Influence and contrast

In some ways the Cell system resembles early Seymour Cray designs in reverse. The famed CDC 6600 used a single very fast processor to handle the mathematical calculations, while a series of ten slower systems were given smaller programs to keep the main memory fed with data. In the Cell the problem has been reversed: reading the data is no longer the difficult problem due to the complex encodings used in industry; today the problem is efficiently decoding that data into an ever-less-compressed version as quickly as possible.

Modern graphics cards have multiple elements very similar to the SPEs, known as shader units, with an attached high speed memory. Programs, known as shaders, are loaded onto the units to process the input data streams fed from the previous stages (possibly the CPU), according to the required operations.

The main differences are that the Cell's SPEs are much more general purpose than shader units, and the ability to chain the SPEs under program control offers considerably more flexibility, allowing the Cell to handle graphics, sound, or any other workload.

[edit]
Architecture
Main article: Cell architecture

While the Cell chip can have a number of different configurations, the basic configuration is a multi-core chip composed of one "Power Processor Element" ("PPE") (sometimes called "Processing Element", or "PE"), and multiple "Synergistic Processing Elements" ("SPE").[20] The PPE and SPEs are linked together by an internal high speed bus dubbed "Element Interconnect Bus" ("EIB"). Due to the nature of its applications, Cell is optimized towards single precision floating point computation. The SPEs are capable of performing double precision calculations, albeit with an order of magnitude performance penalty. However, there are ways to circumvent this in software using iterative refinement, which means only the values are calculated in double precision when necessary. Jack Dongarra and his team demonstrated a 3.2 GHz Cell with 8 SPEs delivering a performance equal to 100 GFLOPS on an average double precision Linpack 4096x4096 matrix.

[edit]
Power Processor Element

The PPE is the Power Architecture based, two-way multithreaded core acting as the controller for the eight SPEs, which handle most of the computational workload. The PPE will work with conventional operating systems due to its similarity to other 64-bit PowerPC processors, while the SPEs are designed for vectorized floating point code execution. The PPE contains a 32 KiB instruction and a 32 KiB data Level 1 cache and a 512 KiB Level 2 cache. Additionally, IBM has included an AltiVec unit[21] which is fully pipelined for double precision floating point and each PPU can complete two double precision operations per clock cycle, which translates to 6.4 GFLOPS at 3.2 GHz; or eight single precision operations per clock cycle, which translates to 25.6 GFLOPS at 3.2 GHz.[22]

[edit]
Synergistic Processing Elements (SPE)

Each SPE is composed of a "Synergistic Processing Unit", SPU, and a "Memory Flow Controller", MFC (DMA, MMU, and bus interface).[23] An SPE is a RISC processor with 128-bit SIMD organization[21][24][25] for single and double precision instructions. With the current generation of the Cell, each SPE contains a 256 KiB embedded SRAM for instruction and data, called "Local Storage" (not to be mistaken for "Local Memory" in Sony's documents that refer to the VRAM) which is visible to the PPE and can be addressed directly by software. Each SPE can support up to 4 GiB of local store memory. The local store does not operate like a conventional CPU cache since it is neither transparent to software nor does it contain hardware structures that predict which data to load. The SPEs contain a 128 bit, 128 entry register file and measures 14.5 mm² on a 90 nm process. An SPE can operate on 16 8-bit integers, 8 16-bit integers, 4 32-bit integers, or 4 single precision floating-point numbers in a single clock cycle, as well as a memory operation. Note that the SPU cannot directly access system memory; the 64-bit virtual memory addresses formed by the SPU must be passed from the SPU to the SPE memory flow controller (MFC) to set up a DMA operation within the system address space.

In one typical usage scenario, the system will load the SPEs with small programs (similar to threads), chaining the SPEs together to handle each step in a complex operation. For instance, a set-top box might load programs for reading a DVD, video and audio decoding, and display, and the data would be passed off from SPE to SPE until finally ending up on the TV. Another possibility is to partition the input data set and have several SPEs performing the same kind of operation in parallel. At 3.2 GHz, each SPE gives a theoretical 25.6 GFLOPS of single precision performance.

Compared to a modern personal computer, the relatively high overall floating point performance of a Cell processor seemingly dwarfs the abilities of the SIMD unit in desktop CPUs like the Pentium 4 and the Athlon 64. However, comparing only floating point abilities of a system is a one-dimensional and application-specific metric. Unlike a Cell processor, such desktop CPUs are more suited to the general purpose software usually run on personal computers. In addition to executing multiple instructions per clock, processors from Intel and AMD feature branch predictors. The Cell is designed to compensate for this with compiler assistance, in which prepare-to-branch instructions are created. For double-precision, as often used in personal computers, Cell performance drops by an order of magnitude, but still reaches 14 GFLOPS.

Recent tests by IBM show that the SPEs can reach 98% of their theoretical peak performance using optimized parallel Matrix Multiplication.[22]

Toshiba has developed a co-processor powered by four SPEs, but no PPE, called the SpursEngine designed to accelerate 3D and movie effects in consumer electronics.

