Sitting tight on the desktop and server performance thrones with the Core i7 and Xeon Dunnington series procesors, Intel is looking to carry on with its product launch-cycle with the introduction of octo-core (8 cores) enterprise processors later this year. The company is expected to detail the industry about this upcoming processor series as early as next month at the Solid State Circuits conference in San Fransisco between February 8 and 12.

The processor in question will be based on the Intel Nehalem architecture and will consist of eight x86 processing cores, a massive transistor-count of 2.3 billion, and will be built on the company's current 45nm manufacturing process. It will hold 24 MB of L3 cache, a quad-channel memory interface and QuickPath Interconnect system interface. Furthermore, it is aimed at quad-socket server platforms. Intel will keep this only upto a presentation level at the conference and not a launch. It is expected to start off with quad-core Xeon processors based on the new architecture later in this quarter.

TC Magazine reports that Intel is preparing a little upgrade on its modest 2.33GHz 45nm Core 2 Quad Q8200 processors. The Q8200 CPUs will pass from M1 to R0 stepping next month. The revised R0 processors will begin to be supplied from February 23rd through April 20, 2009. As reported Q8200 R0 will feature a halide free package, new S-spec and MM numbers, a CPUID changed from 10677 to 1067A, and Power State Indicator (PSI) support with Intel 4 series chipsets. To decrease energy consumption and update monitoring functions, the R0 quad-core processors will bring in three new low power states (Extended Stop Grant State, Deep Sleep State and Deeper Sleep State) and new XSAVE/XRSTOR instructions. A BIOS update for your motherboard will likely be needed if you happen to own a R0 quad-core.

Addressing the number one challenge for data center managers, AMD today announced widespread availability of five new low-power 45nm Quad-Core AMD Opteron HE processors. At 55-watt ACP, these new highly efficient processors help meet the industry's rising demand for low power, cost-saving data center technology. Now available in eight server systems from HP, the new processors can help customers immediately recognize power savings and increased virtualization performance. Rackable Systems will also have Quad-Core AMD Opteron HE processor-based servers available immediately and additional systems from global OEMs including Dell, Sun, and other solution providers are expected later this quarter.

MSI, the world's leading motherboard manufacturer, today unveils its AMD AM3 motherboard 790FX-GD70 and 790GX-G65. MSI AM3 motherboard fully supports AMD latest 45nm Phenom II processor and DDR3 memory. In addition, it comes with the AM3 processor which is optimized for the "second-generation DrMOS technology" and "APS (Active Phase Switching) technology", both in high and low loading, MSI AM3 series motherboard offers the highest power conversion efficiency and effectively reduces the heat. Not only that, Gaming series motherboard even comes with OC Dial and MAX FSB advanced overclocking technologies, as well as M-Flash BIOS update mechanism protection. OC Dial and MAX FSB overclocking enable users to overclock easily and become an expert in a short period of time; M-Flash enables user to load the BIOS files from USB drive to boot up. In addition, the full range products feature full support for multimedia applications, Blu-ray high-definition hardware audio, eSATA/USB combo port, and complete display output interface to provide Full HD and high-performance 3D display capabilities. This motherboard is simply one of the best solutions for gamers and multimedia users.

The guys over at Hexus.net, have got hold of information that shows details of three new quad core processors with a thermal design power (TDP) of only 65W. The interesting thing is that it seems Intel have still not yet given up the LGA775 socket despite it being superceded. These are the lowest TDP quad cores from Intel to date, based on a 45nm manufacturing process, and in theory using up to 30W less power than current quad core processors, it shows a step in the right direction. Unfortunately it cannot be all good news, as it seems that the expected prices for these are approximatly $100 more than the similarly clocked 95W counterparts.

According to VRZone, Intel is planning to launch the next generation of Atom CPU's in Q4 2009 with a 45nm single core version, codenamed Pineview, a dual core CPU will shortly follow in Q1 2010. It seems Intel are gearing up to a single chip solution and with this particular generation of Atom, the CPU will be joined by the IGP and memory controller and is based on Lincroft Architecture. There also appears to be a new southbridge in the works to accompany this new chip. No longer do we have ICH-XX variants, but instead this new piece of silicon has been called Tiger Point. Between the two the platform will be known as the Pine Trail-D and will support memory speeds of upto 800Mhz DDR2. Intel claims there will be a 70% reduction in total kit package size and a 50% reduction in total kit TDP.

