Nearly three out of four people rocking an Intel X79 system are sitting pretty on top of an Asus brand motherboard. That's the conclusion you can draw from the company's claim that its X79 series motherboards have gone on to grab a global market share of 70 percent of all boards built around Intel's enthusiast chipset, and it isn't the only one Asus says it's dominating.
You can argue the Earth is flat or that man never really landed on the moon, but if you really want to avoid looking foolish, then don't tell anyone Intel is deliberately stalling USB 3.0 long enough for LightPeak to drive a stake in the competing transfer interface. Actually, Intel has long held that the two aren't really competitors at all, and putting its money where its mouth is, Intel went out and received SuperSpeed USB 3.0 certification for its upcoming 7 Series and C216 chipset families.
AMD’s newest CPU is perhaps the worst kept secret in the industry. The company telegraphed the microarchitecture seemingly years ago but garnered much attention. That’s no surprise as the chip codenamed “Bulldozer” is considered AMD’s first true redesign of a chip since the original Athlon 64. Truth be told, there’s also a lot hanging on new chip as many are wondering if AMD still has any mojo to go toe to toe with Intel’s processors. To find out, hit the jump.
IHS iSuppli on Thursday published a report about the state of the global microprocessor business in the first quarter. For all you sticklers for terseness, the entire report can be summed up in these five words: Intel can do no wrong! It’s not that it never puts a foot wrong, but its stature allows it to get away with it even when it does. During the first quarter, the world’s premier chip maker successfully overcame a massive chipset recall to further extend its lead over rival AMD. Hit the jump for more.
Elitegroup Computer Systems (ECS) is doing its best to shed its old reputation as strictly a budget board maker by focusing on higher end chipsets. That includes AMD's upcoming 990FX chipset, the one built for Bulldozer sporting a new AM3+ socket. This is the chipset enthusiasts will reach for when popping in new four-, six-, and even eight-core processors.
And off we go! Now that Intel has officially outed its Z68 Express chipset, the announcements from hardware vendors pitching new products are rolling in. One of those is from MSI who just unveiled a couple of Z68 motherboards (socket 1155), one of which features support for both CrossFireX and SLI.
On the surface, it’s easy to shrug your shoulders and say “meh” at Intel’s new Z68 chipset.
So what if Nvidia and AMD make unlikely bed fellows, and who cares that the two are currently duking it out in the discrete graphics market? Certainly not Joe Gamer, the unbiased enthusiast who only wants to build the best gaming machine his budget will allow. Unfortunately for Joe, his decisions have always been partially dictated by artificial compatibility constraints, and the decision to roll with multiple Nvidia or AMD graphics cards depends on his choice of platform. Not anymore, folks!
Sandy Bridge is sitting pretty in the eyes of system builders now that the design flaw that affected initial shipments of early 6-series chipsets is a thing of the past. Looking ahead, things are about to get even better. Intel's Z68 Express chipset aimed at power users will bring some performance-oriented features to the table, and according to the latest rumor mill chatter, the chipset's launch is less than three weeks away.
Congratulations to any of you who picked "Ivy Bridge" in the office pool trying to guess which chipset Intel would finally implement native USB 3.0 support in. At the Intel Developer's Forum (IDF) in Beijing, Intel's Kirk Skaugen, vice president and general manager of Intel's Data Center Group, confirmed that at long last, USB 3.0 would be in the chip maker's cards, putting to rest conspiracy theories that the suits in Santa Clara would shun the spec in an attempt to promote Thunderbolt (Light Peak).Connect with MaximumPC
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