AMD plans to refresh one of its fastest dual-core CPUs, the Athlon 64 X2 6000+. The processor launched last February is based on the 90nm Windsor core clocked to 3.0GHz with a 125-watt TDP. The refreshed X2 6000+ will continue to use the Windsor core, instead of its 65nm Brisbane successor used in the 5200+, 5000+, 4800+, 4400+, 4000+, 3600+ processors and BE-series. The refreshed model will drop the thermal ratings down to 89-watts. Despite the impending launch of the Phenom X2 series, the Athlon 64 X2 6000+ will remain the only mainstream AMD dual-core desktop processor with a 3.0GHz clock frequency, since the upcoming Phenom X2 series top out to around 2.8GHz. Expect AMD to release 89-watt Athlon 64 X2 6000+ processors next quarter.

AMD's latest roadmap reveals more details of its upcoming next-generation RS780 platform, designed to accommodate the new Socket AM2+ processors with HyperTransport 3.0. The RS780 north bridge sports a new graphics core with AMD's Universal Video Decoder, or UVD technology for hardware acceleration of H.264 and VC-1 video formats. The new chipset supports DisplayPort, DVI, VGA, TV-out, LVDS outputs and HDMI digital video output interfaces. Additionally, the chipset can work with external graphics card via a PCIe 2.0 x16 slot. New to the RS780 platform is the SB700 south bridge. The SB700 does away with all PCIe lanes and only supports PCI, because all PCIe functionality has moved to the RS780 north bridge. AMD increases USB support to 12 USB 2.0 ports plus an additional 2 USB 1.1 ports. The new south bridge supports up to six SATA 3.0 Gbps ports with RAID 0, 1 and 10 configurations. IDE remains a supported feature of the SB700. There's also integrated audio controller. Expect AMD to unveil the RS780 platform sometime next year.

According to sources a while back AMD was planning to upgrade its Dresden fab 30 to 65nm and 300mm wafers thus becoming fab 38 in 2008. That was of course prior to losing more than $1 billion USD in two quarters thus pushing AMD to cancel its upgrade. However the plant has reached the 65nm stage but the wafers are still 200mm and will remain until 2009.

AMD's latest roadmap reveals the company's model numbers for two Phenom X4 and three X2 models planned to be released in Q4'2007 and Q1'2008. The Agena-based Phenom X4 processors carry the GP-7xxx model number. There will be two Phenom X4 GP-7xxx processors at launch - the GP-7100 and the GP-7000. AMD plans to clock the Phenom X4 GP-7100 from 2.2-to-2.4 GHz. The Phenom X4 GP-7100 has a 3600MHz HyperTransport 3.0, or HT3, bus speed. The lesser Phenom X4 GP-7000 has a targeted clock speed between 2.0-to-2.2GHz and a lesser HT3 bus speed in excess of 3200MHz. The two quad-core processors will have 89-watt TDP. AMD plans to launch one Phenom X2 GP-6xxx model by the end of the year. The Phenom X2 GP-6550 joins the Phenom line up next quarter clocked somewhere between 2.0-to-2.4GHz. The first Phenom X2 to launch has a 3600MHz HT3 bus speed. This model has a TDP of 65 watts. Two more Phenom X2 GP-6xxx models will join the lineup in Q1'2008. The Phenom X2 GP-6650 will launch first between 2.2-to-2.6GHz with a 3600MHz HT3 bus speed. This model has a 65-watt TDP, similar to the GP-6550. The next Phenom X2 GP-6xxx model to launch is the GP-6800. This model has a higher 89-watt TDP, but still a dual-core processor. AMD aims for a 2.4-to-2.8GHz clock speed with a 4000MHz HT3 bus speed.

Advanced Micro Devices said on Thursday that even though its ATI Radeon HD 2000-series graphics chips family has experienced massive delays, the company is still positioned to deliver competitive graphics solutions to the market place. ATI, graphics product group of AMD, will concentrate on releasing DirectX 10+ graphics chips next year as well as on improving the multi-GPU technology. Unfortunately, not a lot of information is known about AMD's code-named R700 graphics product family. What was released was that the new graphics cores will support DirectX 10+ capabilities, PCI Express 2.0 interconnection, ATI Avivo HD video engine, universal video decoding (UVD), DisplayPort connector as well as ATI CrossFire multi-GPU technology. The new family of products will be produced using 55nm process technology, which is available already at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC). If AMD does not delay the new graphics cards for some reason, like it always do, the new R700 family of chips may emerge in the first half of 2008.

The Sunnyvale company released an updated product roadmap at its annual analyst conference. With its quad-core Barcelona processor on track for an August launch the company announced its next-gen mobile platform Puma that will feature hybrid graphics support. AMD also announced some chips we won't see for a while the new workstation and server oriented Bulldozer chip and mobile device Bobcat chip are scheduled to arrive sometime in 2010 and they represent entirely new chip designs for the company. AMD also announced its first Fusion integrated CPU / GPU chip the Falcon which will use the Bulldozer core. Seems that AMD has some very ambitious plans for the future. For much more info read the source.