The the coming months, AMD is planning to launch a series of quad-core and triple-core processors to strengthen the company's hold on the sub-$200, even sub-$150 market segment. Intel is reportedly planning a rival lineup of quad-core processors to counter AMD in the segmet. While the Core 2 Quad Q8000 series from Intel makes for its current low-end quad-core CPU lineup, the new lineup will be categorized under the Q7000 series.

Characteristics of the Q7000 series include a total L2 cache size of 2 MB (1 + 1 MB), which is half of that of the Q8000 and a sixth of that of the Q9000 series. The processors will use a narrower 800 MHz FSB and will be built on the 45nm manufacturing process. They will come with rated TDPs of 65W. The first model in this series will be the Core 2 Quad Q7500, which comes with a clock speed of 2.60 GHz. The chip will be priced under US $150, straying into AMD's budget quad-core chip territory.

AMD's introduction of the Phenom II series processors served several purposes and goals for the company, mainly porting the processor technology to the newer 45nm SOI manufacturing node, to attempt to bring down manufacturing cost. This also meant that AMD could trade-off bringing down manufacturing cost with stepping up transistor counts on a die that is nearly the size of that of the 65nm Barcelona/Agena. The 45nm Shanghai/Deneb has a distinct feature over its predecessor: three times the amount of L3 cache. The larger cache significantly adds to the transistor count of the die: 758 million as against the 468 million on Barcelona/Agena. Replying to an inquiry of Hardware-Infos, AMD attempts to explain its motive behind incorporating the large L3 cache, while trading-off with savings of die-size and alleged latencies the L3 cache brings in.

AMD points out that expanding the L3 cache was important to the architecture in more ways than one. On the desktop/client PC front, the additional L3 cache was expected to provide a 5% performance increment over its predecessor. The reviews later backed AMD's assertion. Secondly, AMD likes to maintain an essentially common die design for both its client (Phenom II/Deneb) and enterprise or server (Opteron/Shanghai), to make sure manufacturing costs aren't wasted in setting up a separate manufacturing node. With the enterprise-grade Opteron processors, the 6 MB L3 cache has proven to benefit the processor in dealing with large server workloads. Finally, AMD claims that despite the larger cache, the overall die-area of the 45nm die remains lesser than that of the 65nm Stars die, so cost-cutting remains to an extant.

ASUS is reportedly preparing eight new motherboards based on the AM3/AM2+ sockets, ready for AMD's 45nm desktop CPUs. While two of these have already caught the media's attention, there are more. Tabled below are the eight motherboards based on the AMD 7-series chipsets, the ASUS M4A series, and NVIDIA nForce 700 series (and 900 series chipsets, if the "980a SLI" reference in the table isn't a typo), the ASUS M4N series.

Getting into some details, the M4A79-T is the high-end AMD CrossFireX supportive platform based on the AMD 790FX + SB750 chipset, that supports dual-channel DDR3-1600 (OC) memory. It will feature four PCI-Express x16 slots. The M4A79 Deluxe supports DDR2 memory. It is known that the upcoming AM3 socket Phenom II processors will be backwards compatible with AM2+ (DDR2) platforms. The M4A78T-E is the based on the AMD 790GX + SB750 chipset, it supports DDR3. The M4A78-E supports DDR2, while being based on the same chipset. The M4N series motherboards, start from the 3-way SLI supportive M4N82 Deluxe based on the 780a/980a SLI chipset, again it isn't known if the chart sourced has a typo. There is the M4N72-E based on the nForce 750a SLI, and finally the M4N78 Pro. All the M4N motherboards support DDR2 memory.

AMD is heading towards kicking off its desktop CPU lineup built on the 45nm manufacturing process this 8th of January. The company also started off with selling certain "business-class" CPUs last year, CPUs that are rated for long MTBF, giving it a little incentive for business/office PC manufacturers for using the processors in their models. The company is looking to do the same with its 45nm desktop CPU lineup, with six business-class CPUs on the cards, sources tell DigiTimes.

