Originally slated for Q4 2011, the launch of Intel's Sandy Bridge-E desktop/workstation platform has been pushed back to Q1 2012, sources told VR-Zone. The high-end platform was expected by industry observers to be a December launch, targeting the shopping season, but it seems like January 2012 is found to be more fitting. Perhaps the International CES, where the latest and greatest from the tech industry is unveiled, serves as the ideal launch-pad for Sandy Bridge-E.

Sandy Bridge-E is an upscale of the architecture that makes up Intel's 2011 Core processor family. Consisting of 4 or 6 cores, Sandy Bridge makes up two distinct product lines for the client desktop market. The chips pack massive quad-channel DDR3 integrated memory controllers and PCI-Express 3.0 hubs that can drive up to four graphics cards. The processor is made of a new 2011-pin LGA package, with the new Intel X79 chipset handling the rest of the platform.

Here is the first picture of GA-X79A-UD3, the first Gigabyte-branded socket LGA2011 motherboard. Based on the Intel X79 Express chipset, the board supports upcoming Sandy Bridge-E enthusiast processors in the LGA2011 package. Mind you, this is just the cheapest LGA2011 board from Gigabyte, there is a higher-end line of X79 motherboards, so don't let the unspectacular looks of the UD3 get you.

The GA-X79A-UD3 is a standard ATX sized motherboard. Its main VRM is spread all around the large CPU socket, in what appears to be a 6-phase design, with an unknown number of memory and uncore phases. LGA2011 processors feature a large quad-channel DDR3 memory controller, along with a northbridge uncore component with a 40-lane PCI-Express 3.0 controller. Those amount to the socket's insane pin-count of 2,011 pins. Memory slots are located in pairs of two on either sides of the socket. Each slot is its own 64-bit wide memory channel.

At Computex 2010, motherboard vendors across the board displayed socket LGA1155 motherboards that support Intel "Sandy Bridge" processors, based on P67, H67 chipsets, months in advance of the platform actually making it to the market. This year, the motherboard industry will do something similar and show off socket LGA2011 motherboards based on the Intel X79 "Patsburg" chipset.

Detailed to much length in older articles, the platform schematic of Sandy Bridge-E surfaced, confirming X79's feature-set, including a PCI-Express 3.0 based supplementary interconnect between the processor and chipset to bolster enough bandwidth for the massive 10-port SATA 6 Gb/s controller, and a 8-port PCI-Express 2.0 hub. Sandy Bridge-E processor itself comes in three main variants, an all-enabled 6-core Extreme Edition, a 6-core unlocked variant, and a limited-OC 4-core variant. The platform is slated for late 2011.

In Q4 2011, Intel will unveil its new Sandy Bridge-E (enthusiast) platform, consisting of new multi-core processors in the 2011-pin LGA package, and Intel X79 Express chipset. A roadmap slide leaked to the Chinese media reveals an interesting way in which Intel will approach the platform to monetize it best. To begin with, it appears like Sandy Bridge-E will keep up with the trend set by LGA1155 processors where only certain models can be overclocked, while others are greatly limited. Among those that can be overclocked (or "unlocked", as Intel puts it,) there will be two classes.

The first class are the 6-core chips at the very top of the pile, probably branded "Extreme Edition", which feature both unlocked BClk multipliers, and have 15 MB of L3 cache, among several other features enabled. Traditionally these processors cost around US $1000. The first of such chips will be clocked at 3.30 GHz. The second class of "unlocked" chips are those which make overclocking more accessible at lower price points (we're thinking under $600), probably branded with the "K" brand identifier extension (eg: 2600K). These 6-core chips will feature unlocked multipliers, while having 12 MB of cache enabled. The first of these chips will be clocked at 3.20 GHz.

