Tegra 6 to be 100x Faster than Tegra 2

The CPUs and GPUs used in mobile devices have been evolving at an incredible rate. Suffice to say, the new Galaxy S4 is twice as fast as the previous S3, and to really put things into perspective Nvidia has reveled its roadmap, and announcing a 100x performance improvement when it "Parker" (Tegra 6) comes out in 2015.

Yes, Nvidia keeps using super-hero code names for their Tegra models: Tegra 3 was known as "Kal-El" (Superman), Tegra 4 as "Wayne" (Batman), and the upcoming Tegras are "Logan" (Wolverine) arriving later this year and "Parker" (Spider man) in 2015. This means in 2015 we'll have mobile devices with 100x more power than the ones we had in 2011 - it's simply... incredible!

But even before that, the upcoming "Logan" should already be quite impressive, as it will add a Kepler GPU to the mix (Kepler is the existing GPU technology you can find on "big computer" graphics' cards with Nvidia GPUs).

And talking about GPUs, those will also keep up doubling performance every two years. Next year the Maxwell architecture will replace the current Kepler, with an unified virtual memory that will simplify developers' lives by allowing both the CPU and GPU to access any memory content without having to worry if it's on the CPU side or the GPU side. And later on... the Volta GPUs, that will feature a stacked memory design that will finally take care of the "starving" memory bandwidth of current GPU architectures. Nvidia says it will have enough bandwidth to go through an entire bluray movie in a fraction of a second.

Can't wait to see all that power put into good use!

[via cnet]

Snapdragon S4 Pro Shows us What's to Come

Qualcomm is readying a reference developer tablet using their new quad-core ARM Snapdragon S4 Pro CPU and a Adreno 320 GPU, and it seems like we have a winner. A winner that shows us what we can expect for the next generation of mobile devices.

This $1299 might be consider too expensive for the general public, but its purpose is to provide developers with everything they can expect to have in the next generation of tablets. Although its 10.1" LCD has only a 1280x800 resolution (we would expect a FullHD screen by now), everything else is as you'd expect - and more. You'll find the speedy 1.5Ghz Snapdragon S4 Pro quad-core CPU (soon to reach 2Ghz), the Adreno 320 GPU, 2GB Ram, 32GB Flash, 13MP main camera, accelerometer, gyroscope and compass, ambient light/proximity/temperature/pressure sensors, microSD slot, microUSB, IO connector with USB and HDMI adapters - and even less usual stuff like a fingerprint reader and 7 microphones for surround sound recording.

When put to the test, the S4 Pro ranges from "fast" to "incredibly fast" leaving all the current contenders in the dust. In some tests, the S4 is over twice as fast as Nvidia's Tegra 3; and even the latest quad-core Exynos CPU by Samsung (used in the latest Galaxy S3) can't keep up with it.

That makes us wonder how developers will put all this power into good use, for next year's batch of tablets.

ARM unveils Most Efficient 32bits CPU

Nothing could be further from the power-hungry (but powerful) quad-core ARM CPUs you'd expect to find in your new smartphone or tablets. But ARM's new Cortex-M0+, is equally needed and as -or even more- important than its most famous relatives.

Put simply, this is the most efficient 32bit CPU ever made, using roughly a third of the power any other 8 or 16 bit CPU uses (just 9µA/MHz), while providing far more computational power.

You're not likely to find such a CPU powering your smartphone, but this cheap to manufacture (and small: measuring just 1x1mm) will certainly find lot of applications. ARM says it will be a key player in the "internet of things" scenario. A scenario where any/all device, no matter how small - even a simple temperature sensor or light switch, or light bulb - could be connected to the internet, and easily accessible/controllable from any anywhere in the world.

Let's see if that pans out... As I'm sure I wouldn't be the only one wishing that Android@Home thing could really become real, and offer affordable devices that could make our houses smarter and more efficient.

iPad Quad-Core Arrives in Late 2012

Evolution took us from single core to dual and quad core processors (and more), and it now is doing the same in the mobile arena. Apple has recently introduced their first mobile dual core chip - the A5 - in the iPad 2 (and soon, in the upcoming iPhone 5), but they're already working in the next generation A6 quad-core chip, based on the ARM Cortex A9 Quadcore.

This chip should allow Apple to battle Nvidia's upcoming Tegra 3 quad-core chips, and the new offering from other manufacturers - but unlike most of them, which will be done using a 40nm process, Apple's A6 will be built by TSMC in a much more efficient 28nm process. This will allow Apple's mobile CPU to be smaller, cheaper, more power efficient, and faster.

The "problem" is that these new chips should only be ready for mass production in the second half of 2012, forcing Apple to skip (or change) their usual yearly update cycle.
Considering this year's new iPhone presentation has already faced an unusual delay, maybe Apple will simply do the same with next year's iPad. That would also give them some extra time to solve their new iPad Retina Display production issues.

On the other hand, Amazon's low cost tablet is expected to arrive in the upcoming weeks, and it can certainly make a dent in the Tablet market - unless Apple is already planning a new low cost iPad (just like the rumors that talk about a new low cost iPhone model).

Intel Announces 3D Transistors

Looks like Moore's Law just got another extension. This "law", that states that the number of transistors on a chip can double every couple of years and that has serve as a guideline, allowing us to experience the amazing evolution in electronics we've had in the past decades seems to always find a way to be fulfilled.

Once again, when it seemed there wasn't much else that could be done, Intel announced a revolutionary new fabrication method that allows them to create 3D transistors. The very building blocks of most electronic "stuff".

Why should you care? This means that their new Ivy Bridge 22nm CPUS, arriving later this year, will be a lot faster while using much less power. They say it can save up to 50% power in comparison to current chips.

Octane Render - GPU Powered 3D Rendering

We all know GPUs might not be adequate for "generic" computer operations, but excel at specific mathematical tasks.
So, how about putting it all to good use... in something like... high quality 3D rendereing?

Thanks to this Octane Render from Refractive Software you'll no longer have to wait for your computer to slowly redraw your 3D models in high-quailty detail:



And to better understand the kind of power the GPUs hold, just look at the following chart, where you can see how a "powerful" i7 920 CPU fares in comparison.

New Intel CPUs: the i5 and new i7s

Looks like Intel's newest CPUs are arriving, and these new Core i7 and i5 have a lot to offer.

The people at MaximumPC have done an excellent detailed analysis of these new CPUs, but I'll leave you with some highlights.

These new i7 and i5 were designed with one thing in mind: cost reduction. While the existing i7 CPUs offer amazing performance, they're also quite expensive - being reserved for the "high-end" range of the market, like professional use and hardcore gamers.
In the new series, some of its specs were tweaked - gone is the triple-channel memory; while the PCI-e controller is now integrated in the CPU - allowing the design of much cheaper motherboards.

While a bit more restricted, this configuration allows you to have amazing performance (similar and even better than the older i7-920) at a much lower price point. This will do for most people - leaving the "hardcore" segment with their higher performance X58 motherboards for full SLI power, etc.

One of the major issues is: these new i7 and i5 use a new socket: the LGA1156.This means that you can now have an i7 CPU that doen's fit a i7 motherboard (I think this was a bad move by Intel - but, they'll have their reasons.)

Now, you'll have to check if your i7 has a LGA1156 or the "regular" LGA1366 socket.
The LGA1156 will be a lot cheaper; but if you're planning on upgrading your CPU next year, for something like the upcoming i9 6-core/12-threads CPUs... you'll need to use the LGA1366.

However, for most people, the amazing performance/price ratio of these new i7/i5 processors will surely make them irresistible.

CPU Evolution

Computer CPUs are continuously evolving.

Just look at this chart plotting the evolution of Computer Power/Cost throughout the years.

That's why you shouldn't think you'll have to wait long till you have something like this when you open up your task manager on your home PC.

Yep, thay really is 256 CPU cores, although "virtual" ones (at least for now.)

Windows 7 to Offer GPU Acceleration?

It looks like Microsoft doesn't want to be left behind when it comes to "general purpose" GPU processing.

This makes even more sense when you consider Apple's next OS X (a.k.a. Snow Leopard) to also have such capabilities.
One of the topics for the upcoming PDC 2008 is:

• Windows 7: Unlocking the GPU with Direct3D (Direct3D-based GPU acceleration of Win32 applications).

It seems the next generation of operating systems will be able to not only use multi-core CPU, but also use different (and highly specialized) CPUs - as the ones you have in your computer's graphic card.

This will allow for far better task scheduleing, using your GPU to speed up operations that would take far longer if done on a general-purpose CPU.


Along with multitouch, and faster booting times, it seems they're on the right track - we'll just have to wait and see if they actually deliver.

On Chip Water Cooling

If you think electronics and water don't mix, think again.

IBM is researching the use of watercooling on a much smaller scale, on the chips itself.

Their new Power 575 supercomputer uses 448 5GHz POWER6 processors and ill be the first system to use their "Hydro Cluster" chip-level water-cooling to keep it from overheating.



As for the excess heat, it will be put to good use instead of being wasted.