The models planned are dual-core Athlon X2 B23 (2.9GHz, 2MB cache) and B21 (2.7GHz, 2MB cache), triple-core Phenom II X3 B73 (2.8GHz, 7.5MB cache) and B71 (2.6GHz, 7.5MB cache), and quad-core Phenom II X4 B93 (2.8GHz 8MB cache) and B91 (2.6GHz 8MB cache). These processors are slated for Q3 2009. Following the introduction of these, the company plans to phase-out its current business class CPUs by issuing last-order notices for them in Q4. These will be issued for Phenom II X4 9850B, 9750B, 9600B and Phenom II X3 8850B, 8750B, 8600B as well as Athlon X2 5600B, 5400B, 5200B, 5000B, 4850B, 4450B and Athlon 1640B.

VIA, the third active player in the x86 processor market, is known for its low-power processors catering to the ULPC segment of the market. Sources tell HKEPC that the firm is now readying a dual-core variant of its Intel Atom competitor, the Nano 3000. The Nano 3000 series, slated for launches throughout 2009 includes a new architecture by VIA, while bearing the same essential Nano-BGA package.

The processor would use a boarder system interface with the 1333 MHz VIA V4 bus (FSB). It will feature x86-64 extension along with the SSE4 instruction sets to make it standards compliant. It will feature 128KB of L1 and 1MB of L2 caches. VIA is also looking to improve the processor's number-crunching capabilities by working on its integer and floating-point operations efficiency. The processor will be built on the Japanese Fujitsu 65nm manufacturing process which has so far been VIA's foundry partner with processors and S3 Graphics products. The company is also considering a switch to the TSMC 40nm or 45nm node later, sources note. The VIA Nano 3000 Dual-Core variant can be expected in the second-half of 2009, while single core variants of the architecture can be expected earlier.

Following ECS, ASRock will be one of the first ones to be out with an AM3 socket motherboard supporting the upcoming 45nm processors by AMD, as well as support for the newer DDR3 memory technology. The M3A790GXH-128M motherboard has been pictured by the guys at OCWorkbench. It is based on the AMD 790GX + SB750 chipset and features 128 MB of DDR3 Sideport graphics memory for the onboard Radeon HD 3300 IGP.

The most significant feature of this motherboard is support for up to 16 GB of DDR3 1333/1066/800 MHz memory. What's even more interesting according to the specifications OCW listed, is that the motherboard supports a range of AM3, AM2+ as well as AM2 processors that include Sempron and Athlon64, while featuring only DDR3 memory slots. There are three PCI-Express x16 slots ,which depending on the devices installed, arrange in lane configurations of (x16, NC, x4) or (x8, x8, x4). The IGP provides output from DVI, D-Sub and audio-routed HDMI ports. The SB750 southbridge provides six SATA II channels. The board also integrates a high-grade 7.1 HD audio CODEC, the Realtek ALC 889, which comes with a rated SNR of 110 dB. Overall, the motherboard features a simplistic construction. The cooling isn't extravagant, with heatsinks for the chipset. The CPU is powered by a 4+1 phase power circuit whose MOSFETs have no heatsinks. Pricing and availability isn't known at this point in time.

AMD, on the brink of making a start with its first desktop CPUs made on the 45nm manufacturing process, seems to have updated time-frames in which it will introduce new CPUs and manage inventories of currently available CPUs. Data compiled by DigiTimes from sources in the motherboard manufacturing industry points towards the following in 2009:

• The introduction of four new SKUs in the months of April, that include Athlon X4 (Propus core) 615 and 605, Athlon X3 (Rana core) 420 and 410, followed by Athlon X2 (Regor core) 240 and 235 in June
• Last orders for Phenom X4 9850 and 9950 (140W) to be taken in March, Phenom X4 9750, 9850 (95W) and 9950 (125W) will be in June, before which Phenom II X4 920 and 940 in May (in most likelihood replaced by models 925 and 945)
• Phase-out of Phenom X3 8450 and 8550 started, that of Phenom X3 8650 in March followed by Phenom X3 8850 and 8750 in June
• Last order notice for Athlon X2 4450e to be issued in March

With the introduction of the LGA 775 socket around half a decade ago, Intel introduced its very familiar stock cooler whose design remained essentially the same across generations of processors on the same socket. Intel however, later introduced changes to the size of those coolers with some of its 45nm Core 2 processors, along with other entry-level chips. SilverStone worked out a LGA 775 cooler, the NT07-775, that resembles it, albeit its design methodology circles around being low-profile capable, measuring 93 mm x 36.5 mm x 93 mm (W, H, D).

