Yesterday, Intel held a teleconference in which the company detailed their upcoming 4th generation Haswell “Low Power” architecture which brings improved efficiency and performance over its Ivy Bridge predecessors. Intel’s Haswell platform is expected to launch during the first week of June.

Intel Haswell Low Power Core Architecture Detailed

We have already seen a glimpse of Intel’s 4th generation low power core architecture which would power the upcoming tablets, notebooks, All-In-one PCs and NUCs. Haswell as a processor architecture would be unified enabling it to scale all the way from servers to desktops and tablets. It would be available in different tiers at launch day which would include the powerful desktop K-series, all the way down to R-Series for NUCs and Y/U low-power series for Ultrabooks, tablets and notebooks. Haswell would bring an enhanced version of the 22nm architecture we saw on Ivy Bridge with 3D Transistors technology that would be optimized for low power with hindering core performance.

Features wise, Haswell delivers upto 50% battery life compared to Ivy Bridge in workload conditions and around 2 -3 times battery life in idle states. Battery life on one side, Haswell also improves overall computing performance and pushes the graphical boundaries on Intel’s core processors. The Haswell low power processors would be the worlds first to feature an onboard EDRAM module which was seen a while ago with BGA packaged R-Series chips. The onboard EDRAM package would only be delivered with the HD 5200 “Iris Pro chips” which offer upto 2-3 times visual power compared to previous generation HD 4000 series cores.

NVIDIA, today launches their latest and greatest GeForce GTX 780 graphics card which is built using the same DNA “core” used on the GeForce GTX Titan and Tesla K20X graphics accelerators. The GeForce GTX 780 comes with the GK110 architecture that provides supercomputing performance to PCs.

Titan’s Little Brother Has Arrived – Meet The GeForce GTX 780

On the technical side, NVIDIA made a few changes with the GK110 core architecture. It still features 7.1 Billion transistors and comes with 4.5 TFlops of computing performance. The difference in the core is the GK110 version used on the GeForce GTX 780 “GK110-300″ comes with 2304 cores which means that out of 15 total SMX units only 12 were kept operational. The GeForce GTX Titan has 13 SMX units which amounts to 2668 Cores while a fully enabled GK110 GPU features 2880 cores, NVIDIA hasn’t released a GPU which comes with the fully enabled version.

Coming back to the specifications, the 2304 cores are coupled by 192 texture mapping units and 48 ROPs (Raster operators). The GeForce GTX 780 has 3 GB GDDR5 memory compared to the 6 GB GDDR5 memory on GeForce GTX Titan. Memory operates along a 384-bit wide interface while clock frequency is configured at the reference 1502 MHz or 6 GHz effective. The core clock is maintained at 863 MHz while GPU Boost 2.0 is clocked at 902 MH z. The GeForce GTX 780 pumps out a bandwidth of 288.4 GB/s which is the same as the GeForce GTX Titan but a boost over the 192 GB/s bandwidth of the GeForce GTX 680.

AMD has launched their latest Temash APU platform for “Ultra Low Power” tablets and netbooks. The Temash APU platform from AMD comes with the latest Radeon HD 8000 cores based on the GCN architecture while the CPU features upto four Jaguar modules.

AMD Temash APU “Ultra Low Power” Platform Launched

The AMD Temash APU platform is built specifically for tablets, convertibles and netbooks with displays under 13 inches. With the Temash platform, AMD has given birth to a new category of technological devices known as the “Performance Tablet”. These so called performance tablets equipped with the latest Temash architecture would feature superior HD Media experience, elite experiences for tablets and gaming on par with PC visuals thanks to the HD 8000 cores.

The Temash APU is a complete SOC (System on chip) and has almost everything including chipsets to hubs on the APU die. The Temash SOC comes with 2 – 4 Jaguar modules which share 2 MB of L2 cache. The die also holds the northbridge, GCN based HD 8000 graphics core, PCI Express/Display, SD, VGA, SATA, USB and other misc input and output controllers which is remarkable for a die of that size. With everything onboard a single die, Temash SOC aims to conserve and become an ever more efficient  product than AMD’s past generation Brazos APUs. A Temash APU is directly be connected to a memory controller that supports single channel DDR3L memory. The Jaguar core architecture delivers upto 20% improvement over Bobcat while the GCN based HD 8000 graphics core offers 75% improvement and adds DirectX11.1 support for tablets.