Cell is a microprocessor architecture jointly developed by Sony Computer Entertainment, Toshiba, and IBM, an alliance known as "STI". The architectural design and first implementation were carried out at the STI Design Center in Austin, Texas over a four-year period beginning March 2001 on a budget reported by IBM as approaching US$400 million.[1] Cell is shorthand for Cell Broadband Engine Architecture, commonly abbreviated CBEA in full or Cell BE in part. Cell combines a general-purpose Power Architecture core of modest performance with streamlined coprocessing elements[2] which greatly accelerate multimedia and vector processing applications, as well as many other forms of dedicated computation.[2]

The first major commercial application of Cell was in Sony's PlayStation 3 game console. Mercury Computer Systems has a dual Cell server, a dual Cell blade configuration, a rugged computer, and a PCI Express accelerator board available in different stages of production. Toshiba has announced plans to incorporate Cell in high definition television sets. Exotic features such as the XDR memory subsystem and coherent Element Interconnect Bus (EIB) interconnect[3] appear to position Cell for future applications in the supercomputing space to exploit the Cell processor's prowess in floating point kernels. IBM has announced plans to incorporate Cell processors as add-on cards into IBM System z9 mainframes, to enable them to be used as servers for MMORPGs[4]

The Cell architecture includes a novel memory coherence architecture for which IBM received many patents. The architecture emphasizes efficiency/watt, prioritizes bandwidth over latency, and favors peak computational throughput over simplicity of program code. For these reasons, Cell is widely regarded as a challenging environment for software development.[5] IBM provides a comprehensive Linux-based Cell development platform to assist developers in confronting these challenges.[6] Software adoption remains a key issue in whether Cell ultimately delivers on its performance potential. Despite those challenges, research has indicated that Cell excels at several types of scientific computation.[7]

In November 2006, David A. Bader at Georgia Tech was selected by Sony, Toshiba, and IBM from more than a dozen universities to direct the first STI Center of Competence for the Cell Processor.[8][9][10] This partnership is designed to build a community of programmers and broaden industry support for the Cell processor.[8][9] There is a Cell Programming tutorial video available.[11]

Overview

A Cell Processor

The Cell Broadband Engine—or Cell as it is more commonly known—is a microprocessor designed to bridge the gap between conventional desktop processors (such as the Athlon, Pentium, and PowerPC families) and more specialized high-performance processors, such as the NVIDIA and ATI graphics-processors (GPUs). The longer name indicates its intended use, namely as a component in current and future digital distribution systems; as such it may be utilized in high-definition displays and recording equipment, as well as computer entertainment systems for the HDTV era. Additionally the processor may be suited to digital imaging systems (medical, scientific, etc.) as well as physical simulation (e.g., scientific and structural engineering modeling).

In a simple analysis the Cell processor can be split into four components: external input and output structures, the main processor called the Power Processing Element (PPE) (a two-way simultaneous multithreaded Power ISA v.2.03 compliant core), eight fully-functional co-processors called the Synergistic Processing Elements, or SPEs, and a specialized high-bandwidth circular data bus connecting the PPE, input/output elements and the SPEs, called the Element Interconnect Bus or EIB.

To achieve the high performance needed for mathematically intensive tasks, such as decoding/encoding MPEG streams, generating or transforming three-dimensional data, or undertaking Fourier analysis of data, the Cell processor marries the SPEs and the PPE via the EIB to give access to both main memory and to other external data storage. The PPE, which is capable of running a conventional operating system, has control over the SPEs and can start, stop, interrupt, and schedule processes running on the SPEs. To this end the PPE has additional instructions relating to control of the SPEs. Despite having Turing complete architectures, the SPEs are not fully autonomous and require the PPE to prime them before they can do any useful work. However, most of the "horsepower" of the system comes from the synergistic processing elements.

The PPE and bus architecture includes various modes of operation giving different levels of memory protection, allowing areas of memory to be protected from access by specific processes running on the SPEs or the PPE.

Both the PPE and SPE are RISC architectures with a fixed-width 32-bit instruction format. The PPE contains a 64-bit general purpose register set (GPR), a 64-bit floating point register set (FPR), and a 128-bit Altivec register set. The SPE contains 128-bit registers only. These can be used for scalar data types ranging from 8-bits to 128-bits in size or for SIMD computations on a variety of integer and floating point formats. System memory addresses for both the PPE and SPE are expressed as 64-bit values for a theoretic address range of 264 bytes (16,777,216 terabytes). In practice, not all of these bits are implemented in hardware; the address space is extremely large nevertheless[clarify]. Local store addresses internal to the SPU processor are expressed as a 32-bit word. In documentation relating to Cell a word is always taken to mean 32 bits, a doubleword means 64 bits, and a quadword means 128 bits.

LimeWire 4.14.12

Download Now (3.22MB) Tested spyware free

• License:Free
• Editor's Rating:
• Average User Rating: (out of 7456 votes) Rate it!
• Downloads: 130,502,249
• Requirements: Windows 95/98/Me/NT/2000/XP
• Limitations: No limitations
• Date Added:December 10, 2007

Publisher's description of LimeWire view larger From Lime Wire: CNET Trusts

Lime Wire
http://www.limewire.com/

McAfee has tested this site and found no significant problems.