AMD today previewed its next two generation of desktop platforms for performance and mainstream platforms. The new platforms outline details of new AMD chipsets, processors and graphics cores. AMD's next new performance platform will be Spider. Spider is the first platform for AMD Phenom X4 and X2 processors, slated for later this year. AMD pairs the Phenom X4 and X2 processors with the upcoming RD7xx series chipsets for Spider. Spider also features PCIe 2.0, and HyperTransport 3.0, or HT3. Following Spider is Leo. Leo is AMD's 2008 platform refresh, again designed to accommodate Phenom X4 and X2 processors with up to 6MB of L3 cache. Leo will still use the RD7xx series chipsets, but with support for up to four GPUs in CrossFire. Following Leo's debut in 2009, are Python, Cartwheel and Copperhead DDR3 platforms. Read more about them here.

AMD Plans Octal-Core Opteron

Debuting in 2009, AMD's third generation Opteron, named Sandtiger, will have 8 Cores on a 45nm die. It will support HyperTransport 3.0 as well as 'G3 Memory Extender,' a new technology that supports larger memory capacities. AMD has not revealed if the new Opteron will support the current socket platform.

Only a couple of days ago Shamino succeeded in managing to reach 25.733 using a pair of GeForce 8800 Ultras but it seems that it didn't take long for his record to be broken. Kinc took first place at the ORB and now holds both the 3Dmark 05 and 06 records. The new record is 25.867 points by using two ASUS Radeon HD2900XT's running in a CrossFire configuration alongside of an Intel QX6700 overclocked to 5029MHz. The HD2900XT's and the CPU were cooled with liquid nitrogen thus making it possible to overclock the GPU's to the awesome 1140MHz core while memories ran at 960MHz. AMD/ATI's Radeon 2900 XT now holds both the first and second place in 3DMark 05, and first and third in 3DMark 06. The thing is how long will it take for someone to use Liquid Nitrogen to cool a couple of 8800 Ultras thus beating Kinc's record ?

AMD seems to be having problems with leakage in their new processors a common problem with shrinking components where electricity can literally burrow out of a semiconductor and even blow entire circuits. A guy over at Investors Hub named wbmw located the problem in AMD's thermal design guide.

Interesting AMD 65nm Process Variation Analysis. I was looking through AMD's thermal design guide, and found some interesting results. If you look at the IDD current of their C1 states, you get an idea of the leakage at various voltages. I looked at their current CZ (F3 stepping, 90nm) and their DD (G0 stepping, 65nm) parts at the max P-state (1.2-1.3V for 65W TDP parts and 1.3-1.35V for 89W TDP parts) and min P-state (1.1V for all products). I pay special attention to their 3800+ part, which was their downbinned part for 90nm (therefore, highest leakage), and their higher bin parts, which presumably require binning for low leakage in order to fit in the power envelopes.

Read full story

Advanced Micro Devices announced during the most recent teleconference with analysts that its Fab 36 had been fully converted to modern process technology and also said that the yield of those products was high enough.

Our Fab 36 conversion to 65nm is complete, with yields exceeding expectations and we now turn all our attention to 45nm [transition]

said Dirk Meyer, the president and chief operating officer at AMD, during the conference call.
As a result, AMD's first 65nm quad-core Opteron processors code-named Barcelona will be introduced in August or September, but will only run at 2.0GHz, whereas faster parts are projected to become available in Q4 2007.

AMD is preparing to launch a new high-end desktop processor, the Athlon 64 X2 6400+, which will be the last processor in the Athlon 64 X2 family. Currently, AMD's highest-end desktop processor is the Athlon 64 X2 6000+, however with its performance unable to match Intel's upcoming Core 2 Duo E6850, AMD plans to launch the new 6400+ to cover up the gap in the market. The 6400+ will have a core frequency of 3.2GHz and 2MB L2 cache, while the pricing will range between US$220-248. Samples of the new CPUs are already shipping to motherboard makers, but there's still no official release date.

As we all know, AMD is not doing so well as of late. Two quarters of battering revenue losses even have some analysts wondering whether or not AMD will still be around by 2008. Fortunately, AMD plans not to go without quite the fight. AMD is making all 65nm parts in most, if not all, of their fabs, and has started a new market strategy called "Asset Light". You can read some of the points highlighted in the Q2 earnings conference here.

AMD plans to launch a new technology named Remote IT with similar functions to the Intel Active Management Technology which is part of Intel's vPro enterprise platform. The new technology and platform from AMD will launch by the end of 2007. AMD's new enterprise platform will include AMD Phenom processors, the RS780 and SB700 chipsets, and chips from Broadcom, Realtek and Marvell. In addition to Remote IT, the SB700 will also support technologies including the Intelligent Management Device and the Trusted Platform Module.

AMD has reported its financial results for the second quarter of this year. As expected, the numbers aren't pretty. The world's number two processor manufacturer managed to rake in revenue of $1.378 billion in Q2-up almost 12% compared to the first quarter-but it posted a net loss of $600 million. If you've been keeping track, AMD lost $574 million in the fourth quarter of last year and $611 million in the first quarter of this year, so the company has lost a cumulated $1.785 billion over the past three quarters.

