VIA 四核心

VIA QuadCore Preview & Centaur Tour

VIA Technologies and Centaur Technologies are back with what it is calling the world's most efficient x86 multicore processor on the planet. Seeing so much done with so little is impressive, but what is even more impressive is seeing four cores falling into a power envelope of less than 28 watts TDP.

Introduction

VIA and Centaur are no mystery to HardOCP. There is no doubt that both companies have been more open to its CPU production than AMD or Intel have ever been. We have watched Liz at Centaurinstall Isaiah processor dies on nano-BGA packages by hand. We have sat for hours withGlenn Henry discussing Isaiah processor architecture. Here is what we wrote about single core Isaiah architecture back in 2008.

This new processor for Centaur and VIA will be an out-of-order superscaler single core CPU at launch. Initially it will not have SSE4 instructions but that will be added on one of it first updates later this year and even a dual core version is possible but not yet planned. The amazing thing about this new processor, which we will refer to as the "CN" (which has yet to be branded, and let's hope VIA comes up with something better than "C7" this time round) from here out, fits into the same power envelope as the current C7. A current C7 at 1.5GHz is rated at 25w TDP. A new CN at 2GHz should fetch 20w TDP or less. (I should mention here that TDP numbers are somewhat misleading. Under normal usage models a 2GHz would likely fetch between 2w to 5w. I also previously misstated that TDP was higher than 20w. 20w is correct and has been verified by Centaur.) The new CN is pin compatible with the C7 as well. It is entirely possible to take this new CN processor, which could be categorized as being at least "2X more powerful than the C7," and drop it into current C7 devices. Launch is slated for "Spring of 2008."

Towards the middle of 2008 the "VIA Nano" was born. While we saw few design wins that got big attention, Lenovo and Samsung did produce Netbooks with the VIA Nano. In fact, I will have the Samsung Netbook here with me now and my wife carries it with her when she travels. Truly though, as the years have passed, the Nano has gotten a bit overworked, not "slow," but busy. The fact is that the single core struggles now days in a world scaled up for multiple thread operating systems. VIA understand this and just announced last week the new Nano X2 E-Series Dual Core Processor. Hot on the heals of this, VIA is show sharing that it is working on a new VIA QuadCore Processor.

VIA QuadCore Processor

To be succinct, the QuadCore is positioned to take on solutions like the AMD Brazos Platform that we looked at recently in the sub-$500 market.

The VIA QuadCore Facts

• 40nm node process

• 27.5 watt TDP at 1.2GHz+

• Four Isaiah Cores on Two Dies (11mm X 6mm)

• VIA NanoBGA Package (21mm X 21mm)

• Pin-to-pin compatible with VIA processor back to the C7

Below you can check out the slide deck that covers all the specifics.

VIA 四核心測試

VIA QuadCore Preview & Centaur Tour

VIA Technologies and Centaur Technologies are back with what it is calling the world's most efficient x86 multicore processor on the planet. Seeing so much done with so little is impressive, but what is even more impressive is seeing four cores falling into a power envelope of less than 28 watts TDP.

Centaur Technologies Tour

While VIA will be building the VIA QuadCore in Taiwan along with the help of TSMC, the architecture has been fully designed here, deep in the heart of Texas, Austin, Texas to be specific. We got to spend Tuesday at Centaur....again.HardOCP was down at Centaur back in 2008 to see Isaiah get unveiled. And to be honest, you can hit the previous link and see a lot of what we saw this week. Glenn Henry, CJ Holthaus, John Carls, and Liz Tillman among about 96 others are still working their butts off in the Hill Country. Not a lot has changed about Centaur's testing processes. Almost everything is still done by this small family of engineers, "by hand."

Even though it was "old hat" to us, we still took a lot of pictures, many of things that we did not showcase last time, or that we just found interesting as we wound our way through the corridors.

Centaur Technologies in Pictures - II

Here we see pics of our new VIA QuadCore demo systems running everyday software and games.

Here we see trays of VIA QuadCore processors that were laid out on the conference table. The VIA QuadCore is of course the package with two dies on top. I also grabbed a shot of the bottom of the package still showing its legacy 480 pin ball grid array.

Heading out around the Centaur facility it is not unusual to find people working on code. Check out all the ISO Torrents this guy has running? In the middle you see where we passed by a VIA QuadCore sitting under a microscope.

These five pictures above will get your water cooling guys blood moving. Water cooling was being used the Centaur facility. I am looking at getting chilled water lines installed in my house as well.

Above we a super top secret shot of a 1.33GHz VIA QuadCore here running on a testing bench. I am pretty sure I was not supposed to see this one.

Above we passed one testing station running Blu-ray video with no heatsink on the processor. The surface temperature of the VIA DualCore was in the mid-60s. In the middle you see Liz putting together a processor and a package substrate at the Flip-Chip station. Notice in the background behind the scope, the stack of 300mm wafers.

In the first three shots above we show you some of the heavier testing equipment we showed you last time. In the last two photos we see a heated test bench that is running multiple systems at near-failing temperatures for days. While my shot of the screen is an epic fail you might still be able to make out that the systems have been running for over 5 days with the core temp of over 90c at 1.2GHz/1.2v.

On the flip side of that testing, in these pictures we see another VIA DualCore 1.2GHz system running at -6c.

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And while you likely do not remember, we showed you and said this the last time we wrote about Centaur.

Once Centaur has the CN dies back from fabrication and whenever Elizabeth Tillman needs a new CN die, she simply swivels her chair around and grabs one. I am not sure if there is a method to her madness, but closer inspection will show that the dies are identified by location on the wafer, and I think she was logging that. (Maybe one day she will make a big "[H]" for us and take a picture?

