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Platform Trends: The Year of Serious Storage One and one-half terabytes, people! Most of us remember when such storage capacity stretched the limits of a server RAID array, but next month Seagate will ship a 1.5TB desktop hard disk. Meanwhile, both old-fashioned and newfangled storage tech heats up the notebook market -- and PC enthusiasts and upgraders are getting their hands on the speedy solid-state drives once reserved for the most exotic, elite laptops. Saturday , July 19, 2008 04:30:00 PM |
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Montevina Mania: Intel Unveils Centrino 2 Notebook Platform New 45-nanometer CPUs are only part of the story as Intel revamps its dominant laptop processor/chipset/WiFi bundling program. The nearly 250 new notebooks slated to wear the Centrino 2 sticker will flaunt faster, more far-reaching wireless; more game-worthy graphics (plus the option of switching between integrated and discrete graphics), and multimedia enhancements designed to let travelers enjoy a high-definition Blu-ray movie -- on one battery charge. Tuesday , July 15, 2008 02:05:00 PM |
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Platform Trends: AMD's Massive Retaliation: The Radeon HD 4000 Series Just nine days after Nvidia's launch of a new flagship GeForce GTX 200 series, AMD grabs the spotlight with formidable -- and more affordable -- ATI Radeon HD 4850 and 4870 graphics cards, packing a whopping 956 million transistors, 800 stream processors, and (for the 4870) unbelievably fast GDDR5 memory. The company also dusts off the classic All-in-Wonder name for a new DirectX 10.1 graphics/HDTV tuner combo. Monday , July 07, 2008 11:25:00 AM |
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Platform Trends: The GeForce GTX 200 Series: Big, Bad, and Proud of It As the Incredible Hulk rampages across movie screens, Nvidia introduces a giant of a graphics processor -- the GeForce GTX 280 (and only slightly tamer GTX 260), bringing 1.4 billion transistors, 240 stream processors, and over 240GB/sec of bandwidth to smash even current dual-GPU gaming, 3D rendering, and video-encoding graphics cards. But should you wait for a smaller, less power-hungry sequel? Friday , June 20, 2008 03:00:00 PM |
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Platform Trends: Intel Does the New Chipset Thing Intel has finally filled out its lineup of supporting silicon for the 45-nanometer-process Core 2 Duo and Quad processors unveiled in January. The new 4 Series chipsets bring some of the benefits of Intel's fire-breathing X48 Express enthusiast platform to mainstream PC buyers, and the G45 Express gives a boost to the 1080p HD video bandwagon. So why does CPU guru Vince Freeman see a missed opportunity? Monday , June 09, 2008 01:30:00 PM |
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Eee, Atom, Aspire, Wind: It's a Small (Notebook) World at Computex What comes after Eee? Everybody from HP and Acer to Dell and MSI, not to mention class leader Asus, wants to star in the second generation of low-cost, low-weight, just-right-for-traveling-light laptops. This week's Computex show is packed with the ultraportable notebooks known as netbooks, with Intel's new Atom CPU in a prominent supporting role -- and Nvidia and VIA waiting in the wings. Tuesday , June 03, 2008 04:00:00 PM |
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Platform Trends: AMD/ATI: Slowdown? What Slowdown? Both product lifespans and prices are falling for PC graphics cards, but that hasn't stopped AMD from pushing the envelope with a new ATI Radeon HD 4000 series marking the industry debut of GDDR5 memory technology -- and a new brand campaign telling retail shoppers not to settle for the usual integrated graphics. Monday , May 26, 2008 10:30:00 AM |
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Platform Trends: DDR-3 Heads for the Mainstream Long ago, Intel decided that desktop PCs should use RDRAM, and riots in the marketplace forced a reversal. Now the processor giant is spurring the move from today's DDR-2 to higher-bandwidth, more energy-efficient DDR-3 memory for desktops -- and, with the forthcoming Centrino 2 spec, notebooks as well. Vince Freeman looks at the pros, cons, price points, and performance issues surrounding the transition. Friday , May 09, 2008 04:00:00 PM |
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Platform Trends: AMD Hits a Triple with the Phenom X3 Market-wise, the gap between dual- and quad-core PC processors may not be big enough to drive a truck through. Or a subcompact. Or a shopping cart. But AMD is betting it's got room for a new family of triple-core CPUs. Will the Phenom X3's sales pitch of better multitasking for the price of a dual-core attract buyers? And what happens if tri-core demand exceeds AMD's supply of didn't-quite-pass-inspection quad-cores? Monday , April 28, 2008 12:15:00 PM |
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Platform Trends: The Wild World of Graphics Cards At the rate they're releasing products, Nvidia and AMD/ATI may soon run out of model numbers. Desktop PC graphics cards have never had shorter life spans or quicker price cuts, as last year's performance champions are suddenly mid-market or even destined to be entry-level cards. Will GDDR-5 keep the mad momentum going? Is Asus serious about showing off not a dual- but a triple-GPU one-card solution? Friday , April 11, 2008 04:00:00 PM |
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Platform Trends: X4 Marks the Spot Monday , March 31, 2008 02:15:00 PM |
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Platform Trends: Intel Deploys Its Troops Monday , March 17, 2008 11:50:00 AM |
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Platform Trends: Shifts in the Multicore Landscape Friday , February 29, 2008 04:10:00 PM |
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PCs for Five C's Tuesday , February 26, 2008 03:10:00 PM |
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Platform Trends: Nvidia's Chess Moves Sunday , February 17, 2008 02:40:00 PM |
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Platform Trends: AMD Sees Double With the Radeon HD 3870 X2 Saturday , February 02, 2008 04:30:00 PM |
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Platform Trends: The Celeron Comes Back Saturday , January 19, 2008 11:45:00 AM |
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Let Loose in the Toy Department: Report From CES 2008 Tuesday , January 15, 2008 12:30:00 PM |
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Platform Trends: Intel Prepares a 45-Caliber Welcoming Committee Friday , January 04, 2008 05:00:00 PM |
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Platform Trends: Graphics Population Elevation Saturday , December 22, 2007 12:30:00 PM |