Researchers Design True 3D Processor

The term '3D Chip' might sound a bit misleading, and it might very-well be. When I first heard the term, I thought it was another GPU processor, but '3D' is meant to be taken literally. All current processors out there now are 2D... flat, with components found to the right and left of each other. Researchers at the University of Rochester have developed what they claim to be the first true 3D processor, running at 1.4GHz.

A true 3D processor is one that has stacked components, rather than the side-by-side components found on all current chips. The benefits would be better efficiency, better performance and a far better footprint. One researcher noted that while we will hit a barrier with horizontal chips, vertical chips will scale indefinitely. I can see it now... installing a pole rather than a flat piece of silicon.

Of course things shouldn't get that bad, but the prospect of a 3D chip is an interesting one. What would concern me is the cooling-ability. How is it that a cube chip could be effectively cooled? With '2D' chips, they lay flat, and obviously that works out to our favor with cooling. A cube chip wouldn't be able to use a standard CPU cooler design, but rather something entirely different. Regardless, there are obvious hurdles, but it's an interesting prospect nonetheless.

The hardest part according to the researchers is getting the levels of the chip to properly interact. Professor Friedman compares the problem to a scenario where a standard microprocessor is like the U.S. traffic system, and then the 3D processor is like 3 or more U.S. traffic systems stacked atop each other and expected to coordinate traffic between levels. He says the problem is even tougher as the processors are different, so it’s more like stacking the U.S., China, and India, where traffic laws are different, atop each other.

Source: University of Rochester Press Release, Via: DailyTech

Apple's P.A. Semi to Develop ARM CPU for Upcoming iPhone

When Apple acquired P.A. Semi, a Power processor manufacturer, we couldn't quite figure out what their plans were. After all, Intel has been at the forefront of the Cupertino company's hardware side of things for a few years, but it was clear either Intel or Apple weren't entirely ecstatic with the relationship as they once were, because while many originally speculated that the iPhone 2 would include an Intel Atom processor, it clearly did not.

Well, the reason for the P.A. Semi acquisition becomes a little clearer today. The folks at Apple Insider link to a blog post which links to a LinkedIn Profile of the 'Senior Manager Chip CPU Architect at Apple", who's managing the new 'ARM CPU architecture team for iPhone'. Hard to misinterpret that one!

So, P.A. Semi will be heading up production of a new ARM CPU for iPhone use, which is not a bad move. Apple will be able to build and tweak their own chip, hopefully resulting in making the iPhone 3 much more efficient, both with regards to performance and power. The current iPhone's on the market are also equipped with ARM processors, so codebases can remain intact... good news for developers.

The small revelation appears to confirm speculation that Apple was indeed the "leading handset OEM" who purchased earlier this year "a long-term architecture license" to ARM's current and future technology portfolio for use in its future mobile products. Although analysts have long fingered an ARM-based processor at the heart of the first two generations of the iPhone, Apple has refused to confirm or deny the specific type of chip employed by the handsets.

Source: Apple Insider

HP to Cut 24,600 Jobs, 8% of Total Workforce

Times are not good in the financial world, with large investment firms closing shop and even one of the world's largest insurers also scrambling to come up with some $75 billion just to stay afloat. Hewlett-Packard might be feeling the effects of the economy too, but they claim upcoming job cuts are to streamline business and doesn't seem to be the result of the current state of things.

HP recently acquired Electronic Data Systems, which is where most of the job cuts will be. Almost half of the 24,600 will be workers inside the US. The company also adds that half of the positions will be refilled in the future as different jobs within the company, but that won't be quick enough for the folks laid-off.

The biggest areas where the hit will be noticeable is with their finance, human resources and legal departments, where USA Today claims a lot of overlap can occur. But 24,600? Sure doesn't sound like a healthy culling, to say the least.

Djurdjevic said EDS had been cutting jobs before it was acquired by HP, and that some investors were concerned the cutbacks did not address a key problem for EDS in the need to ink more profitable deals, a challenge that now falls to HP. HP had not previously detailed how many employees of the combined company would lose their jobs. Before the acquisition, HP had 178,000 people and EDS had 142,000, a total of 320,000.

Source: USA Today

Intel Launches Dunnington-based Xeon Processors

I somehow missed the announcement yesterday regarding the launch of Intel's latest high-end server CPUs, so I'll talk a bit about them now. We've been waiting to see a launch for Dunnington for some time, but the time was right, and there are now seven different models to choose from. Dunnington is of course Intel's first 6-core (Sex-Core!) Xeon designed for high-end servers.

Not all of the new Dunnington's are six-core, but rather only three. The highest-end model of them all is the X7460, clocked at 2.66GHz. It features 16MB of Cache and a 130W TDP. It's the only model to launch with a TDP of over 90W. The second-highest model is the E7450, clocked at 2.40GHz with 12MB of Cache. The ultra-low power six-core is the L7455, which features a 2.13GHz clock, 12MB of Cache and a 65W TDP.

All of the new processors are rather expensive, so it's for serious business only. The smallest offering is the Quad-Core L7420, at $1,177. Intel boasts world-records on their new models though, and at this point, they're the only option for extremely high-end models. The new CPUs boast copious amounts of Cache and low power, which will make it not only useful in servers, but some workstations as well.

Source: Intel Press Release

Tech Roundup - September 16, 2008

• Asus M3A78-T, 790GX & Phenom 9950 - Neoseeker
• Foxconn Concerto G45 - TweakTown
• Gigabyte EP45-Extreme - Bjorn3D

• ASUS EAH4870X2 TOP - Elite Bastards
• BFG GeForce 9600 GT OCX - HotHardware
• Palit Radeon HD 4850 Sonic 512MB - Think Computers
• Sapphire Toxic Radeon HD4850 512MB - Big Bruin

• Creative X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Pro - Tech Spot

• APEVIA X-Master AL/500 - Overclockers Club
• BFG LS-Series 680w Power Supply - Virtual-Hideout
• Lian Li PC-X500 Computer Case - i4u
• Raidmax IceCube SFF Micro ATX Case - Modders-Inc
• Sans Digital Mobilestor MS2UT+ - TweakNews
• Tagan A+ Monolith Full Tower Case - Hardware Logic
• Tagan Icy Box IB-3218 Enclosure - NGOHQ
• X-Gene HTPC Case - OCModShop

• ASUS Eee PC 901 Linux Distribution Comparison - Phoronix
• Canon PowerShot SD1100 IS - Appetite For Tech
• Unigine Tropics Sets Linux OpenGL Precedence - Phoronix
• Wicked Lasers Elite Series 125 Plus - TestFreaks