Review Intel was the first company to deliver a Sata SSD, its 80GB X25-M, and we were blown away by the combination of speed and silence. Unfortunately, the price was rather steep but you can’t make an omelette without breaking eggs.
When we reviewed the X25-M, it never occurred to us to ask about the fabrication process that Intel used to make the multi-layer cell (MLC) Flash memory chips. We were presented with that information when Intel launched the second-generation of X25-M drive. It turns out that the original process was 50nm and the new chips use a 34nm process.
Intel’s X-25M: slimmer, more capacious and cheaper
Inside the casing, the layout of the second-gen X25 looks similar to the first edition, but when you take a closer look you can see that all of the major components have been changed.
The single chip of cache memory has been increased in capacity from 16MB to 32MB, although the clock speed seems to have been reduced. The model code of the controller chip has been updated from PC29AS21AA0 to PC29AS21BA0, presumably to interface with the new Flash memory. The 1G drive used 20 chips to deliver the 80GB capacity, which works out to 4GB per chip. Read the rest of this entry »
Review Intel launched its new Core i7 975 Extreme on the first day of Computex and now it’s time to put this über processor through its paces.
The old Core i7 965 Extreme has a clock speed of 3.2GHz (24 x 133MHz) and the new 975 Extreme runs a tad faster, 3.33GHz (25 x 133MHz), so we’re looking at a four per cent increase in performance. The rest of the features remain unchanged, including the 130W TDP, so the 975 is a drop-in replacement for the 965 if you’re prepared to spend £800 to get an extra 133MHz.
Intel’s Core i7s: stepping up from the first release
We ran the 965 and 975 back-to-back on an Asus P6T SE motherboard with 3GB of Kingston DDR 3-2000 memory, an AMD ATI Radeon HD 4890 graphics card and an Intel X25-M SSD, all operating under Windows Vista Ultimate Edition.
The short version of the review is that the 975 does indeed deliver four per cent more performance than the 965 but with a slightly higher power draw. We are all in favour of higher performance but in this case the extra grunt is just about the least interesting thing about the new chip. Read the rest of this entry »
Review Intel has updated the firmware for its four models of mainstream solid-state drives, the 80GB and 160GB 1.8in X18-M and 2.5in X25-M.
Intel’s X-25M and X-18M: upgraded
You may recall that during our review of the 80GB X25-M we were faced with the task of updating the firmware from version 8510 to 8610 and it was bloody hard work. For one thing, our Intel Skulltrail motherboard detected the new firmware as malware and tried to protect the system from the drive. For another, the process was horribly similar to the old school method of updating the Bios on a motherboard. Read the rest of this entry »
Review Intel’s new Xeon 5500 series uses the chip giant’s ‘Nehalem’ architecture to effectively put a pair of Core i7 CPUs on a workstation motherboard.
That news should come as a pleasant surprise, but of course Apple ruined our fun when it launched its new Mac Pro a couple of weeks ago, which appears to be based on the new chips. And, try as we might, we can’t think of another company that would so wantonly shred an Intel NDA without so much as a blush.
The speeds and feeds of the new Xeons cover a total of nine models, although we hear there will be other variants including dual-core and low-voltage models. There are five mainstream E5500 CPUs with a TDP of 80W and clock speeds that start at 2GHz and go up to 2.53GHz. Three X5500 models have a TDP of 95W, starting with the X5550 at 2.66GHz which makes it the equivalent of the Core i7 920. The X5560 runs at 2.8GHz and the X5570 runs at 2.93GHz, just like the Core i7 940.
At the top of the tree we have the Xeon W5580 with a clock speed of 3.2GHz and a TDP of 130W which is the equivalent of the Core i7 965 Extreme. Clock speed is a moving target with Nehalem as Turbo mode varies the speed of the CPU dynamically depending on heat, power draw and CPU load. It’s quite likely that your 3.2GHz Core i7 965 Extreme or Xeon W5580 will run up to 3.6GHz when the going gets tough. Read the rest of this entry »
