Articles about AMD

Well, 2015 is yet another year where Windows dominates the workstations of most businesses. While some companies will utilize Chromebooks or iPads for light work and consumption, Microsoft's venerable operating system just keeps on keepin' on.

Windows 10 IoT Enterprise in particular, when paired with thin clients, can be a remarkable tool for many industries, such as healthcare, servicing, financial and more. Today, HP unveils the 14 inch mt42 -- an AMD-powered mobile thin client that the company claims is the "world's thinnest, lightest and most powerful quad-core", and it looks like a winner.

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Me and my Surface Pro 3 are the best of friends. Not only is Microsoft's computer a great tablet and laptop, but a wonderful desktop too. It can drive a 4K monitor, albeit not at 60hz, making it a solid workstation -- especially when paired with the optional dock.

Where the Surface falls short, sadly, is gaming, so with the release of Windows 10 and DirectX 12, I wanted to build a new gaming PC. My goal was to see if it can be done in a fairly affordable way. The best route for this, is an AMD APU. If you aren't familiar, an APU is essentially a CPU and GPU in one. This means you can forgo buying a dedicated graphics card to save some money.

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If you are looking to either build or buy a gaming desktop, and money is no object, you want Intel processors. Its chips offer the best performance by far, although you usually have to pay to play. Comparatively, AMD's processors can be less powerful in some areas, but offer great value for the money.

Today, Intel announces its 6th generation of "i" processors, code-named "Skylake" by releasing two new chips. The Core i5 and i7 chips are perfectly timed for Windows 10 as they feature DirectX 12 graphics support, but hardcore gamers will want to add a discrete card from AMD or NVIDIA anyway.

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Windows 10 will be available on July 29th, meaning it is just a bit more than a week until the world can start buying computers running the operating system. While Windows 10 will run fine on older hardware, a new version of Microsoft's OS can be a great time to upgrade your computer. System builders in particular may want to improve their build.

Understandably, you may be hesitant to spend money on new hardware; the economy is still bad for many. Don't worry, AMD has you covered. Today, the company launches the A8-7670K APU. Not only is it Windows 10-ready with DirectX 12 support, but it is insanely affordable too at a shockingly low $117.99. In other words, you may pay less than that at retailers.

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AMD is a company on the cusp of a resurgence. True, its recent financial performance has been disappointing, and it has been trailing Intel with performance, but there is a very bright light at the end of the tunnel. Its new APUs are very promising, while the recently announced Radeon 300 series and Fury X graphics cards have excited the PC gaming community.

Today, AMD announces a beast-mode level GPU that is designed for servers. The FirePro S9170 is a single-card solution that will leave those that work with high performance computing drooling. In other words, AMD is making supercomputers even more super!

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What an exciting time to be either a PC gamer or system builder (or both!). We are getting ever so close to a new version of Windows -- what could be the best version yet -- which is always a great excuse to upgrade hardware. Also notable, however, are the amazing new AMD 300 series graphics cards, including the Holy Grail Radeon R9 Fury X.

If you are upgrading your rig and moving to a new version of Windows, you should probably consider upgrading your monitor too. Gamers picking up a new AMD graphics card will want to consider a display with FreeSync technology for smoother gameplay. Today, Acer announces one of the most impressive such gaming monitors -- the XR341CK. This curved 34 inch QHD gaming monitor not only offers great performance, but it is totally sexy too. Feel free to drool.

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Have you bought, or are you planning to buy, one of AMD's new graphics cards, like Fury X or R9 380? If so, well done my fellow PC builder; these cards are extremely powerful, while being competitively priced. Great choice.

While not the first cards to feature FreeSync, the higher end of these new cards will allow for comfortable 4K gaming too. Obviously you need a 4K FreeSync monitor. Well, need is a strong word -- you can get by without it (it is not food or water), but you do need it if you want to be the coolest PC gamer in your neighborhood (and you do). Today, Samsung announces two such monitors that will have you drooling.

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If you've built a gaming PC lately, there is a good chance that you purchased an NVIDIA graphics card and Intel processor, and that's OK. Both of those companies make great products. Unfortunately for AMD, consumers have been ignoring its products a bit lately. This is understandable, as the company's offerings -- while solid -- have not always delivered the same value as year's past.

