Tag Archives: Xeon

Intel opens up about its ‘Knights Corner’ supercomputer co-processor

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Intel opens up about its Knights Corner supercomputer offering

HotChips is the show where chip makers come to show off their latest slices of silicon, and Knights Corner architect George Chrysos spilled the beans on Santa Clara's Xeon Phi co-processor. The unit's designed to bolt onto Xeon chips to help supercomputers crunch the numbers faster, by handling the "highly parallel" grunt work necessary for genetic and climate modeling, among other things. Chrysos has lofty goals for the hardware, hoping that it'll contribute to "scientific and technical progress," while we're just excited to see if it can help the company reclaim its Top 500 crown from IBM.

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Intel opens up about its 'Knights Corner' supercomputer co-processor originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 31 Aug 2012 15:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Intel christens its ‘Many Integrated Core’ products Xeon Phi, eyes exascale milestone

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Intel christens its 'Many Integrated Core' products Xeon Phi, eyes exascale milestone

Been wondering when the next big leap in high performance computing would hit? Well, Intel would like you to believe the time is now and the name of that revolution is the Xeon Phi. Formerly codenamed Knights Corner, the Many Integrated Core product is pushing the field of supercomputers into the era of the exaflop by squeezing a teraflop of performance into a package small enough to plug into a PCIe slot. The Phi brand will, at first at least, be applied to specialized coprocessors designed for highly parallel tasks. The chips are built using Intel's 22nm manufacturing process and 3-D TriGate transistors, piling in more that 50 cores in an effort to combat the inroads made by GPU companies like NVIDIA in the supercomputing space. For more info check out the presentation (PDF) and blog post at the source links.

Intel christens its 'Many Integrated Core' products Xeon Phi, eyes exascale milestone originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 18 Jun 2012 15:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple rolls out updated Mac Pro lineup with faster processors, not much else

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They didn't warrant a mention during the big keynote, but those patiently waiting for an update to the desktop-bound Mac Pro weren't left behind by Apple today. The company has quietly updated the line on its website, bringing a rather modest spec bump to the familiar tower. That includes a single 3.2GHz quad-core Xeon processor on the base $2,499 model, which comes paired with 6GB of RAM and a 1TB hard drive, and a pair of 2.4GHz six-core processors on the higher-end model, which gets 12GB of RAM as standard and the same 1TB hard drive for $3,799. The $2,999 Mac Pro Server will give you a 3.2GHz quad-core Xeon with 8GB of RAM and a pair of 1TB hard drives. Notably lacking is the addition of Apple's otherwise standard Thunderbolt ports, or 802.11n WiFi connectivity. You can check out all the options available at the source link below.

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Apple rolls out updated Mac Pro lineup with faster processors, not much else originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 11 Jun 2012 15:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Possible new Mac Pro part numbers tip up, WWDC attendees raise eyebrows (Update: 15-inch MBP specs too?)

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Possible new Mac Pro part numbers tip up, WWDC attendees raise eyebrows

We're still unsure as to whether or not Apple's rumored Mac update smorgasbord will come to pass at WWDC, but if any of it pans out, it looks to be the almost mythological Mac Pro update. A trio of model numbers for a "K5BPLUS" have popped up that 9to5 Mac claims are the base, mid-range and high-end configurations for the long-sought workstations. The part numbers don't include details, though talk of similar pricing to what we know today would point to Intel's Xeon E5-2600 (itself a long story) taking the reins as the processor. If there's any truth to the talk, the new Mac Pro could be ready to sell just as WWDC kicks off next week -- a mention supported by rumors of Apple recalling what little Mac Pro stock it keeps at retail stores. Not that a few extra days would matter, knowing how long prospective buyers have had to wait.

Update: Just when we thought we were clear, another Apple laptop spec sheet of unknown provenance has appeared. Posted by 9to5 Mac (2), it suggests a 15-inch MacBook Pro with a 2560x1600 Retina display, 16GB of 1,600MHz DDR3 SDRAM plus an AMD Radeon HD 7770M graphics core with 2GB of RAM and auto switching to integrated Intel video. Droolworthy bullet points to be sure, but until we have more concrete evidence prospective upgraders should keep their credit cards set to stun.

