AMD has confirmed to Maximum PC that it will release a Hexa-core (6 cores) processor (codename Thuban) next year that will be backwards compatible with AM3 and AM2+ socket-equipped motherboards. The confirmation comes after numerous rumors suggested that the company had a new 6-core chip in the works. “We are all about platform longevity and long-lived upgrade paths,” an AMD spokesman said.
The comment is likely a jab at Intel for offering three different incompatible socket infrastructures currently for Desktop computers. The “Thuban” chip is expected to be marketed as the Phenom II X6, and is derived from the Opteron chip that surfaced earlier in the summer. It will feature all six cores on single 45nm die.
Thuban is likely to pack 904 million transistors in a 346mm2 chip, compared to Intel’s Core-i7-975’s 262mm2/731 million transistors and the Core i5-750’s 296mm2/774 million transistors. It is expected to feature 3MB of L2 cache and 6MB of L3 cache.
The company did not offer up clock-speed details to Maximum PC, but it is expected to be lower than the quad-core parts due to the additional thermal output of two extra cores.
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Sling Media has announced the availability of the HD model of its popular Slingbox media hub, dubbed Slingbox PRO-HD and has said it will retail for $300 USD.
The company says the PRO-HD will let users stream “HD content from a home television source, including over the air HD digital signals (ATSC), digital cable channels (Clear QAM), HDTV cable set-top boxes, HDTV satellite receivers, or HD DVR’s, to a laptop or desktop computer in and around the house.”
The stream can also be sent online to your laptop as long as you have SlingPlayer software installed on the system.
The new box uses a technology dubbed SlingStream 2.0 which “adaptively stream high quality television content across virtually any network connection.” The technology supposedly improves audio and video quality.
The SlingPlayer software has been updated as well and will work with XP and Vista. The software “features a live video buffer which lets you pause and rewind a live video stream. Also included is an electronic programming guide (EPG) and the incorporation of Sling Accounts, a single sign-on feature that keeps key personal Slingbox information including Finder IDs, favorite channels and programming guide information.”