More info...

Download SiteAdvisor Plus trial dwImg = null; function dwTrack() { if(!dwImg) { var dwUrl = "http://dw.cbsi.com/redir?destUrl=" + escape("http://dw.cbsi.com/i/b.gif?" + Math.floor(Math.random()*1000)); dwUrl += "&edid=3"; dwUrl += "&oid=3000-2166_4-10781282"; dwUrl += "&onid=2166"; dwUrl += "&siteid=4"; dwUrl += "&ptid=3000"; dwUrl += "&lop=sat_bubble"; dwUrl += "&tag=sat_bubble"; dwImg = new Image; dwImg.src = dwUrl; } } var saBubble = new ****{ trigger: $E('.from-pub'), bubble: null, hiding: false, initialize: function(elem) { this.bubble = $(elem); this.bubble.setOpacity(0); this.bubble.set****'top', this.trigger.offsetHeight + 'px'); this.trigger.addEvent('mouseover', function() { this.show(); dwTrack(); }.bind(this)); this.trigger.addEvent('mouseout', function() { this.hide(); }.bind(this)); }, show: function() { $clear(this.hiding); this.bubble.set****'display', 'block'); this.bubble.effect('opacity', {duration: 200}).start(1); this.hidden = false; }, hide: function() { this.hiding = this.close.delay(150, this); }, close: function() { this.chain(function() { this.bubble.effect('opacity', {duration: 200}).start(0).chain(function() { this.callChain(); }.bind(this)); }.bind(this)); this.chain(function() { this.bubble.set****'display', 'none'); this.callChain(); }.bind(this)); this.callChain(); } }); saBubble.implement(new Chain); new saBubble('sab');

LimeWire is the world's fastest P2P file-sharing application for all types of computer files, including music, video, pictures, games, and text documents. Other features include dynamic querying, file previews during download, advanced techniques for locating rare files, and an easy, clean user interface.

LimeWire's new spam blocker gets rid of junk results, and automatic updates will keep you sharing faster than ever with the latest version. You can search for Creative Commons and Weedshare licensed files, and publish your own creative works with Creative Commons licensing. LimeWire continues its guarantee of no adware or spyware. Version 4.14.12 includes a built-in bittorent support.

Download.com Video: LimeWire Editor's review of LimeWire Down to the wire

From its start as a post-Napster clone to its leading role as the quintessential Gnutella client, LimeWire has been one of the highest-profile P2P applications. The 4.0 series further ups the ante with a combination of new features, an updated interface, and better all-around performance.

On the surface, the refined and zippier Java interface houses some snazzy new icons and a few new features, including a connection-quality meter and a button matrix for zeroing in on specific file types. The search interface now sports a progress bar, and file information--such as artist and album--is more clearly displayed. The improved network performance gave us considerably more search results than previous versions and a more reliable downloading experience (for a P2P client, that is). This latest version includes torrent support, and also feels more nimble despite its inherently resource-heavy Java-based foundation. We like the What's New feature, which lists files recently added to the network. The check box to filter out adult content also is a nice touch.

The new features and overall functionality make this by far the most mature version of LimeWire to date. Despite the typical performance flaws found in all file-sharing clients, this latest version continues to offer solid performance and good looks across the board.

For the pooh-bahs at traditional media companies, re-establishing control over their digital material was paramount in 2007.

Some were more successful than others.

For example, NBC Universal broke from YouTube and iTunes to sell digital downloads of TV shows on its own sites, Hulu.com and NBC.com. In contrast, the music industry saw Radiohead create a furor by distributing music, independent of the labels, via the Internet.

The changes were dramatic considering that up until this year, techies have largely had their way with old media. The rise of digital downloads and file sharing has decimated the music sector. In the still-blossoming Web video arena, scores of people continue to post TV shows and film clips to YouTube.com in violation of copyright law.

For a while, the practice appeared unstoppable. Hollywood was advised to accept the inevitable and use YouTube as a promotion tool. Sumner Redstone, however, refused to allow outsiders to dictate where his shows appeared.

Instead of cutting a deal, the cantankerous Viacom chairman filed a $1 billion copyright lawsuit against the Google-owned YouTube. The suit is still winding its way through the courts even after Google launched a long-awaited system designed to scrub the site of copyright work.

NBC Universal followed Viacom's move by removing promotional clips from YouTube. The network also pulled downloadable TV shows from Apple's iTunes. Techies predicted that such a digital strategy would flop.

But Hulu.com, the video site created this year by NBC Universal and News Corp., has received glowing reviews. And recently, a report from Forrester Research argued Apple was better served making peace with NBC Universal for the sake of iPod owners. What would fill those iPod video screens if iTunes began losing the big networks?

Meanwhile, darkness continued to descend on the record industry's traditional business model.

The massively popular band Radiohead announced in October that it would become the first major act to promote and distribute an album online without the backing of a music label. In another groundbreaking move, the group told fans to pay whatever they wanted for the digital version of their latest album, In Rainbows. Other acts quickly followed with similar offerings.