Intel's next platform for enthusiasts (successor to LGA1366, X58), will consist of a 2011-pin LGA socket, the Sandy Bridge-E (enthusiast) processor that features a massive quad-channel DDR3 memory controller and 32+ lane PCI-Express 2.0 hub, and the X79 chipset. Intel is looking to skip the 6-series chipset family with its next high-end platform chipset, and perhaps it makes sense since the platform is slated for Q4 2011. The X79 is a PCH (platform controller hub), like P55 and P67, since Intel has reorganized the platform. The beefy PCI-E hub housed in the X58 northbridge is relocated to the processor die, and the southbridge is given a much needed overhaul in terms of connectivity.

The X79 is much bigger than P67 in terms of connectivity and features. Differences start right at the interconnect. While P67 connects to the processor over DMI (physical PCI-Express 2.0 x4), X79 supplements this link with an additional PCI-Express 2.0 x4 link to the processor's PCI-E hub if the user chooses so, in the EFI setup program. The chipset bus hence ends up with 8 GB/s of bandwidth, and wait till you hear what will make use of it: a 10-port SATA 6 Gb/s RAID controller integrated to the PCH! That is a huge improvement in terms of storage connectivity, which is limping with 2-port SATA 6 Gb/s (next to four 3 Gb/s ports) on 6-series chipsets.

AMD's next-generation PC processor architecture that seeks to challenge the best Intel has, codenamed "Bulldozer", is set to make its desktop PC debut in 2Q next year, with a desktop processor die codenamed "Zambezi". AMD is seeking to target all market segments, including an enthusiast-grade 8-core segment, a performance 6-core segment, and a mainstream 4-core segment. The roadmap reveals that Zambezi will make its entry with the enthusiast-grade 8-core models first, starting with 125W and 95W models, trailed by 6-core and 4-core ones.

Another couple of architectural details revealed is that Zambezi's integrated memory controller (IMC) supports DDR3-1866 MHz as its standard memory type, just like Deneb supports DDR3-1333 MHz as its standard. DDR3-1866 MHz, or PC3-14900 as it's technically known, will churn out 29.8 GB/s in dual-channel mode, that's higher than triple-channel DDR3-1066 MHz (25.6 GB/s), which is Intel Core i7 LGA1366 processors' official memory standard. The 8-core and 6-core Zambezi models feature 8 MB of L3 cache, while the 4-core ones feature 4 MB. Another tidbit you probably already knew is that existing socket AM3 processors are forwards-compatible with AM3+ (Zambezi's socket), but Zambezi processors won't work on older AM3/AM2(+) socket motherboards.

At its annual Financial Analyst Day, AMD (NYSE: AMD) demonstrated how its unique combination of CPU and GPU computing technologies on a single die will enable breakthrough capabilities in an innovative processor design with planned OEM system availability in early 2011. AMD executives detailed how this new class of processor, AMD Fusion Accelerated Processing Units (APUs), is poised to create a sustained position of advantage by powering demanding PC workloads in sleek form factors with long battery life, pacing future AMD growth. AMD Fusion APUs are built from DirectX 11-capable GPU technology and either low-power or high-performance multi-core x86 CPU technology. These APUs are designed to vastly improve today's Internet, video processing and playback, and gaming (client and online) experiences. For the first time, AMD also demonstrated its new high-performance x86 multi-core CPU architecture codenamed "Bulldozer" and provided additional information around the "Bulldozer" launch schedule.

PC DDR4-SDRAM, the successor standard for DDR3-SDRAM, which continues increasing memory bandwidths while maintaining the same electrical footprints, surfaced on JEDEC roadmaps, at a recent MemCon conference in Tokyo, Japan. Just the target clock speed range for DDR2-SDRAM was 400~1066 MHz, and that of DDR3-SDRAM is 1066~2133 MHz, the DDR4-SDRAM standard will aim for clock speeds between 2133 and 4266 MHz, with DRAM voltages of 1.1~1.2V, the voltages standards-compliant DDR3 memory will ultimately end up with. Some of the first DDR4 memory chips will be built on the 32 nm or 36 nm manufacturing processes. JEDEC expects sampling of the new memory type to start in 2011 for the industry to come up with appropriate memory controllers and deployment platforms, while actual mass production is slated by 2015.

