| IDF 2015 San Francisco: Skylake Deep Dive Posted: 18 Aug 2015 06:26 PM PDT The launch of Skylake has been a bit of a change from Intel; previously, Intel typically has talked about the underlying architecture prior to the chips actually ending up in the reviewers' hands. This time, all we got was a chip with some performance expectations, with no real knowledge of what has changed. This is particularly problematic as Skylake is a "tock": a new architecture on a mature process. Broadwell is mostly the same underlying architecture as Haswell, only moved to 14nm, but Skylake is 14nm with new design elements. That all changes today, as Intel has taken off the wraps and shed some light on what exactly Skylake is doing under the hood that makes it a better processor. We still don't have all of the details we'd like, but we do know at least some of the core changes. There's a separate topic to also quickly mention: our initial Skylake numbers were somewhat lower than expected, either due to our initial choice of motherboard, RAM, and/or early firmware. We've retested with a different motherboard and memory, and performance on average is up 10 percent compared to our earlier results. We're reworking the Skylake review and will post a followup later, but the short summary is that Skylake is quite a bit better than our initial experience led us to believe. Welcome to life on the bleeding edge. Moving on to the Skylake architecture, you can download the full PDFs via Intel's IDF 2015 SF site, but we'll summarize some of the major highlights.    The above three slides summarize the major changes. Skylake has a larger Out-of-order window, more in-flight stores, more scheduler entries, and a slightly larger allocation queue. The branch prediction has seen further improvements, there's a wider front-end, there are more execution units, and other additions. The details are a bit lacking in some areas, but one item we specifically asked about was the wider front end. From the original Core 2 through Haswell/Broadwell, Intel has used a four-wide front-end for fetching instructions. Skylake is the first change to this aspect in roughly a decade, with the ability to now dispatch up to six micro-ops per cycle. Intel doesn't indicate how many execution units are available in Skylake's back-end, but we know everything from Core 2 through Sandy Bridge had six execution units while Haswell has eight execution ports. We can assume Skylake is now more than eight, and likely the ability to dispatch more micro-ops as well, but Intel didn't provide any specifics. There are plenty of other changes as well, including some new instructions, e.g., Intel Software Guard Extensions (SGX) can be used to improve software security, but those don't generally affect performance. On the other side of the processor equation, there have also been a lot of power and efficiency improvements. That might seem a bit odd, considering Skylake is sporting a 91W TDP compared to Haswell''s 84W TDP, but TDP isn't the same as typical power use.  Intel pointed out that the process of designing Skylake began around five years ago, and at the time their goals were pretty traditional. They were looking at a 3X TDP scale (e.g., 40-120W), a 2X range of form factors, and a classic IO set for PCs. Between the start and now, the market experienced a shift and tablets and smartphones became a huge market. The result is that Skylake will have a 20X TDP scale (so around 4.5W-91W), a 4X form factor scale, and reductions in power and changes to IO that make Skylake a viable product for both PCs as well as tablets. This is the sort of responsiveness that has been enabled by Intel's tick-tock strategy, and the results have been impressive.  The other area where Skylake has the potential to dramatically improve performance is in processor graphics. Going back to 2010 and the original HD Graphics (Lynnfield/Arrandale, aka Iron Lake), Intel has been putting increasingly heavy emphasis on their graphics solutions. Their first solutions had up to 10 Executions Units (EUs) supporting the DX10 feature set, with Skylake pushing as far as 72 EU configurations on their top SKUs. Note that the currently available i5-6600K and i7-6700K are using the GT2 (24 EUs) chips, but we expect 48 EU GT3 chips to show up in the near future. More importantly, there's now a GT4 configuration coming, which has the potential to be up to 50% faster than the existing Iris Pro 6200 Graphics. Compared to Broadwell's Iris Pro (GT3) solution, the Skylake GT4 graphics will be 1.5X larger, and based on what we've seen from Broadwell-DT we would expect performance to be in the 30+ FPS range at 1080p medium to high quality. Of course we probably won't see GT4 outside of mobile chips, at least initially, and discrete GPUs will still offer superior performance. |
