Upgrading CPU performance hasn’t been a priority for Intel in many years, but that could be changing.
Upgrading CPU performance hasn’t been a priority for Intel in many years, but that could be changing.
Intel’s upcoming Cannonlake chips will deliver a performance improvement of more than 15 percent compared to its Kaby Lake chips, said Venkata Renduchintala, president of the Intel Client and Internet of Things businesses and Systems Architecture Group.
Intel didn’t provide exact numbers at the company’s annual investor day Thursday, but the projection is based on the SysMark benchmark. Detailed performance improvement numbers will emerge over time.
The performance improvements from Skylake to Kaby Lake topped out at 15 percent. The CPU performance boost for Cannonlake should be at least that, Intel said.
The first Cannonlake chips are scheduled to ship in the second half of this year. The chips — called 8th-generation chips on an Intel slide — could include Core i7 chips.
Intel showed a Cannonlake chip at CES. The chip will be the first made on Intel’s 10-nanometer process, which will deliver a substantial reduction in power consumption, Renduchintala said.
Intel may be trying to catch up with AMD, which is boasting a 40 percent performance improvement for its upcoming Ryzen chips. Ryzen’s numbers are based on IPC (instructions per cycle), an important performance metric.
The benefit of high-performance PC chips isn’t lost on Intel. The gaming market is exploding, especially eSports, and demand for high-performance Core i7 chips skyrocketed last year, Renduchintala said.
As markets like virtual reality heat up, buyers will be motivated to upgrade to Core i7 chips from Core i3 chips. The Core i7 chips today are up to 36 percent faster than Core i3 chips, Renduchintala said.
Chipmakers in past years focused on increasing performance by raising the clock frequency. But that made chips power hungry, and their focus shifted to adding cores, which boosted performance but also added battery life to laptops. Then the focus turned to integrating technologies like graphics and I/O buses inside processors. Gaming and virtual reality have brought a focus back to raw CPU performance.
There’s a limited scope for growth in the PC market, with gaming and VR being the bright spots, and both right now require high-performance CPUs. Unlike in the past, Intel doesn’t want to sell low-margin chips that would ultimately incur a loss.
Intel was «disciplined» with its PC business, and the focus was on high-margin products like Core i7 chips. Intel’s highest priced PC chip is the Core i7-6950X, which is priced at US$1,723, and it generates a high profit margin for Intel.
But Intel will have to contend with AMD, which is coming on strong with Ryzen. Analysts say Ryzen will start off strong in high-end gaming PCs based on the early hype, but then its success will depend on word-of-mouth recommendations. Ryzen’s subsequent success in consumer laptops and desktops will depend on PC makers adopting the chip.

© Source: http://www.computerworld.com/article/3168332/computer-processors/intel-cannonlake-will-be-more-than-15-percent-faster-than-kaby-lake.html
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AMD has confirmed it won’t officially support the older OS
AMD has come out and confirmed that its next-gen Ryzen processors, due to emerge at the beginning of next month, will not be officially supported for Windows 7.
Last year, the company had said that Ryzen wouldn’t support the older OS, but as PC World points out, a recent report put the rumour out there that AMD had changed its mind, and would issue drivers for Windows 7 after all.
Perhaps this was more believable because a hell of a lot is riding on Ryzen making an impact and being a success for AMD, so such a turnaround would be another way of getting one over on Intel when it comes to the plentiful number of users still running Windows 7. (Intel, of course, has already turned its back on Windows 7 with Kaby Lake CPUs).
But this was just wishful thinking, and although AMD says it has tested Ryzen on Windows 7, there won’t be any official support or drivers for the new processors.
So if you upgrade a Windows 7 system to a Ryzen CPU, the chip might work okay on the face of it, but there are no guarantees you’ll get the full performance levels or set of features which the processors will offer on Windows 10. And indeed, you might encounter stability issues.
In short, it’ll be a pretty uncertain endeavour to run this software and hardware combination.
Last August, Microsoft confirmed that only Windows 10 would support Intel’s Kaby Lake and AMD’s Zen (Ryzen) processors, and as we mentioned before, at the time, AMD stated that its processor roadmap was «fully aligned with Microsoft’s software strategy». And it remains fully aligned, much to the chagrin of Windows 7 diehards, no doubt.

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The deal is for one week only and is being offered with all Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge purchases.
With the Galaxy S8 rumoured to be dropping at the end of March, it makes sense for Samsung to be trying to sell Galaxy S7 units. After the exploding Galaxy Note 7 debacle , a bit of customer goodwill can’t go astray either.
The 256GB microSD EVO+ memory card offers up to «95MB/s Read and 90MB/s Write speed with Class 10 and U3 compatibility,» and is ideal for 4K video recording and playback, Samsung says.
The offer is only valid for a week to US customers who purchase a Samsung Galaxy S7 edge or Galaxy S7 between February 8 and February 14. Head to the Samsung website for the deal.

