computeraholic™

A server-based APU for the GPGPU 4 November 2011

If AMD is the consumer market with its APU, the chips are also interesting for other purposes.

And Penguin Computinghas announced a server based on chips A6 and A8.

The Altus 2A00 is indeed a 2U server for storage – it offers eight 3.5-inch bays – with the ability to do calculations on the GPU directly. The advantage is that GPGPU functions are “free” because the APU include four conventional x86 cores (K10 derivatives) but also a compatible AMD OpenCL GPU and equipped with 320 or 400 units of calculation.

At the time the Atom and other ARM under the spotlight for servers – without really be used in practice – AMD solution is finally interesting: the GPGPU is increasingly used and the Atom or ARM chips can provide solutions on this case. For entry-level servers, the APU are good candidates, at least

[Via PCSMAX]

Job cuts take place in all areas of AMD 4 November 2011

AMD will lay off 10% of its workforce

American Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD), the world’s second largest manufacturer of microprocessors, reported on Thursday, wants to break down about 10 percent of the global workforce in the context of a restructuring plan.

As stated in a press release, is to reduce costs with the restructuring plan and aligned the worldwide workforce to important growth markets. The operational savings will come in the fourth quarter of 2011 to $ 10 million and in the year 2012 to $ 118 million. The job cuts take place in all areas of the Group and should be largely completed by the end of the first quarter of 2012. On the basis of the restructuring plan, AMD expects that operating costs will be in the fourth quarter of 2011 to approximately 610 million US dollars.

In addition to the savings from the restructuring plan AMD through efficiency improvements will save$ 90 million in 2012, what next year to more than $ 200 million to grow the entire

[Via PCSMAX]

NVIDIA has a patent on a compact computer 4 November 2011

If NVIDIA has historically been a company that produces GPU, she turned increasingly to other areas.
And the last patent of the company is interesting. It has in fact a “portable computer system,” with a screen incorporating a slot for a box format “USB.” This box is the computer itself, with – not surprisingly – a SoC Tegra inside.

With the coming of NVIDIA SoC integrates four cores and core Cortex A9 Denver of the firm, could be achieved in the medium term the power of a desktop in a relatively compact volume. The patent states that the housing is 40 to 60 mm long, 10-20 mm wide and 5-10 mm thick, which is interesting.

If such technology is becoming more democratic, the synchronization technologies or cloud computing will become obsolete: it is enough to move with its

[Via PCSMAX]