We all know that Intel Atom , the last CPU for ULCPCs from the Centrino series is a hit, and there were even concerns that Intel won't be able to keep up with the demand, soon after its release. Obviously, AMD couldn't simply sit back and watch Intel get all the cake, so another round in the AMD vs Intel Centrino match started. For a while, only Intel played the ball, but now it seems AMD has a surprise ready...

Before moving to the AMD vs Intel Centrino part, let me give you a hint - Gainward, notorious manufacturer of NVIDIA-based video cards, has just started to release ATI graphics cards. Is this cool, or what?

OK, now...it seems that some AMD partners are already testing a low power & low cost CPU targeting the same market as Intel Atom - the ultra low-cost personal computers one. The pictures available at this time are showing a 3.5-inch mainboard, and the rumor goes like this - the new K8 BGA processors will have a TDP of only 8W, and the chipset for it, the AMD M690E + SB600, about 10W-11W, so it should go head to head with Intel's Atom N-series CPU and Intel 945GC chipset, both having up to 26W.

For now, AMD didn't say anything, so it's pointless to get into additional details. We'll surely do that when the moment of truth comes, and the product is officially revealed.

nThe guys over at Chiphell have managed to snap a couple of photos of ATI’s R700 dual GPU card. It turns out that it really has a black PCB just like NVIDIA’s flagship GTX 280 cards. I don’t think that detail Is relevant for the time being. Instead, let’s take a closer look at these pictures and see if we can spot some new stuff.

Fudzilla points out that AMD/ATI still haven't finished the work on an in-house PCIe switch, as we can still see a PLX solution. However, the PLX chip seems to be a newer of the one found on the Radeon HD 3870 X2, and we can clearly see that the new chip is physically smaller than the previous version.

Furthermore, Fudzilla notes that the 4870X2 card is using a pair of digital PWM (Pulse-width modulation), one for each of the GPUs. The god thing about this new design is that PWMs take up a lot less PCB space than the analog PWM design of the Radeon HD 3870 X2.

One awkward feature seems to be the unangled power connectors. Then again, this might be just a prototype reference card and things could be changed by launch time. Still, we now know for sure that this card uses one six-pin and one eight-pin power connector.

On the connector side, we can identify a pair of DVI connectors and a TV-out connector, but I hope ATI will seriously consider the inclusion of HDMI or DisplayPort connectors, leaving the GPU integrators to decide prices for their cards according to the variety of features and connectors on their cards.

AMD has finally announced its DDR3 chipsets. They didn’t rush things too much, letting Intel be the first to provide support for these new modules. However, AMD knew that DDR3 memories won’t get affordable until later this year and understood that people might not make the jump immediately.

Fudzilla has found some good deals for DDR3 memories like the OCZ 1GB DDR3 value for €35, or 2GB for €70 from both Corsair and OCZ. These prices alone seemed to have motivated AMD to finally make the transition.

As it turns out, AMD should be ready with the first DDR3 chipsets in Q1 2009. By that time, DDR3 modules will have become pretty affordable, and it looks like AMD might manage some decent sales figures.

The DDR3 support will also come from the new integrated memory controllers found inside AMD’s CPUs. The new CPUs will be compatible only with the upcoming socket AM-based motherboards. While this may prove a bit disappointing for AMD fan boys that seem to be forced to change their motherboards, the new DDR3 boards will still support the Hypertransport 3 marchitecture.

The first two chipsets will be known as RD790 DDR3 and RD890 DDR3 and they will be available sometime in Q1 and Q2 2009, respectively.

Nehalem really fed the IT rumor mills in the past months, as fictitious specs circulated all around, a delay was prefigured, and some preliminary tests proved it can be faster than expected. Now Intel comes along once again and announces the final specs and settles the release issue once and for all… or not?

According to Fudzilla, Intel’s higher clocked codename Bloomfield will work at 3.20GHz. It will come with 6.4 GT/s QDI memory speed, but it still integrates only 8M of total cache. It’s still a quad-core CPU (what, did you expect it to somehow turn into an octo-core over night?). Still, it can manage that eight simultaneous threads and officially supports DDR3 1333. This is pretty awkward, since DDR3 memories have already reached 2 GHz standard and can go beyond that in OC mode. Intel claims, however, that any 1333+ memory matched with this CPU will have to be overclocked in order to make it work. Great, so now they fully encourage overcliking methods.

Moreover, preliminary test have shown that the triple channel memory support will require three memory modules for best performance, but this could actually turn to be a good thing, lowering the memory prices even more.

Nehalem has 130W TDP which looks a tad better than that of QX9770. The sad part is that the new Bloomfield will only work with a brand new LGA1366 socket motherboard. Not to mention the integrated memory controller, QDI, and some more stuff you already know. Intel also claims that we will most certainly see Nehalem coming in Q4 2008. Right… for $2,000?

AMD Fusion is not something new, but it has been around only in theory, so far. Fortunately, this doesn't seem to be one of those technologies that remains stuck in the rumor stage, but I can't bet on that until I see it. Anyway, the good part is that, according to the latest official reports, coming straight from AMD, its next generation notebook platform, codenamed "Shrike," will be the first Fusion product to be released, and the performance improvements expected may turn the tide...but I wouldn't bet on that, either, since there's plenty of time left until we'll see Shrike in action, and Intel won't sleep in this period, that's one sure thing!

The Shrike will be the first platform to have hybrid processors, combining a general purpose x86 dual-core processor with a new GPU featuring DirectX 10.1 support and UVD 2.0. To go with the flow, the Shrike platform will also have a built-in memory controller with support for dual channel DDR3 memory. The most interesting part is that PCI-Express for discrete graphics is also expected to be part of the platform, and I wonder how small will they manage to make those notebooks, considering the space needed for an additional video card, but since there's enough time to come up with slim cards, I have no worries regarding this.

AMD expects the new platform to boost CPU performance with 20%, and GPU performance with 35%, when compared to the existing Puma platform . Since notebooks have a higher market share in many areas than desktop computers, if AMD Fusion starts well with the Shrike, that would be a great breakthrough for the chipmaker, since currently almost all ultra-portables are powered by Intel platforms, exceptions being a few Fujitsu-Siemens Lifebook models, and various small mobile computers sold only in Japan, using AMD Turion processors.

Since ATI HD4870 is killing the GeForce 280GTX already, I think AMD can have a comeback in the notebook platforms market, too. The Shrike looks great on paper, but there's a long road from theory to practice, and this wait is killing me...