Upgrades

Sony’s new emotion Engine CPU

A new processor that’s hoping to take gaming machines in the next
generation

It looks like Intel and AMD aren’t the only ones in the race to come
out with better processors. Sony is planning to introduce a new chip, the
Emotion Engine, with colossal processing power. It’s supposed to be
three times more powerful than the PIII. The 128-bit chip will be fitted
into Sony’s new gaming machine, the PlayStation II.

The chip specifications are mind boggling: It will take 240 square mm
of real estate and house 10-million transistors using a 0.25-micron
process. The cost of manufacturing this chip alone will be $100. And that’s
not all. It’s supported by a rendering chip called the I/O processor
that will cost another $100 to manufacture. Speaking of rendering, the
chip is capable of rendering 3D animations in real-time without a cough.

Sony’s plans are to introduce this chip as a set-top box and desktop
computer substitute by introducing a mouse and keyboard with it. But if
the chip and its colleague, the I/O processor, alone cost $200, the cost
of the machine will not be that low.

More Info: www.playstation.com/index.html

Two Celerons on one motherboard

A cost-effective upgrade to your Slot 1 motherboard

People owning Slot 1 machines with Celerons can now expect to increase
their PC’s performance without upgrading to a PII or PIII processor.
Legend QDI, a top Taiwanese motherboard manufacturer, has introduced
TwinMagic, the world’s first dual-Celeron, Socket 370-interface
mainboard. This board can fit into any Slot 1 motherboard.

This innovation can have many advantages. As the new Socket 370
Celerons are not very costly, the board provides an excellent upgrade path
for Slot 1-motherboard owners. It could be used for either desktop PCs
sitting inside homes, or fit into servers in offices. Due to the two
processors, the PC or server would show considerable performance
improvement.

Though TwinMagic would work with all desktop OSs, it’s supposed to
work much better if operated in Windows 2000’s multitasking environment.
It can work on either a 66 or 100 MHz front-side bus with a core voltage
of 1.3 to 1.5 V.

More info: www.qdigrp.com/eng/tm_p.htm