Having turned its most profitable quarter, Intel is banking on its vast lineup of the 2010 Core processors, which will be updated towards the end of the year. By 2011, Intel will have a new series of second generation Core i7, Core i5, and Core i3 processors, based on a brand new architecture, and built for new sockets and chipsets. A roadmap of the same reached sections of the European media, which shows the company to be almost ready with a full-fledged lineup of desktop processors covering most price-points, by 2011.

The new architecture on which these processors are based is referred to by Intel as "Sandy Bridge", key features of which include the inclusion of the new Advanced Vector Extensions (AVX), a more advanced instruction set than SSE, to accelerate complex applications. AVX aside, there's Turbo Boost technology 2.0 that comes with even smarter algorithms to automatically manage clock speeds of individual processor cores to maximize performance within the processor's TDP envelope, AES-NI, which is a more manageable hardware data encryption instruction set, and processors with integrated graphics (IGP) controllers will have even faster ones, because Intel will be relocating the IGP and memory controller to the same die as the processor cores, this IGP is referred to as Intel "GT2" graphics.

A set of new slides by AMD to sections of the industry spills the beans on AMD's processor offer outlook for perhaps the rest of the year. It shows AMD to maintain focus on value-oriented models that etch away Intel's market share on grounds of price/performance, while the higher-end of the spectrum keeps up with the latest technologies including the industry-wide advent of the six-core processor era, as well as new power-state management technologies such as TurboCore, which steps up clock speeds of certain cores of the processors while powering down others, which the load is low or less-parallel.

Front-line processor lineups include the Phenom II X6, and Phenom II X4, including a new T X4 series that includes TurboCore support. AMD's transition towards these chips from the existing Deneb-based quad-core ones starts within this quarter lasting throughout Q2 and part of Q3 2010. It includes Phenom II X4 960T, a 3.00 GHz (3.40 GHz turbo) chip based on the Zosma die. It goes up with the Phenom II X6 1035T, a six-core chip clocked at 2.60 GHz (3.10 GHz turbo). A notch higher up is the Phenom II X6 1055T, clocked at 2.80 GHz (3.30 GHz turbo), which comes in 95W and 125W variants. At the top is the Phenom II X6 1090T Black Edition, an overclocker-friendly chip that runs at 3.20 GHz (3.60 GHz turbo). A little later in Q3, AMD will add in the Phenom II X6 1075T, clocked at 3.00 GHz (3.50 GHz turbo).

Intel issued a confidential roadmap for CPU product releases that looks as far as Q3 2010, leaked to sections of the Chinese media. The roadmap covers prominent Intel processors in their designated market segments drawn out by Intel, covering three grades of mainstream, one each of performance and extreme. The roadmap marks a definite transition of architectures from Intel's Core (penryn) to next-generation Nehalem, and the advent of Intel's first 32 nm based Westmere CPUs.

To begin with, there three models of Intel's first LGA-1156 processors scheduled for Q3 2009, the quad-core "Lynnfield" based Core i7 870 (2.93 GHz, HTT) in Performance, Core i7 860 (2.80 GHz, HTT) in MS3/upper-mainstream, and Core i5 750 (2.66 GHz, no HTT) in MS2/middle-mainstream. The HTT-enabled Core i7 800 processors were earlier believed to have been scheduled for Q1 2010, but are combined with the Core i5 750 for a grand platform launch. The Core i7 800 models will remain seated in their segments for the better part of 2010.

At the AMD Opteron processor Sixth Anniversary event at its Sunnyvale campus, AMD today announced game-changing new additions to its server platform roadmap and a significant acceleration in roadmap execution.

