AMD Ryzen

After a 10 year hiatus Computer Developments is back! The news of the AMD Ryzen CPU's has caused quite a stir in the PC world. There have been many conflicting reviews showing questionable gaming and performance scores. My takeaway from the information I've gleaned over the past few months of Ryzen news is that this new architecture performs 15 - 25% better in gaming with 3200 Mhz RAM. Specifically, the min FPS is much higher due to the way the CCX communication functions between the two quad-cores in each Ryzen 7's CPU Complex. The Ryzen line of CPU's are priced to compete with Intel's Sky/Kaby Lake CPU's and their gaming performance at 1080p nets between 95% - 98% of those Intel CPU's. In all other performance benchmarks the Intel counterparts have about a 10% - 15% advantage in single threaded performance and 60% - 80% disadvantage in multi-threaded performance.

Considering where software is headed, both for gaming and productivity, it seems apparent that the purchase of a lower clocked Ryzen CPU with 50% to 75% more threads is more future-proofed than a higher clocked Intel CPU at the same price point with half or even a quarter the amount of threads available. Now that AMD's Ryzen CPU's are operating on the same 14nm process that Intel has been on for the past 3 years, comparisons between the two are on much more of a level playing field. Since the Intel CPU's have the clock speed advantage that means they run hotter and use far more wattage core for core compared to the lower clocked Ryzen processors when performing the same tasks. This would be a consideration for cool and quiet systems such as HTPC's or Mini-ITX gaming rigs where heat dissipation is an important factor.

Will you be buying a Ryzen rig?

10 Year Anniversary Post!

Intel's UMPC's

Intel has recently slipped out the information that they'll be creating UMPC's for the general public by 2008. This is an exciting development for many reasons. Some of which are that Intel plans on using a variant of their 45nm processor designs for their "Penryn" CPU's for their UMPC's. Not to mention that Intel will be emerging into the High-End graphics card market beginning in 2008. So it stands to reason that the UMPC's within a couple years will allow for some decent gaming.

Will Intel's future UMPC attract gamers?

AMD & High-End Graphics Card Pricing

AMD recently implemented a process they call "Automated Precision Manufacturing." While this method of manufacturing is used mostly for their desktop, server, and mobile processor manufacturing; it looks like AMD will be able to apply it to their new 65nm Graphic processing unit processors. The really good news about this "Automated Precision Manufacturing" is how it will affect the pricing of the graphics cards. On their high-end cards, pricing should be reduced by around $150. That would mean some of the best cards for consumers would only cost around $350.

How will this price change affect Nvidia?

Microsoft Sued Over Vista

A woman by the name of Dianne Kelley sued Microsoft for the way they promote Windows Vista. Microsoft told PC vendors which systems could be "Windows Vista Capable" before Vista was officially released. Microsoft did not specify which version of Vista each computer could support; which led to misunderstandings across the board. Most of the machines in question could only support the 32-bit version of Vista while the customers assumed their machines could handle the 64-bit version.

Should Microsoft be sued for their customer's misunderstanding?

Intel Penryn

The "Penryn" is Intel's upcoming 45nm process based architecture. The first planned models will come in dual-core & quad-core flavors with each core clocked at 3 Ghz or higher, depending upon the price of the product. Amazingly Intel has found a way to cram as much as 24 MB of L2 cache into on of their quad-core versions of the new processor.

Will Intel retain it's crown for the next generation of processors?

OCZ Neural Impulse Actuator

Mind Control? In video games? That's not supposed to happen for years. It looks like OCZ threw that assumption out the window with their brand new NIA mind control solution. The NIA measures the electro-oculographic, electro-encephalographic, and electro-myographic signals of your brain to know how to react in game. My Latin and root word knowledge is quite limited, but it looks like the first one deals with your eyes, the second with your head, and the third with your facial muscles. It is reported that OCZ's NIA system currently works with games such as Unreal Tournament and a score of other First Person Shooters. Surprisingly this mind control solution only costs as little as $300. Very affordable if you ask me.

Will you purchase a Neural Impulse Actuator?

100th Post!!!

Google Phone

Oddly enough Google is trying their hand at creating a Mobile Information Device. Apple recently came out with their iPhone, so it has been purported that Google is creating their Google Phone to compete against that product in specific. If this is the case, then perhaps Google will end up creating even more computerized gadgets. They are coming into the real world instead of remaining on the internet.

Why do you think Google is creating a phone?

AMD vs. Intel Antitrust Case

AMD has recently accused Intel of willfully destroying evidence leading to their accountability of crimes. This is a huge mistake on the part of Intel. Deleting the very evidence that would prove them either guilty or not will only turn out badly. The court has now given Intel three weeks to retrieve all the data concerning AMD's antitrust lawsuit against them. If Intel fails to retrieve it all, it's very likely that AMD will win the case.

Should Intel's excuse for the destruction of evidence be believed?

AMD & Intel

ATI has made chipsets for Intel motherboards for years now. A few months ago AMD bought out ATI. When that happened, Intel began to question AMD. They wanted to know if AMD's ATI portion would continue to create chipsets for them. Despite the constant AMD & Intel competition, AMD has decided it benefits both companies if they continue to do what ATI has been doing. Perhaps this agreement will lead to a healthier competitive tie between Intel & AMD.

Should AMD keep supplying Intel with chipsets for their motherboards?

AMD R600

Ever since AMD officially bought ATI with their own stock they have been yet to turn out a new generation of GPUs. However the acclaimed R600 series is soon to be released. Their R630 model, specifically, is expected to be the first GPU to make proper use of the PCI-E 2.0 bus now equipped on motherboards. Along with the new bus, the not so surprising GDDR4 will make its way to the high-end AMD video cards. Most of the R630 derivatives will come equipped with 512 MB of on-card devoted memory.

Has AMD put off their next-gen graphics cards for too long?

Microsoft Operating Systems

Just weeks after Vista's official release Microsoft made claims saying every 2-2.5 years they'll develop and release a new operating system. If this is to be believed that would mean service packs would be a thing of the past. Without service packs it would stand to reason that Microsoft would have more time to work on their operating systems. However, it may also mean that due to their extreme focus on the newest operating system, updates for the current one would be simple and incomplete.