© Source: https://www.cnet.com/news/samsung-giving-away-free-256gb-microsd-with-galaxy-s7/
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Get ready for dirt, rocks, silt and did we mention rocks? King of the Hammers is the biggest off-road race in the country.
Are you ready for some seriously crazy off-roading? Then get ready for King of the Hammers!
The week long Burning Man for racers started this weekend with the King of the Motos race, where some seriously insane moto racers had a land rush start… at night. Exactly 107 racers from across the United States, Canada and Mexico endured rocks, silt and sand as they battled through three heats for the coveted first place trophy. In the end, Endurocross and Superenduro champion Colton Haaker won on his handy Husqvarna 350.
Racers make their way through the rocks at the 2017 King of the Motos.
Wednesday marked the UTV side-by-side (think of them as souped-up golf carts) race, where the tiny little Polaris Rzr and Kawasaki Teryx side-by-sides tried their hand at the Hammers. At time of writing, it looks like two-time Ultra4 King Shannon Campbell has unofficially added another trophy to his case, followed closely by his son Wayland. Rounding out the Campbell racing dynasty was daughter Bailey, finishing 15th. X-Games medalist Sara Price, who was doing well in last year’s race until her UTV lost its drivetrain, finished 18th. With 74 teams starting, only half finished and all those who took the checkered flag can be proud of their accomplishment.
Taking place in Johnson Valley every February, King of the Hammers (KOH) brings more than 35,000 spectators, racers and crew support to the desert. A makeshift metropolis called Hammertown springs up on a dry lakebed and an entire week is devoted to racing everything from motorcycles and side-by-sides to regular trucks and unlimited four-wheel drive rigs. Competitors of each race find their way through boulder-strewn sections with names like Clawhammer, Wrecking Ball and my favorite, Chocolate Thunder. Find a good line and you can slowly pick your way up. Make a mistake and you have to winch your way up.
Only the strong survive the boulders of Johnson Valley.
Friday is the big show where the unlimited Ultra4 rigs vie for the title of the 2017 King of the Hammers. The final race is the longest, with over 200 miles of impossibly rocky terrain standing between racers and the finish line. Some drivers finish by sundown, many come in long after dark. With beefy axles, 40-inch tires and plenty of torque, these rigs defy physics as we know it. But to make things even more difficult, racers must also traverse vast sections of open desert at speeds of up to 100 miles per hour.
Usually off-road vehicles are set up to do either slow-speed rock crawling or high-speed whoop bashing, but the custom-built Ultra4 rigs must to do both. Most teams choose to work within the confines of solid front and rear axles, betting that the stronger and more nimble components will give them the edge in the rock crawling. Others opt for an independent front suspension; not as good in the rocks but way better at soaking up whoops in the open desert. Since the race’s inception in 2007, Shannon Campbell has piloted the only independent front suspension rig to a win in 2008. He did it again in 2011, proving that his first IFS win was not just a fluke.
The King of the Hammers is the largest off-road race in North America and the toughest one-day off-road race on the planet. With over 100 teams entered and an attrition rate often as high as 75 percent or more, King of the Hammers is not to be missed.
The differences between an independent front suspension, left, and a solid front axle, right, are clear.
It’s easy to watch in person. Just search for King of the Hammers on Google maps and go to www.ultra4.com for more information about camping and entry fees to Hammertown. If you can’t make it to the California desert, the Ultra4 website offers a great live-stream with multiple views of the course.
See ya in Hammertown!

© Source: https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/stop-its-hammers-time/
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Details are really thin on the ground, but the original series is coming this year.
Konami’s sprawling Castlevania video game franchise, starring the vampire-slaying Belmont family, has seen many adaptations — from comic books to novels to radio plays to interactive fiction. What it hasn’t seen is an official, dedicated adaptation to screen. This looks like it’s all changing, according to a Netflix announcement earlier today.
Among its upcoming original programming, the entertainment company included, «Castlevania Season 1, Part 1 Coming to Netflix in 2017. »
That’s all we know so far, although there are several names attached to the project. Producer Adi Shankar announced via Facebook that he was involved, with comics author Warren Ellis as the writer of the first and second seasons (Ellis announced in 2006 that he was writing a «Castlevania» movie, but it never eventuated). In August 2015, Shankar also named Fred Seibert and Kevin Kolde of Frederator (» Adventure Time «) fame, which points to the series being animated, rather than live action.
Netflix did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

© Source: https://www.cnet.com/news/castlevania-series-coming-to-netflix/
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«Fighting With My Family» will feature «Game of Thrones» star Lena Headey, Nick Frost and «The Rock» Johnson. Plus, it’s being directed by Stephen Merchant.
That’s a spectacular collision of worlds right there.
The flick is actually based on WWE starlet Paige , a multiple-time champion whose mother and father were both wrestlers in their homeland of England. Newcomer Florence Pugh will be the project’s lead actress.

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