AMD to Launch 45nm Quad-Cores in January

As I mentioned in today's pricing guide, the choice between current AMD processors is a simple one, simply because their entire collection of models is priced so close to each other, there are really only two choices. Well, we've all been waiting for AMD to pull something out of their sleeve, but it sure can't come soon enough. What's next is their 45nm revisions, and according to certain leaks, that might happen in January.

It's just too bad that January is four months away, and it's made even worse because we were supposed to see these CPUs already. AMD was originally quoted as being able to deliver their die shrinks in the middle of this year, which obviously didn't happen. So, it's still going to be a little bit of a wait, and it's too bad, because there's little hope that a simple die shrink is going to help AMD gain the traction they need. It's not good when their most expensive processor is $180.

With Intel's Nehalem right around the corner (~two months), AMD is really going to have to innovate to push out a product in the near-future that's going to make Intel even bat an eye. While it's far too early to write 45nm AMD off, as long as they are priced competitively, they may very-well compete nicely with Intel's current offerings. One of the biggest caveats with AMD processors right now is power efficiency, and with the die shrink, that should improve. January is going to be an interesting month.

Getting back to next-gen Phenoms, the roadmap lists two chips due for January: one clocked at 2.8GHz and another pegged at 3GHz, both with 125W thermal envelopes just like the existing Phenom X4 9850. Unless Intel's plans fall through, the new Phenoms may face similarly clocked Core i7 processors with more threads per core. AMD may well aim for lower prices, though.

Source: Tech Report

Ubuntu Usage Reaches 8 Million

It's official, Linux is growing fast, and it has numerous sources to thank. Aside from the desktop, millions of mobile devices are running some form of Linux, like the Eee PC, so that in itself is helping to improve the scene. On the desktop side though, Ubuntu's commitment to the community has really helped skyrocket usage in the home, and according to one stalker of Canonical's marketing materials, the distro now has around eight million total users.

How this number was produced is anyone's guess, but users are speculating it's done by calculating the number of people using the apt-get command and are connecting to Ubuntu's own repositories. Either way, eight million is an impressive number, especially for an operating system that's completely free and is so different from Windows. Linux still has a long way to go compared to Windows and OS X, but things are at least readily improving.

Alas, measuring Ubuntu’s active installed base can be tricky since a single copy o the operating system can be freely installed over and over again on multiple systems. And in mid-2007 during the Ubuntu Live conference, Ubuntu/Canonical founder Mark Shuttleworth estimated the operating system’s installed base at 6 million to 12 million users.

Source: The Var Guy

Finding the Right CPU For You

Looking to build a new machine, or just upgrade the processor in the one you already have? Be sure not to miss our latest article that's goal is to help you in your search. Depending on whether you want an AMD or Intel processor, the choices might be complicated. Intel offers so many different models, that it's both hard to decide on one, and it's easy to be suckered into buying one that doesn't live up to the one you should have bought.

Thanks to recent AMD price drops, there is really only two choices on that side, so your decision is made extremely easy there. Their lowest-end triple-core can be had for a measly $102, while their highest-end offering is being offered for around $180. It's really hard to go wrong with either, depending on what you are looking for.

The other sticky part of the equation is knowing that you can sometimes get a better processor for almost the same price. Take the Q9450 and Q9550, for example. $5 apart, but one is a nice upgrade over the other. We take all this into consideration in our article though, so if you need a new CPU, don't miss it.

Our choice for recommended CPUs are based off of our expertise. We stalk new CPU releases, benchmark them the life out of them in our labs and also keep a close eye on pricing, as is evident by our news section. Because of the sheer number of processors available on the market, we don't include all of them here, but rather pick different models are varying price-ranges that seem to make the most sense.

Source: Fall Processor Pricing - Finding the Best Bang for the Buck

Tech Roundup - September 5, 2008

• Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 - Overclockers Club

• ASUS EAH3850 X2 1GB - Virtual-Hideout
• Geforce GTX 280 & Radeon HD 4870 X2 AA Scaling with XP & Vista - Madshrimps

• 4-Way SSD Round-up - OCZ, Super Talent and Mtron - HotHardware
• Kingston HyperX 2GB DDR3-1800 - Big Bruin

• Microsoft SideWinder X6 Gaming Keyboard - i4u
• OCZ Dominatrix Gaming Mouse - techPowerUp!
• Steelseries QcK+ Mousepad - Hardware Bistro
• WolfKing Timber Wolf Gaming Keyboard - Benchmark Reviews

• Thermaltake DuOrb CPU Cooler - Digit-Life
• Zalman CNPS9300 AT - FrostyTech
• Zalman CNPS9300 AT - XS Reviews

• Antec Signature Series 850W Power Supply - Think Computers
• Thermaltake Vi-On Active-Cooled HDD Enclosure - TweakNews
• Zalman GS1000 Full Tower - Think Computers

• Matrix Orbital GX Typhoon MCE - Overclock3D
• Smooth Creations Trek 08 - Nordic Hardware