mass production. Micron, the last U.S.-based DRAM manufacturer, has similar products in the works as well. They declined to comment at this time, but they do have 2Gb DDR3-1866 chips in mass production. All three firms are utilizing a CAS latency of 13 at this speed.

AMD's upcoming 16 core Interlagos servers and some of Intel's Sandy Bridge-E server CPUs will feature quad-channel DDR3-1600 (PC3-12800) integrated memory controllers. This is the most lucrative market for Samsung, Hynix, and Micron. All three already have 16GB and smaller capacity ECC Registered DIMMs in mass production at that speed. Hynix is sampling a 32GB DIMM, while Micron has the only DIMMs with a CAS latency of 10.

Lower voltage (1.35v) versions of these DIMMs will be the most in demand due to their reduced power consumption. However, the largest servers will use Load Reduced DIMMS (LR-DIMMs). These are the successors to FBDIMMs, but without the problematic serial interface. In addition to the address signals normally buffered by registered DIMMs, LR-DIMMs also buffer the datalines. This allows the number of memory chips that can be used per channel to be greatly increased at the cost of additional latency. Servers using as much as 2TB of memory have been proposed using this technology.

Future server CPUs based on Ivy Bridge and Piledriver architectures are expected to make use of DDR3-1866 ECC Registered DIMMs or LR-DIMMs, and all three firms have plans for those as well. DDR3-1600 is a 20% increase in memory bandwidth over DDR3-1333, while DDR3-1866 is a 40% increase. Given the pace of memory advances in the server and workstation markets, these will have to do for the next couple of years.


[Submitted by Christo [PCD]]



Click to discuss this news item in the forums
]]> Hardware Christo [PCD] Thu, 27 Oct 2011 11:06:57 +0200 http://www.pcdoctors.co.za/news.php?item.617.2 http://www.pcdoctors.co.za/news.php?item.614.2
“Intel is transforming from a leading server technology company to a comprehensive data center provider that offers computing, storage and networking building blocks,” said Kirk Skaugen, Intel vice president and general manager, Data Center Group. “Fulcrum Microsystems’ switch silicon, already recognized for high performance and low latency, complements Intel’s leading processors and Ethernet controllers, and will deliver our customers new levels of performance and energy efficiency while improving their economics of cloud service delivery.”

Looks like it could be a really good deal to me! I say watch this space as Intel as has the resources and man power to make news in the industry with this acquisition!

Source
[Submitted by Siversmith[PCD]]

Click to discuss this news item in the forums
]]>
“Intel is transforming from a leading server technology company to a comprehensive data center provider that offers computing, storage and networking building blocks,” said Kirk Skaugen, Intel vice president and general manager, Data Center Group. “Fulcrum Microsystems’ switch silicon, already recognized for high performance and low latency, complements Intel’s leading processors and Ethernet controllers, and will deliver our customers new levels of performance and energy efficiency while improving their economics of cloud service delivery.”

Looks like it could be a really good deal to me! I say watch this space as Intel as has the resources and man power to make news in the industry with this acquisition!

Source
[Submitted by Siversmith[PCD]]

Click to discuss this news item in the forums
]]> Hardware Siversmith[PCD] Thu, 28 Jul 2011 13:00:18 +0200 http://www.pcdoctors.co.za/news.php?item.614.2