AMD Puts the Brakes on Adding More Cores to Server Chips by batteryfast.co.uk

CloudTags: AMD , Brakes , Cores , Server Chips , Compaq 484170-001 , Dell inspiron 1300 , dv4 battery

Advanced Micro Devices has put the brakes on adding more cores to its server chips, stopping at 16, the company said Thursday during a financial analyst day.

AMD's new server chips code-named Abu Dhabi and due out in 2013 will have 16 cores, the same number as the existing Opteron 6200 chips code-named Interlagos that shipped last year. Servers are being redesigned to match specialty workloads and adding more cores to the Abu Dhabi chip wasn't the way to boost performance, said Lisa Su, senior vice president and general manager of Global Business Units at AMD, during a speech.

"At the end of the day, that wasn't the right answer for the customers," Su said.

Abu Dhabi is targeted at two- and four-socket servers and will be based on a new processor architecture code-named Piledriver. The chip will be socket-compatible and be a straight plug-in replacement for Opteron 6200 chips, which are based on the Bulldozer core. Abu Dhabi will deliver more performance but consume the same power as the Opteron 6200.

There are other ways to boost server performance, such as using graphics processors, Su said. Graphics processors are used in some of the world's fastest supercomputers to handle demanding scientific and math applications.

"This is where it's about system-level optimization," Su said.

The company is also open to employing "lots of little cores" to meet specific workloads, Su said. AMD is already researching using its low-power netbook processors to meet light Web serving and cloud workloads, and some servers already employ hundreds of low-power Intel Atom netbook chips to process fast-moving Web transactions.

Chip makers in the past have reduced core counts as some applications are not designed to break up tasks over multiple cores. Oracle in 2010 halved the number of cores in its Sparc T4 processor in an attempt to improve single-thread performance, which is key when running large databases and back-end applications.

Intel has been increasing the number of cores on its chips at a slower pace than AMD. Intel uses 10 cores on its fastest Xeon server chips.

AMD will not add cores to its other server chips either. The company next year will also release new server chips code-named Seoul and Delhi with up to eight cores for different server segments.

AMD also shared additional details about chips for PCs and tablets due this year. The Hondo tablet chip, which will draw up to 4.5 watts of power, will be in Windows 8 tablets later this year, the company said. Chips code-named Trinity will show up in thin-and-light laptops priced between US$600 and $800 by midyear. The laptops will deliver up to 12 hours of battery lifeand have been pitched as a cheaper alternative to Intel's ultrabooks.

Also due this year are chips code-named Brazos 2.0, the follow up to existing C-Series and E-Series chips found in low-power laptops today. Laptops with Brazos 2.0 chips will deliver roughly the same amount of battery life, but have better graphics and application performance.

AMD also ripped up its old road map and introduced a tablet and laptop processor lineup for next year. A new chip for performance PCs code-named Kaveri will be based on the new Steamroller core. Chips code-named Temash for tablets and Kabini for low-power laptops will improve performance while driving down power consumption.

AMD also outlined a new chip design plan called HSA (heterogeneous systems architecture) in which the company will gradually blur the lines between the CPU and GPU and implement third-party intellectual property inside the chip. The chip code-named Kabini will include some elements of HSA, according to AMD's product road map.

Read More:

• Toshiba P 3D Series notebooks Review, Toshiba trots out 3D-ready laptops with Intel, AMD CPU options
• Extended Laptop Battery Life With AMD Fusion APU by www.batteryfast.co.uk
• AMD to Oppose Ultrabooks with Low-Price Ultra-Thin Laptops

How To Solve Computer Problems by batteryfast.co.uk

CloudTags: Solve , Computer , Problems ,  Acer aspire 5920 batteries compaq 485041-003 batteries , Dell xps m1330 battery life

Are you frustrated when your PC beeps, gives an error message and doesn't do what you want it to? We explain what these problems are and how to fix them

Like a certain chocolate bar, PCs should help you work, rest and play. However, at times, they can seem like more of a hindrance than a help. Strange beeps, incomprehensible error messages and other odd happenings can be all too frequent, making computing a frustrating experience.

The internet isn’t always much help either, as much of the advice available is conflicting, unclear or just plain wrong.

But help is at hand. Here we explain how to eliminate dozens of common PC gremlins – the annoying error messages you encounter every day.

We have split the problems into four broad categories to cover everything from switching on your PC to powering down, along with a few unusual glitches. We have even included lots of general troubleshooting advice to aid the hunt for cures to problems we haven’t covered.

