NVIDIA announced recently that it has discovered some issues with certain laptop graphic processing units (GPU). Because of this, the company has been forced to take certain measures. To find out more, head on over to the full article.

The recent IDF Taiwan developer's forum yielded a very interesting demonstration of Intel's new mobile quad-core CPUs, just in time for their planned mass-production in 2008. The new quad-core chip is powered by 840 million transistors and uses a power envelop of 45W, which will pose a problem to laptop battery life.

Intel's new chip, slated to be included in Intel's Core 2 Extreme series, is still in its early stages but it was able to run Enemy Territory: Quake Wars by id Software for the PC quite flawlessly during the keynote speech delivered by Mooly Eden, vice president of Intel.

The mobile quad-core chip is still in need of a better cooling system, however, but Eden stated in his keynote presentation that they are doing something about the cooling technology, and Intel already has a new strategy in cooling notebooks. Said cooling strategy will involve using the same cooling method used in compressors in refrigerators and air conditioners.

 

According to a report by VR-Zone, Intel is planning to unveil the Intel Core 2 Extreme X7800 (2.6 GHz) and Celeron M 540 (1.86 GHz, US$ 107) laptop processors this summer. After the first unveiling on July 8, other processors will be revealed in short succession by September 2.

Such CPUs include the Core 2 Extreme X7900 (2.8 GHz), the Core 2 Duo T7250, the T7800, the L7700, the U2200, the U2100, and the Celeron 550. This all comes in tune with the news circulating the web of Intel's new Santa Rosa laptop platforms on the verge of release, including those sourcing from primary motherboard manufacturers.

The T7250 will carry a 2 Ghz clock speed, a front side bus frequency of 800 MHz, and 2 MB Level 2 cache, costing mainstream customers around US$ 209 a pop. The T7800 will be the fastest model in the mainstream category and should cost a hefty US$ 386 starting price.

The Core 2 Duo T5250 (1.5 GHz) and T5450 (1.66 GHz) both occupy the lower end of the Core 2 Duo segment, while the low voltage processor lineup carries the L7700 (1.8 GHz, US$ 316), Core 2 Solo U2100 (1.06 GHz, US$ 241), Core 2 Solo U2200 (1.4 GHz, US$ 262). The Celeron M 550 (2 GHz, US$ 134)and M 540 both occupy the budget segment of the laptop processor lineup from Intel.

Motherboard manufacturers in Taiwan have an aggressive increase in orders for high-capacitance multi-layer ceramic capacitors (MLCCs) used in the manufacturing of CPUs allegedly for the use in an AMD-based Apple notebook. With Intel getting in on the Apple action, there's no reason why the other major CPU manufacturer in the world shouldn't get a piece of the warm Apple pie. AMD Taiwan have refused to comment on this.

Although some are saying that an AMD Apple notebook is in the works, other motherboard manufacturers have claimed that there are no AMD/Apple notebooks around, firstly due to Intel having processor superiority over AMD with its latest Core Duo 2 line-up, and that AMD has insufficient capacity to manufacture chips for Apple notebooks.

This is a nice area to look at, and with the success of Boot Camp and the integration Intel processors, and if AMD processor integration goes ahead, Apple computers may steal a lot more of the notebook market, taking even more people away from their Windows laptop loyalties.

Versu Richelieu is a builder of worlds. She's like the Architect from the Matrix. For 72 hours, she lived in the store window of Datavision at 5th Ave. and E 39th St. (New York, NY 10018). And for 72 hours, she built a virtual world around her.

Oh tell me why... Do we build castles in the sky... Oh tell me why... All the castles way up high.

She built a Second Life virtual version of her little store window. Then she built the building and the streets around. And acre by acre, she built the city around her.

Oh tell me why... Do we build castles in the sky... Oh tell me why... All the castles way up high.

Watch the end of the third day (that would be the end of the second video). We were impressed.

It was part of a marketing activity for the Intel Centrino Duo laptop with the Intel Core 2 Duo processor (that explains why her room is wallpaper with Intel signs and why the laptop she used was a Intel Centrino Duo laptop with the Intel Core 2 Duo processor). Did we just repeat ourselves there? Deja vu. Must be glitch in the Matrix.

We're hoping the next project will be 7 days long. We'd like to see her create the world in 7 days (she can rest on the last day).

If we were all filthy rich and had magic bottomless wallets, we'd all be buying PC with the priciest, most ridiculously high-end CPUs. Such is not the case for most of us though. Performance must always be weighed against budgetary constraints. Also, the CPU isn't the only variable in the equation. We have to consider graphics cards, memory, storage... It's almost enough to drive people insane.

