Apple beats Intel to Nehalem-EP chip launch

Ponder this: Is an Intel product launch still a launch, if the product debuts very publicly in an Apple computer?
I won't presume to answer that question. But the fact is that Intel will launch Nehalem-EP server processors later this month, despite their manifestation Tuesday in the new Mac Pro under their official model names: the Xeon 3500 and 5500.
The chips--in their desktop variant known as the Core i7--are being offered in eight-core or four-core configurations and, like all Nehalam-architecture processors, come with an integrated memory controller for (theoretically) better performance. (Intel's Core architecture does not integrate the memory controller.)
Other Nehalem-architecture features include: Hyper-Threading for, according to Apple, "up to 16 virtual cores" (which improves multitasking), and Turbo Boost Technology, which dynamically increases the processor's frequency, as needed.
The Mac Pro also offers high-end Nvidia and ATI graphics. Systems can be configured with either Nvidia GeForce GT 120 or ATI Radeon HD 4870 graphics chips.

Intel’s domination continues

Intel, the 2007 channel champion in the processor category, widened its lead over AMD to emerge a winner.

Intel revamped its channel strategy in the second quarter by introducing a second tier to distribute its products. The vendor also launched Atom processors, creating a new market of computing devices—netbooks and nettops. In contrast, AMD had another dismal year. Within the first five months of 2008, AMD’s Director of Channels and Managing Director put in their papers. Meanwhile, AMD’s Phenom processors and Opteron processors (code named Barcelona) received a luke-warm response from both partners and customers.

There was just one silver lining for AMD: there are still some very staunch partners who swear by its products and technologies.

Price-performancePrice, performance and features are important criteria for processors. Both Intel and AMD raised the stakes with several new platform launches in 2009 with the former launching two new platforms, Nehalem and Atom, and the later launching its ambitious Shanghai platform to take on Nehalem. Intel positioned its Pentium Dual Core and Core2Duo processors in the mainstream PC market, maintaining a price range of Rs 2,600-Rs 7,000 throughout the year. AMD offered its Athlon 64, Athlon X2 and Phenom X3 processors at prices approximately 10-30 percent lower than comparable Intel chips, system makers feel that the final difference on the assembled product was less than Rs 1,000, a premium most customers were willing to cough up. AMD was successfully positioning its low-cost, low-energy Semperon processors for entry-level markets.By Q3 2008, Intel started offering Atom processors bundled with motherboards at prices less than a typical Semperon CPU-motherboard combo. In the high-end PC market, Intel Quad Core processors more than matched AMD’s Phenom X4 and even low-end Opterons.

In the server class of processors, system builders felt that Xeons scored over Opterons. Though AMD seems to have bridged the gap in terms of perceived price-performance by launching Phenom II and the third generation of Opterons (Shanghai), system makers feel that Intel’s new Core i7 (Nehalem) will take technology leadership away again.

The Yeomen of the Guard, Oxford University G&S Society, OFS Studio

The Yeomen of the Guard is the odd one out in the Savoy canon; it was the nearest Sullivan came to writing grand opera (something he later achieved without Gilbert, with limited success) and the only tragedy. The Oxford University G&S Society’s artistic director Sally Outen has opted for a traditional approach, with an emphasis on the opera’s dark, brutal nature. The result is a pleasingly sympathetic and uncomplicated production, which, despite the ever-present sense of foreboding, still allows Gilbert’s irrepressible humour to burst through.

The most memorable performance comes from Zosia Kuczyñska, who sings strongly and beautifully as Phoebe Meryll, and captures the fun, mischievous side of the character to perfection. I also liked Robert Hazle’s finger-twisting, nail-biting Wilfred Shadbolt, and he wrings every ounce of humour from the shambling, self-deluded Jailer. Some of the best moments of the night came from the interplay between these two, particularly the ‘wooing’ scene, in which Phoebe uses all her charms on her loathsome admirer so that she can steal the keys to Fairfax’s cell.

David Jones is fleet of both foot and tongue as Jack Point, delivering the patter songs with admirable ease, while Alexandra Coghlan sings sweetly, though not strongly, as Elsie Maynard. But, with my pedant’s hat on, I must take issue with the phrasing of their opening duet. The correct phrasing in the verses is ‘…Who fled from the mocking throng, O!/It’s a song of a merryman…’ etc – NOT ‘…Who fled from the mocking throng/O, it’s a song of a merryman…’. The punctuation in the libretto makes it clear how this should be sung, yet this incorrect phrasing is repeated throughout. Why?

Among the rest of the cast, Katherine Fairhurst’s strongly-sung Dame Carruthers stands out, and there are pleasing performances from Thomas Wade as Fairfax, Michael Peyton-Jones as the Lieutenant and Stephen Smith as Sergeant Meryll. The chorus sings and acts throughout with great energy and conviction. What lets the production down, unfortunately, is the orchestra. I can forgive a few fluffed notes, but on the opening night the overture was riddled with them, and it was taken at a rather pedestrian tempo. There also needed to be greater cohesion between orchestra and singers, who parted company on several occasions.

But there is much to enjoy in this production – it is beautifully costumed, full of fun and the company’s enthusiasm is unquestionable.