This year, however, AMD has been roaring back to relevance and possibly dominance. It announced the value-focused A10-7870K APU and then the awesome 6th generation A-Series notebook processors. Today, the company continues on an upward trajectory as it announces the Radeon R9 Fury, Fury X, Fury Nano and the R9 and R7 300 Series graphics cards. All are DirectX 12 capable and Windows 10-ready. If you are a hardcore gamer, these are the cards you want.

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Well folks, E3 2015 is in full swing, and this year is proving to be monumental. On the console front, Microsoft stole the show with Xbox One backwards compatibility with the 360 and the amazing -- albeit pricey -- Elite controller. Sony was no slouch, however, announcing first-rights to Call of Duty DLC.

Console gaming is cool and all, but what about those of us members of the PC Master-race? You know, those of us that like to build our gaming rigs?

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When buying a laptop, there are some specific things you should look for, such as RAM, storage and battery life. You should also pick the size and weight that best meets your needs. When choosing a processor, however, you should really do your homework. Not all processors are created equal -- you can have two with identical clock speeds with extremely different performance.

Today, AMD announces its all-new 6th generation A-Series notebook processors (previously referred to as "Carizzo") and you should definitely take notice. Not only are these new notebook processors very powerful, but extremely capable too. Will your next laptop be powered by a 6th gen A-Series processor?

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It seems like Intel gets all the attention in the PC hardware world lately. True, Intel makes some damn good processors, but so does AMD. Quite frankly, if you are looking for a great value and impressive game performance, AMD has some wonderful offerings.

Today, the company announces the A10-7870K APU. Not only is it a very powerful processor with a clock speed up to 4.1Ghz, but it is extremely affordable. Seriously, this value is incredible. Will this APU be powering your next build?

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When Microsoft released the latest Windows 10 build earlier in the week, there was one big known issue which will have put some people off updating. Windows Insiders on systems with AMD GPUs were warned that the new build could lead to stability issues, and problems with Windows Edge (or Spartan as it’s still branded in the current build).

Microsoft did say, however, that AMD was working on new drivers, and the good news is the problem appears to have been fixed.

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There were a few raised eyebrows when Microsoft announced it was planning a summer release for Windows 10, its next operating system. Most people assumed the tech giant was anticipating a late summer release -- September possibly -- but now it seems we might be seeing the new OS much earlier than anyone could have predicted.

According to AMD, and as reported by The Verge, Windows 10 will launch in late July. Which seems like an incredibly optimistic target.

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Last year, I declared that AMD's AM1 platform was one of my favorite things of 2014. It's not hard to see why; it is inexpensive, uses very little electricity and offers ample performance for the average home user. For example, my desktop uses a GIGABYTE GA-AM1M-S2H motherboard that retails for $35, while the Athlon 5350 Kabini Quad-Core 2.05GHz APU is $65. In other words, for about $100 you can start building a really nice computer.

While the Athlon 5350 supports 4K, the motherboard only has HDMI, which can be problematic with some monitors (even with adapters). Plus, a portion of the system RAM is used for the integrated video. This is particularly tough on an AM1 PC, as it only supports single channel memory. In my testing, the best performance is with a single stick, which maxes at 8GB. With that said, I wanted to try adding a discrete card to my desktop, so Windows can utilize the full 8GB. My requirements? I wanted an AMD card, it had to do 4K, had to have DisplayPort and had to be low-profile to fit my Micro ATX case. Enter the PowerColor AMD Radeon R7 250 2GB GDDR5.

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Intel is the current king of processors -- let's just get that out of the way. From a performance standpoint, you can't go wrong with the company's chips. Not to mention, Intel is a huge Linux supporter, so its hardware (chipset, Wi-Fi, etc.) works well "out of the box" with many distros. So why would someone go with AMD? A very good question -- Intel's competitor also makes great chips, often with a focus on value. This year, AMD launched the brilliant AM1 platform, featuring the FS1b socket. Sure, it won't win in performance, but it excels in low-cost ownership. You see, not only is the upfront cost low, but it will save you much on your electricity bills, as it is very low-wattage.

Now, AMD is looking to the future, as it announces a new mobile APU family called "Carrizo". Starting next year, Intel may have some serious competition on its hands, as Carrizo APUs begin showing up in consumer devices.

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