Back in the good old days paint chips contained healthy quantities of lead, cars ran on leaded gasoline, and a lead foot directly pulled open the throttle of your hot-pink '59 Cadillac without any pesky computers interfering. It also meant that 'hackers' were limited to methods such as bricks and slim jims to steal your music. Well, the times, they are changing.
AMD IS FINALLY starting to talk about Bulldozer, the upcoming new desktop and server core. It is the largest architectural jump in standard x86 cores in a long long time.
THERE HAVE LONG been rumors of a major player moving their data centers from x86 based PCs to the ARM architecture. It looks like the first big player to jump in to the market is going to be none other than Facebook.
Happy Friday everyone, aNd what a decisiVely glorious day it is turning out to be. It has been reporteD that people who feel the irresistible urge to be antagonIstic may in fact be whittling hours off their life spans faster thAn a chain-Smoker rUnning with sCissors through an airport security checKpoint. So pop a couple quarters into the troll food machine, and let the feeding frenzy begin.
IT LOOKS LIKE some people are finally starting to catch on to what we have been saying for almost four years now, Nvidia is building an x86 chip. The story is long, complex, and it is SemiAccurate's opinion that the CPU will never make it to market for technical and legal reasons.
Editors Note:From time to time, SemiAccurate will be republishing some older articles by its authors, some with additional commentary, updates and information. We are mainly reprinting some of the oft referenced articles that originally appeared on the Inquirer. Some will have added content, but all will be re-edited from the originals as per contractual obligations. You may see some slight differences between the two versions.
This article has had some of the original links removed, and was published onWednesday, March 4, 2009 at 7:58 AM.
Editors Note:From time to time, SemiAccurate will be republishing some older articles by its authors, some with additional commentary, updates and information. We are mainly reprinting some of the oft referenced articles that originally appeared on the Inquirer. Some will have added content, but all will be re-edited from the originals as per contractual obligations. You may see some slight differences between the two versions.
This article has had some of the original links removed, and was published onFriday, February 06, 2009 at 6:21 PM.
With the bowl of punch nearly gone, miscellaneous party favors littering the floor, and S|A writers stumbling about in various states of sobriety, it is time to settle down and discuss the results of Nvidia's recently concluded Q2, FY 2011 earnings conference call. Much of the information we already knew or surmised after the lowered revenue guidance bombshell they dropped on us in late July, but half the fun of these kinds of calls are the molehills-turned-mountain that companies create to keep investor's wallets open. Let's start hiking.
MOLES IN SANTA CLARA tell SemiAccurate that Nvidia's latest wonderchip, Tegra 3, has taped out. Expect the PR announcement storm to kick up soon, but don't look for product this year.
AFTER ESCAPING THE FTC lawsuit with just a small dent in its cash position, Intel is back to the acquisition market and their next target is the wireless division of the German company Infineon. This division is responsible for the design of 3G modems and RF transmitters.
Part 3: Disclosures, burdens of proof, and compilers
THE LAST PART of SemiAccurate's look at the Intel/FTC settlement examines some of the worst accusations against Intel. Compiler tricks, technical openness, and a watchdog. Intel could be seriously hamstrung by some of these remedies, and worse yet, they could be the ones hamstringing themselves.
PART TWO OF SemiAccurate's look at the Intel/FTC settlement looks at sales, rebates, MCMs, bumps and cracking open an Apple. There is a lot of dirt in this one, and some business practices that will make your head hurt.
Part 1: PCI busses, fabbing, and hens with baseball bats
THE FTC HAS spoken, and the words came down on Intel with a force that is harder and more nuanced than almost anyone realizes. The settlement over a lot of alleged ills is brutal to Chipzilla, and both Nvidia and Via come out big big winners.
IS NVIDIA UP to it's old renaming games, or is it about to launch the second hottest GPU in the world? In any case, the Nvidia GT 425M GPU is turning up all over the place.
THE CRACKS ARE starting to show at Nvidia's Tegra unit, with some more huge contracts hanging on by a thread, and key people being shown the door. Couple that with a roadmap shakeup, and you have the right formula for a mess.
NVIDIA HAS A curious take on the causes of their latest financial meltdown, one that doesn't seem to mirror what is happening in the rest of the industry. The almost 20% drop in expected revenue announced at the last minute seems to be a largely self-inflicted wound.