If Microsoft stands by their word, would quicker operating system release dates be beneficial?

iPods Go Full Flash

It looks like Apple's hottest selling handheld media device is finally ditching the traditional magnetic storage for the more recent flash memory substitute. This switch will make iPods cost significantly more, but at least they'll be worth it now. Apple has had a flash memory based model of their product for a couple years now. However that model has had little storage until recently. Perhaps after switching to this memory Apple will increase their popularity among the masses.

Does this switch to flash memory make an iPod more attractive?

Windows Vista Gaming

Microsoft's new flagship operating system, Windows Vista, seems to have all it's little bugs worked out. However, this is most certainly not the case concerning third-party drivers. Both Nvidia and AMD have released their first Vista graphics card drivers. When gaming benchmarks were run the overall results turned out to run worse than XP. It should be noted that the games benchmarked are optimized for a 32-bit operating system. So the 64-bit environment created by the more costly versions of Vista were unable to make use of their most important feature. Because of this factor, gamers in particular should hold off on purchasing a copy of Vista until all 32-bit programs have had time to adapt to a 64-bit environment.

Based on these results when do you plan on upgrading to Vista?

Intel To Make High-End Graphics

Since AMD bought out ATI Intel has, no doubt, been brainstorming ways to completely keep the upper hand over them. On their hiring page they have listed that they seek those capable of creating next-gen graphics and gaming experiences. From the looks of things Intel wants to compete against both Nvidia & AMD-ATI. Based on the type of video cards they currently produce it's obvious that Intel will need to start from scratch. While graphics solutions won't be an especially new field for Intel, the high-end demands is currently more than they can bear.

When do you think the first "high-end" Intel graphics card will be released?

Widescreen Monitors

Traditionally computer monitors have existed in a 4:3 aspect ratio. However, over the past few years the 16:9 or 16:10 ratio has become more appealing to the general public. It started first in TVs with their horrid resolutions, but eventually infiltrated the monitor market. Now resolutions such as 1680x1050 are becoming common. Some of the latest widescreen monitors have become more affordable than the traditional ones.

Will the 4:3 aspect ratio be thrown out for the 16:9 or 16:10?

The Apple iPhone

The iPhone, just like every other mobile that came before it, has capability to contact other people audibly and with text message. There is absolutely nothing special about it besides the price tag and the fact that Apple made it. However, the iPhone is very limited. It's able to connect to the Internet, play music, allow text & audible communication with others, and may contain a few small games. When compared to an Ultra Mobile Personal Computer, the iPhone is a simple overpriced touch screen cell phone.

Will the iPhone be able to replace cell phones in general?

2000W Power Supplies

Power Supplies for personal computer systems have been supplying more and more power as the years roll on. However, in the past five years there's been a staggering increase in power requirements for the newest systems. It stands to reason that the power supplies created by the companies that have been making them for computer systems could be easily overpriced.

Would it be easier to create your own power supply than to overspend on a new one?

Happy New Year!!!

VIA & Home Theater

VIA, the maker of lower end motherboard chipsets, as been making small motherboards of themselves. Their purpose is a very simple one, so the information flow isn't as high as in desktop systems. Their motherboards are meant specifically for a home theater system. When you look at the cost of these small motherboards and what they can do, it's really a small price to pay for the convenience of a home theater system that is able to run a windows operating system.

Will you create a home theater system for yourself?

AMD Concludes Plus Rating

Ever since the Athlon XP processors were released AMD has been using the plus rating or PR system to model their chips. Since Intel and AMD measure their clock frequencies differently the PR system brought those frequencies into perspective and showed AMD winning over Intel. This led AMD through the Athlon 64 era against the Pentium 4 series. Now that dual-core and quad-core processors have come to the forefront the PR system is no longer necessary and doesn't make sense anyway. A new modeling system will be devised in the coming months of the year 2007.

How do you think the new modeling system will turn out?

Intel Bloomfield

While the bloomfield is still a little over a year away the plans already exist for it. It seems to me like an AMD killer. It's a quad-core, runs at over four gigahertz per core, allows for multiple multi-threading, has an on-chip memory controller, and a cumulative eight megabytes of L2 cache. While the cache isn't unexpected, the memory controller is. After all these years, the memory controller has given AMD a leg-up on Intel in memory performance. It looks like they'll be equals at the beginning of 2008.

Will AMD be able to counter Intel's new lines of processors?

Vista Gets Hacked

Well it looks like despite all Microsoft has done to prevent their newest operating system from being stolen, the pesky hackers around the world have devised a way to do it. Creating a fake license serial was the easy part, however, surpassing Microsoft's verification servers took a little more effort. All the hackers essentially did was tell the Vista operating system that a server of their choosing (containing the necessary return protocols) was the Microsoft verification server. Yeah, that's right, a DNS server; so simple. It's a very obvious strategy that can easily be done with the current XP operating system.

If XP was as challenging to pirate as Vista is, would this tactic have come about then instead of now?

AMD Quad FX

AMD has finally released the specifications of it's upcoming quad-core systems. It looks like Intel and AMD are both using old technologies in new ways to meet the "quad-core" expectation. Intel was merely going to graft two of their current Core 2 Duos together in one socket, while AMD is using a dual-core opteron variant to operate on an AM3 socket. "Dual-core?", you might be wondering; well yes; two dual-cores and two CPU sockets on one motherboard. This is absolutely nothing new on the market. Setups like this have been very common in server cases as well as a number of enthusiast platforms. Now, AMD seems to think the general public should get in on this move to more than one CPU on a motherboard.

Should Intel & AMD have waited a year before releasing these poor excuses for quad-cores?

Optimus Keyboard $1200

The Optimus Keyboard has been in the works for about two to three years now. A specific model of this keyboard, Optimus-103, will be released half-way through year 2007. The odd thing is that you'll be able to place an order beginning December 12th. Another odd tweak they have introduced into the Optimus series is a Black & White display instead of color. While it's true that the Black & White Organic Light Emitting Diode display will last longer, the Color Liquid Crystal Display was much more appealing to the eye. It was what gave the Optimus Keyboard it's popularity.