Possible new Mac Pro part numbers tip up, WWDC attendees raise eyebrows (Update: 15-inch MBP specs too?) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 05 Jun 2012 19:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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HP takes EliteBook W-series on a trip to Ivy Bridge, throws in Z220 Xeon workstation for good measure

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HP takes EliteBook Wseries on a trip to Ivy Bridge, throws in Z220 Xeon workstation for good measure

HP has been rolling out a steady stream of Ivy Bridge-based upgrades over the past few weeks, and now it's the turn of the pro-oriented EliteBook W-series to get the long-awaited upgrade. The 8470W, 8570W and 8770W draw on Intel's faster dual Core i5 and quad Core i7 chips with respective choices of 14-, 15.6- and 17.3-inch screens. All of them pack AMD's FirePro for video duties, although big spenders at the larger two sizes can opt for one of NVIDIA's Quadro K-series graphics chips as well as an IPS-based display for color-sensitive work. Options will get you niceties such as a 24GB SSD cache, 3G and up to 16GB of RAM, although the EliteBooks' signature military-spec resistances to dust, shock and temperature are thankfully par for the course. The range costs $1,329, $1,449 and $1,699 as you move up the screen size ladder, and all three will be available before June is over.

If you prefer your workstations to be more powerful but slightly more stationary, you're still welcome in HP's world: the equally fresh Z220 desktop carries Intel's new quad-core Xeon E3 processor or, if that's a bit too rich for your blood, a Pentium or quad Core i7. AMD FirePro and NVIDIA Quadro video cards are both made-to-order upgrades, and the modern underpinnings add both USB 3.0 as well as headroom for up to 32GB of RAM, if the fear of paging to disk keeps you awake at night. HP has both tower and small form factor versions of the Z220 starting off at $699, and they too will be ready to stretch IT budgets later this month.

Gallery: HP EliteBook W-series and Z220 workstation

Continue reading HP takes EliteBook W-series on a trip to Ivy Bridge, throws in Z220 Xeon workstation for good measure

HP takes EliteBook W-series on a trip to Ivy Bridge, throws in Z220 Xeon workstation for good measure originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 04 Jun 2012 00:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Intel launches new Ivy Bridge Xeons, targets microservers

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Intel launches new Ivy Bridge Xeons, targets microservers

Intel is pushing out that delicious Ivy Bridge update to server chips and, interestingly, it's not focusing purely on the high end to start. In total, 28 new Xeon CPUs were introduced today, including the E5-4600 and 2400 families targeted at four and two socket systems, respectively. Those tweaked mainstream processors aren't the interesting part, though. We're more intigued by the updated E3 series, the low-end offerings that are aimed small businesses and light web-hosting duty. In particular the new E3-1220L v2 slashes power consumption to an impressive 17w by going with just two cores and only 3MB of cache. While that 3W advantage over its predecessor may not sound like much, it can make a huge difference in the microserver market and in high-density environments where cooling a room full of servers can become problematic. Even in its stripped down form the extremely low-power processor still supports Turbo Boost, Trusted Execution Technology and PCI-Express 3.0. Considering that last-gen's Atom-based server chip pulled down 15W, we'd consider the 1220L v2 an impressive feat of engineering. Now we've just gotta hope that Intel can carry through on that promised 6W Centerton chip. Check out the PR after the break.

Continue reading Intel launches new Ivy Bridge Xeons, targets microservers

Intel launches new Ivy Bridge Xeons, targets microservers originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 15 May 2012 01:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Intel plans to roll out Ivy Bridge based Xeon E3s, low-power Atom chips for micro servers

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Intel plans to roll out Ivy Bridge based Xeon E3s, low-power Atom chips for micro servers
Ask any gardener, once you let ivy grow, it gets everywhere. Even though Intel just planted a fresh family of Sandy Bridge-based server CPUs, reports of a new line of Xeon E3 chips sporting the firm's next generation architecture are sprouting up. The new Ivy Bridge server chips use the firm's 3D Tri-Gate transistors to improve performance without using more power. For micro servers looking for an even smaller power footprint, Intel is introducing an Atom-based system on a chip, dubbed Centerton. These new 64-bit chips will feature two Atom processor cores and consume only six watts of electricity. Intel hasn't said yet just where these new processors are going to end up, but mentioned that it had a few customers on board.

Intel plans to roll out Ivy Bridge based Xeon E3s, low-power Atom chips for micro servers originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 12 Apr 2012 05:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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