Intel Ivy Bridge Launch Schedule Reportedly Unveiled

In 2012, Intel is expected to release its first chips based on the upcoming 22nm Ivy Bridge architecture and recently a report has come to reveal that the initial launch of these chips will take place in April, with more CPUs arriving in Q2 and even Q3. Previously, all we knew about the launch date of Ivy Bridge processors was that Intel wanted to go for the March/April timeframe, with some recent rumors claiming March is a more likely release date. However, according to CPU-World, Intel will actually hold the launch event for these processors in April of 2012. The initial release will cover the third-generation Core i5 and Core i7 desktop products, and Core i7 mobile chips, while the next CPU wave will include the Core i3s and Core i5 mobile...

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Intel 2GHz Ivy Bridge Quad-Core CPU Gets Benchmarked

With Sandy Bridge-E out and about, Intel is now focusing its efforts on its upcoming Ivy Bridge architecture and such a chip was recently put through a few benchmarks by a user on a Chinese hardware forum. The chip in question was an engineering sample Ivy Bridge processor that included four computing cores clocked at 2GHz, 6MB of Level 3 cache and required 1.056V in order to operate (as reported by CPU-Z). Its maximum TDP was set at a rather low 65W, compared with the 95W of Intel’s current quad-core standard voltage parts based on the Sandy Bridge architecture, but its most surprising feature was the B3 stepping that the core is based upon. This is for the first time that we see this revision used in Intel’s engineering sample Ivy Bridge...

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HP Tries to Breathe Life into Itanium by Combining It with Xeon

The entire confrontation between Oracle on one side and HP and Intel on the other has not waned, but HP is determined to keep the Itanium going.  In comes project Odyssey, a new development roadmap that will somehow combine the Itanium platform with Intel Xeon processors. Oracle already said that everything Itanium does can just as well be accomplished by the Xeon series of chips. As such, this might as well be interpreted and HP half-agreeing to that. Then again, this isn't the first and probably won't be the last hybrid technological project ever made. “Clients have been asking us to expand the mission-critical experience that is delivered today with HP-UX on Integrity to an x86-based infrastructure,” said Martin Fink, senior vice...

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Intel Says HP's Recent Move Won't Harm Itanium

Yet again, the Intel Itanium server platform is making the news, this time because Intel is speaking on the implications of HP's recent announcement.  As we mentioned here, HP decided to more or less combine the power of Xeon chips with what Itanium can bring to the table. In other words, the Odyssey will include systems that make use of both platforms at once. We're not going to go into too much detail about the project, since we have already covered that separately. Suffice it to say, some people, Oracle in particular, have all they need to call this another hint that Itanium just doesn't cut it anymore, not on its own at least. After all, Oracle stopped developing software for Itanium a while ago and has been saying that Intel and...

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Nvidia’s Upcoming GTX 560 Ti 448 Cores Smiles for the Camera

On November 29, Nvidia is expected to launch a new graphics card based on the company’s GF110 core that will be known as the GeForce GTX 560 Ti 448 Cores and recently the first picture of such a solution built by Zotac was leaked on the Web. The card, which was spotted by Fudzilla, uses Zotac’s now traditional Black and yellow color scheme as well as what appears to be the same cooling solution installed in most of the company’s GTX 560 Ti models. This time however, behind that shroud lies Nvidia’s upcoming GTX 560 Ti 448 Cores GPU that is actually based on the same GF110 core as the one used for the more powerful GTX 580 and GTX 570. In the case of the Nvidia GTX 560 Ti 448 Cores however one of the 15 streaming modules included in this...

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Windows 8 Pre-Beta Supports Custom Images for Metro Background

When made available for the world, the Windows 8 Developer Preview lacked one feature that users were certainly keen on having available for them, namely customization of the Metro background.  While you can easily change the theme or background of the desktop, with Windows 7 themes supported in the new desktop client, you find yourself stuck when it comes to making a similar move with the Metro background as well.  That happens in the Developer Preview, but is bound to change when the first beta release of Windows 8 arrives, and the first steps in this direction have been made starting with the pre-beta release of Windows 8, it seems.  In the new builds of the client, one can change the background in Metro, though it appears...

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Intel to Continue Shipping LGA 775 CPUs in 2012

Even though Intel has retired most of its processors using the LGA 755 socket in order to make room in its lineup for newer Sandy Bridge CPUs, the chip maker will still continue to ship such parts throughout the next year. According to Fudzilla, Intel’s LGA 775 lineup will include at least a dozen processors that use this socket, including the 1.8GHz single-core Celeron 430, which was introduced in the second quarter of 2007 and is based on the now ancient Yonah-1024 architecture. Furthermore, Intel will continue to ship this CPU into all of its 65nm glory at least until Q3 2012. Other chips that will also be shipping in the third quarter of 2012 are the Pentium E6800, E6700, and E5800 as well as Celeron E3500 and E3400, all based on the...

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Sapphire Pairs the Radeon HD 6850 with 2GB of VRAM

Sapphire, one of AMD’s closest graphics card partners, has just announced earlier today the introduction of a new version of its Radeon HD 6850 model that has gained 2GB of video memory in order to make the card better suited for high-resolution gaming. Outside of this change, Sapphire’s solution has remained pretty much unchanged from its predecessor aside from the added support for the DisplayPort 1.2 standard. Thanks to this, the card can drive up to three monitors simultaneously with the aid of an appropriate hub. As most of you have surely noticed, the cooling system was also left unaltered and it relies on a single large diameter fan that expels the heat produced by the card back in the system’s case. As far as the operating clocks...

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Fujifilm XS-1 Bridge Camera with 26x Zoom to Arrive in February 2012

Fujifilm’s has just announced that its X-Series of digital cameras will receive a new member in 2012, dubbed the X-S1, which according to the company represents a new breed of bridge camera with 26x optical zoom. The Fujinon lens installed is X-S1’s most valuable asset since it offers an impressive 24-624mm range (35mm equivalent) while it can also open up to f/2.8 when used at wide-angle settings. In addition, this even sports a Super Macro Mode that enables users to focus down to just 1cm for frame-filling close-up images. On the inside, Fujifilm’s latest creation packs the same 12-megapixel EXR CMOS 2/3-inch sensor installed in the X10 which should deliver good image quality, although it won’t be able to match that of the APS-C sensor...

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