Will the Optimus Keyboard loose it's popularity by going Black & White?

Hundred Dollar Notebooks

With the help of massive mail-in-rebates a low-end laptop can now be purchased for just under one hundred dollars. The entire system initially costs close to seven hundred dollars. If laptops continue to sink in price, there may be more people purchasing them instead of desktop PC's.

Would you rather spend a small amount of money or large amount on a computer system?

Deadly Laptop Fires

Over the past four months or so there have been reports of laptop batteries overheating. In the beginning the incident was suggested to be isolated to just a few unlucky people. However, millions of customers began having similar issues resulting in a mass recall of all Sony lithium ion batteries. Recently, a recording was made of one of these recalled laptop batteries in an actual laptop.

Was Sony negligent in creating their lithium ion batteries?

Samsung Memory Modules

Samsung has developed a way to stack 60% more memory on a single chip. They achieved this by improving their chip sawing and wafer thinning solutions. The new process is now based on a 30μm design as opposed to the previous 45μm design. For those who enjoy their flash-based memory modules, this means there will be 16 flash chips on a single multi-chip package. Previously, the highest density of flash chips on a single multi-chip package was 10.

Will this new development make flash more attractive to the public?

$449 AMD Dell Laptops

Dell has recently started to sell AMD-based mobile devices. Because of the switch to AMD's processors Dell can sell laptops for a very affordable price. In addition to the processors lowering the price of Dell's laptops, Dell's price-performance ratio rises. Intel Celerons were previously the processors Dell implemented in their low-end laptops. Select classes of AMD's Sempron and Athlon 64 model of processors enable more performance for the same and perhaps, in some cases, lower price.

Will AMD gain popularity for Dell's inexpensive laptops?

Touchscreen iPods

Apple plans on releasing their newest addition to the highly acclaimed and overpriced iPod series media player around the upcoming holiday season. This variant has a screen users can touch to activate. The only advantage to the new iPod is that it has a larger integrated visual interface. However, the large screen will more than likely end up extremely soiled by the user's dirty and oily fingers.

Will the Touchscreen iPod be a success or fail miserably?

IBM Back In The Game

Just recently, IBM unveiled their newest processor. The Power6; it's another dual-core. Yes, this dual-core is coming late in the game compared to AMD & Intel who are hard at work concerning their quad-cores and beyond. The amazing thing about this Power6 processor is it's speed. Running at a stock clock of anywhere from 4-5 Ghz per core and a cumulative 8MB of L2 cache, this processor would prove to be the fastest dual-core out there. Prices have not yet been released, but either way, IBM is back to making quality processors for the next generations.

Will IBM gain popularity from this new processor?

Intel To Purchase Nvidia

This is big news for obvious reasons. Ever since AMD bought out ATI in an attempt to strengthen their grip on the computer world other companies have been following suite. It was joked about shortly after this occurred that Intel would buy out Nvidia. This possibility is no longer a joke. It's very possible that this will happen. However, there is development Nvidia dabbles in that ATI did not. Intel would stand to gain much more from Nvidia than AMD did buy purchasing ATI.

Could this mean the demise of AMD in the not too distant future?

Intel Quad-Cores

While AMD's quad-core processors don't seem to be gaining much bandwidth compared to their previous architectures, Intel's quad-cores are quite the opposite. Their newest design plans indicate a capability to process up to a single teraflop from the cumulative cores. They're able to achieve this by grafting 20 MB of SRAM (Static Random Access Memory) below the cores. Therefore supplying the cores with large amounts of bandwidth. However, this specific model of quad-cores will not be released for quite some time. Intel's first array of quad-cores will merely be two Core 2 Duos stuck together, increasing both processing power and bandwidth.

Will AMD's quad-cores be able to outlast Intel's first & second editions?

Happy Birthday Pupitmiser!!!
This week marks my 17th birthday.

GeForce 8800 GTX

Nvidia's G80 series of cards are expected to be released towards the beginning of November '06. What's even more exciting about the GeForce 8 series is that they will have a new type of anti-aliasing (VCAA), 16x anti-aliasing, 768 MB of video memory, 384-bit memory interface, & GDDR4 RAM. The most astounding advancement is the fact that it's over 2.1 times superior to the 7900 GTX; which means that even if the 7900 GTX were in SLI mode, this new card would beat it out.

Will AMD-ATI's cards prove to be as significantly improved?

Hybrid Silicon Laser

This development might not sound like much, but it will immensely change the way computers process data. We all know light can be used to transmit data through an optical fiber network, so that's nothing new; but what makes this hybrid silicon laser so special is that overheating wouldn't be an issue. An elemental compound, Indium Phosphide and Silicon are used in unison to accomplish this. Phosphide in its solid form is just as capable of emitting light as it is as phosphorous (It's gaseous form). So using Indium Phosphide to produce a low radiation laser that shines throughout mirrorcoated silicon networks is quite viable. This development allows for optical data transfer rates up to around 125 gigabytes a second.

Can you imagine what this means for extreme multi-core processing?

Seagate Reaches 2.5 Terabyte Capacity

Desktop hard drives have been measured in gigabytes for the last twelve years or so. Seagate plans on ending this pattern by introducing their new drives. They will be released in varying capacities depending upon platter size and quantity. Their largest platter density consisting of four platters is 750 GB x 4. Which equals 2.5 Terabytes in a single drive.

Are gigabytes about to become a term of the past such as megabytes have?

Intel Fires Thousands

Intel has around 100,000 employees currently working for them. Therefore, firing off around 10,000 or so wouldn't be that big of an issue; but it wouldn't aid the unemployment rate. Firing 10% of a company's staff may very well prove to be a useful money-making strategy. Perhaps the 10,000 employees were the ones dragging their feet on development or simply leaching money from the company.

Will cutting jobs look like a "good" thing in the public's eyes?