The news wasn't all bad for at least some of the labels in 2007. EMI won kudos from music fans for stripping digital rights management (DRM) from its songs. Apple's Steve Jobs, of all people, implored the other three major record labels to follow suit.

Looking ahead to 2008, it's doubtful that adopting unprotected MP3s is enough to stem the bleeding in the record business. Expect layoffs and other cutbacks at the labels as well as more tinkering with business models. As for Internet video, look for greater competition as cable, satellite, and traditional broadcasters battle Internet companies for eyeballs.

Somebody schooled in zen philosophy once said that there are as many Firefox extensions as there are grains of sand on the beach. Well, we're going to focus on those grains of sand and pick out the 10 best grains, I mean extensions, of the year.

Some here at the Firefox Extensions and Grains of Sand Counting Division of CNET Download.com think that Tab Mix Plus is the best Firefox extension ever, and that's hard to argue with. TMP can change nearly every behavior and action performed by tabs. With it, you can browse tabs with your scrollwheel or mouse gestures, specify where pages will open, duplicate a tab, prevent it from closing, merge tabs and more. 2007 saw some bug-fixes and mid-level feature tweaks, and we're hoping that the publisher continues to improve this must-have extension.

MR Tech Local Install

MR Local Tech Install is designed for those who want more control over their plug-ins. The best tool this application gives the user is a Restart button that reboots Firefox quickly and re-opens all the tabs that were closed. Users are given control of nearly everything concerning plug-ins, from the folder the plug-ins are saved in to context-menu choices to more complex hacks. The interface is basic and a bit overwhelming given all the choices it offers, but if you download only one extension, make it this one so that all the others you get will be far easier to handle.

Firefox has always been lacking in one area: sidebars. Inspired by the Opera browser's sidebar management, All-in-One Sidebar not only gives you a sidebar, it gives you plenty of things to do with it. You can set it to live on either side of the browser, use hot key controls, and even command other Firefox pop-ups like the download manager to open in the sidebar itself. Up until a few weeks ago, it might not've made this list for a lack of upgrades, but now AiOS is compatible with Flock and Firefox 3 beta, and comes with even more options.

CustomizeGoogle

CustomizeGoogle lets you tweak your Google services in a myriad of ways, such as removing ads and sponsored links, adding position rankings and links to other search engines, and forcing secure loading (https) for Gmail and Google Calendar. The coolest new feature of CustomizeGoogle is the ability to stream Web search results. That's right--you can kick that Next button to the curb. Simply scroll to the bottom of a search-results page, and more results will appear automatically. You can also use Firefox's Find function to search the entire results content.

There are two other top-notch Google-based extensions in this year's top 10. One is Gmail Space which turns that fast-approaching 6 gigabytes of free online space for email into free online space for whatever you like. Accessible via a Toolbar button or from the Menubar, the extension opens a new tab with an FTP-****interface. You can transfer files by highlighting them and hitting the directional arrow. When you finish uploading, it sends an email with the file as an attachment to your Gmail account. By creating an appropriate filter and folder, it can be quite easy to keep track of the files you've uploaded. Drag and drop is not available, but there's a music player mode and a buggy slideshow mode for photos.

The other is the excellent Better Gmail, which compiles multiple Greasemonkey user scripts into one location and comes in two flavors: the original, designed for the old Gmail interface and loaded with goodies, and the newer version designed for the new Gmail interface and off to a good start. Make no mistake, though, Better Gmail 1 so far has all the cool toys, including Google Reader integration, icons for attachments, a search-by-date option, a search string saver, and some skins. Some of the features, like label colors, have proven so popular that Google adopted them. Better Gmail 2 does have some neat features, like forcing a secure connection, Thunderbird-****folders, and expanded keyboard macros.

FireFTP

FireFTP turns Firefox into a full-fledged FTP client. It has all the major tools that you would expect a stand-alone FTP client to provide. It can handle multiple accounts and remember different logins, passwords, and connection settings for each. It supports authenticated TSL, authenticated SSL, and implicit SSL for secure transfers, drag-and-drop, and CHMOD changes. It can't transfer files larger than 4 GB, and it's buggy on Windows Vista, but it's surprisingly stable and not a resource pig.

Perfect for image hunters, DownThemAll is a download manager that finds everything downloadable on a page and lets you designate which files you'd like to download. You can not only pause and resume downloads, but set download folders with one click, set filters to avoid file types you don't want, like software, and more. It also features a download accelerator for speedier transfers and lets you set a maximum number of transfers, so your broadband doesn't get clogged pulling in YouTube videos.

Auto Copy

AdBlock Plus effectively blocks ads and banners from a predefined list of ad providers, and you can expand the list by right-clicking on an advertisement. Adblock Plus runs unobtrusively in the background. Clicking on an ad brings up a bland, text-based message box, through which you can easily add to the list of blocked ads. Removing an ad from the blocked list also is as simple as clicking and choosing the appropriate option.

Auto Copy adds Linuxesque functionality to your clipboard as long as you're working within Firefox, so that simply highlighting a chunk of text will copy it. More than an auto-copier, it offers up an extensive options menu to determine the how's and where's the clip you've just copied gets deposited. One option opens up a context menu just after you finish highlighting, giving you instant post-copy choices. You can also configure a keyboard shortcut.

