Intel to stop shipping one Core i7 desktop chip later this year

Intel plans to stop selling one of its high-end desktop chips this year, less than one year after it was released, the company confirmed Thursday.

The 2.93GHz Core i7 940 processor is one of three desktop chips based on Intel's Nehalem microarchitecture that were released in late 2008. Designed for high-end PCs, the chip includes an on-chip memory controller and support for DDR3 memory and Intel's QuickPath Interconnect technology.

The last date for customers to confirm orders for the Core i7 940 will be Sept. 4, Intel said in a notice.

"We have communicated our shipment plans for Core i7 940 to our customers. It is actively shipping and will ship through 2009.," Intel spokesman Nick Jacobs wrote in an e-mail.
The Core i7 940 was caught between two more successful products. The 940 didn't sell as well as the 2.66GHz Core i7 920, which was significantly cheaper, and it couldn't match the performance of the 3.2GHz Core i7 965 Extreme Edition, according to a source at a Taiwanese motherboard maker.

Intel is expected to release more advanced desktop chips based on the Nehalem microarchitecture later this year.

In February, the company announced plans to accelerate its shift to a 32-nanometer manufacturing process and the upcoming Nehalem desktop chips, called Clarkdale, will be produced using this process. The more advanced manufacturing process means Clarkdale should run faster and consume less power than existing Core i7 processors.

Wireless Gigabit backed by Intel, Microsoft, others

More than a dozen major technology companies have established the WiGig Alliance to develop a standard for high-speed wireless communication.
Members of the Alliance include Dell, Intel, LG Electronics, Microsoft, NEC, Nokia, Panasonic, Samsung, and others.

The roster demonstrates the consumer-electronics focus of the group, which claims that their wireless technology "provides the optimal way to connect consumer electronics, handheld devices and personal computers."

Operating in the 60GHz spectrum, products based on the WGA specification are expected to be capable of at least 1 Gbps within a range of about 10 meters.

That makes the technology suitable for streaming multimedia content from one room to another, if not for blanketing an entire residence. The Alliance acknowledges that other technologies will be better at providing whole-home coverage.

But they envision a WiGig "ecosystem" that joins together wireless displays and entertainment docks that will enable devices from multiple manufacturers to connect to each other.

Accordingly, the FAQ for potential Alliance members has answers for manufacturers of handhelds and consumer electronics, as well as of PCs, chips, and networking equipment.

The Alliance plans to make the final WiGig spec available some time toward the end of 2009, with products available possibly as early as next year.

XP mode a no-go on some AMD chips too

WE RECENTLY REPORTED that Windows XP mode, which will allow certain XP apps to run on the Vole's upcoming Windows 7, may not work on a number of Intel chips, especially those in consumer laptops. Now AMD too has confessed to having chips that won't run XP mode.
AMD says all of its CPUs with the exception of its very low-end Sempron and Turion K8 Rev E processors will include AMD-V, the firm's hardware-based virtualisation technology needed to support XP mode.

"With the exceptions of Sempron-branded processors and Turion K8 Rev E processors, all notebook processors shipped by AMD include AMD-V and therefore support Windows 7 XP mode," AMD noted, adding that in the desktop space only Sempron-branded processors and pre-Rev F Athlon branded processors would not support XP mode.

All Opteron processors, claimed AMD, would include AMD-V and thereby would support XP mode.
Whereas Intel would have consumers believe this is all quite irrelevant because installing a high end OS like Win 7 Enterprise, Professional or Ultimate on a lower end processor is unlikely, the key difference is Chipzilla's non mode-ular offerings are priced around the $600 to $899 portable range, whilst AMD's Sempron line lappies cost about $329.

So AMD's non-compatible chips really are low end, whilst Intel's non-compatible offerings are sold in more mid-range kit.

AMD also reckons Windows 7 will be able to take advantage of its RVI (Rapid Virtualisation Indexing), for better virtual management when hypervisors, guest OSs and other apps are brought into the mix.

Both Intel's VT virtualization tech and AMD's AMD-V are actually just BIOS settings which AMD says system makers tend to switch off in their machines before shipping.

Also, said AMD, to be fair, the whole issue is not just a hardware one, as chipmakers share their designs with software makers well in advance, who are supposed to make sure their programmes are compatible.

This makes the recent XP mode issue a relatively rare beast, as there are usually few, if any, compatibility problems between chips and software, said AMD.