Intel Develops DDR3 Supporting Chipset

Intel's newest chipset, scheduled for a spring release in 2007, sports a feature allowing their processor's front-side bus speed to operate at 1333 Mhz. While it's true that AMD's front-side bus speed has been superior for quite some time now, this chipset allows for DDR3 speeds up to 1333 Mhz as well. This could, in affect, render AMD's on-chip memory controller obsolete. If that were to happen; AMD may have to develop a whole new architecture to compensate. However, a "counter-attack" may already be in the works.

Will AMD be able to develop a superior flagship architecture in time?

Dell Integrates AMD Processors

Over the past couple of weeks Dell has been ordering processors from AMD to integrate into their systems. Now, after all this time, Dell has finally started selling AMD-based systems to the public; desktop and notebook alike.

With this newly extended popularity of AMD, will the public catch on?

Asus & Gigabyte Unite

It appears as though AMD and ATI have started a trend. Asustek and Gigabyte motherboard manufacturers have decided to merge under the "Gigabyte" name. The brandnames are expected to transition at the beginning of next year, 2007.

Will any other companies decide to merge in the not-to-distant future?

AMD Aids 3rd World Countries

AMD's old socket 754 Semprons are now being used for a higher purpose. It seems some of the more depressed areas of the world will be kicked off with a good start in the computer world. AMD's low prices and high functionality will prove very useful for the people getting the computers. It may even raise their status in the world market. If AMD keeps up all this intensive thinking, Intel's stock may suffer from it. Given, AMD needs to get rid of the rest of their skt 754 processors somehow, but at least they're doing for a good cause; besides, the only other processors being sold in those areas are Celeron-D's.

Will AMD stand to gain from this seemingly profitable endeavor?

AMD's "4x4" Plans

A dual-socket motherboard with dual-core processors yields the number 4. The other 4 referred to in the "4x4" codename refers to one of 3 possible components. In the early stages of "4x4" Quad-GPUs were in mind, but it has since spread out to Quad-Hard Drive and Quad-Channel RAM. In a 4x4 system the Quad-Channel DDR2 RAM would be the biggest benefit, worthy of being the other 4 referred to in the 4x4 codename.

Assuming you purchased a 4x4 system, what would be your second "4" of choice?

Bacteria Coated DVD

The average DVD contains about 4.7 GB of free space. HD-DVDs have brought about a minor upgrade to about 40 GB or so. Coating your DVD with a specific bacteria promises a potential 50,000 GB on a single DVD keeping the same dimensions as the average DVD. This is a very abstract computer development which obviously dabbles into the biological spectrum of the world. If this technology takes off and becomes quite successful it makes me wonder...

Would liberals attempt to end the further exploitation of the bacteria in a hope to preserve it in its natural habitat?

Magnetoresistive RAM

This new development is interesting. Like flash technology, MRAM, is in its baby stages. Currently, the largest die is about 1MB in size (8mb). What makes this development important is that the memory cannot degrade. The transfer rates are also currently faster than flash memory and there's not one aspect concerning flash memory that MRAM doesn't live up to. The only possible drawback I could see with this technology is the mobility aspect. Like flash it will save memory when un-powered, but since it's based off of magnets it could pose a problem when being processed through a security checkpoint.

Could MRAM be modified to compete with Flash Memory in the not to distant future?

Windows Genuine Advantage

Over the past few weeks there have been a few disgruntled officials complaining about Microsoft's new WGA protocol. For those who don't know, WGA a simple program sent to all Windows XP users attempting to update their operating systems. Selecting the update informs the user that if they own a legitimate copy of Windows XP they can benefit from Microsoft's technical support and what not. What it neglects to tell you is that if your copy is not legitimate it will prompt you to purchase Window's XP every time you start up explorer. Also, just as a reminder, it leaves a silver star in your task bar informing you of your illegitimate copy of Windows XP. Those officials have been suing Microsoft saying that it is an incorrect use of their updating tool and that the prompt acts more as spyware than anything else.

Will we soon be seeing an Anti-WGA program available as freeware?

Conroe Delayed

Intel's delay on their Conroe processors is, I'm sure, giving AMD a little more breathing room. The Intel Conroe processor will be quite a formidable processor. It currently ties with AMD's FX-series processors in game-play; which in turn means it's single-threading process is significantly improved. Another aspect of the processor is it's dual-core architecture and massive L2 cache. The price-tag on Conroe processors is also expected to be very low. Unless AMD gets it's act in gear, Intel may become equal with AMD for the rest of this year, if not most of next year.

AMD has one month to develop a superior flag-ship processor; can they do it?

Reverse Hyper-Threading

AMD's Hyper-Transport technology essentially allows you to gain more performance from all of your system hardware through the use of very fast front-side bus. This technology has been implemented into AMD's Athlon 64 line for 3 years now. Intel's Hyper-Threading technology was one of the only ways they could compete with AMD's Hyper-Transport. Hyper-Transport essentially allows you to gain more performance from all your programs on multiple threads. The reason AMD's systems run games so well is because they're all single-threaded. Now it seems AMD has come up with their own way of improving performance on multi-threaded programs.

Will Intel counter AMD's improvements with a new technology this year?

500 Ghz

IBM & Georgia Tech have gotten together and created a single 200mm platter. What makes this platter so special is how insane the accumulated speed is. They were able to maintain a constant speed of 500 Ghz at a temperature of 4.5 degrees Kelvin. Yeah, considering how 0 degrees Kelvin is absolute zero, I'd have to say that the clock speed is not only a record, but a feat of technology as well. Cryogenically cooling a piece of hardware can't be easy.

With clock speeds of 500 Ghz, why don't we use platters instead of single or dual-core processors?

Intel Losing Money

Over the past three years AMD has held a firm grip above Intel's price and performance. Now that Dell and Levano PC are creating computers with AMD's processors that grip will continue to strengthen. Intel's newest tactic is to radically lower it's prices in hopes that AMD will not be able to compete. It appears as though the recent price cuts of from both Intel and AMD have resulted in even more AMD processors being sold. Intel may have delayed a promising technology too long, and they will pay dearly for it.