AS WE PREDICTED last summer, it looks like Apple has kicked Nvidia to the curb. The new line of iMacs is out, and they all have, wait for it, ATI graphics.
Alongside new displays and other potential goodies
IF YOU'VE BEEN putting off buying a new shiny iMac or Mac Pro you might just have done yourself a favour, at least if the rumour that Apple is set to unleash a wealth of updated products tomorrow are true. So what are Apple's fanboys and fangirls hoping will be unveiled tomorrow? Well, a lot of new kit with shiny new features, that's what.
WHEN WE SAID that Nvidia's Fermi architecture was wrong, most people didn't understand what we meant, they focused on the chips. With the release of the GTX460, one look at the die size puts the problem clearly into focus, and it is quite ugly for Nvidia.
THE ANNUAL RUNNING of the moles in Santa Clara yesterday had some surprising results, not just in the record number of IC engineers gored, but also the information leaked by those trying save their backsides. One of them even leaked some details about the upcoming PSP2's CPU, but it didn't save him.
THE MOST IMPORTANT announcement from SemiCon West was a subtle statement from Global Foundries about tools. Putting some bits together, it is pretty clear that the company is going to use EUV lithography at the 15nm node.
What a difference a "4" makes. The NDA on Nvidia's new midrange GTX 460 (GF104) cards was lifted last night to a general reception of "right performance at the right price". No doubt, after reading over many different reviews this card appears to be the real deal at the $200 price point (for now). Despite the glowing reviews however one nagging question remained; considering that GF104 has an estimated die size of 320mm2 (which is nearly 96% of AMD's high end Cypress part at 334mm2), can Nvidia actually make money on this part, or is it simply designed to put pressure on the market share laceration that's been bleeding out lately.
Back in the good old days paint chips contained healthy quantities of lead, cars ran on leaded gasoline, and a lead foot directly pulled open the throttle of your hot-pink '59 Cadillac without any pesky computers interfering. It also meant that 'hackers' were limited to methods such as bricks and slim jims to steal your music. Well, the times, they are changing.
AMD IS FINALLY starting to talk about Bulldozer, the upcoming new desktop and server core. It is the largest architectural jump in standard x86 cores in a long long time.
THERE HAVE LONG been rumors of a major player moving their data centers from x86 based PCs to the ARM architecture. It looks like the first big player to jump in to the market is going to be none other than Facebook.
Happy Friday everyone, aNd what a decisiVely glorious day it is turning out to be. It has been reporteD that people who feel the irresistible urge to be antagonIstic may in fact be whittling hours off their life spans faster thAn a chain-Smoker rUnning with sCissors through an airport security checKpoint. So pop a couple quarters into the troll food machine, and let the feeding frenzy begin.
IT LOOKS LIKE some people are finally starting to catch on to what we have been saying for almost four years now, Nvidia is building an x86 chip. The story is long, complex, and it is SemiAccurate's opinion that the CPU will never make it to market for technical and legal reasons.
AFTER ESCAPING THE FTC lawsuit with just a small dent in its cash position, Intel is back to the acquisition market and their next target is the wireless division of the German company Infineon. This division is responsible for the design of 3G modems and RF transmitters.
THE LAST PART of SemiAccurate's look at the Intel/FTC settlement examines some of the worst accusations against Intel. Compiler tricks, technical openness, and a watchdog. Intel could be seriously hamstrung by some of these remedies, and worse yet, they could be the ones hamstringing themselves.
IF YOU'VE BEEN putting off buying a new shiny iMac or Mac Pro you might just have done yourself a favour, at least if the rumour that Apple is set to unleash a wealth of updated products tomorrow are true. So what are Apple's fanboys and fangirls hoping will be unveiled tomorrow? Well, a lot of new kit with shiny new features, that's what.
THE ANNUAL RUNNING of the moles in Santa Clara yesterday had some surprising results, not just in the record number of IC engineers gored, but also the information leaked by those trying save their backsides. One of them even leaked some details about the upcoming PSP2's CPU, but it didn't save him.
THE MOST IMPORTANT announcement from SemiCon West was a subtle statement from Global Foundries about tools. Putting some bits together, it is pretty clear that the company is going to use EUV lithography at the 15nm node.