Computer^News^FAQ: intel

Ivy Macs rumored to Launch April 8

7:42:00 PM

Earlier this month, leaked information suggested that Intel's next-generation mobile Ivy Bridge processors would debut in May, with a few models perhaps becoming available in April. The mobile Ivy Bridge processors are expected to be used in Apple's MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, and Mac mini lines.

A new report from Digitimes indicates, however, that the first Ivy Bridge processors may launch as early as April 8th, with both the mobile processors and desktop processors such as those used in the iMac debuting around the same timeframe.

Desktop CPUs to be unveiled include quad-core Core i7-3770K, 3770, 3770S, 3770T, and Core i5-3570, 3550 and 3450, with prices ranging from US$184-332. Additionally, the Core i5-3470T will be available in May priced at US$184.

Notebook CPUs Core i7-3920Qm, 3820QM and 3720QM will be released in April priced at US$1,096, US$568 and US$378, respectively. Other models including Core i5-3520M, 3360M, 3320M and ultrabook CPUs Core i7-3667U and Core i5-3427U will be unveiled later.

While the report also appears to confuse chipsets being released at the same time with the processors themselves, information on specific processor models does help offer some picture of what Apple might be able to accomplish in terms of updated machines.

The 3820QM and 3720QM processors in particular appear to be the natural successors to Apple's current processor options in the high-end 15" and 17" MacBook Pro models. Apple's upgrade route in many other cases is less clear given the company's propensity to use custom-produced chips and a limited first wave of Ivy Bridge processors. The Core i7-3667U and Core i5-3427U processors appear to be the only processors in the initial wave of Ivy Bridge processors to meet the thermal design requirements for the MacBook Air, with those processors apparently set for the later May debut.

Apple has been rumored to be launching a new 15" MacBook Pro with "Retina" display technology in the second quarter of 2012, matching the Ivy Bridge launch timeline. A new 15" MacBook Air has also been rumored alongside an update for the rest of the line in the first quarter of 2012. But with the appropriate Ivy Bridge processors apparently not debuting until May, it is unclear how Apple would meet this timeline.

asus

Asus Zenbook UX31

6:24:00 PM

The Asus Zenbook UX31 is one of the first laptops to conform to Intel's Ultrabook specification.

And, right away, we'll tell you - it stands toe-to-toe with Apple's MacBook Air in the fight for the title of best luxury ultraportable.

The 13-inch Zenbook is fantastic to look at. When closed, the wedge-shaped laptop measures 17mm at its thickest point and a mere 3mm at its thinnest.

The aluminium silver lid boasts a distinctive concentric circle design that catches and reflects the surrounding light. Befitting the name, the Zenbook's simple, sleek finish gives it a premium look that keeps getting better as soon as you lift the lid.

The design ethic is in evidence earlier than that, though - it's a lovely experience as you open the box while Asus has also included a mini Display Port to D-Sub adapter and a USB to Ethernet lead as well. Both are housed in their own little pouch. Better still, you even get a bespoke sleeve for your Zenbook in the box.

The same thinking even stretches to the Intel Core and Windows 7 stickers. We wonder who it was that proposed they were silver and black - Intel? Asus? - but whoever did has made a difference.

The outward elegance of the Zenbook UX31 has certainly been matched by power on the inside. There are currently two different versions available, our test model has the Core i7 2677M Processor while there's also a Core i5 2467M Processor variant.

Our test version was running Windows 7 Home Premium, though the Asus spec sheet seems to suggest that Professional is also available should that be a requirement for you.

For those looking for a smaller laptop, there's an 11.6-inch UX21 version that costs £849. We'll be reviewing that separately as soon as we can get our hands on one.

You'll get 4GB or RAM with all 13-inch models, as well as a 128 or 256GB solid state drive (SSD). Our review model had a 128GB drive under the hood and, as we were using it a lot, we managed to fill most of that with apps and files in no time. This is a performance machine and you may find yourself wanting the larger capacity.

The isolation-style keyboard is front and centre inside the Zenbook with no additional clutter from the likes of hotkeys, volume controls, numeric keypads or even separate mouse buttons.

As the chassis is so thin, there's very little depth to each key. It must be said that, at first, this can be of-putting, especially if you're used to hammering out your emails – but before long typing on the Zenbook becomes second nature.

We did find the directional arrows and the enter key to be a little on the small side, but not enough to interfere with extended typing sessions.

There's also no backlight to the keyboard - as the MacBook Air and other competitors such as the Samsung 9 Series have this. A shame it's missing here.

Alongside the keyboard, Asus has included a large, central touchpad. We had doubts about the inbuilt buttons and lack of a textured surface at first, but these were soon laid to rest.