Specifications CPU and Memory Processor Brand Intel Processor Class Core 2 Duo Processor Speed 1.2 GHz Mobile Technology Intel Centrino Duo Installed Memory 2 GB Maximum Memory 2 GB Memory Technology DDR II SDRAM Cache Size 2 MB Processor Core 2 Duo Storage Hard Drive Capacity 48 GB Included Drives DVD±RW (±R DL) / DVD-RAM CD Write Speed 24 X CD Rewrite Speed 16 X CD Read Speed 24 X DVD Read Speed 8 X DVD Write Speed 8x (DVD±R), 4x (DVD±R DL) Display and Graphics Display Size 11.1 in Display Type TFT active matrix Graphics Processor Intel GMA 950 Resolution 1366 x 768 pixels Battery Battery Life 8.5 hour(s) Battery Type Lithium ion Communications and Networking Bluetooth Yes Modem Speed 56 Kbps Network Support Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet, IEEE 802.11n (draft), Bluetooth, IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11a, IEEE 802.11g Software Operating System Microsoft Windows Vista Business Connectors Interface Provided VGA, Phone line, Ethernet 10Base-T/100Base-TX/1000Base-T Warranty Warranty Information 1 year warranty Base Warranty 1 year warranty General Product Info Input Devices Keyboard, Touchpad Included Sound Card Sound card Chassis Color Premium black Weight 2.6 lbs Also known as Sony TZ195N/XC, Sony VAIO TZ195N/XC, Sony VAIO VGNTZ195N/XC, Sony VGNTZ195N/XC, Sony VAIO

Overall User Rating: 9/5 based on 15 ratings Overall Pro Rating: 8 /5 based on 1 review s $ 1,549.98- $ 2,507.64 Buying Information from 13 stores

* Save for Later
o Add To My Saved Tech Products
o Add To Stuff I Own
o View My Lists
o Close Window
* Print
* Send to Friend
o Send in Email
o function imMe() { var story = 'MacBook Pro, 15-inch, 2.4GHz Product Ratings and Reviews on Yahoo! Tech'; var loc = document.location.href; imStory(story , loc); return false; } Send to IM
o Close Window

* Ratings & Reviews
* Price
Comparison
* Description & Details
* Help & How-To Guides

Rate this product document.write('#ytratingscontainer fieldset{display:none; }'); //HIDE BEFORE TRANSFORMED

Overall:
Hated itNeeds helpJust OKLiked itLoved it submit

Write a Review

Close this windowRating Saved. Your rating will appear on Yahoo! Tech soon. Share your advice and opinions! Write a Full Review.
Users' Reviews Sort By: Most Helpful Highest Ratings Newest Least Helpful Lowest Ratings

Previous |1 - 5 of 8 | Next
All this time on windows, WHAT WAS I THINKING!!!!

By FYREBYRD26 - See all FYREBYRD26's reviews - 11/14/07

* Overall: 5/5
* Battery Life: 5/5
* Features: 5/5
* Graphics: 5/5
* Processor Speed: 5/5
* Quality: 5/5
* Support: 5/5
* Value: 5/5

Pros:Fast, dependable, runs both OSX as well as windows. Does it all out of the box Cons:A little pricey but well worth it.

My previous lap top was a sony vaio, and I want to tell you that this mac beats the living day light out of it. First of all, I had no experience what so ever on a mac. This comp is sooooo easy to use... Show Full Review

My previous lap top was a sony vaio, and I want to tell you that this mac beats the living day light out of it. First of all, I had no experience what so ever on a mac. This comp is sooooo easy to use it isnt funny. Right out of the box its begging to edit pictures, make dvd slide shows, edit home movies. I mean I couldn't believe on how user friendly OSX and well the mac in general. Let me just say that I will not go back. Apple rules!!! try one and you will love it. :D Hide Full Review
2 Yahoo! users found this review helpfulWas this review helpful? Yes | No Report Problem Great computer

By alexdumi82 - See all alexdumi82's reviews - 11/16/07

* Overall: 5/5
* Battery Life: 5/5
* Features: 5/5
* Graphics: 5/5
* Processor Speed: 5/5
* Quality: 5/5
* Support: 5/5
* Value: 4/5

Pros:performance, design, stability, bundled software Cons:a bit pricey?

Great product! It's the 3rd day since I got it. It's my first Mac, I had no problem getting used to the new OS, everything is simple and intuitive. Great performance: Core 2 Duo processor at 2... Show Full Review

Great product! It's the 3rd day since I got it. It's my first Mac, I had no problem getting used to the new OS, everything is simple and intuitive. Great performance: Core 2 Duo processor at 2.4GHz (Santa Rosa platform), 2Gb RAM, 15" screen with LED backlight, 160GB hard drive (i took the 7200rpm option), great battery life. Everything is awesome. Maybe a little bit pricey?!? I won't go back to a PC, i'm a Mac user now! Hide Full Review
2 Yahoo! users found this review helpfulWas this review helpful? Yes | No Report Problem MacBook Pro, 15-inch, 2.4GHz Laptop Computer