Will Intel's Conroe Processors be released in time to save the company's integrity?

AMD-ATI

AMD processors have always provided better performance; especially related to memory. ATI has always been struggling to survive against Nvidia's continual superiority. If AMD and ATI were to team up, then both graphics and processing technologies could stand to benefit. Perhaps AMD could even begin creating system memory from the merging. The thought of an AMD processor applied to system memory, processing, and graphics is very attractive.

How could AMD stand to benefit from ATI's trade?

Solid-State Storage PCs

Finally, the quickly developing flash memory technology has caught of with hard drives. The mobile world will be Solid-State Storage's first target. In another five years the technology will be just as dominant as Hard-Disk Drives are today. With less moving parts and lower power consumption than previous technologies, solid-state also brings in another obvious advantage. Read and write times will be tripled at best. The only draw-back to this obvious advantage is the price-tag. The newly released UMPC from Samsung is now a little over double its original price with a 32 GB solid-sate storage disk.

How soon will that doubled price-tag become equal with the other storage solution?

Turion X2 64

AMD's newest development, the Turion processor; now that new technology can be milked for all it's worth by doubling up cores on a single chip. This development should bode well for AMD in the mobile computing area. Intel has always been able to stay one step ahead of AMD in this area, but not this time. Turion allows AMD's best technologies to converge into a sinle processor. A small sample of these technologies are 64-bit compatibility, low power consumption, dual-processors, L1 cache in capacities of up to 512 KB, and hyper-transport technology.

Once AMD unleashes Turions into the UMPC market how will Intel respond?

Quad-Crossfire

ATI, it seems, attempts to copy it's superior competitor (Nvidia) a second time. First, ATI fought Nvidia's SLI technology with Crossfire months after Nvidia released the technology to the public. You'd think that the low functionality yields would have kept them from pursuing the technology any further. Now, ATI releases Quad-Crossfire to rival Nvidia's Quad-SLI. Just as before, the development comes months later. Both technologies appear to show little progress and succeed in nothing but wasting the consumer's money.

Will ATI's copy attempts lead them to waste money on MORE frivolous endeavors?

ATI Establishes Foothold

A lead European graphics tech company was bought today. As you may have guessed ATI was the one to buy out the company assuming to gain popularity from the European nations. ATI can only gain from this transaction because of how little they spent to buy out the company. Nvidia assumedly has no need for European popularity, otherwise they would've bought out the European company. Nvidia is known around the world for their excellence in mobile display.

Will ATI continue buying out lesser companies to gain popularity?

Quad Core Opteron Processors

As most of us know, a processor's level 1 & 2 caches are where most of the advanced calculations are processed. Well, the highest concentration of level 2 cache AMD ever implemented into it's processors was 2 Megabytes. Given, 2 MB of L2 cache is a lot compared to the previous Skt A 256 and 512 KB caches; but now AMD pushes the envelope and develops a quad core processor with each core containing (in respective models) 1 MB to 2 MB of L2 cache. Now more calculations can be processed at higher clocks. (For those it may concern: That means 4 MB & 8 MB models :)

Will this level 2 cache expanding trend continue on to the level 1 cache?

HyperTransport 3.0

With CPU speed and RAM clocks on the rise, it only seems right that the front-side bus speed should be rising. AMD's newest front-side bus brings forth the capability to transfer at speeds of 2.6 Ghz and transfer over 20 GB of data per second. The next few years should prove to be very promising in processor development.

Will a new FSB speed cause a new standard AMD RAM clock to emerge?

Happy Birthday Computer Developments!!!
This Week marks 1 year of service.

DDR3 System Memory

The first DDR brought forth the capability of running at 400 Mhz, then DDR 2 came along and doubled to a speed of 800 Mhz. Well now our system memory can run at the sleek new speed of 1600 Mhz. The advantage of this should be rather obvious. For example, four times faster loading screens for all you gamerz out there. This new development should prove to be an important step to creating perfect computer performance.

Will DDR4 bring forth clock speeds of 3200 Mhz?

Organic LED Display

If any of you ever watched Minority Report you would remember the amazing transparent displays that were shown in the movie. Well, out of the science fiction and into the real-life. Organic LED is the answer. Using this display feature potentially any type of glass or plastic larger than 100 nanometers thick can become a display monitor.

Will transparent displays become a new standard?

50th Post!!!

Apple Civil War

This is great news for us true computer nerdz. It has been reported that a company in the UK has filed a complaint against Apple Computers. The opposing company's name is also Apple and apparently they have run into each other in court on a few other occasions. This time it's a biggy. The UK Apple company deals with music and now with the popularity of the iPod and iTunes you can bet that the UK Apple company will milk Apple computers for all they're worth.

Could this lawsuit begin the downfall of Mac computers?

AMD Ultra-Mobile PC's

Intel has always ruled the mobile CPU market, but it appears as though AMD will change that. Ultra-Mobile PCs are continually growing in popularity and because of this the systems need overwhelming performance for a good price. Obviously, AMD offers this and their new Turion 64 processors consume as little as 6 Watts of power when necessary.

Will AMD become the new processor of choice by all UMPC manufacturers?

Cryzip Trojan Virus

A new Trojan has recently been infecting computerz at random. It appears to have the ability to deny access to certain files on the infected computer. Unlike other viruses a special window pops up asking for three-hundred dollars to regain access to the "ransomed" files. With the large number of computer illiterates out in the wild it rather makes me wonder...

Are there people who actually fall for the scam to regain access to their files?

No More Lag?

It looks like a new company known as, Bigfoot, will now be coming in the computer industry. If you recall the company known as, Ageia, which currently sells physics processing units for dedicated gamerz then you'll remember that they compared their product to being the next big computer upgrade. They went onto say first there was the sound accelerator card, then there was the video accelerator card, and then there was the physics accelerator card. Well now, there's a fourth facet, the network accelerator card. When this card is in use it's inherent effect is that lag will no longer be an issue in computer games.