The response is swift and because of the larger size, it is possible to use your thumb on the touchpad without moving your hands from the typing position. Occasionally you might brush the touchpad when typing but this is a rare occurrence.

However, we really don't like the mouse buttons. The touch isn't very definite, while it can be quite hard to do selections or multiple presses. Things could be a lot better here.

Another noteworthy feature of the Zenbook is the external speaker running across the base of the 13.3-inch, 1,600 x 900 16:9 Super-TFT screen. Developed by Bang & Olufsen and called ICEpower, the speaker is monitored by in-built Asus techcalled SonicMaster to keepthe balance even.

The Zenbook will hit a reassuringly loud volume without disintegrating into either a tinny treble or a fuzzy bass. It sounded impressive both in our expansive office and at home in a fully furnished room.

For the record, there's also a 0.3 megapixel webcam for video conferencing or Skype.

The Zenbook weighs in at 1.4kg, exactly the same as the 13.1-inch Macbook Air. It's hardly noticeable when carried around for the day and, because of the svelte design; it won't take up too much space in your bag.

Thankfully Asus hasn't filled the Zenbook with too much add-on software, but there is an annoying Live Update engine that keeps on popping up messages from the taskbar, while there's also a battery life gadget (actually useful but it remains in your taskbar), as well as backup tools and a webcam app.

We're sure there are some people that think it's nice to have this kind of stuff, but we're not among them. Moreover, much of the software is simply unnecessary.

And then there's the graphics that appear when you turn the volume up, change the brightness or switch the power mode. To be honest, they're horribly ugly and we're simply not impressed.

It's a shame the same attention that was paid to the external design wasn't paid to the add-ons within the OS.

Cinebench 10: 8726
3D Mark '06: 3623
Battery Eater '05: 253 mins

Both processors in the 13-inch are from Intel's second-generation Sandy Bridge family and mean the Zenbook can easily handle multi-tasking, varioius demanding apps and multiple displays using the Sandy Bridge chips' in-built HD 3000 graphics capabilities.

However. the lack of non-dedicated graphics from AMD or Nvidia does hit the Zenbook in the performance pocket - hence our relatively modest 3D Mark score.

We felt the display wasn't the best - dark colours and especially blacks seem a little washed out - but definition is good. We also found the viewing angle wasn't great for watching video and working alongside others.

Speed, clearly, is the focus of the ultrabook range and the Zenbook is no slouch. The instant-on feature means you can be up and running in just two seconds from sleep mode and standby time will hit two weeks on a single charge.

The Core i7 unit featured here performs brilliantly and it was able to handle multiple browsers, Outlook and Word 2010, Spotify, FileZilla and image editing apps all concurrently. You really find you can do what you want, when you want.

There were a couple of times when we found this wasn't the case - several times when switching power states suddenly (like unplugging the charger) meant that the whole system seemed to struggle to adapt - browsing became slow and we had to let the system calm completely down. Also we found that using more intensive apps could make things hang - handling a load of images inside Microsoft Publisher, for example.

Even with heavy use during our testing, the Zenbook's battery lasted for an impressive 253 minutes. And when the battery does dip below 5 per cent, the Zenbook will automatically save any files in progress to avoid you losing all your work when the machine shuts down.

The battery can seem like it's draining reasonably quickly when doing any tasks on high performance but on power saving mode this thing is positively frugal, going for around six hours if you're careful. Asus quotes seven, but you'll have to barely use it to get that. So we're not at the all-day battery life scenario yet, but we're getting closer.

The slim design means physical connectivity isn't as abundant as regular laptops, but there's still enough here to satisfy most users.

Asus has included two USB ports, one of which is USB 3.0 as well as an SD card slot plus a mini HDMI and mini DislayPort for connecting the ultrabok to an external TV or monitor. The Zenbook also has 802.11n Wi-Fi and cutting edge Bluetooth 4.0 wireless connectivity.

Good value?

Although the 13.3-inch Zenbook will set you back from £999, that;s still £100 less than the cheapest 13.3-inch Macbook Air.

Similarly, Asus has matched Apple with pricing for the 11.6-inch model which, like the smaller Macbook Air comes in at £849. Considering the technology and the form factor, a starting price point of under a thousand pounds is good value for money - especially when you consider other such ultraportables have cost as much as £1,500 in the past.

Overall we were very impressed with the Asus Zenbook. Neither power nor portability has been sacrificed in pursuit of the other and features that traditionally suffer, such as audio quality and battery life, have not been neglected.