By fashionista8x - See all fashionista8x's reviews - 11/14/07

* Overall: 5/5

Pros:Performance, graphic card, OLED display Cons:None

Great performance: Core 2 Duo processor at 2.4GHz (Santa Rosa platform), 2Gb RAM, 15" screen with LED backlight, 160GB hard drive , great battery life. Everything is awesome.
2 Yahoo! users found this review helpfulWas this review helpful? Yes | No Report Problem Great

By bond2b2000 - See all bond2b2000's reviews - 08/31/07

* Overall: 5/5
* Battery Life: 3/5
* Features: 5/5
* Graphics: 5/5
* Processor Speed: 5/5
* Quality: 5/5
* Support: 5/5
* Value: 4/5

Pros:Speed Cons:Cost and dosent come with office

Be sure to keep it up to date
1 Yahoo! users found this review helpfulWas this review helpful? Yes | No Report Problem oh,,,,

By uzzy_madrid - See all uzzy_madrid's reviews - 12/17/07

* Overall: 5/5
* Battery Life: 3/5
* Features: 5/5
* Graphics: 5/5
* Processor Speed: 5/5
* Quality: 5/5
* Support: 5/5
* Value: 1/5

Pros:s Cons:a

pleas,,,,
price don't be too expensive
maybe US$1000-us$15000

AMD Phenom™ Quad-Core ProcessorsRealize New Possibilities with True Quad-Core Technology

If you crave visually stunning digital media, 3D gaming or the ultimate entertainment experience make the Smarter Choice with AMD Phenom™ quad-core processors.
Help Me Decide

Experience the Phenomenal
Realize new possibilities for connecting with friends, family, and digital entertainment with the phenomenal performance of the
AMD Phenom™ 9000 series quad-core processor. Built from the ground up for true quad-core performance, AMD Phenom processors speed through advanced multitasking, critical business productivity, advanced visual design and modeling, serious gaming, and visually stunning digital media and entertainment.

AMD Phenom™ 9000 Series Quad-Core Processor Product Brief


INCREDIBLE PERFORMANCE

The ultimate megatasking experience. Featuring true multi-core design and award-winning AMD64 technology with Direct Connect Architecture, AMD Phenom™ 9000 Series processors deliver the ultimate megatasking experience by providing direct and rapid information flow between processor cores, main memory, and graphics and video accelerators. AMD Phenom™ 9000 Series processors have the technology to break through the most challenging processing loads. AMD Phenom™ 9000 Series processors feature low latency access to main memory for amazingly rapid response and phenomenal system performance. AMD Phenom™ 9000 Series processors were designed for megatasking—running multiple, multi-threaded applications. Surge through the most demanding processing loads, including advanced multitasking, critical business productivity, advanced visual design and modeling, serious gaming, and visually stunning digital media and entertainment.

Phenomenal performance with advanced processor design. The AMD Phenom™ 9000 series processors are the most advanced processors for true multitasking with true quad-core design. Don't get bogged down by non-native quad-core processors and obsolete front side bus architectures. With an integrated memory controller and shared L3 cache, AMD Phenom™ 9000 Series processors have low-latency access to main memory for amazingly rapid system response and phenomenal system performance.

Blast through performance bottlenecks. All AMD Phenom™ 9000 series processors feature AMD64 with Direct Connect Architecture to blast through performance bottlenecks. Award winning HyperTransport™ 3.0 technology just got faster, providing support for full 1080p high-definition video and extreme total system bandwidth.

Shatter the memory barrier. Superior AMD64 architecture offers direct access to DDR2 memory. Enjoy virtually unlimited memory options with AMD64 technology and 64-bit Windows Vista.® Shatter the memory barrier with AMD Phenom™ 9000 series processors and 64-bit Windows Vista.®

INTENSELY VISUAL

Experience Windows Vista.® Harness the power of Windows Vista® with the AMD Phenom™ 9000 Series quad-core processor. The AMD Phenom™ 9000 Series quad-core processor divides and conquers the most complex tasks with true multi-core design. Enjoy the ultimate megatasking experience on Windows Vista.® Enjoy virtually unlimited memory options with AMD64 technology and 64-bit Windows Vista.® Shatter the memory barrier with AMD Phenom™ 9000 Series quad-core processors and Windows Vista.®

STRIKINGLY EFFICIENT

Strikingly efficient Cool'n'Quiet™ 2.0 technology.With the next generation of award-winning Cool'n'Quiet™ technology, Cool'n'Quiet™ 2.0 technology reduces heat and noise so you can experience amazing performance without distraction. Combined with core enhancements that can improve overall power savings, the AMD Phenom™ 9000 Series quad-core processor delivers seamless multitasking and optimum energy efficiency. Work, play, talk, and share a PC that's seen, not heard.

Purchase with Confidence
Founded in 1969, AMD has shipped more than 240 million PC processors worldwide. Customers can depend on AMD64 processors and AMD for compatibility and reliability. AMD processors undergo extensive testing to help ensure compatibility with Microsoft Windows XP, Vista, Windows NT®, Windows 2000, as well as Linux and other PC operating systems. AMD works collaboratively with Microsoft and other ecosystem partners to achieve compatibility of AMD processors and to expand the capability of software and hardware products leveraging AMD64 technology. AMD conducts rigorous research, development, and validation to help ensure the continued integrity and performance of its products.