Will this new development prove to be a desirable upgrade for PC gamerz?

Google & AMD

Google is widely known about by the common man, but AMD has quite remained a mystery. The servers Google have been relying on have been of poor design, mainly because their processors were made from Intel. They had a tendency to be too high of maintenance; But now Google has seen the light and has purchased 200,000 AMD-based servers. This is more good news for AMD.

Will AMD continue to rise in popularity and quality?

Levono PC's

Intel processors have always been sold by Dell and IBM processors have always been sold by Levano. That has now changed. AMD is now becoming much more popular and Levono has decided to end their licensed agreement with IBM and start a new one with AMD. Levono PC's will now only utilize AMD processors.

Will this kind of popularity bring AMD to the forefront of all processor manufacturers?

AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+ & FX-62

This new development from AMD proves the current grip it has on Intel. 5 Ghz has been the untouched mark by Intel; not even an overclocked system has reached it. AMD will clearly keep its current niche in the computer world. (The Master of Processor Design)

What makes Intel feel so secure in their progress?

AMD Skt AM2

The Socket AM2 has the ability to support DDR2 800 Mhz. This means the hypertransport front-side bus will still be a multiple of 800 and 1600. A Doubled RAM clock speed with the use of the on-chip memory regulator will result in half the memory latency between the RAM and the processor. Obviously, the doubled RAM clock speed will result in memory transfers up to two times faster.

Will doubling the RAM clock speed cause AMD to gain even more of an advantage over Intel?

Internet Explorer 7

Internet Explorer 7 has just been released. It seems to be quite a development. It seems to be bug free. It makes me wonder if this new development from Microsoft will continue to lessen the popularity of Mozilla Firefox. Speaking of which, they should be releasing a new version of their web browser shortly as well.

Do you think Internet Explorer 7 will outperform Mozilla Firefox?

Radeon X1900 XTX

Well it seems as though ATI is finally catching up with Nvidia's 7800 GTX graphics cards. It took them 7 months, but they did it. The Radeon X1900 XTX performs more efficiently in select games than the 7800 GTX in single GPU mode; but once you kick on the 7800 GTX in SLI then things start to slow down for the X1900 XTX, even in crossfire mode. With the GeForce 8 series graphics cards about to arrive it rather makes me wonder how long ATI will be able to sit in the king's chair.

Will the Radeon X1900 XTX be able to hold it's ground in the coming months with the release of the GeForce 8 series?

3D Mark 2006

3D Mark 2006 is beautiful to say the least. While it does not run well on my computer I can still see how great the graphics look. This 3D Mark comes with new customizations and new modes. It's really rather versatile. The simulations even include an HDRL mode for the cards that can support it.

Will this next generation benchmark tool fare just as good as the previous?

Windows XP SP3

It appears as though the next service pack update for windows XP will be released next year, 2007. My guess as well as C|net's is that the update will be released a short time before Vista is released to the public.

Is it a wise decision to make so many XP users wait so long for the next update?

Unreal Tournament 2007

The given screenshots of Unreal Tournament 2007 thus far show amazing potential for the game. It is still unknown as to whether or not there will be a physics engine like there is in the Source engine, but either way; the graphics of this game appear to rival that of Half-Life 2. The game previously mentioned on my blog known as Huxley uses this Unreal Engine 3 to power it. With the growing number of game titles being released on both the Source engine and Unreal 3 engine it rather makes me wonder...

Will the Unreal 3 engine become more popular than the Source engine?

Happy New Year!!!

China vs. Porn

China has begun to wage war against online porn artists across their nation. Thus far they have shut down almost 600 internet porn sites and arrested over 200 porn artists. I believe the US should do the same. I know that porn is considered part of the freedom of speech, but as a Christian, I think it should not be considered as such. Porn artists just hide behind that law making it legal; well I'm glad China is taking a stand against internet porn; it never belonged on the internet and has succeeded in only breaking up marriages and ruining people's lives.

Do you think there's any chance for other countries to follow suit?

Wireless Popularity

A wireless USB hub has just been released to public consumers. It would appear as though wireless devices are becoming increasingly popular and that the amount of data able to be transferred from one receiver to the other is growing more each quarter. The idea that a USB hub which transfers anywhere from 50-150 MB/s could become wireless is a grand deal indeed. We should soon be able to see wireless monitors and other such devices. And a short while after that; perhaps even wireless internal computer parts for easier computer assembly and maintenance.

How long will it take for cables to be completely toned out?

Quantum Computers

The very first Quantum Computer Chip has finally been created. The advantages to be gained from using such an advanced piece of technology are greater speeds and capacities. Production times for such components are also much faster and apparently require no assembly by hand. This seems to be a large step into creating the very first Quantum Computer.

Will Optical and Quantum technologies team up or go head to head in the not too distant future?

DDR4 Memory

With the development of DDR4 it seems apparent that massive amounts of RAM will become less and less necessary as you upgrade your system. All we may very well need to upgrade to 2 Gigabytes of system memory and leave it at that size, merely upgrading to the new speed of memory as often as necessary.

Will this new speed of memory affect the sales of the upcoming DDR2 run systems?

Holographic DVDs

An amazing new breakthrough is to be unfolded at the end of the year 2006. The reason this breakthrough is so amazing is because it allows for an unbelievable mass storage of up to 1.6 Terabytes per DVD. Although this is the potential it will not be starting out at this capacity. The first and lowest capacity for this DVD will be 300 Gigabytes. While 300 Gigabytes may be a lot of space for a single DVD I can most definitely see how quickly this space could be taken up in the not too distant future. As if this insane amount of storage wasn't enough to catch your attention this little movie clip might. Apparently these DVDs will transfer information much faster and even compress your files so they take up a little less than one third as much space.

Do you think this new development will end Blu-ray and HD-DVD for good?

Dell-AMD

According to recent demands surrounding the company Hon Hai Precision Industry which develops AMD-based servers they wish to sell their AMD-based servers to Dell. I for one view this as being a great opportunity for the popularity of Opterons to grow to new heights. On the other hand if the Opterons become too popular Dell may begin selling the AMD-based servers at too high a price for the small-business owners.