ERRORS AFTER POWERING ON
Two or more beeps
Switch a PC on and, when the start-up screen appears, a short beep may be heard (though not in all cases). However, if there is more than a single beep, and the screen stays blank, there could be a problem.

Typically, this indicates a problem with the graphics card, memory modules or the processor but regardless, turn off the PC immediately.

The chances are that one or more of these components has either failed, been dislodged (have you moved the PC recently?) or overheated due to the failure of a cooling fan.

The only way to check is to open the PC’s case and take a look around – sometimes removing and replacing the graphics card or memory modules will fix the problem.

Check all the fans turn on when the power is turned on – a broken processor or graphics card fan is often to blame for overheating.

The Computeractive videos and articles on upgrading memory in a notebook, upgrading the memory in a desktop computer and the build your own PC will help you find your way around the PC or notebook’s insides.

Start-up error messages
Common error messages just after switching on a PC include ‘Missing operating system’, ‘Operating system not found’, ‘Non-system disk or disk error’ and ‘NTLDR is missing’.

If any of these pops up on your PC’s display, first, remove all CDs, DVDs, floppy disks, USB drives and memory cards from the PC. The reason is that it is likely the PC is trying to launch itself from a disk that doesn’t contain Windows.

If this doesn’t fix the problem, it could be a hard disk failure or, more likely, a corrupted Windows installation (and if the message ‘Missing or corrupt Windows root/system32/hal.dll’ appears, it’s almost certainly the latter).

Windows 7 and Vista users should try fixing this using the Startup Repair tool: start the PC with the Windows installation disc inserted in the drive, choose a language and click the ‘Repair your computer’ option.

Read More:How to Fix General PC Problems by Yourself

 CloudTags: PCs ,  Pc , Selling , Dell inspiron 1525 , inspiron 1750 battery life , xps m1530 batteries

With tablets and smartphones generating so much buzz these days, it's easy to write off the good old personal computer as a dying platform. However, the latest numbers from the NPD Group show that the PC market is doing "pretty well."

Last year, the number of PCs sold, which includes both laptops and desktops, increased by 20 percent, while revenues jumped 14 percent, according to the market watch group. Shipments for the period also increased by 20 percent.

Within those numbers, however, are some interesting nuggets that further point to a healthy PC market, according to NPD Vice President for Industry Analysis Stephen Baker.

For example, the average selling price for laptop PCs was $764 in 2011. That's a five-percent drop from 2010, but $4 higher than 2009, which was the height of the recession.

Desktops did even better. Average selling price was $638, down three percent from 2010 and up $13 from 2009.

While sellers prefer the prices of what they're selling to increase rather than decrease, Baker maintains PC prices are a positive story for computer makers. "Finding stable pricing anywhere in the IT hardware marketplace is a difficult task but in such a high-profile market as the PC market it is impressive," he said.

Outlook Better for 2012?

If last year was a decent year for PCs, this year has the potential to be even better. That's because both the laptop and desktop markets will see some hot new products.

Slim, sleek, eye-catching Ultrabooks will try to entice consumers to upgrade from their clunky laptops.

On the desktop side, all-one-computers with the same kind of design pizzazz as their Ultrabook counterparts will tantalize keyboard jockeys who are tired of tangles of cables and space-hogging tower boxes.

And tying it all together will be a new operating system from Microsoft, Windows 8, which promises to bring to the PC a lot of what makes mobile devices so popular.

Read more: 

• 5 secrets every PC and Mac Stay safe online, owner should know (I)
• What Everybody Ought to Know About New PCs (II)
• 6 Free Software Packages You Should to Load on Your New PC
• Top Tips – How to Keep your PC Running Smoothly

Google will fight SOPA using popular home page

CloudTags: Google , SOPA , home page , Makita 192827-3 Battery , Makita 193158-3 Battery ,  Ryobi B-1815-S Battery

The tech sector is pulling out the big guns.

Google, the Web's top search company and one of technology's most influential powers in Washington, will post a link on its home page tomorrow to notify users of Google's opposition to controversial antipiracy bills being debated in Congress.

The company confirmed in a statement that it will join Wikipedia, Reddit, and other influential tech firms in staging protests of varying kinds against the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and Protect IP Act (PIPA), which are backed by big entertainment and media interests. (Read a roundup of our SOPA and PIPA coverage here.)

"Like many businesses, entrepreneurs, and Web users, we oppose these bills because there are smart, targeted ways to shut down foreign rogue Web sites without asking American companies to censor the Internet," a Google representative said. "So tomorrow we will be joining many other tech companies to highlight this issue on our U.S. home page."

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In response to questions about how the protest link would be displayed on the page, all Google would say is that the link would not replace the company logo.