Key Architectural Features




The industry's first true Quad core x86 processor

• True quad-core designed from the ground up for better communication between cores.
  • BENEFIT : Cores can communicate on die rather than on package for better performance

AMD64 with Direct Connect Architecture

• Helps improve system performance and efficiency by directly connecting the memory controller and I/O to the CPU.
• Designed to enable simultaneous 32- and 64-bit computing
• Integrated DDR2 Memory Controller
• BENEFITS :
  • Increases application performance by reducing memory latency
  • Scales memory bandwidth and performance to match compute needs
  • HyperTransport™ Technology provides up to 14.4GB/s peak bandwidth per processor—reducing I/O bottlenecks
  • Up to 27.2GB/s total delivered processor-to-system bandwidth (HyperTransport bus + memory bus)

AMD Balanced Smart Cache

• Shared L3 cache
• In addition to the 512K L2 cache per core, up to 2MB of L3 cache shared by up to 4 cores.
  • BENEFIT : Shortened access times to highly accessed data for better performance.

AMD Wide Floating Point Accelerator

• 128-bit floating point unit (FPU)
• High performance (128bit internal data path) floating point unit per core.
  • BENEFIT : Larger data paths for quicker floating point calculations and better performance.

HyperTransport™ technology

• One 16-bit link up to 3600MT/s
• Up to 8 .0 GB/s HyperTransport™ I/O bandwidth; Up to 14.4GB/s in HyperTransport Generation 3.0 mode
• Up to 27.2GB/s total delivered processor-to-system bandwidth (HyperTransport bus + memory bus)
  • BENEFIT : Quick access times to system resources for better performance.

Integrated DDR2 DRAM Controller with AMD Memory Optimizer Technology

• A high-bandwidth, low-latency integrated DDR2 memory controller
• Supports PC2-8500 (DDR2-1066*); PC2-6400 (DDR2-800), PC2-5300 (DDR2-667), PC2-4200 (DDR2-533) or PC2-3200 (DDR2-400) SDRAM unbuffered DIMMs
• Support for 64-bit DDR2 SDRAM memory
• Up to 12.8GB/s memory bandwidth
  • BENEFIT : Quick access to system memory for better performance.

AMD Virtualization™ (AMD-V™) With Rapid Virtualization Indexing

• Silicon feature-set enhancements designed to improve the performance, reliability, and security of existing and future virtualization environments by allowing virtualized applications with direct and rapid access to their allocated memory.
  • BENEFIT : Helps virtualization software to run more securely and efficiently enabling a better experience when dealing with virtual systems

AMD Cool'n'Quiet™ 2.0 technology

• Enhanced power management features which automatically and instantaneously adjusts performance states and features based on processor performance requirements
• For quieter operation and reduced power requirements
  • BENEFIT : Enables platform designs providing less heat and noise efficient performance and energy usage.

AMD CoolCore™ Technology

• Reduces processor energy consumption by turning off unused parts of the processor. For example, the memory controller can turn off the write logic when reading from memory, helping reduce system power.
• Works automatically without the need for drivers or BIOS enablement.
• Power can be switched on or off within a single clock cycle, saving energy without comprimised performance.
  • BENEFIT: Helps users get more efficient performance by dynamically activating or turning off parts of the processor.

Dual Dynamic Power Management™

• Enables more granular power management capabilities to reduce processor energy consumption.
• Separate power planes for cores and memory controller, for optimum power consumption and performance, creating more opportunities for power savings within the cores and memory controller.
  • BENEFIT Helps improve platform efficiency by providing on demand memory performance while still allowing for decreased system power consumption

Learn more about AMD Phenom™ processors

AMD Phenom™ Processor-Based Component Information

Welcome to the AMD Phenom™ Processor-based System Component Information page. The family of AMD Phenom™ processors help ensure superior performance on today and tomorrow's software. Information in this area includes:

• Recommended motherboards
• Thermal Solution Guidelines
• Memory Guidelines
• Power Supply Guidelines
• Tower Chassis Guidelines
• Support Component

Because of the tight control OEM's can maintain over the configuration and power consumption of their products, AMD OEM customers can use power supplies that are not usually recommended by AMD for use with a particular processor. Any questions about power supplies used in OEM systems should be directed to the system manufacturer.

Recommended memory for your AMD Phenom™ processor-based system may be specific to the type of motherboard you plan to use. For more details, we recommend that you contact the motherboard manufacturer for the correct memory to install.

More configuration information is available from your local AMD representative.

Energy Efficiency with AMD Cool'n'Quiet Technology

As the world becomes increasingly energy conscious, AMD continues to make energy efficiency a priority. Advances like AMD's Cool'n'Quiet technology result in proven, measurable benefits for businesses and consumers, including reduced power usage, lower energy costs, and greener PC operation.