Do you believe this to be a positive business move for AMD?

Huxley MMOFPS

The PC/Xbox360 FPS called Huxley will most probably be released in an entire year from now, but the concept and work done on it so far seem to be quite attractive. The game makes use of the Unreal 3 Engine (The same engine used for Unreal Tournament 2007). I think this game is worth looking into and keeping an eye on throughout its development. The trailer really shows off what the game can look like.

How do you think a successful MMOFPS will affect MMORPGs?

ATI Losing Popularity

It has come to my attention that the increase in price of ATI's X1800 cards, the lack of quantity, and the lack of great functionality which was supposed to tower over Nvidia's GeForce 7800 GTX is resulting in a decrease of ATI's popularity with consumers on all spectrums. With Nvidia's GeForce 8 cards being released in just two more quarters, it doesn't give ATI much time to develop a whole new graphics card technology.

What will happen when the GeForce 8 series is released and ATI has nothing to rival it with?

GeForce 6800 GS

Well, it looks like Nvidia still hasn't ceased further development on their Geforce 6 series capabilities. The GeForce 6800 GS will rival the X1600 XT and X800 GT cards from ATI. From the look of the core and memory clock speed along with the 12 pipelines this card may infact perform better than the GeForce 6800 GT. It may even end up cheaper.

Do you think Nvidia's further exploitation of the GeForce 6 series will prove to be a beneficial business move?

Intel's 65nm Process

It seems apparent that Intel is well on the way to creating processors that can rival AMD’s X2 processors. Their new 65 nanometer process capability seems to allow for an overclocked speed of 4.5 Ghz. This means that a stock clock could end up being in the range of 4 Ghz, but not any time soon.

Why do Intel's fans still hold out hope in reaching 4 Ghz without overclocking?

Mac's Dual-Core System

Mac has finally released it's dual-core system months after AMD and a few weeks after Intel. I find it funny how Mac always comes up with 'new' technologies last. Anyway, it appears as the the G5 will be getting a face-lift. The new Mac dual-core system will consist of two 2.5 Ghz cores operating at a solid speed of 5 Ghz. However, the processor is made by IBM. So there is no threat to the X2 losing popularity among the 1337 gamerz.

Do you think this 'new' development by Mac will cause more consumers to buy their products?

AMD 3Q Results

The company known as Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) has released their third quarter results today. We know that AMD creates the most powerful and reliable computer processors in the world. This fact has become even more apparent during the past few months; especially due to their release of the Athlon 64 X2 series of processors. Over 1.5 billion dollars worth of AMD products were sold over the past few months. As amazingly high as that number soundz, it has been predicted that the 4Q of this year will show a 13% gain. Which means that for the last quarter of the year 2005 roughly 1.7 billion dollars worth of AMD products will be sold. In addition to this great news this related issue is even more pressing.

Do you think AMD can surpass the 2 billion dollar mark by the end of 4Q 05?

25th Post

Video iPod

A Video iPod. That's very interesting. Congratulations Apple, you've just created a Pocket PC. I don't know why you would buy a video iPod when you could go buy a Pocket PC for about the same price. Let's see; a mobile meant for viewing media, or a mobile meant for miscellaneous uses...

Why do you think Apple procured a media player such as the Video iPod?

Quad SLI Format

This is a most disturbing breakthrough for Nvidia. It's disturbing because of how much potential SLI really has. If you thought one 7800 GTX was more than any gamer would have; try four all combined.

How can ATI possibly keep up with Nvidia's new multi-GPU competition?

Happy Birthday Pupitmiser!!!
This week marks my 16th birthday.

HD DVD

Well it seems as though Flash Drives won't be the dominate portable storage device for another few years or so. With the release of the HD DVD now endorsed by Intel and Microsoft it seems as though a DVD will be able to have a capacity of 15 GB on a single layer and 30 GB on a double. This comes at a bit of a surprise because of Blu-ray coming onto the scene not too shortly.

Will this new HD DVD format be the new dominate portable memory storage device?

Radeon X1800 XT

Well, ATI has finally released their new R520 boards. However, it seems as though the new technology is not living up to its expectations. Just check out this performance comparison. The GeForce 7 7800 GTX maintains its title as the best gaming card on the market. We can only hope its lesser variations can stay ahead of the R520 class in Low and Mid-range GPUs.

Will ATI still be able to pull ahead of Nvidia's vicious competition this year?

Windows Thumbdrive

Hehehe; remember that idea from way back about how ko0l it would be to be able to being your home computer to someone's house in your pocket? Well; it looks like that idea has finally come into existence. There is a thumbdrive now on the market that comes preloaded with windows XP and can be taken with you where ever you go using whatever computer you come across to display your desktop. It's a great idea if you ask me.

When Flash Drives have over a 20 Gigabyte capacity what do you think will happen to the Hard Drive market?

Roll-up Displays

It seems as though Science Fiction really does affect real life endeavors. The company, Phillips, has created it's first roll-up display prototype. This invention could very well change the way we currently define mobility. If this concept continues much farther we may end up with fully functional roll-up computer systems able to be carried in our pockets in the next 5 years.

Will Science Fiction become the upcoming reality and continue to push the limits of technology?

Google Talk

This new instant messaging program by google leaves me wondering where google's amazing service will stop. They've come up with so much programming so fast and for free might I add. All their services have, thus far, been a complete success; Even in their beta stages. I foresee a great future ahead of google, with many more practical innovations along the way.

Do you think Google's online services will begin to dominate those that challenge them?

Geforce 6 6800 GT 512MB

Well it looks as though Nvidia is still upgrading their old technologies. Perhaps we will see this trend continue on down the line into the 6600 GTs. If so, that would set a new standard for medium-range cards once again. One can only hold out hope.

Would you like to see the 6600 GT refit with 4 times the video memory?

