Computer Hardware Review

An Introduction To The MacBook, iMac

There is no doubt that Macintosh intimidates many PC users. It is unfamiliar territory, and anyone who is used to a Microsoft platform will find that Apple uses a rather different system. Apple Inc. produces Macintosh computers, and though you might be more familiar with an iPod or the iPhone, the iMac, MacBook, and Mac Mini might seem foreign territory.

All Apple products operate on a Mac created system, so you might be using more Apple products than you realize. The infamous iTunes is created by Apple, and is used on a multitude of operating systems.

Apple Computers began in 1976 and continues to remain a strong, viable force in technological industries. PC users shouldn’t feel intimidated by Apple computers and software, once you understand the differences and capabilities of Apple products, you’ll quickly realize that they provide many benefits.

When a PC user purchases a computer, it typically comes with a Microsoft operating system; an Apple computer will not have a Microsoft system, but one that has been designed by Apple. This system is referred to as MAC OS and like Microsoft has a variety of operating systems (Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista, etc.), Macintosh operating systems also range in variety.

The iMac computers include the iMac G3, the iMac G4, the iMac G5, and the Intel based iMac. At first glance, the iMac computer is sleek and stylish. The original shape of the iMac G3 was contemporary and in demand.

The MacBook is an Apple designed notebook or laptop computer. The first MacBook, laptop computer was released on May 16, 2006. Some MacBook computers include the MacBook Air, MacBook Core Duo, MacBook Core 2 Duo, MacBook Core 2 Duo Aluminum, MacBook Pro Core Duo, MacBook Pro Core 2 Duo and the MacBook Pro Core 2 Duo Unibody. When choosing a MacBook, each computer has different technological specifications allowing the user to choose the memory, processor, graphics, and display that they need.

Apple is always revealing new computer gear and technological products through their Macworld Conference and Exposition and in January 2005, they unveiled the Mac Mini. At 6 1/2 inches and standing a height of only 2 inches tall, the Mac Mini introduces computer users to a small, compact model. The Mac Mini is a full desktop computer that comes minus a keyboard, monitor, or mouse. Those who will easily connect it to other computer peripherals use it. The MacMini is available in hard drive capabilities ranging from 40 to 120 Gigabytes and can be upgraded. With the wide variety of products available from Apple, PC users should not feel intimidated by the world of Macintosh, but rather embrace this ever-growing line of computer technology.Choose the imac that meets your needs at http://www.electroland.gr/apple-mac.htm

Author:
Casey Adams

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Intel\’s Larrabee GPU

Intel’s brand new graphics chip is made of lots of ancient Pentium processors. Is that potty or pretty prescient?

Spare a thought for AMD and NVIDIA. They’ve been happily smacking each other upside the head for a decade. But at least they’ve been doing so safe in the knowledge that their GPUs are distinct from – and inherently superior in graphics processing terms – to CPUs.

At least, that used to be the case. Intel has now unveiled Larrabee, a co-processor based on an entirely new approach to graphics processing. If Intel has done its sums correctly, not only will the very definition of the GPU be unceremoniously defenestrated, but also AMD and NVIDIA’s graphics chips could even be pummeled to the very brink of existence.

If that sounds like hubris, try this for size. Larrabee could also tear up the rulebook for CPUs, too. That’s right, a single new architecture might just take over as ultimate all-round processor, eventually cannibalizing sales of Intel’s own conventional CPUs.

What exactly is this deathly destroyer, this harbinger of doom made manifest in 45nm silicon? Some sort of retro-engineered alien technology? Well, here’s the really hilarious bit. In simple terms, it’s just a metric crapload of old Pentium MMX processors crammed into a single processor die and mounted on a PCI Express board much like any other graphics card.

Exactly how many of these cores Larrabee contains Intel will as yet not be drawn on. Given that chips based on the Larrabee architecture won’t go on sale until late this year or early in 2010, it’s entirely possible Intel has yet to finalize the core count.

Watching the clock cycles

However, we do know that the Pentium-derived design of the cores makes them much smaller than those found in an Intel Core 2 die. In fact, Intel suggests 10 Larrabee cores can fit in the same space as a single 65nm Core 2 Duo die. Extrapolate out from that using the knowledge that Larrabee will be based on 45nm silicon technology and we reckon Larrabee chips will boast at least 32 cores at launch.

Other than the Pentium link, the other major feature of the Larrabee core architecture is a superwide floating point unit. Capable of handling 16 instructions per clock cycle, it’s four times as wide as the equivalent unit in one of Intel’s existing desktop CPUs. Factor in each core’s additional ability to support four software threads and the chip’s potential is truly staggering. It’s just possible that Larrabee might deliver 100 times the floating-point punch of a Core 2 Duo chip.

Impressive as that sounds, what we don’t know is how good this battery of general purpose and x86-compatible cores will actually be for graphics processing. Sure, it will be much more programmable than any graphics chip before. But that doesn’t mean it will be fast.

How it works

The key difference between Larrabee and all previous graphics chips is programmability. The latest DirectX 10 GPUs from AMD and NVIDIA may be much more flexible and programmable than their progenitors, but they retain a wide range of fixed function units for texture sampling, rasterization, geometry setup and more. Only the shader units are truly programmable and even those are much less flexible than a general purpose CPU.

A series of pipes

With Larrabee, the entire rendering pipeline is handled in software by a battery of small x86 cores. The only fixed function units are texture samplers, which Intel says allow for more efficient texture throughput and anisotropic filtering. In effect, therefore, the chip’s entire computational resources can be used to attack the most complex task at any given moment in time. In systems with up to 32 cores, benchmarking shows performance increasing in approximately a linear fashion relative to the number of processing cores.

Not only does that programmability make Larrabee theoretically more efficient than previous GPUs, it also means that only a software update will be required to allow Larrabee to support future graphics APIs.

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