AMD has finally unveiled their latest Richland Mobile APU “Elite Performance” platform for high ultrathin laptops and notebooks. AMD Richland Mobile “Elite Performance APU” platform was announced a while back and is now available with top of the line notebooks from OEM manufactures.

AMD Officially Launches Richland Mobile APU Platform

AMD Richland Mobile APUs don’t bring anything new to the table as far as architecture is concerned. They are still based off the x86 Piledriver core architecture with upto four modules, improved clock speeds and the Radeon HD 8000 series GPUs are based on the old VLIW4 architecture but yet again offer improved performance from higher clock speeds compared to Trinity.

The AMD Richland Mobile A-series is split into four tiers based on their performance and feature set. The fastest Richland Mobile A10 APUs comes with the entire feature set which includes:

• AMD Gesture Control
• AMD Face Login
• AMD Screen Mirror
• AMD Steady Video
• AMD Quick Stream Technology
• AMD Perfect Picture HD

AMD’s next generation Kabini APUs have been released powering next generation of notebooks with the high-performance x86 Jaguar architecture and Radeon HD 8000 cores.

AMD Kabini APUs – Powers Next Gen Mainstream Notebooks

The AMD Kabini APUs or SOC (System-on-chip) is designed specifically to deliver best in class efficiency to next generation mainstream notebooks while delivering faster performance with the first ever x86 Quad Core SOC codenamed “Kabini”. The Kabini APUs feature upto four of the latest x86 Jaguar cores that deliver faster performance over last generation processors while improving power efficiency by delivering muchbetter battery life and performance per watt.

The graphics side of the chip is powered by the latest HD 8000 cores which might not be based on a new architecture but deliver better performance through improved clock speeds. The Kabini APUs are split in two tiers, the Kabini A-Series APUs would directly compete against the Core i3 and Pentium series CPUs from Intel while the Kabini E-Series APUs would go against the Celeron lineup. AMD aims to deliver a new price per performance achievement with their latest Kabini APUs and will be drastically cheaper than what Intel offers.

A few hours ago, Expreview published a full review of the GeForce GTX 780 which would launch today. In addition to the review, the site also unveiled the iChill GeForce GTX 780 from Inno3D that features their beastly HerculeZ 3000 cooler.

Inno3D Strikes Back With iChill GeForce GTX 780 GPU

The iChill GeForce GTX 780 would be the flagship product of the 700 series and would be based on a cut down version of the GK110 core codenamed “GK110-300-A2″. This core would have 2304 cores and a 3 GB GDDR5 memory which would operate along a 384-bit memory interface. The core is maintained at a super overclock of 1006 MHz with Turbo boost of 1046 MHz while the memory also operates at an overclocked frequency of  1553 MHz or 6.2 GHz effective clock speed. The GPU would be powered by an 8+6 Pin connectors which represent a 250W TDP while display connectors include Dual Link DVI, HDMI and a single display port.

The most notable thing about the iChill GeForce GTX 780 is its triple slot HerculeZ 3000 cooler which features tri-fan cooling solution. Beneath the fans lies a large aluminium fin array block that is equipped with three copper heatpipes to dissipate heat while the contact surface is made of pure aluminum. Compared to older iterations of the cooler, the iChill GeForce GTX 780 has a more bulkier version of the original HecruleZ 3000 cooler. It includes a newly designed backplate with shades of black and grey and a metal bracket on the side that holds the PCB so it doesn’t bent down by the weight of the cooler.

The first review of NVIDIA’s upcoming GeForce GTX 780 is live on Expreview and we are looking at some great numbers from the 700 series flagship part. In addition to the usual review stuff which includes specification and benchmarks, Expreview also detailed a few models of the upcoming card which include the fastest clocked GTX 780 Herculez 3000 from Inno3D which runs at 1006 MHz core and upto 1046 MHz boost clock.

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 Reviewed  - 25% Faster Than GTX 680

If you had been following us then you would know that the GeForce GTX 780 is based on a slightly cut down version of the GK110 core which was featured on the GeForce GTX Titan. The GTX 780 would be the flagship product of the 700 series and would be based on a cut down version of the GK110 core codenamed “GK110-300-A2″. This core would have 2304 cores and a 3 GB GDDR5 memory which would operate along a 384-bit memory interface. The core is maintained at 863 MHz with Turbo boost of 900 MHz while the memory operates at the reference 1502 MHz or 6 GHz effective clock speed. The GPU would be powered by an 8+6 Pin connectors which represent a 250W TDP while display connectors include Dual Link DVI, HDMI and a single display port. Following is the specification sheet for the GPUs tested:

ASRock’s upcoming Z87 OC Formula motherboard has been detailed thanks to details unveiled by the guys at Hardwareluxx.de. ASRock’s Z87 motherboard lineup which includes their Extreme, Formula and FATAL1TY tier of motherboards were revealed a few weeks ago which can be seen here while the A-Style features for their boards was also detailed and can be seen here. You can see a live demonstration of its waterproofing by Conformal coating in the video below:

ASRock Z87 OC Formula With Waterproof Coating Detailed

The Z87 OC Formula is ASRock’s highest tier board made specifically for overclocking professionals and enthusiast. With its feature rich set of components and parts that include dual 8-Pin connectors to supply unprecedented power to the CPU socket, a black/yellow color theme including hybrid (Air + Water) cooling solution that sits on top of the electrical components making use of premium parts such as High C-Caps and a Digital PWM design. ASRock’s Z87 OC Formula uses a 12 Phase VRM and includes the following:

NVIDIA would launch their GeForce GTX 780 flagship GPU of the GeForce 700 series tomorrow but thanks to Videocardz, we have a first look at the performance numbers of the GPU which look really impressive.

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 Performance On Par With GeForce GTX Titan

If you had been following us then you would know that the GeForce GTX 780 is based on a slightly cut down version of the GK110 core which was featured on the GeForce GTX Titan. The GTX 780 would be the flagship product of the 700 series and would be based on a cut down version of the GK110 core codenamed “GK110-300-A2″. This core would have 2304 cores and a 3 GB GDDR5 memory which would operate along a 384-bit memory interface. The core is maintained at 863 MHz with Turbo boost of 900 MHz while the memory operates at the reference 1502 MHz or 6 GHz effective clock speed. The GPU would be powered by an 8+6 Pin connectors which represent a 250W TDP while display connectors include Dual Link DVI, HDMI and a single display port.

The model tested in specific was from manufacturer “GIgabyte” and the card is essentially a reference model which makes use of the Titan cooling scheme. You can see its specifications below:

EVGA has teased their latest and upcoming Z87 Classified motherboard which would be the flagship motherboard in the company’s Z87 product stack. In addition to the motherboard tease, EVGA also provided a glimpse at their new UEFI BIOS which offers a nice improvement compared to their Z77 boards.

EVGA Teases Z87 Classified Flagship Motherboard With New UEFI

EVGA’s Z87 Classified is a top of the line motherboard featuring military grade components and an Digital PWM supply that is powered through dual 8-Pin connectors to provide overclockers the most headroom for overclocks. EVGA Z87 Classified features a red and black color theme, there’s only a slight pint of red color on the heatsinks, other than that the complete motherboard has a matter black color theme along with the PCB. The heatsinks on the motherboard are connected to each other via a large aluminum heatpipe that dissipates heat off electrical parts. For overclockers, there are several voltage adjustment switches located right next to the SATA ports and two 3-Pin right angled fan connectors are also located near them. OC, Power On/Off, Reset along with the Debug LED are located right next to the DDR3-DIMM slots.