DisplayPort

Well now this an interesting bit of news. A new display standard for the PC. Apparently this new breakthrough performs better than Liquid Crystal Display, Plasma, and Cathode Ray Tube displays. Which does infact mean higher resolutions for the household computer system. We may very well be coming into an age where 4096x3072 will be the new display limit for monitors. As you may already know, that resolution is the equivalent to just over 12.5 Megapixels.

What affects will such a breakthrough have on the future of videogaming?

Serious Sam 2

Ever since I played Serious Sam the first and second encounters I new there was going to be another game in the series. And now it's finally come. Serious Sam 2 looks to be very graphics intensive. I personally can't wait to play it. The engine which powers Serious Sam 2 rivals that of Half-Life 2. It actually makes me wonder...

Do you think Serious Sam 2 might outsell Half-Life 2?

Doom: The Movie

Well, this is an interesting subject. I wonder why it's being made a movie. To tell you the truth, I think that Half-Life and Half-Life 2 would be much better choices. Because Doom didn't have that great of a story in my opinion. If you're interested, go view the trailer.

How well do you think this movie will fare in the box office?

ATI Radeon X800 GT

Hahaha, A GT from ATI. What are they thinking? It'll have an eight-pipe process the same as the 6600 GT from Nvidia; but it's going to operate at a clock speed of 392. The GeForce 6600 GT operates at 500 stock. I don't know what ATI's thinking. Anyway, I just thought it was hilarious.

Why would ATI make a card to "rival" the 6600 GT so late in the game?

ATI's Next-Gen GPUs

Well, this may or may not bode well for ATI. They are currently in development of their new GPUs. The R520, R530, and the R515. While this does bring new hope for ATI to meet this year's competition, it must be noted that there are still stability issues with ATIs new cards. It may take longer than ATI has anticipated for the cards to be released.

Will ATI be able to release their new cards at the right time?

AMD Athlon 64 FX-57

Oh yes, it has come. Critics call it "The last of a dying breed" and "The baddest one-cylinder engine ever." I call it a new FX for a new era. This processor of AMD's pushes over 4 Ghz+ to be sure. But we all know that the way to really measure it is 2.8 Ghz. Ofcourse Intel had to get in there and mess all that up and make others think their processors were faster. haha, fate, it seems. Now Intel can't even get above 4 Ghz while its rival is pushing 5. Intel will be their own undoing.

How will AMD own this year's competition?

ATI All-In-Wonder X800 XL

The All-In-Wonder X800 XL? Is this card all ATI can muster against Nvidia's new next generation of GeForce 7 cards? If so, ATI's popularity will be poor throughout the rest of this year. I mean, ATI's rival just releases this new groundbreaking generation of GPUs and ATI poops out this silly little PCI Xpress All-In-Wonder...

Will ATI get around to releasing its new cards this year?

10th Post!!!

GeForce 7800 GTX

Nvidia has just made the greatest consumer graphics card of our time. The GeForce 7800 GTX is the best graphics card I...have ever seen. Every single aspect about it is perfect. It's better in everyway imaginable to me than the last generation of GPUs. As hard to believe as that may sound; but this card is head and shoulderz above the rest. For those of you who don't understand the technical terms of the GPU, I will compare this card's performance with another. The GeForce 7800 GTX is 2.5 times better than the GeForce 6600 GT and literally 5 times better in SLI format. The benchmarks still have me in awe. I mean, this card can handle every next-gen game at it's very highest settings from anywhere to 150-200 FPS. It's remarkable.

How will ATI ever be able to compete with Nvidia's new line of graphics cards this year?

Next-Gen Consoles

Well, the next generation of consoles is almost upon us. The Playstation 3 and the XbOX 360. I've looked at the stats of both the PS3 and the XbOX 360 and believe me; they're gonna be nice. However, there are some people who are calling these new consoles "super computers". I've seen the stats and there's NOTHING to support this as being in the least bit true. Either way, some of the games look fun.

Will this effect the sales and popularity of current and next-gen computer games?

Optical Computing

Optical Computing is potentially one of the greatest breakthroughs in computer technology. It would allow for an insane amount more information to be sent at greatly insane speeds. It will no doubt replace our current computers.

What effects will this have on the gaming world?

1 Gigabyte Gaming

Well, it's finally upon us. 1 gigabyte gaming is finally possible. What's more is that the video cards which have this much RAM use DDR3. It's totally crazy to think of how much information can be transferred through this card. The so-called texture rich video game worlds of today can now be up to 4-5 times better in resolution than before.

What effect will this 1 GB capability have on the gaming world?

Guild Wars

I'm sure many of you have heard of the game "Guild Wars", but you've prolly only heard about it and not played it. For those of you who don't know; Guild Wars is a RPG. I, personally, feel that Guild Wars isn't merely a MMORPG. When you play the game you seem to use some of the same tactics you would use in a FPS. My question this week is...

What do you think of Guild Wars judging it as a FPS/RPG?

PC Gamer

What's your guys' opinion about the PC magazine entitled "PC Gamer"? I recently asked for a trial issue to see if I liked it or not. I personally think it's great for all the latest and greatest computer news for the month it reports on. It saves me from countless hours of searching all the computer sites out there to keep in touch with all the news. I find it as being a great new addition to my "Computer Nerd Stash of Knowledge" which, yes, I do have. It's beginning to accumulate in my room.

Is the magazine "PC Gamer" a good resource in your opinion?

Dual-Core

What do you guys think about the new dual-core AMD Athlon 64s (aka: "AMD Athlon 64 X2") coming out in a few months?

What advantages will this give AMD over Intel?

HDRL

There has been much talk about the new HDRL feature for gaming. The first game engine to implement this is the engine which powers Valve Corporation's newest and greatest game, HL2. The engine is known as either "Source" or "Havoc 2". Through the online program known as "Steam" Valve plans on updating the source engine with this new feature around the transition from the 2nd to 3rd quarter of this year.

What do you think the final outcome of HDRL will be?

Computerz...?

Computerz are one of the ever developing technologies in the world. Every year, they're better and have newer technologies. It seems as though the cycle will never end. Well, if it can't end, then let's just talk about all the developments. So, let's begin with a good first question.

How long have computerz really been around?