| Newegg Daily Deals: MSI Z97A Gaming 7 Motherboard, Asus GeForce GTX 980, and More! Posted: 18 Aug 2015 02:39 PM PDT |
| WD Launches 6TB Black, Red Pro Hard Drives Posted: 18 Aug 2015 01:58 PM PDT 
Western Digital (WD) is having a busy Tuesday, as the company is reporting that it has added 6TB models to its WD Black and WD Red Pro lines of mechanical hard drives. The Black model is best suited for gamers and professionals craving high-performance while the Red Pro drive is ideal for network attached storage (NAS) devices. WD also indicated that both lines are getting a 5 TB model as well. "The WD Black 6TB is up to 29 percent faster than the previous WD Black 4TB version in maximum data rate throughput and 10 percent faster in PCMark Vantage," the company boasts. Unfortunately, the WD Black specifications don't reveal much in regards to hardware details, but instead shows that the 3,5-inch hard drive has a 7200 RPM and SATA 3 (6 Gbps) connectivity. The drive also sports a dual-core processor, 128MB of cache and StableTrac technology, which stabilizes the drive's motor shaft and protects the platters from "system-induced" vibrations. "The Dynamic Cache Technology improves caching algorithms in real time to allocate and optimize cache between reads and writes," the company adds. "This movement of cache for read data helps to reduce congestion and increase overall performance." The new 6TB WD Black model (WD6001FZWX) is available now for $294 and the 5TB model (WD5001FZWX) is selling for $264. On a whole, the WD Black line provide capacities between 500GB to the new 6TB and offers a 5-year warranty. As for the WD Red Pro drives, these are NAS-focused and include a multi-axis shock sensor that, according to WD, will detect shock events and adjust each read-write function accordingly. The drives also include exclusive NASware 3.0 firmware and hardware vibration compensation technology, which corrects rotational and linear vibrations "in real time." Built for medium to large-sized businesses, the WD RED Pro specifications show that the drives are designed for NAS solutions with up to 16 bays. They also have SATA 3 (6 Gbps) connectivity and 128MB of cache. Capacities on a whole range from 2TB to the new 5TB and 6TB models. "With the capacity expansion, there is now a path for customers to increase the storage density of their systems while knowing their data is protected with the most trusted and valued brand on the market," says Cindi Grace, senior vice president of WD storage technology group. The new WD Red Pro 5TB model (WD5001FFWX) is available now and costs $269 whereas the 6TB model (WD6001FFWX) costs a meatier $299. These drives also come with a 5-year warranty. |
| Google Launches Its Own Wi-Fi Router Posted: 18 Aug 2015 01:55 PM PDT 
Google revealed on Tuesday that it's working with networking expert TP-Link to create "a different kind of" Wi-Fi router called OnHub. This device is designed for the home and admittedly looks rather stylish, sporting a tall cylinder form factor. Customers can pre-order the device now for $199 at various online locations in the United States including Walmart.com and Amazon. Brick-and-mortar stores will have the device on sale in a matter of weeks. So what's the big deal about this router? Google points to the form factor, saying that it sheds the typical cords and flashing LED lights with "useful" lighting and internal antennas. In essence, the companies have created a device that's visually appealing, something the customer can be proud of and display out in the open. "During setup, OnHub searches the airwaves and selects the best channel for the fastest connection," says Google product manager Trond Wuellner. "A unique antenna design and smart software keep working in the background, automatically adjusting OnHub to avoid interference and keep your network at peak performance. You can even prioritize a device, so that your most important activity — like streaming your favorite show — gets the fastest speed." The specifications show that OnHub includes six 2.4 GHz antennas, six 5 GHz antennas, and a congestion-sensing antenna that are arranged in a circular pattern. On a whole, the device promises Wireless AC speeds of up to 1900 Mbps. That means the 5 GHz band provides speeds of up to 1300 Mbps and 2.4 GHz band speeds of up to 600 Mbps… the best coverage you can get for now. The specifications also show that the new router is based on a dual-core IPQ8064 processor clocked at 1.4 GHz, 4 GB of internal storage, 1 GB of DDR3L RAM, one USB 3.0 port, and a 3-watt speaker. The device is also ZigBee and Thread compatible, meaning the router will fit right