When it comes to power-efficient computing, CPUs are weighed down by too many legacy features to outperform GPUs (graphics processing units) in executing common tasks in parallel, said the chief scientist for the GPU vendor Nvidia.
Advanced Micro Devices on Tuesday said it will start shipping next-generation Opteron server chips based on the new Bulldozer architecture starting in the third quarter next year.
In an effort to expand software compatibility for its upcoming Fusion chips, Advanced Micro Devices on Monday joined rival Intel's efforts to develop the open-source MeeGo OS.
Word of slowing growth from Cisco put the brakes on the tech rally in the markets, but Lenovo results and forecasts for the mobile, online and consumer electronics markets suggest that IT's recovery from the recession still has legs.
Arm hopes to bring high-performance graphics applications such as 3D imaging and gaming to handheld devices like smartphones while keeping battery life intact with a new graphics processor design it announced on Wednesday.
Advanced Micro Devices has started shipping units of the first low-power Fusion chips for use in consumer laptops and netbooks, a company official said on Tuesday.
Nvidia on Tuesday announced its next-generation graphics processing unit, the GeForce GTX 580, which the company said is its fastest-performing GPU to date.
Advanced Micro Devices on Tuesday said it was developing a range of new mobile processors, including processors for tablets and quad-core chips for netbooks that will ship in 2012.
Arm has entered the server market with Marvell Semiconductor announcing a chip based on its processor architecture, but customer acceptance and design issues could affect its chances of winning market share from Intel and Advanced Micro Devices, analysts said.
Marvell on Monday announced a quad-core chip designed for use in servers that could help Arm break into a server market currently dominated by Intel and Advanced Micro Devices.
Intel on Wednesday said it would release in the first quarter next year Core VPro processors for business desktops and laptops that incorporate a host of new security and management features.
Broadcom is shipping samples of a processor for 100-Gigabit Ethernet, part of an architecture that can scale up to a clustered system with a total capacity of 100T bps (bits per second).
Intel on Tuesday said the company would begin contract manufacturing of chips, a change from the company's policy of serving only itself through its factories.
MIPS Technologies this week said it will put its processor architecture in tablets and smartphones as it prepares to duel rivals Arm and Intel in those fast-growing markets.
A number of chip manufacturers and European research institutions have banded together to figure out how redesign microprocessors so that they consume less energy when in use and leak less energy when in stand-by mode.