SilverStone suggests this cooler specifically for 45nm dual-core processors. Its construction is similar to that of the Intel stock cooler. It consists of a copper-embedded central contact base from which forked aluminum fins project radially in a somewhat spiral fashion. The 90mm fan rotates in speeds between 1200 and 1800 rpm and has a rated noise output between 15 and 23 dBA depending on the speed. The cooler will be available in January at a price of 20 EUR.

AMD declared new CPU information in mid November 2008; in consumer market, the AM2 based 45nm CPU which named "PhenomTM II" will be ready in January 2009; then, the new CPU which supports DDR3 will be released in February. In order to catch up the upcoming CPU, DFI LANParty already finished the compatibility test of the existed motherboards. Customers who bought DFI LANParty AMD 790FX/ 790GX motherboards can update the latest BIOS from website for supporting AMD 45nm Phenom II.

The DFI LANParty Phenom II ready motherboards are listed below:

• UT 790FX-M2R
• DK 790FX-M2RS
• DK 790FXB-M2RS
• DK 790FXB-M2RSH
• DK 790GX-M2RS
• JR 790GX-M2RS

A lot has been said about the launch schedules of AMD's upcoming 45nm desktop processors over the last fortnight. While the company itself slated its 45nm desktop CPU range to kick-off on January 8 2009, skeptics think otherwise saying it could take longer for AMD to have sufficiently stocked up inventories in retail channels.

HKEPC compiled a list of tentative order availability. time-frames for the 45nm CPUs sourced from PC manufacturers, which shows that the company launches Phenom II X4 940 on Jan. 8, while most of the product launches are concentrated in the months of February and April, 2009. Starting those months, channel vendors will be able to place bulk orders for those processors, to stock up inventories. Also pictured is the die-shot of AMD Deneb, and a picture showing the differences between the AM3 and AM2+ pin-grids (AM3 on the leftHS, AM2+ on rightHS).

ECS has released a partial list of its motherboards that are ready for the upcoming 45nm desktop processors by AMD. Featured in the list, are most of ECS' AM2 and AM2+ socket motherboards based on the AMD 7-series chipsets along with those based on NVIDIA GeForce 8100a and 8200a. CPU compatibility of these existing motherboards can be expanded by means of a BIOS update. Excluded from the update notably, are the company's 7-series chipset based motherboards that use the older SB600 southbridge. For links to the supported motherboards' product pages for BIOS updates, please visit this page.

Intel made additions of three new chips to its mainstream thru value lineup of desktop processors. They include Core 2 Quad Q8300, Pentium Dual Core E5300 and Celeron Dual Core E1500.

The Core 2 Quad is based on the 45nm Yorkfield-4M core. It has an operating frequency of 2.50 GHz and a FSB configuration of (7.5 * 333 MHz) with an effective FSB of 1333 MHz. It has a total L2 cache of 4 MB. This chip will be priced at US $224 (1000 unit tray). Pentium Dual Core E5300, based on Wolfdale-2M sports 2 MB of L2 cache and a clock speed of 2.60 GHz (13.0 * 200 MHz) with an FSB of 800 MHz. It will be priced at $86, displacing the E5200. The Celeron series is now lead by E1500, clocked at 2.20 GHz and an L2 cache of 512 KB. This chip is based on the older 65nm Allendale core, and is priced at $53.

AMD would be releasing its desktop 45nm CPUs, starting with two models under the Phenom II X4 banner. At this point in time, there is a great deal of uncertainty about when AMD plans to stock retailers with the new CPUs. The company's own roadmaps pointed out to a Q1 2009 launch, with several sources reporting then, that an early January launch was likely, but now it seems unlikely according to sources, who suggest these processors to stock up in March or later.

Meanwhile, a slide showing what looks like the the company's performance projections for the Phenom II X4 940, made its way to Expreview. The Phenom II X4 940 quad-core processor (Black Edition variant) would serve as the company's flagship desktop processor in the months to come, until it gets a proper AM3 refresh, and taken over by Phenom II X4 945. In the slide, the Phenom II X4 940 is pitted against two seemingly mainstream quad-core processors by Intel: Core 2 Quad Q9300 and Core 2 Quad Q9400. A percentage comparison in the gaming performance across some games and 3DMark06 is shown.