• Months ahead of schedule, AMD plans to deliver the six-core AMD Opteron processor code named "Istanbul" in June this year, with up to 30 percent more performance within the same power envelope and on the same platform as current Quad-Core AMD Opteron processors.
• AMD unveiled Direct Connect Architecture 2.0, the next stage of server processor innovation: up to 12 cores initially, with superior memory and I/O capability, near native virtualization performance, and a range of full-featured power bands that continue to place a priority on low power consumption.
• AMD believes a customer value shift is currently underway, transforming the server market, with the high end moving toward performance and expandability and virtualization driving a need for more cores and greater scalability. At the lower end, AMD sees power management and overall value as primary drivers for cloud computing and ultra-dense environments that demand greater energy efficiency.
• In 2010, AMD plans to ship the AMD Opteron 6000 series for 2P and 4P servers that are designed to address the highly virtualized, high performance computing and database markets. The 6000 series will debut on the G34 socket and the "Maranello" platform, with the 8- and 12-core "Magny-Cours" processors.
• The upcoming AMD Opteron 4000 series is also planned for introduction in 2010 for 1P and 2P servers and designed to address virtualized Web and cloud computing environments. The 4000 series will launch with the C32 socket and "San Marino" platform with the 4- and 6-core "Lisbon" processor.
• The "Interlagos" 12- and 16-core processor, based on the "Bulldozer" core and manufactured on 32nm process technology, is planned to ship in 2011 and will also be supported by the "Maranello" platform. The 6- to 8-core "Valencia" processor, also manufactured on 32nm process technology, is planned for shipment in 2011 on the "San Marino" platform.

The guys over at VRZone have got their hands on the roadmap for Intel's SSD products. It has been said that Intel will be moving to a smaller fabrication process from 50 nm to 34 nm by Q4 2009 with capacities available up to 320 GB. The successor to Intel Turbo Memory has also been detailed, known as Braidwood and set for release in Q1 2010, it is said to, "provide SSD-like performance on second generation Ibex Peak chipsets like Q57, P57 and H57." Though to use Braidwood you will need, "Firmware support, Intel Rapid Storage Technology as well as the Braidwood module." These come in smaller capacities ranging from 4 GB to 16 GB, and will also be based on Intel's new 34 nm fabrication process. There is no official word on pricing as yet, but these new products are not expected to be cheap.

Intel has set concrete plans for the rest of 2008 and 2009, with its lineup of mobile processors, as in notebook, netbook, portable PC, and MID processors. Roadmaps available with TechARP also reveal Intel's plans for supportive chipsets. The roadmap, for now, shows that the laptop won't be running a Nehalem processor until Q3, 2009. The company still has several SKUs to pull off its hat till there's a need to bring in Nehalem architecture based processors.

As much as releasing hardware that brings in competition and products at great prices is essential for AMD, backing it up with software is equally important. Company slides that point to tentative time-scales that pertain to AMD's software releases have surfaced. Some of the important software products AMD releases are Catalyst driver suite for ATI products and OverDrive, a tool that provides features to tweak AMD processors and graphics cards, as well as several motherboard parameters for motherboards equipped with AMD chipsets.

The slides also provide a sneak-peak into what could be in store with those releases. VR-Zone has published slides, from which the first one points to release dates for the Catalyst driver suite with respect to release candidates and public releases. The second slide points to time-scales at which software with vital changes are released. We are already past August and AMD has rolled out the feature pertaining to that release, allowing Hybrid Crossfire of AMD chipsets with integrated graphics working in tandem with Radeon HD 3400 series graphics accelerators.

Intentional or not, a huge set of company-confidential diagrams from Intel have surfaced from Japanese website PC Watch. The diagrams show Intel's roadmap until the beginning of 2010. While the authenticity of these diagrams are questionable, and there are bound to be inaccuracies, they provide a broad view of Intel's consumer PC processor plans. The first time shows a gradual transition between the current Core and upcoming Nehalem architectures. What's more, it shows how Intel may have segregated the desktop PC market, with six main product divisions from bottom to top being integrated board, value, essential, mainstream, performance and extreme. The value, mainstream and performance segments are further classified on price-bands.The contents of the diagram are pretty self explanatory in terms of what kind of products are slated for when and a little peak into what they are made of. Highlights of the diagram include: