Intel Looks Beyond the Microchip 152
Dr Occult writes "BBC reports about upcoming major changes in Intel in 2006. The current Intel core, the Pentium, is on its way out and is to be replaced by a new chip called 'Core'. These new Core chips come in two flavours. Solo Core is a single core processor, and Duo Core is a dual core processor. Intel has also announced the Viiv standard. Viiv is less technology and more a shopping list of technologies. Aimed at the home entertainment market, it defines the latest generation of media centres that are capable of playing anything from MP3 songs to high-definition films."
I wonder why. (Score:5, Funny)
Re:I wonder why. (Score:1)
Re:I wonder why. (Score:2)
Technically devoid fluff piece (Score:5, Insightful)
How the hell did this make the front page? "Core Solo|Duo" is just what Intel calls their single, dual core processors now (remember, generic names are not worth anything to them, they must have a brand name). But is it news for nerds? Hardly.
Comment removed (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Technically devoid fluff piece (Score:1)
That's "The Right Thing(TM)";-)
But yes, this looks more like a press release than a news story.
From the title you would think Intel was going with some new non-microchip technology for their next processor line. Rather they are just leveraging their existing customer base with... er...
Oh well, I'll never make it in marketing.
But it _is_ a cool new logo.
it's NOT news. (Score:2, Informative)
it is SO clueless - it is obvious that the submitor and (much worse) the submiting editor - are both clueless and have no buisness posting anything on a tech site. the headline "intel looks beyond the microchip" is missleading. I know that it hints about intels foray into platform, rather then componant solutions - but that IS'NT evident in the story submition.
VIIV and core have been ALL OVER the tech sites for two months (at least) - there
Re:Technically devoid fluff piece (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Technically devoid fluff piece (Score:5, Informative)
yep, and Core Duo and Solo are just the latest rev of the P6 core that's been in every IA32 chip except the Pentium 4, from the PPro to the Pentium M. In other words, all this news says is that Netburst is dead, and 32-bit computing lives a little longer.
The real new chip line is coming later in the year, when Intel's new architecture comes out: see these 2 great articles by Oleg Bessonov over at Digit Life on Conroe, the future [digit-life.com], and Yonah, the current [digit-life.com] Intel CPU.
Of course, this is Slashdot, so about 3 people will read these through, and only 2 of those will grok 'em, but their server will get melted anyway...
Re:Technically devoid fluff piece (Score:2)
T.
PS My wife says I have a technically devoid fluff piece.
Re:Technically devoid fluff piece (Score:2)
Re:Technically devoid fluff piece (Score:2, Funny)
Except that this not being news at all, it is a stupid article for non-techies, hmm, then YES, the submitter IS to blame. And the
Re:Technically devoid fluff piece (Score:3, Interesting)
Makes me wonder if thats the best theyre going to do... a nice new website and shedding the Pentium name which is over 15 years old. Also Viiv is a list of technologies for the home media. Does that mean like, a PVR, game console, mp3 player and quite possibly a podcaster? If yes, then Viiv is a small collection of stickers.
I'm pretty sure Intel can do more than that. With awesome fabs under their thumb, they'll find ways to get
Re:Technically devoid fluff piece (Score:2)
Re:Technically devoid fluff piece (Score:2)
And the story couldn't even get the name right. It's "Core Duo" while the story had "Duo Core."
quad core, oct core, etc (Score:5, Interesting)
Goodbye mhz race, hello core race (not that it hasnt been on for a while
Re:quad core, oct core, etc (Score:2, Funny)
Re:quad core, oct core, etc (Score:2)
Re:specialize each core (Score:2)
Re:specialize each core (Score:2)
Besides, we have specialized cores- thats why there's a PCI bus. Need a specialty core, drop in a DSP with a PCI interface. Thats also another reason why we don't need specialized CPU cores- today's CPUs have so much idle time its silly to buy specialized hardware.
Re:specialize each core (Score:2)
Besides which- I *have* a specialized graphics GPU. No need to puyt it on die with my CPU, there's no adbanage to it. In fact, since yiel is exponentially proportional to die area, it would make chips MORE expensive due to lower yield.
Not far beyond... (Score:5, Funny)
It only means ... (Score:1)
the best part of TFA: (Score:5, Insightful)
It all sounds a bit like Intel's hijacking a technical term and trying to turn it into a brand name."
I've never really thought about this, but could it lead to confusion and/or lawsuits with regards to the AMD multi-core chips? I certainly wouldn't put such a hope past Intel.
Especially since it's a Pentium core. (Score:2)
Riddle me this (Score:5, Insightful)
Therefore sure it should be impossible to have a valid trademark? Remember the reasoning behind "Pentium" rather than "586"?
So what is the "TM" doing on it?
Re:Riddle me this (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Riddle me this (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Riddle me this (Score:4, Informative)
Surely "Core" is a generic term?
Therefore sure it should be impossible to have a valid trademark? Remember the reasoning behind "Pentium" rather than "586"?
So what is the "TM" doing on it?
My guess it what they've actually trademarked is "Duo Core" and "Solo Core". Notice how those are strange terms like duo, solo, and not common english expressions like dual core, single core that everyone uses to describe multi-core processors. Even Intel can't think they can trademark the word core and get away with it.
Re:Riddle me this (Score:2)
I would not put it past companies that can get away with trademarking the word "Intel" *and* sue the crap out of everyone using the same word...
Re:Riddle me this (Score:2)
I don't think 'Core' is a great name though, just going to be confusing saying 'Intels new dual-core core-duo procesor contains two cores linked by a
Re:the best part of TFA: (Score:1)
It seems to be a standard marketing ploy these days, the Ford Ka springs to mind.
I guess the benefit it gives the product, is a sort of consumer confusion. I might say to someone "you need a dual core chip", they would go to the shop and see "Core Duo" and think that must be what I was talking about, even though I mean simply the generic term for any chip with two cores.
Its a bit like Hoover, only naming
Re:the best part of TFA: (Score:3, Funny)
E.g. AMD 64 X2 Dual core = OK.
E.g. AMD 64 X2 Dual Core = OMFG Lawsuit!!!11!!!
Re:the best part of TFA: (Score:2)
Do you you do best. (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Do you you do best. (Score:2)
Re:Do you you do best. (Score:2)
Re:Do you you do best. (Score:2)
Outside the embedded space, IBM, Toshiba and Fujitsu are doing relatively well with POWER/Cell/SPARC systems. Intel and AMD may be the only ones in x86-land at the moment, but there's a lot of innovation going on outside of that arena.
Re:Do you you do best. (Score:3, Insightful)
Intel was buoyed for a while by laptops that are sanely priced and reasonably powerful, but even they are become saturated too(esp. in the Western world). So how can Intel sell more chips? Open up new
Oh, stale markets and markets on life support... (Score:2)
I've always sortof questioned that whole mantra. Yeah, so it ends up being true, but it seems more like a self-fulfilling prophecy to me than some kind of universal truism. Businesses think that they have to be always increasing, increasing, increasing . . . there's only a limited amount of stuff on this planet, period! You can't just increase everything forever. But alas, if you increase faster than your competitors, then you beat them and buy them out and everyone o
weve already seen the core duo in action... (Score:3, Informative)
Re:weve already seen the core duo in action... (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:weve already seen the core duo in action... (Score:3, Insightful)
Don't get me wrong... I'm not an Intel fan and I'm generally disappointed by the whole MacIntel d
Re:weve already seen the core duo in action... (Score:2)
Re:weve already seen the core duo in action... (Score:4, Insightful)
Is there a completely 64 bit Linux? I *know* OS X isn't completely 64bit.
Is there a commonly available compiler that can *really* automatically compile C/C++ code such that it is optimized to use the vector extensions?
Is there a Java virtual machine that uses any advanced processor feature?
That's my point... with the exception of Games and Video applications what applications do regular users use and what will they use that demands 64 bitness? It's not web browsing, or E-mail, or IM, or VOIP, or even that "Web 2.0" crap. I'll tell you now that the existence of the VLC media player and Handbrake don't really justify the expense of 64bit machines. And I'll also bet you that the vast majority of users seldom use any of these processor features.
The hardware is here and it's been here for ages... I've been using various 64bit processors for at least 10 years. What isn't here and I don't seeing coming, except for games and scientific applications, is a real need for the average person. What the point of having a general purpose computer with that kind of performance if the *only* application is gaming, when you can go out and buy a special purpose console for considerably less money?
Given that reality a fast 32bit processor will be just as good to the average user for a long time to come.
Re:weve already seen the core duo in action... (Score:1)
Re:weve already seen the core duo in action... (Score:1)
The java virtual machine I think can use the noexec bit as a security feature which x86-64 has. Windows XP 64 and the various linux distros also use noexec on x86-64
Re:weve already seen the core duo in action... (Score:2)
You had me up until you included AltiVec in that list. A huge number of things use AltiVec on OS X. For a trivial example, take a look at iTunes. The AAC encoder is AltiVec-enabled, and performs a lot better on a G4 than a G3 of similar (or sligh
Re:weve already seen the core duo in action... (Score:2)
Re:weve already seen the core duo in action... (Score:2)
Or they could just ship systems based on chips which support EM64T. [intel.com]
Re:weve already seen the core duo in action... (Score:2)
Re:weve already seen the core duo in action... (Score:1)
Re:weve already seen the core duo in action... (Score:2)
Re:weve already seen the core duo in action... (Score:2)
Re:weve already seen the core duo in action... (Score:2)
Sun faced a similar issue when they upgraded the Sparc to 64 bit. Guess what? It's completely transparent to the user and even today will happil
Total Annihilation (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Total Annihilation (Score:2)
You mean...Core Wars [corewars.org]?!
Cheers,
Ian
Re:Total Annihilation (Score:2)
No, XScale is targeted at a completely different market.
Re:Total Annihilation (Score:1)
this must be the "Core Contingency"
Re:Total Annihilation (Score:1)
Re:Total Annihilation (Score:2)
and loaded to the eyeballs with (Score:4, Interesting)
No thanks. Buh-bye Intel. I recently made the switch to AMD but I fear that will be short lived.
As much as I despise any product from China, I fear that some of us freedom rebels will have to resort to underground TCP/DRM-free chips.
I think they were working on a new chip called the Dragon or something like that.
I don't care about watching HD anything on my PC. I don't listen to music on my PC.
But I'll be damned if I'll be forced to replace all my stuff just because Mega-Corp(tm) decides that we all must comply and submit.
Freedom Fries and all that stupidity. It's all for our own good you know.
I think they should rename the new TCP/DRM chips the "INGSOC Chip"..
Re:and loaded to the eyeballs with (Score:1)
Re:and loaded to the eyeballs with (Score:2)
Viiv - shear genius (Score:5, Funny)
Also, well done for adding to the general confusion by calling your new chips "Core". You must be so prowd of your marketing deparment.
Re:Viiv - shear genius (Score:4, Funny)
Plentium!
Pronounciation. (Score:3, Funny)
"Viiv"
See? No problem.
Re:Viiv - shear genius (Score:2)
The problem is the "Pentium" brand is OLD. Real old. It may be strong, but eventually it's gotta be replaced in order to keep things fresh. (This may not matter in a lot of industries, but in technology things have a limited lifespan. How many suffixes to "Pentium" can they get away with?)
All I have to say is I'm happy that "Intel Core" isn't a stupid "nonsense word" made-up by some marketin
Re:Viiv - shear genius (Score:2)
Upcoming = Happening now (Score:2)
I hope by "upcoming" the article submitter meant "currently happening". It seems that the linked article doesn't actually mention the chips as upcoming and correctly treats them as a shipping product though so really only the submitter looks silly.
The next paradigm (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:The next paradigm (Score:2)
Ol Shakespeare: "What's in a name..." (Score:4, Interesting)
This "change" is more likely a marketing thing. If the marketing folks don't change everything every few years, they start to look idle.
Re:Ol Shakespeare: "What's in a name..." (Score:1)
Marketing defined (Score:1)
Marketing: The ability to spout nonsense, have management steer the company based on the nonsense, and draw a healthy paycheck for all this.
So you're absolutely right. The marketing people were starting to look idle and unnecessary, so they stepped up the "We need to make a gigantic change for no reason" nonsense until management bit.
In related news, this marketing construct [intel.co.uk] makes it out that if you only buy Itanium 2 s
Re:Marketing defined (Score:2)
Re:Ol Shakespeare: "What's in a name..." (Score:2)
the future (Score:2, Interesting)
Solo Core -current
Duo Core -current
Quadra Core?
Penta Core? or Viiv Core?
Octa Core?
Hexa Core?
as the numbers of cores increase, and they will! the names will get more rediculous, and harder for the average John Doe to pronounce
Re:the future (Score:1)
Hardcore?
Re:the future (Score:2)
Smells like Propaganda (Score:1)
No they are not changing technologies (Score:3, Informative)
Thought slashdot editors were nerds and would know this.
Marketing BS & "journalism" at its very worst! (Score:2)
The "Pentium" now bares NO resemblance to the old 120Mhz thing I have at home! The PPro, PII, PII share some heritage (barely). The original Pentium stands alone (still a good design IMHO). P4 shares no heritage with the earlier chips and has had major changes over the last few years (the pipeline and trace cache have changed a lot).
I didn't realise Intel were still selling the old Pentium core at all... Hmmm... Something smells like BS.
It's time the BBC got some decent, t
that's nothing! (Score:3, Funny)
Re: (Score:2)
Re:that's nothing! (Score:1)
It's all marketing (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:It's all marketing (Score:2)
With Intel kicking ass in the portable market (which outsells desktops now), Intel is well on its way to staying around far longer than AMD fans would like.
It's a Microsoft thing (Score:2)
Re:It's a Microsoft thing (Score:2)
Core Centasindeca?
Re:It's a Microsoft thing (Score:1)
CDX looks nice, but it will be a while (I think) before they get to 410.
Not more correct (Score:2)
Re:It's a Microsoft thing (Score:1)
They already have. Take 'Viiv', for example. That's a six followed by a four.
Brilliant Marketing Ploy . . . (Score:4, Funny)
Thank you! I'll be here all weekend. Don't forget to tip your waitress.
But can it... (Score:1)
Fluff article, no details, lots of bitter people (Score:2, Insightful)
The Core chips are Yonah. Frankly, they're one of the more interesting products to come out of Intel. Lets face it, the P4 core was.... Hot? Heheheh. Yonah is based off the M chips. They're fast, efficient, and low power. Expect multiple cores to be the future. As we all know, it's getting harder to get more computing power from pure speed. Tacking on "cores" is the wave of the future. Both
Re:Fluff article, no details, lots of bitter peopl (Score:2)
Re:Fluff article, etc (Score:2)
Viiv (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Who comes up with these names (Score:2)
Don't tell me advertising lied!?!