Penryn

Apple bumps iMac to 3.06Ghz

Mehan Jayasuriya — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 11:51:51 -0400

There's been a lot of talk of Macs in the enterprise lately, so now seems as good a time as any for Apple to unleash an updated version of the iMac, its low-end, all-in-one desktop. This year's iMac tops off with a $2,200, 24" model that boasts a 3.06Ghz Core 2 Duo, a NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GS graphics card with 512MB video RAM, up to 4GB of RAM and up to 1TB of internal storage. If that's too rich for your blood, there are more pedestrian models as well, which start at $1,200, all of which sport 6MB of L2 cache and a 1066 MHz front-side bus. Wondering what that mysterious 3.06Ghz Core 2 Duo is? While it was initially believed to be the first Montevina in the wild, it turns out that it's just an overclocked Penryn that is apparently exclusive to Apple, at least for the moment.

For more on the new machines:
- see this press release

Latest AMD quad-core Phenom reviewed

Mehan Jayasuriya — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 12:01:42 -0400

Try as they might, AMD just can't seem to catch up with rival Intel lately. Maximum PC tested out AMD's latest quad-core CPU--the Phenom X4 9850--and while the chip alleviates the performance issues that plagued previous quad-core offerings from the company, it still looks like a bit of a slouch next to Intel's Xeon line. In their tests, Maximum PC benchmarked the 9850 against two Intel chips--the Core 2 Quad Q9300 and the Core 2 Q6600--and unsurprisingly, the Q9300 "owned the night,"with the Q9300 not far behind and the 9850 in a distant third place. While the 9850 represents a marked improvement over AMD's previous quad-core offerings, "it doesn't quite go head-to-head with the Penryn lite." Better luck next time, AMD.

For the full story:
- see this Maximum PC article

HP brings Penryn to business laptops

Tue, 18 Mar 2008 07:59:55 -0400

Intel's Penryn is no stranger to an HP laptop's innards, having already made its way inside a few consumer-oriented Pavilions. But now, the company is bringing some of that 45nm lovin' to the business side of its portable lineup. Intel's 2.1Ghz T8100 is now available on the 6720s and 6820s machines while the 6510b and 6710b will get the slightly beefier 2.4Ghz T8300. Word on the street is that the 8700 line also will get the Penryn bump during the next two weeks, so stay tuned.

For more on the upgrades:
- see this Engadget article

Dell crams Penryn into more laptops

Fri, 29 Feb 2008 06:59:54 -0500

We've already seen Penryn in Dell's Precision M6300 laptop but the fun isn't going to stop there, friends. Say hello to the company's new 14.1-inch Precision M2300 and 15.4-inch M4300 machines, both of which can be configured with mobile Penryn CPUs ranging in speed from 2.1GHz to 2.6GHz. Additionally, the lappies can be configured with up to 4GB of RAM and an SSD drive up to 64GB in size. Best of all, the prices haven't changed with the CPU bump, so you can feel free to upgrade without incurring the wrath of the IT budget. Available now starting at $1,379.

For more on the new machines:
- see this Electronista article

Rumor: Montevina becomes Centrino 2

Tue, 19 Feb 2008 06:59:56 -0500

Intel sure has gotten a lot of mileage out of the "Centrino" name over the course of four revisions. While that may have helped the company breed familiarity with the brand, it probably didn't do much to alert layfolk to major updates to the mobile platform. With the most recent iteration, however, the Penryn-based, WiMAX-sporting "Montevina" chipset, Intel is making a break from years of branding, dubbing Montevina "Centrino 2" in official Intel nomenclature, according to a report from Digitimes. Furthermore, the platform is said to be scheduled for an unveiling at Computex Taipei 2008, which falls roughly in line with the previous rumors we've heard. If you're planning on buying new laptops this year, you might want to wait until the middle of the year, as Montevina looks to represent one of the most significant updates to Intel's mobile architecture in years.

For more on Centrino 2:
- see this Digitimes article

ThinkPad X61 gets Penryn upgrade

Mon, 14 Jan 2008 06:59:58 -0500

With Intel's mobile Penryn lineup out and about, it's high time that we started seeing some laptops that sport the new hotness. Well, as many as you suit-and-tie types will be happy to hear, Lenovo's business-oriented ThinkPad X61 looks to be among the first. While Lenovo has yet to make an official announcement to pat itself on the back for the achievement, a few retailers are now listing a Penryn T8100-equipped ThinkPad X61 as ready to rock. If you're getting impatient, head on over to PCMall where you can snag the aforementioned machine with 1GB of RAM and a 120GB hard drive for the nominal fee of $1,550; a Penryn T8300 version, meanwhile, will run you $1,610. Aside from the processor upgrade, these machines seem to be identical to their non-Penryn counterparts. Expect to see more laptops make the jump to Penryn soon.