Battery life, especially, isn't the worry it usually is with the Zenbook, but you need to make sure it's in the right power state - running on high performance means that the system flies - but it comes at a cost. For most purposes, running in power saving mode is more than enough.

We liked

There's so much to like about this laptop. It's a real PC ultraportable - the design is fantastic and it goes like stink.

Beautiful design can only come into its own when there's performance to match.And it's all here in spades.

The instant sleep and resume is exactly what you want in a laptop like this, and you'll find yourself quickly adapting to never shutting down. Unless, that is. Windows wants to install updates!

We disliked

There's surprisingly little we disliked about the Zenbook, but it must be said that the trackpad buttons grate especially. They are truly awful and mean that a mouse is recommended for serious work.

The keyboard takes a bit of getting used to and isn't as good as many - however, you quickly get to know it and it's not too much of an issue. The lack of a backlight is also a problem.

Graphics performance could be better but we realise that's slightly unrealistic for a machine of this type - we also weren't huge fans of the display.

Finally, you could say the design - though fantastic - is rather derivative. Still, unless you're a real design freak, you'll almost certainly find that you're not that fussed.

Verdict

While price may preclude some from purchasing the Zenbook, we have no problem in recommending it as one of the best ultraportables we've seen.

It's certainly a match for the impressive MacBook Air - and a real tonic to those who have wanted a performanceWindowsultraportable at a price point that doesn't require a remortgage. Yes, it's expensive. But it's so worth it.

amd

How to buy a good CPU

1:19:00 AM

If you buy a PC or a laptop and you wonder what CPU to buy for it, consider first for what do you buy that computer or CPU, if you use it more for editing text, excel, power point, all MS-Office suite or Open Office, web surfing ,chating, watching movies,you can buy an entry level class processor if you want to see HD movies, editing photos, playing games but not the most demanding ones( video card is essential if you buy a high range one is OK if not NO HIGH - DEMANDING GAMES)

you can buy without worrying processors from the middle –range.

If you want to play the latest games, multitasking, overclocking freak, and pretty much everything you want the hight end line is for you:p

Processor, together with the motherboard, video card and memory are the basic components of a computer. And, of course, these are the most difficult choice.Because they are so much and some so close in price that ultimately the decision willbe influenced by affinity for a particular manufacturer. In terms of processors, the situation is somewhat unclear, those who want a more powerful but still at a low price will opt for AMD and those who simply want performance without looking at the costs will opt for Intel.

Naturally, each manufacturer has its share of advantages. AMD has a lower temperature and the integrated memory controller works well with RAM, and Intel is doing much better in rendering, encoding, editing, not to mention the overclocking. But to see how the processors are divided into categories depending on performance because they will be used only in certain areas.

For the entry-level we have the AMD Sempron LE / Athlon X2 and Intel's model Celeron/E3xxx, E5xxx and with 2gigs of ram are excellent processors for use in the office, which does notrequire large computing power.

Do not try to use in gaming systems because you will be disappointed, and the overclocking results are not good at all.

In the middle we find the dual-core and triple-core AMD Athlon2 X3 and Phenom2 X3 and dual,core models of Intel E6xxx Series, G6950, E7500/7600, i3 andE8300/8400 Core. Already here we can talk about overclocking, 3DMark scores, multitasking, editing / encoding video and so on. They are powerful processors, able to handle any application. But those who want performance without limits do not forget that there's another category of processors.

In this category with 4 gigs of ram (DDR2/DDR3) and video card as the HIS ATI Radeon HD 5670 IceQ 1GB GDDR5,128 bit, can run even the most demanding games of the day in reasonable conditions.

High-end. In this category are quad-core processors and six-core products for both AMD and Intel. There is no secret the name of the AMD Phenom2 X4,AMD Phenom2 X6 or Q9xxx,Intel Core i7 and some i5 processors from Intel. If you want maximum performance here you will find all that you need.Overclocking, rendering and editing time increasingly smaller, multitasking, GAMING ,anything you imagine can be found on these processors. But performance has its price.

Computer^News^FAQ

Ivy Macs rumored to Launch April 8

Asus Zenbook UX31

How to buy a good CPU

About me

Follow Us

Press

recent posts

Text Widget

Pages

PCWorld How-To's and Tips

PCWorld Latest Technology Reviews

Like us on Facebook

Flickr Images

Computer^News^FAQ

Ivy Macs rumored to Launch April 8

Asus Zenbook UX31

How to buy a good CPU

About me

Follow Us

Press

recent posts

Text Widget

Subscribe To

Pages

PCWorld How-To's and Tips

PCWorld Latest Technology Reviews

Like us on Facebook

Flickr Images