To help prevent an outbreak of foaming-at-the-mouth madness, ExtremeTech's David Case decided to take a look at the CPU side of the equation. Case compared 5 Intel Core 2 Duo processors (E6300, E6400, E6600, E6700, and Core 2 Extreme X6800) and 5 AMD X2 AM2 processors (3800+, 4200+, 4600+, 5000+, and FX-62) based on each processor's performance in 5 different tests, including media content creation and PC gaming. In the tests, the processors vary but everything else stays the same.

Final verdict? Let's hear it from the reviewer himself: "It's clear that Intel's Core 2 Duo lineup offers superior performance across the product line when compared with AMD's Athlon 64 X2. In some applications, even a lower-cost Core 2 Duo can outperform some of the higher-end Athlon 64 X2s."

In other applications though, it's not so clear. For a lot of users, adequate performance is good enough, especially when we factor in the prices. Says Case, "AMD's Athlon 64 X2 3800+ certainly offers great value, at under $160, and even the 4200+ can be found for under $200. However, the overall "sweet spot" seems to be the two midrange Intel CPUs—the Core 2 Duo E6400 and E6600. The E6600 offers a higher clock rate and larger L2 cache, while the E6400 can be found for well under $250."

As for the the Intel Core 2 Extreme X6800, Case concludes that it "is simply in a class by itself. If you're willing to blow over $800 for a processor, then going a couple hundred bucks more doesn't seem quite so extreme."

Read the full review by clicking on the 'read' link below.

Samsung Electronics has launched a 17-inch note book called Sens G10 that doubles as a desktop PC. Sens G10 is equipped with AMD Mobile Sampron Processor, 512MB DDR2 Memory, 200-250GB SATA2 Hard disc, Nvidia GeForce GO 6100 Graphic Core and W-LAN.

Samsung claims that the 17-inch LCD monitor of with a contrast ratio of 700:1, 300(cd/m2), and 6ms response time reduces computer eye fatigue compared with the conventional notebook PC. It also has the desktop-level, high-speed, large-capacity hard disc that relies only on AC power supply instead of rechargeable batteries. As the saga of the exploding laptop batteries continues, could this "desknote" be a reliable computer solution for all those battery problems?

Intel officially completes its comeback special leg this Monday. According to insiders, the world's largest semi-conductor company plans to launch finally the notebook version of Core 2 or what was formerly known as Merom. Notebook makers are expected to endorse new systems based on this said chip.

Intel's performance figures dramatically improved because of other Core architecture chips that are slower and more efficient. Older laptops that are now slowly being replaced encounter slow processor and overheating problems. Eventually, Intel envisions to have Merom supersede all Core Duo, the first dual-core notebook chip.

Core Duo 2 chips plug anyway into the same motherboards these prior chips use. More is expected of Intel as it announces more substantial renovation to its notebook products in March 2007.

Something more specific than the vague "they have issues" has finally come out regarding AMD's problems with 65nm, which is currently the most advanced lithographic node for volume semiconductor manufacturing. According to The Inquirer, it seems AMD is having problems getting the speeds they need out of the stock voltages.

This is forcing AMD to use 60-plus percent more power than they wanted to, which kind of skews the performance per watt leadership they are claiming. There is a bit more than three months to go before AMD misses any deadlines, so there is still time to work on and solve this problem.

If you're interested in more AMD news, check out this previous article here on QJ.

This is going to be a memorable year for Dell, what with all the events surrounding the company this year.

Laptops that go "Kablooie?" Check. Actually, check that multiple times.

Asking for government help with their exploding laptop situation? Check.

Getting sued by China? Well... yeah, now they have that to add to the list.

Dell's gotten at least 20 lawsuits from China because of what they deemed false advertising. The problem: their laptops had a cheaper chip inside than what was advertised.

Dell's Inspiron 640M laptop was supposed to be using Intel's T2300 chip, allowing it to run multiple apps simultaneously. Instead, some laptops in China and other countries got the T2300E, which not only doesn't support that function, but is also cheaper than the T2300.

According to their spokesperson Sharon Zhang, their ads weren't replaced in time to inform consumers of the switch in some laptop models, causing the legal fiasco they're currently dealing with. Dell has contacted the parties involved and offered a full refund if they weren't satisfied with the product, as well as offering a public apology on their website.

Dell's going to need to pull off a lot of lucky breaks and calculated maneuvers if they intend to fix their situation. Otherwise, they're only going to get sales from terrorists who are too lazy to make their own bombs. Let's hope that doesn't happen.