Motorola Inc. on Wednesday warned of a Q2 loss and said it no longer expected its mobile phone business to be profitable this year, blaming weak sales in Asia and Europe.
The warning came at the end of a day when Motorola shares had risen as much as 3 percent on rumors that its chief executive, Ed Zander, could resign amid a campaign by an activist shareholder to oust him.

An incipient price war between chip giants AMD and Intel may fizzle out after some midsummer skirmishing as AMD has no plans to further cut CPU prices any time soon, said Gary Bixler, AMD's director of marketing for North America.
Intel is widely expected July 22 to cut prices on its three desktop quad-core processors and July 29 to its quad-core server SKUs. The Intel price cuts are perhaps all part of its own cunning plan, but they come on the heels of AMD's own round of price-slashing last week. There's no small amount of speculation that Intel's anticipated move is a reaction to AMD's, and from there the leap to predicting a brand new price war isn't a terribly long one.

AMD shareholders have scheduled a meeting today in order to discuss the possibility of raising additional financing to maintain stable operations, as the company is going through a tough time.
AMD by selling a great part of its assets ( fabs in Germany ), has negatively influenced the company's debt holders thus the need for money is great. Main reason is that AMD is again to post a larger than expected loss and if they cant find a way to raise money fast they could be going out of business really soon.
This is truly a hard time for AMD , perhaps the hardest ever and all fans around the world can do is cross fingers and hope AMD makes it.

AMD announced the X2BE line of cpus late last month but until now we had yet to see them available for purchase. However after almost a month the X2BE line is starting to populate online stores.
The 2 models that have been spoted are the Athlon X2 BE-2300 which costs around 90$ and the Athlon BE-2350 at around $95. The X2BE line is based on the oldest AMD cpu codename Brisbane but offers lower thermal ratings at 45-watts along with 2x512KB of L2 cache, 2000 MHz HyperTransport speed and AMD Virtualization technology.
So far AMD has only announced these two models , clocked at 2.1 GHz (BE-2350) and 1.9 GHz (BE-2300) but according to rumors AMD plans to release a third model, the 2.3 GHz Athlon X2 BE-2400 in late August.

SIS To Launch New Intel and AMD Chipsets

Silicon Integrated Systems (SiS) is planning to launch a new Intel and AMD Based Chipset line in Q1 2008.
SiS intends to release the SiS 757 chipset targeted at the PC-Enthusiast and the SiS 772 IGP chipset for the mainstream user. The SiS 969 southbridge is also scheduled to be released in the first quarter of 2008.

AMD today announced two new multimedia TV Wonder products - the TV Wonder 650 Combo PCIe and TV Wonder 600 USB. The TV Wonder 650 Combo PCIe uses single PCIe x1 slot and features dual tuners: one to receive analog and one to receive digital broadcasts. Both tuners can operate simultaneously, allowing users to watch and record analog TV, "free-to-air" HDTV, unencrypted digital ClearQAM cable TV2 and FM stations. The new TV Wonder 600 Hi-Speed USB is a powerful High Definition PVR packed into a sleek and elegant USB 2.0 stick. This device can be used with either your laptop or desktop PC. It does not have dual tuner functionality, but can easily process free-to-air HDTV, digital or analog TV broadcasts. Both new tuner products are fully compatible with Windows Vista Media Center and Windows XP Media Center Edition. Expect the TV Wonder 650 Combo PCIe and TV Wonder 600 USB to show up in September.

Effective Monday July 9, 2007, AMD will slash prices of its Athlon 64 X2 dual core processors. The top-of-the-line Athlon 64 X2 6000+ now costs $178 in 1000-unit tray quantities. See the updated AMD Processor Pricing page here.

Peter Wingrove is proud to announce that he has "walked the walk". To raise money for breast cancer victims, Peter Wingrove dressed for the charity walk in womens' clothes, and walked for over 10 miles with like-minded people. Mr.Wingrove's thoughts on the experience:

The walk was quite challenging and made all the more so by the wet and cold conditions for the first 10+ miles but this gave way to early morning brighter conditions which made the going a lot better. With more than 10,000 walkers the 'community spirit' was amazing and a lot of fun and I was proud to be part of it.

The walk was a tremendous success, and it raised a substantial amount of money for breast cancer victims. You can see the picture of a very triumphant Wingrove below.

It seems that PCMagazine has gotten their hands on a "special" version of the Radeon HD 2900XT in a Crossfire setup which nearly DOUBLES performance across some games and benchmarks over NVIDIA's 8800 GTX SLI.

The systems they used were direct from Falcon Northwest and so the question is... what about the rest of us? The folks over at Dailytech provide their insight into this interesting find in an editorial.

According to AMD's most recent roadmap, 2 Phenom FX series will see the light of day: Phenom FX-80 and Phenom FX-90. The FX-80 will be designed as single-core CPU's while the FX-90 will be designed as 4x4 dual CPU's.

The plan is to launch the Phenom FX-90 CPU's by Q1 2008 and the FX-80's a little earlier during the November-December interval.