BIOSTAR has released a partial list of its existing motherboards that will support the upcoming 45nm desktop processors by AMD. The list includes all of its current motherboards based on the AMD 7-series chipsets, NVIDIA nForce 700a series and GeForce 8200 MCP. BIOSTAR has made available the appropriate BIOS firmware for each of the motherboards in the list, that expands the CPU support. Interestingly, BIOSTAR comments on the TDP rating system AMD is about to adopt. It says that 45nm AM2+ processors carry TDP ratings of 125W, while equivalent (drawn from inference) AM3 45nm CPUs carry 95W ratings. Visit this page for links to the BIOS updates and other details.

Following the startling revelation by AMD, on just how much overclocking headroom its upcoming Phenom II processors offer, the company is on course for the announcement of the AMD Dragon enthusiast desktop PC platform. The AMD Dragon platform consists of a Phenom II X4 processor and Radeon HD 4800 series based graphics setup running on a 7-series chipset based motherboard. Earlier, a slide confidential to its channel partners was leaked to the media, showing up to 280% increments in gaming performance over its predecessor, the AMD Spider platform. Legit Reviews took a quick snap of the platform logo for AMD Dragon, showing a dark dragon with red glowing eyes holding the AMD Fusion badge. It also reveals the company's slogan for the platform: "Fusing technology with strength." Throughout the product launch phase for its 45nm Opteron processor, AMD has been largely conservative about its performance expectations, though with its desktop variants, the Phenom II series, AMD has been a little enthusiastic off late, advertising it as something "Beyond Expectations". It remains to be seen as to how far the company lives up to delivering to all the hype that has been created so far.

GIGABYTE, a leading manufacturer of motherboards and graphics cards today is pleased to announce support for the soon-to-be-released AMD 45nm processors including socket AM3 and AM2+ on a full range of current platforms including the AMD 790FX, 790GX, 790X, 770, 780G, 740G as well as the NVIDIA nForce 750a SLI and GeForce 8200.

With a simple BIOS upgrade, GIGABYTE delivers an easy upgrade path for users wanting to take advantage of AMD's latest 45nm process technology enhancements including higher core clocks with greater energy efficiency over past generations, integrated DDR2/DDR3 memory controller (DDR3 memory support for AM3 processors and AM3 designed motherboards only), HyperTransport 3.0 and C1E enhanced power savings.

AMD would be releasing its 45nm silicon-based desktop CPUs, built on the Deneb, Propus, Heka, Rana and Regor cores, to bring out quad-core, triple-core and eventually dual-core processors. AMD has discarded the 5-digit number scheme that was earlier reported, and in its place, adopted a three-digit scheme. The quad-core Deneb chips get a 9xx model number and 8xx number depending on the clock-speeds and cache size, Propus-based chips get the Athlon X4 branding.

Heka-based chips get Phenom II X3 7xx branding, with Rana getting Athlon X3 4xx. Regor dual-core trails with Athlon X2 2xx. It is important to note that AMD seems to have made a critical change to the Deneb core, releasing 2 models based on cache-arrangements. The first kind features a total of 8 MB cache (4x 512K L2 + 6M L3) and one with 6 MB total cache. To learn more about the other cores, please refer to our older article getting into details (here).

Earlier today, AMD announced the release of its much anticipated enterprise quad-core processor, the new Quad-Core AMD Opteron, codenamed "Shanghai". A regular feature with AMD press releases, is that the PR team details about the products' availability. In this particular release, AMD went a step further and revealed the brand name the company's desktop 45nm processors would carry: Phenom II, when getting into details about the AMD Dragon enthusiast platform. Dragon succeeds Spider, and consists of a Phenom II processor, running on AMD 7-series core logic, along with ATI Radeon HD 4000 series graphics accelerators.

The Phenom II processors will consist of a whole range of quad-core, triple-core and dual-core processors, with the products segregated on the basis of their core count, clock-speed and cache arrangement. Several models are lined-up for launch. The platform itself, as AMD asserts, would release in Q1, 2009. There are signs of the company launching some models of the Phenom II X4 sooner, for which motherboard vendors have already started releasing lists of their existing motherboards that are ready for the processors.

MSI released its partial list of motherboards that will support 45nm AM3-socket processors by AMD. The list includes all its AM2+ motherboards based on AMD 7-series and NVIDIA nForce 700a series chipsets. As of now, MSI released beta versions of the BIOS that expands its CPU support base, but it is expected that the company comes out with release-grade BIOS soon. The list, unlike ASUS' list, doesn't leave out any of its flagship motherboards.Press Release follows: