AMD's Turion 64 Roadmap

MSI To Release A Dual-Core And Dual-Graphics Motherboard

Intel Launches New Ruggedized PC Platform For India

Plextor Launches Shockproof Portable HDDs

AMD's Turion 64 Roadmap

AMD's market share is developing well and the company has been successful in shipping a large number of processors this past quarter. Sources close to AMD have informed DailyTech that coming early this second quarter, AMD will be announcing a slew of new Turion 64 processors. However, some products may encounter delays.

Their contact indicated that AMD's new dual-core Turion 64 processor, codenamed "Taylor", was slated to launch on May 9th of this year but now may be delayed to June. The processor is a low wattage processor designed to be used on socket S1 boards. The processor has twin 256KB L2 caches and supports DDR2-667MHz memory. Taylor will be the first mobile AMD processor to support DDR2-667MHz and be placed squarely up against Intel's Core Duo. AMD will also be releasing a version of Taylor, called "Trinidad" which has the same specifications but be equipped with twin 512KB L2 caches.

On the single core side, AMD will also be launching a new processor currently codenamed "Keene". The processor will be identical to Taylor, but only have one core. In terms of power usage, AMD will be pushing the envelop in low power usage. No exact details were given but current usage numbers for Taylor and Keene are 35 watts and 25 watts respectively. No specific date for Keene was given but it looks as though Keene will be available not long after Taylor.

In the first half of 2007, AMD will be making a change to Taylor. The successor, called Tylor, will be based on similar specifications but move to a smaller 65nm fabrication process and support DDR2-800MHz. Tylor will remain dual-core and by the same time frame, Intel will also be showcasing Merom.

Source: DailyTech, HKEPC

MSI To Release A Dual-Core And Dual-Graphics Motherboard

MSI is to unveil its latest P4N SLI XE motherboard based on SLI technology and NVIDIA which delivers nForce4 SLI XE for Intel platform as well.

P4N SLI XE motherboard adopts NVIDIA's latest nForce 4 SLI XE chipset, which provides user SLI on Intel based platform at a cheaper price. It provides 2 PCI Express x16 and 2 PCI Express x1 slots. The P4N SLI XE supports LGA775 socket and 1066/800/533MHz FSB processors, including Pentium processor Extreme Edition, Pentium D, Pentium 4, and Celeron D. Besides, the P4N SLI XE also supports the upcoming new 65nm processors codenamed Presler and Cedar Mill, up to the highest Pentium processor Extreme Edition 955.

The P4N SLI XE supports dual-channel DDR2-667 and offers 4 DIMM sockets for up to 16GB capacity. Also, P4N SLI XE supports 7.1-channel HD Audio, has an optical fiber/coaxial digital output, supports up to 4 SATA2 hard drives and MediaShield technology and features Gigabit LAN controller.

Speaking of proprietary technologies, the motherboard features MSI's CoreCell which implements the D.O.T. The CoreCell monitors the whole system to fine-tune the voltage and fan speed, and at the same time auto-downloads the latest BIOS and drivers through Live Update 3. One more thing that is worth mentioning is the Communication slot, which is the orange PCI slot located at the far end of the P4N SLI motherboard. It can be used as an ordinary PCI slot or it can be used to connect to MSI proprietary dual-band network card interface, including 802.11 b/g wireless Internet connection and Bluetooth wireless transmission.

Source: MSI

Intel Launches New Ruggedized PC Platform For India

Intel officially launched a "Community PC" platform that has been developed exclusively to meet the needs of rural villages and communities in India.

With an objective to bridge the urban-rural divide, Intel also announced its "Jaagruti" ("Awakening") initiative that will support the spread of rural Internet "kiosks" based on the new Intel-powered Community PC.

The Community PC platform was defined to withstand various weather conditions (heat, dust, humidity) and unreliable power sources that can compromise typical PCs used in such environments. To address these issues, the platform has the following features:

• Ruggedized chassis: The chassis has been designed to withstand dusty conditions, varying temperatures and high humidity. It has a removable dust filter and integrated air fan to regulate the temperature of the motherboard. The chassis is designed to keep the motherboard cool at temperatures as high as 45 degrees Celsius and the PC resistant to humidity levels of 70 to 85 RH (Relative Humidity).
• CPSU: The PC is equipped with a Customized Power Supply Unit which is comprised of an Integrated Power Supply and the UPS unit, which allow the PC to maintain continuous load power in the event of a power outage.
• Low power consumption: The total power consumption of all peripherals is less than 100 watts.
• Access Control:The platform comes installed with a certificate-based access, allowing banks to verify the validity of installment payments against the purchase of the PCs.

Intel expects many of these Community PC platforms to be deployed in Internet "kiosks" common in Indian villages. The kiosks are operated by local entrepreneurs and provide neighboring communities with access to services such as e-Government forms (land records and marriage licenses, among others). This saves time and money for potential users who no longer need to spend an entire day and take multiple modes of transportation into the main city to complete necessary paperwork. They can now visit a local kiosk and have a kiosk "operator" input their data online quickly and cost-effectively.

Source: Intel

Plextor Launches Shockproof Portable HDDs

Plextor launched its first shock-proof portable hard disk drives created "for the rough and tumble of modern life". In 80 and 120GB capacities, the silver lightweight 2.5" PX-SP08U & PX-SP12U drives are designed to withstand the inevitable knocks and bumps of normal use that can seriously affect more fragile units. They come with a silicon skin and a handy carrying pouch to protect the chassis from shocks and scratches. PX-SP08U and PX-SP12U have 80GB and 120GB respective capacities, feature 8MB cache and 5400rpm spindle speed.

In addition, Plextor is adding a 160GB capacity drive to its popular professional Network-Attached Storage (NAS) unit. The PX-EH16L has all the useful features of its 250/400GB brothers, but is more affordable for small businesses and professional home users. This fan-less drive operates silently for minimum intrusion in an office environment. The noise reduction is achieved by the heat-release aluminum case and the convection cooling design which needs no fan installed. As well as providing instant shared storage across the network, the PX-EH16L includes: a print server that can share a printer over the network when connected to it via USB; and an automated backup scheduler from the NAS to a USB-connected external HDD of the same capacity. Additionally, the Professional Network HDD is both secure and flexible: it includes a high security feature so that the administrator can limit access to certain folders; and it can be configured as a dedicated FTP server.

The new products will be available from April 2006 from the network of Plextor dealers. They are covered by Plextor’s Fast Warranty Service (2-year warranty in the EU, Norway and Switzerland (Collect & Return); 1 year in other countries).

Source: Plextor

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