For more on the upgrade:
- see this Engadget article

Apple updates MacPros, Xserve

Tue, 08 Jan 2008 06:59:58 -0500

What's this? Looks like an early present from Apple. In advance of next week's MacWorld Expo, Apple has announced the extremely long-awaited updates to its two highest-end professional lines, the MacPro and the Xserve. Timed to coincide with Intel's Penryn announcement, the advent of these new machines brings Apple into the quad-core, 45nm age. As expected, the new 8-core MacPro tops off with two 3.2Ghz Quad-Core Xeon 5400s, up to 4TB of storage, up to 32GB of RAM (!) and sports ATI's Radeon HD 2600 XT as standard equipment. As if that wasn't enough for you, the MacPro now boasts support for up to four graphics cards, which means that it "can drive up to eight 30-inch displays at once for advanced visualization and large display walls." Wowza! Alternative configurations are available with either one or two 2.8Ghz CPUs or two 3.0Ghz CPUs and the standard configuration (2x 2.8Ghz) will set you back a cool $2800. Apple claims that this "new system architecture...delivers up to twice the performance of its predecessor," but we'll wait for an independent party to verify that claim.

On the Xserve tip, we're looking at "the most powerful Apple server ever," which packs two Quad-Core 3.0Ghz Intel Xeon 5400s at the high-end. These puppies are 1U rack-optimized, sport two PCI Express 2.0 slots, support up to 3TB of internal storage and can be upgraded with a wealth of other features.

So, this begs the question, why is Apple making product announcements in advance of MacWorld? The answer is, quite simply, because there are only so many products that can be unveiled during the course of one "Stevenote." While new MacPros and Xserves are exciting for the pro customers who have been waiting patiently since August 2006 for an upgrade, they're not exactly the flashiest updates when compared to, oh, I don't know, a new iPhone and ultraportable MacBook Pro. There's also the small matter of those cinema displays and given that the MacPro just got a new graphics card, I'd say that there are definitely a few surprises left for MacWorld...

For more on the new pro machines:
- see this press release on the new MacPro
- and this press release on the new Xserve

What will MacWorld 2008 bring?

Wed, 02 Jan 2008 06:59:54 -0500

With the MacWorld Expo taking place in mid-January, MacWorld predictions have become something of a new year's tradition. So what's on tap for this year? For the safe bet, I'll take new MacPros and updated cinema displays. Both have essentially remained stagnant since August 2006 and are sorely in need of an update, if Apple has any interest in staying competitive in the high-end segment of the market. Expect the new MacPro to top off with a 3.2Ghz Penryn and the new displays to sport higher resolutions, contrast ratios and more connectivity options.

For the risky bet, I'll take the ultraportable MacBook Pro. Sure, I got this one wrong last year but the second time's the charm...right? Fact is, we've been hearing way too much chatter on this one for it to be a complete fabrication and given that Apple hasn't had a true ultraportable in its notebook lineup for more than a year, the time seems ripe. We're expecting a machine with a 12" or 13" display, a SSD in lieu of a mechanical hard drive and an external optical drive, if any.

Finally, for my outlandish prediction, I'll take the 3G iPhone. While there hasn't been that much talk about the next iteration of the iPhone, we do know that it's coming at some point this year and what better time to announce it than on the one year anniversary of version 1.0's unveiling? Expect 3G, GPS and 16GB of storage at that familiar $599 pricepoint...if I were a betting man I'd say it'll land on store shelves in late July.

AMD, IBM, Samsung team for 32nm CPUs

Tue, 18 Dec 2007 06:59:59 -0500

When Intel began its transition to a 45nm manufacturing process and managed to crank out a few Penryn CPUs this year, everyone was pretty amazed. 45nm is pretty darn small and turning out chips that use such cutting-edge manufacturing techniques is no small feat. If Toshiba, IBM, AMD, Samsung, Infineon, Freescale, and Singapore-based Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing have their way, however, 45nm CPUs could start looking a little long in the tooth sooner than you might think. That's because the aforementioned companies have formed an alliance to develop CPUs using 32nm technology. The alliance, which extends to 2010, covers the development, design and production of 32nm microprocessors. No word yet on when we can expect to see 32nm chips though it's probably best that these guys get cracking--it looks like Intel already has a head start.

For more on the alliance:
- see this Engadget article

ALSO NOTED: Dell Latitude XT available for pre-order; Dan Hesse named as Sprint's new CEO;

Tue, 18 Dec 2007 06:59:51 -0500

> Dell's Latitude XT is finally available for order, though it ships in January. Article
> More details on the rumored Dell Vostro 1200. Article
> Dan Hesse named as Sprint's new CEO. Article
> OS X inches ever closer to UNIX. Article
> Fujitsu packs a Penryn into an ultraportable? Article
> Free VoIP app coming to the iPod Touch on New Year's Day. Article
> Intel scaling back Viiv brand. Article

And Finally... MIT cyclists set record for pedal-powered supercomputing. Article