Not everyone who opposes the legislation agrees on how best to stage a protest. None of the protests appear to take as dramatic a step as the one planned by Wikipedia. The English version of the Web encyclopedia is scheduled to go dark for 24 hours.

The past weekend will likely long be remembered as a turning point in the debate over how to fight online piracy in the United States. Supporters of SOPA and PIPA once could boast of wide bipartisan support, but the proposals suffered a series of blows starting Thursday, when the Senate leaders decided to eliminate an important provision in PIPA.

By Friday, both houses of Congress had eliminated a requirement in each bill that would have compelled U.S. Internet service providers to cut off access to foreign sites accused of piracy.

Following that, a group of Senators--some who once supported PIPA--requested that a vote on the bill be delayed. The request was denied, but things kept getting worse for antipiracy proponents. On Saturday word came that the House would delay a vote on SOPA. And then finally, the White House, considered an ally of the music and film industries, suggested in a statement that the president would not support several cornerstone provisions of the bills.

All of the news culminated in what may come to be known in the entertainment sector as Black Sunday. Rupert Murdoch, chairman of News Corp. and one of the world's preeminent media tycoons, displayed a rare public tantrum via Twitter. In his posts, he accused the president of taking his marching orders from "Silicon Valley paymasters." Murdoch suggested Google was whipping up opposition and was a "piracy leader."

Google called Murdoch's accusations "nonsense."

Whatever it was, the outburst illustrated the frustration of copyright owners. There was no hiding that the tide of the legislative battle had reversed and copyright owners were alarmed.

Nonetheless, the fight still has a long way to go.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) plans to go ahead with a vote on PIPA on January 24. In the meantime, the tech sector will move forward with its protests in an attempt to enlist help from the masses.

Read More:

• Google’s Maps Go Indoors With New Smartphone And Tablet Feature
• Cloud Loyalty Battle: Google VS. Apple
• Google+’s Secret Weapon Versus Facebook and Twitter

Microsoft officials Share New Windows 8 “Protogon” System

CloudTags: Microsoft , Windows 8 , Protogon , System , Dell inspiron 1720 batteries , Compaq presario cq45 batteries , Dell 6400 batteries

Microsoft officials are sharing some details about the new ReFS file system that will debut first as part of Windows Server 8.

Microsoft officials are finally sharing publicly details about “Protogon,” the new file system that the company is developing as part of Windows 8.

Officially named ReFS — for Resilient File System — the new file system will be made available via a staged “evolution,”according to a January 16 post on the “Building Windows 8″ blog.

ReFS will begin life as a storage system for Windows Server only. Then — some time post Windows 8 — it will become a storage system for Windows clients, and then ultimately “as a boot volume,” said author of the post, Surendra Verma, a development manager on the Windows Storage and File System team. (Interestingly, when the first leaks about ReFS, codenamed Protogon, occurred last year, those who discovered the new file systemfound it in leaked Windows 8 client builds.)

NTFS, the New Technology File System, has been part of Windows since Windows XP and Windows NT 3.1 were introduced in 2001 and 1993, respectively. (Thanks for the date corrections, readers.)

There are some NTFS features for which Microsoft plans to drop support with ReFS, specifically named streams, object IDs, short names, compression, file level encryption (EFS), user data transactions, sparse, hard-links, extended attributes, and quotas, Verma blogged. That said, one of Microsoft’s goals with ReFS is to “maintain a high degree of compatibility with a subset of NTFS features that are widely adopted while deprecating others that provide limited value at the cost of system complexity and footprint,” Verma said.

ReFS is designed to complement the Storage Spaces feature in Windows 8 and Windows Server 8. It will help with the verification and auto-correction of data and optimize for scale, according to the post. Here’s Verma’s explanation of the internals:

“Underneath this reused portion (the code responsible for implementing the Windows file system semantics), the NTFS version of the code-base uses a newly architected engine that implements on-disk structures such as the Master File Table (MFT) to represent files and directories. ReFS combines this reused code with a brand-new engine, where a significant portion of the innovation behind ReFS lies.”

It’s interesting to hear that Microsoft is doing what very early rumors about Windows 8 claimed it would: Introduce a new file system. (Though to be fair, some early tipsters claimed the Softies planned to do away with the core file system all together in Windows 8….)

Read More:

• Windows 8 Plans to Better Power Management, Provide Improved Battery Life
• What Windows 8 must bring , The big Windows 8 tablet challenge
• Windows 8 on a laptop in-depth preview by batteryfast.co.uk
• Windows 8: What Microsoft needs to prove ?