into a "smart" home outfitted with ZigBee or Thread-based devices. There's also Bluetooth 4.0 connectivity, a WAN gigabit port, and one LAN gigabit port. "OnHub automatically updates with new features and the latest security upgrades, without interrupting your connection," Wuellner says. "In the future, OnHub can support smart devices that you bring into your home, whether they use Bluetooth® Smart Ready, Weave, or 802.15.4." The blog indicates that Google wanted a router that simply works out-of-the-box and doesn't slow down to a crawl when someone is streaming Netflix. To help maintain the device, Google has developed the Google On app for Android and iOS. With this app, users can run a network check, see how much bandwidth a device is using, get help if something goes wrong with the network, and more. Wuellner also hints in Tuesday's blog that Google is working with Asus to create another OnHub, which will be revealed later this year. |
| Microsoft Updates Xbox App with 1080p/60fps Streaming Posted: 18 Aug 2015 01:08 PM PDT 
Higher-quality streaming, and moreLarry "Major Nelson" Hryb updated Xbox Wire on Tuesday with news that the Xbox app for Windows 10 received an update that allows gamers to stream from an Xbox One to a Windows 10 device in 1080p and 60 frames per second. The new feature isn't that surprising, as last week a Windows 10 gamer discovered a "Very High" setting that could be enabled by modifying one of the Xbox app's files. To stream in the "Very High" setting now offered in the updated app, simply connect to the Xbox One, then go into Settings and Game Streaming. Here users should see the "Very High" setting parked to the left of the three other settings. If the new setting isn't there, make sure you've upgraded to v8.8.15003.00000 or later. "The team also updated the Xbox app on Windows 10 to address some issues around sign-in, localization and game streaming reported by a subset of Windows 10 users," Hryb reports. "The Xbox app on Windows 10 should automatically update to the new version when it becomes available in the Windows Store." Also new to the Xbox app is the ability to right-click on a friend and either invite him/her to a party or send a message. Notifications also received an update, as they can now be disabled or enabled when the user is invited to a multiplayer game or party. Simply go into the Party & Games/Invitations setting found in the General settings. The updated app now allows you to manually add games to your collection that have a link in the Start Menu. You also now have the ability to compare your achievement status with a friend who is playing the same game. The "My Games" section has been updated with a new grid view that sorts the games alphabetically. The list of games that have been automatically discovered has also been updated. "Now you will see an animated display alternately showing you how many friends have played each game along with the four most recent players," Hryb reports. "The display will then switch to show a second tile with your last played date, Gamerscore and Achievements percentage complete. If you click on the game, it will take you to the Game Hub, where you can see a list of all of your friends who have played the game sorted by most recently played along with their online status." The Xbox app made its public debut weeks ago as part of the Windows 10 rollout. It reminded us of Facebook a bit, only this service plays host to Windows 10 and Xbox gamers. Like Facebook, users can update their status and "like" whatever shows up in the news feed. The app's biggest feature, however, is streaming games from the Xbox One to the Xbox app. Thankfully, that service is free. Xbox One gamers can leave feedback here and Windows 10 Technical Preview participants can head here to voice their opinion. |
| Razer and Intel Collaborate on RealSense 3D Camera for Gaming Posted: 18 Aug 2015 12:53 PM PDT Making something real with RealSense  Razer has partnered up with Intel to incorporate the chip maker's RealSense technology into a 3D-sensing camera designed for consumer-based VR and gaming desktops. The two companies brought a prototype of the new camera to the Intel Developer Forum (IDF) that's taking place in San Francisco. One of the key features is automatic background removal. This will allow game streamers and video conferencing users to remove or even replace backgrounds as they see fit. As for the camera itself, Razer says the image you see above is a concept design. The final design is subject to change, though Intel seems to like the current prototype that's being shown off at IDF. "This is a great opportunity to make Intel RealSense technology easily accessible to the gaming and VR communities. We are proud of the beautiful design of Razer's Intel RealSense Camera peripheral and we look forward to enabling innovation in the gaming world together," said Dr. Achin Bhowmik, General Manager of Perceptual Computing at Intel. Details are few and far between at the moment, though according to Engadget, the device will be able to track a user's movement in games, both when they're sitting in front of a desktop or wearing a VR helmet. If it works well, it would open up a whole new world of gaming possibilities -- imaging playing a boxing sim and dodging blows by ducking or moving your head from side to side. Razer didn't say when a final version might make its way to retail or how much it would cost. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Save $200 on Specific Microsoft Surface Pro 3 Model Posted: 18 Aug 2015 10:54 AM PDT One day sale  Microsoft has taken $200 off the price of its Surface Pro 3 model with a Core i5 4300U processor and 128GB of built-in storage. That brings the price down from $999 to $799, though if you're interested in that particular SKU, you have to act fast -- the discount is good for today (August 18, 2015) only. Unfortunately, Microsoft still isn't bundling a keyboard with its Surface tablets, though the discount more than offsets the cost of a Type Cover ($130). Having a keyboard of some sort, be it a Type Cover or whatever, is really a necessity if you want to use the Surface Pro 3 as a laptop. There's certainly a serviceable level of hardware to use the Surface Pro 3 as a laptop. In addition to the aforementioned CPU and solid state storage, the Surface Pro 3 also sports a 12-inch multi-touch display with a 2160x1440 resolution, 4GB of RAM, 802.11ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0 LE, 1080p front camera, 5MP rear camera, full size USB 3.0 port, microSD card reader, headphone jack, mini DisplayPort, stereo speakers, and Windows 10 Pro. It's not unusual for Microsoft to slash a hundred or so dollars off the cost of its Surface Pro 3 line. In fact, only the base model is full price right now. Here's a look: - Surface Pro 3 w/ Core i3 4020Y, 4GB RAM, 64GB: $799 (full price)
- Surface Pro 3 w/ Core i5 4300U, 4GB RAM, 128GB: $799 (down from $999)
- Surface Pro 3 w/ Core i5 4300U, 8GB RAM, 256GB: $1,149 (down from $1,299)
- Surface Pro 3 w/ Core i7 4650U, 8GB RAM, 256GB: $1,399 (down from $1,549)
- Surface Pro 3 w/ Core i7 4650U, 8GB RAM, 512GB: $1,799 (down from $1,949)
All of the above models come with a Surface Pen. The prices reflected are those found in the Microsoft Store, though you can also shop for the Surface Pro 3 on Amazon at the same price points. Note that the sale price on Amazon is also good for today only. If you're considering a Surface Pro 3 as a back to school purchase, this is one of the better deals you'll find. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| It's Official: Android M is Marshmallow Posted: 18 Aug 2015 09:01 AM PDT Ready for s'more Android?  Google has chosen "Marshmallow" as the name for its next Android release, which by the way will be Android 6.0, not Android 5.2. After teasing several possibilities in a Twitter post and accompanying YouTube video, Google on Monday confirmed its decision while noting in a blog post, "who doesn't like marshmallows?" The decision is a blow to M&M fans who were hoping that Google would do a promotional tie-in with the popular candy like it did with KitKat. So far, however, that's been a one-off deal -- after KitKat came Lollipop. Coinciding with the announcement is the introduction of the official Android 6.0 SDK. With the final Android 6.0 SDK, developers have access to the final Android APIs and the latest build tools to API 23. There's also a preview image of Marshmallow available for Nexus devices (Nexus 5, Nexus 6, Nexus 9, and Nexus Player). "The preview images are near final but they are not intended for consumer use," Google said. "Remember that when Android 6.0 Marshmallow launches to the public later this fall, you'll need to manually re-flash your device to a factory image to continue to receive consumer OTA updates for your Nexus device." Android 6.0 Marshmallow will introduce several new features and updates to the open source OS, including better app permissions, custom Chrome tabs, an app linking system, fingerprint support, Android play, and a smart power managing feature called Doze. Finally, the introduction of Marshmallow means a new statue for Google's lawn. You can see what it looks like above, courtesy of Dave Burke, Android's VP of engineering. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| 25 Totally Awesome Back-to-School Gifts for Geeks Posted: 18 Aug 2015 12:00 AM PDT |
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