AMD's Energy Efficient processors offer tangible benefits,

Consumer Benefits

• Helps enable electricity cost savings
• Helps enable smaller form factors that take up less space for both practical and aesthetic purposes
• Helps enable systems that are quiet and do not generate excessive heat - ideal for growing media center PC market

Enterprise Benefits

• Helps enable low energy bills to help reduce operating costs
• Helps enable differentiated and competitive solutions
• Helps enable smaller, sleeker form factors that take up less space in offices and cubicles and are designed to operate quietly

Cool 'N' Quiet™ 2.0 Technology

With the next generation of award-winning power saving technology, Cool'n'Quiet™ 2.0 technology reduces heat and noise so you can experience amazing performance without distraction. Combined with core enhancements, included in the AMD Phenom™ Quad-Core processor, that can improve overall power savings, deliver seamless multitasking and energy efficiency. Work, play, talk, and share on a PC that's seen, not heard.

New features:

• Independent Dynamic Core Technology- Helps users get more efficient performance by dynamically adjusting individual core frequencies as required by utilization needs
• Dual Dynamic Power Management™ - Helps improve platform efficiency by providing full-speed memory performance while enabling decreased system power consumption.
• AMD CoolCore™ Technology - Helps users get more efficient performance by dynamically activating or turning off parts of the processor.
• AMD Wideband Frequency Control - Allows the processor to respond more precisely to user demands, maximizing performance to deliver a better PC user experience.
• Multi-Point Thermal Control - Prevents processor from creating too much heat and enables a cooler, quieter PC experience

AMD's Energy Efficient processors offer technology partners energy-efficient options to create small, quiet and attractive solutions so that enterprises and consumers alike have more pleasant computing experiences. By using less electricity, energy efficient AMD desktop processors can lead to lower energy consumption, contributing to an improved global environment

Get More with Less Power.

Energy-efficient AMD processors with Cool'n'Quiet™ technology enable smaller, sleeker, more energy-efficient PC's. In March 2005, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) awarded Cool'n'Quiet technology special recognition for the advancement of energy-efficient computer technologies. AMD expects that systems built using energy-efficient AMD desktop processors can meet, and in many instances, exceed the new system requirements from the EPA's ENERGY STAR Version 4 computer specification, effective July 20, 2007.

ENERGY STAR Documentation and websites

Energy Star Overview for desktops

Energy Star websites:

ENERGY STAR
ENERGY STAR Qualified Computers

Resources

Cool'n'Quiet Technology Installation Guide for AMD Athlon 64 processor-based systems
This document is a step-by-step guide to enable Cool'n'Quiet technology functionality on an AMD Athlon 64 processor-based system. It outlines the correct components to be used, as well as instructions for obtaining and installing the correct driver software.
Download the Cool'n'Quiet Technology Installation Guide PDF

AMD Dashboard Demo Software, Rev 2.0.0
The AMD dashboard demo software graphically displays your processor's current frequency, voltage, and power savings. On some systems with BIOS ACPI support, it will also display fan speed and processor temperature. This utility supports AMD Turion™, AMD Athlon™ 64 X2, AMD Sempron™, and AMD Athlon™ 64 processors in single socket systems (single or dual-core).
Download the Release Notes PDF

Motherboard Support
For more information on available motherboards that support Cool'n'Quiet technology and on downloading Cool'n'Quiet technology–based software/drivers, please go to:
AMD Athlon 64 Recommended Motherboards
AMD Athlon 64 Processor Drivers

AMD Phenom Recommended Motherboards
AMD Phenom Processor Drivers

Overall Performance

Configuration Information

Bill Gates dies and goes to hell.
Satan greets him: "Welcome Mr. Gates, we've been waiting for you. This will be your home for all eternity. You've been selfish, greedy and a big liar all your life. Now, since you've got me in a good mood, I'll be generous and give you a choice of three places in which you'll be locked up forever."

Satan takes Bill to a huge lake of fire in which millions of poor souls are tormented and tortured. He then takes him to a massive coliseum where thousands of people are chased about and devoured by starving lions.

Finally, he takes Bill to a tiny room in which there is a Beautiful young blonde with an alluring look on her face, sitting at a table on which there is a bottle of the finest wine. To Bill's delight, he sees a PC in the corner. Without hesitation, Bill says, "I'll take this option."

"Fine," says Satan, allowing Bill to enter the room. Satan locks the room after Bill. As he turns around, he bumps into Lucifer.

"That was Bill Gates!" cried Lucifer. "Why did you give him the best place of all!"

"That's what everyone thinks," snickered Satan. "The bottle has a hole in it and the girl hasn't..."

"What about the PC?"

"It's got Windows 95!" laughed Satan. "And it's missing three keys."

"Which three?"

"Control, Alt and Delete."

A guy was on trial for murder and if convicted, would get the electric chair. His brother found out that a red neck was on the jury and figured he would be the one to bribe. He told the red neck that he would be paid $10,000 if he could convince the rest of the jury to reduce the charge to manslaughter.
The jury was out an entire week and returned with a verdict of manslaughter.

After the trial, the brother went to the red neck's house, told him what a great job he had done and paid him the $10,000.

The red neck replied that it wasn't easy to convince the rest of the jury to change the charge to manslaughter. They all wanted to let him go.