Well apparently Liz has a very good memory!

Thanks Liz, that has been one of the most awesome "Random [H] Sightings" we have ever had the opportunity to witness.

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The Bottom Line

We know that the VIA QuadCore is not exactly positioned to get a lot of traction with the HardOCP audience, but we still love looking at the technology. The VIA QuadCore probably has a very bright future in price sensitive areas that are emerging markets like India and China. The VIA QuadCore is tremendously powerful for its power envelope and will be able to deliver X86 and floating point precision that is simply not found in any other processor for the dollar or TDP. Hopefully I will get a chance to look at some upcoming products. VIA did not have any design wins to share with us, but did explain that the product would be officially shown off at Computex that is coming up shortly. We look forward to seeing all that X86 power in an upcoming ultralight notebook.

angrybirds生氣鳥pc網頁chrome版免費玩 下載

http://chrome.angrybirds.com/


下載 Google Chrome
使用 Google 的網頁瀏覽器 搜尋既快速又簡單。
www.google.com/chrome

簡單的分享取得方法…
注意：Intel AppUp只適用Windows XP和Windows 7，使用Windows Vista的朋友就只能看著流口水囉…

(我試過即使是調了相容性還是沒辦法正常使用，請使用虛擬機器裝XP來用吧?)

1. 拜訪AppUp.com


2. 點選右邊"Download Intel AppUp"下載AppUp的安裝程式：


3. 下載完成後安裝它。雖然界面是英文的，但一直點Next就可以了…


4. 安裝好後執行AppUp，我們需要用有效的email註冊一個帳號，啟用帳號後再登入。


5. 看到歡迎畫面裡的Angry Birds Rio的4.99美金價格不見了，按下Download安裝它：


6. 安裝中我們可以看一下這款小遊戲的說明…


7. 安裝完成~我們可以從這裡執行，也可以從開始功能表的"所有程式"→"Rovio"→"Angry Birds Rio"→"Angry Birds Rio"執行遊戲。遊戲怎麼玩就不在教學範圍裡面囉~Have Fun!


反安裝：如果破關了，記得不要直接從控制台移除Angry Birds Rio喔! 從AppUp的選單裡的"Options"→"Uninstall"才不會造成沒有辦法使用AppUp…



接下來是AppUp時間…

其實比起玩生氣鳥，我發現這個Intel的軟體商店其實也有很多不需要花錢的遊戲和資源，也比較像是完成Windows Vista開始有的「遊戲總管」的概念。

本來這個AppUp就是設計給輕省筆電為出發點的線上商店。除了只有英文介面這點比較可惜外，其實真的是個不錯的平台。就算玩完了生氣鳥，還可以上去下載其他的東西，介面也不複雜，整體來說我覺得很不錯。可以把它留著看看有沒有什麼新玩意^_^

威盛VIA四核打不打的過Intel atom、AMD apu的的雙核心

發表27.5瓦低功耗四核心x86處理器

新處理器整合四個Isaiah核心，內建4MB L2快取，時脈最高可到1.46GHz，威盛將在Computex上展示，並於第三季開始量產。

威盛低功耗四核心處理器在兩個晶粒上整合四個Isaiah核心。（圖片取自威盛官網） 威盛宣佈推出市場上功耗最低的四核心x86處理器，以2個晶片整合四個Isaiah核心，功耗只有27.5瓦，將在第三季開始量產。 這款四核心x86處理器主要強調低功耗、高性能，支援多工、多媒體播放、網路瀏覽及多螢幕顯示等應用。威盛認為低功耗四核心處理器將可適用在桌上型、筆電，及迷你PC系統設計上。威盛電子處理器平台協理吳億盼表示，隨著HD畫質多媒體內容及多工應用需求的增加，四核心是目前主流PC的標準，威盛新的四核心x86處理器可滿足低功耗的需求。 該處理器採用40奈米製程，以21mm x21mm NanoBGA2封裝，針腳相容於威盛Eden、C7、Nano E等處理器，可支援64位元作業系統，並能依工作調整超頻，內建4MB的L2快取記憶體及1333MHz V4匯流排。 新處理器還支援虛擬化技術，並採用PadLock解碼引擎，在資料安全保護上提供硬體的AES加密功能，威盛預定在今年6月Computex台北國際電腦展展出，並在今年第三季開始量產，先供貨時脈1.2+GHz的處理器。 相較於威盛低功耗四核心處理器，英特爾與AMD所推出的四核心PC處理器功耗則在100瓦以上，但運算時脈多在2GHz以上，主要供高階、效能級的PC市場使用，兩家業者的低功耗處理器，如英特爾的Atom，及AMD的APU，雖然功耗更低，但目前只有推出雙核心處理器。 Power-efficient architecture High-performance superscalar processing Out-of-order x86 architecture Efficient floating point unit (2 clock SP multiplies) Advanced multi-core processing 4MB L2 cache 1333MHz V4 Bus Native support for 64-bit operating systems Hardware virtualization support Advanced power and thermal management VIA AES hardware security features Secure Hash Algorithm: SHA-1, SHA-256, SHA-384, SHA-512 Pin-to-pin compatibility with VIA processor range Best Performance per Watt * All benchmarks normalized to performance/TDPmax of the VIA C7 processor @1.5GHz VIA QuadCore Processor VIA QuadCore processors bring highly optimized, energy-efficient multi-core architecture to a wide range of desktop PC, notebook, and small form factor PC system design applications. Photos 1 - 4 (4 total)