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Two New AMD Mobile Chips Launched
to_kallon writes "Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) has unleashed two new mobile microprocessors today. One processor belongs to the company's 64-bit Mobile Athlon64 line while the other one comes from the 32-bit Athlon XP-M product line. According to CNET News: 'Like other Athlon 64 chips, and Intel's Prescott, the new Athlon 64 3400+ will block many security threats automatically in conjunction with Windows XP Service Pack 2. The delayed SP2 is slated to come out in August. The Athlon 64 3400+ will also run a 64-bit version of Windows, due now at the end of the year.It runs at 2.2GHz and comes with 1MB of cache. Gamer-PC maker Alienware will insert the chip in a notebook later in the month. Meanwhile, the Athlon XP-M 2200+ comes from the company's older line of chips. It runs at 1.6GHz and is built around an older processor core and comes with a 512KB cache. Averatec, a small computer manufacturer, has put the chip into a notebook that can convert into a tablet PC, marking the first time AMD's chips have been used in a tablet'."
BTX may take care of that on the desktop end, but only if Intel can convince case and motherboard manufacturers to pick it up and run with it-so far none of them are happy with the idea. AMD has not espressed any interest in BTX, but I wonder if they would pick it up anytime in the future. AMD Athlon 64 chips run much cooler now that they have a heat spreader on the chip.
As for laptops, I guess we may have to start looking at liquid nitrogen;)
If my answers frighten you, stop asking scary questions.
It doesn't, it's the other way around - this CPU has a feature (NX bit) that WinXP will be aware of as of SP2.
Don't worry the proc has no idea what OS is running. Its just that it supports a noexec instruction which lets you mark areas of memory as data vs. code, this makes the buffer overflow attact a little harder because the chip won't do instructions in an area that is flagged data(where the array you are exploiting would be). SP2 will give the windows OS the ability to support performing that instruction in some instances and therfore enchance security. I have already heard noises of implementing this in Linux and *BSD. Its complex from a software stand point to make really effective use of as you have to be able to predict the future to some degree but its probably a good security tool noone the less and could be extreemly benificial in many cases.
Get the byte outta here.
It's not a Windows specific fix. It's NX support (so that data marked as such won't be executed) and Linux can benefit from it as well.
Let's not forget that one can hate his government, but love his country.
get larger fans that move more air at lower rpm.
reduce cable clutter with rounded cables and zip ties/wire mesh.
Intel has 'unleashed' new low voltage and 'ultra low voltage' Centrinos and Celerons.
You know you've been IMing too long when you almost say 'lol' out loud to a non-geeky friend...
Notably, Prescott chips with NX support aren't yet shipping.
Let's not forget that one can hate his government, but love his country.
The processor comes with a "no exec" op code that an operating system can use to enhance security. OpenBSD or Linux could use this just as readily as XP. As a matter of fact OBSD already does iirc and MS isn't doing anything truely original on this platform (yes, I'm aware other processors and OSes have offered this for years.)
I don't want knowledge. I want certainty. - Law, David Bowie
But it doesn't prevent the overflow, just the injection. This leaves your program free to (behave poorly|crash).
The World Wide Web is dying. Soon, we shall have only the Internet.
I just got to say how much I love their notebooks. Easily some of the best made on the market. I purchased one last year, based off the Athlon 1600+ Mobile chip. It ran pretty decently, but like most notebooks... the graphics chip was a little underpowered. They came out with a new version of their 12" notebooks (size and weight was another factor) that contained the 2000+ Mobile CPU and a mobile/integrated version of the S3G DeltaChrome chipset (Unichrome, if I remember correctly)... it may not be the greatest for games, but it plays HalfLife/CS at 30FPS+ at 640x480 and that is good enough for me. UT2004, with everything set to minimum, can still play at around 20fps. So it does have a little bit of muscle in it.
The new Averatec 12" notebooks are the bomb... Pretty decently loaded and skips out on most of the legacy stuff, like parallel/serial/ps2... Gets a pretty respectable 3.5hours average battery life. Even when doing something intensive or playing DVDs (moving parts will help suck up the battery life).
The best thing about their notebooks is that they are sturdy as hell. Very, very well built. the hinges never feel like they're going to come apart, the screen holds taut and stays there. Some of the larger 15" (and especially widescreen models) almost feel like they'll bend and wobble at the corners.
I was impressed with the performance of my 2000+ Mobile (Barton Chipset) based laptop that I've given up on using my desktop, permanently. And it's a watercooled 2600+ with more drives than I care to count. It was very easy to get used to using the Averatec and I'm in love with them.
I'd highly recommend getting them. I'm on my second (gave the first one to me mum) and if they keep it up, I can't see how they'll have any trouble breaking into the tight notebook market even further.
(Sorry for the slightly off topic post, but Averatec was mentioned and I just felt like posting my raves for this company.)
Oh, hey, not that anyone here really needs it... But free 24/7 tech support (toll free #) that actually uses people in the US... not india. That's major kudos in my book. (*Spits on HP*)
The Averatec notebooks are also very reasonably priced. You pay more for quality, of course... but the deal is still quite outstanding. Currently you can get the model I have, 2000+ AMD Athlon Mobile CPU, Delta/UniChrome Video chipset, 12" Screen, built in broadcomm wifi 54g adaptor, touchpad with scrolling areas, 40GB HD, 256MB Ram, CDRW/DVD Drive, 3xUSB2 (each port gets full bandwidth, not three plugs shared across one bus), 1 PCMCIA, 10/100, 56k, VGA Out, sound, etc... For about $850 now.
My only gripe is the sound. It's AC97 Audio, so it's not that great. Just noisy. In my case, since I do professional mixing, I would rather have an mAudio USB 24-Bit sound card anyway. (I mixed two CDs so far on this laptop without a hitch. It's been absolutely wonderful.)
My longest uptime (damn you, Windows) has been 3 weeks, 6 1/2 days. Not bad, considering previous experience with laptops they tend to crash easily due to the heat or whatnot. No problems, heat related here... Just had to friggin reboot for an IE patch. Oh well.
NX. Sections of memory that are marked as containing data ONLY, which cannot be made to execute. If you try to execute this memory, an exception is raised.
Helps you with things like buffer overflows that are such a PITA today because of sloppy code.
We already *have* 64-bit laptops, plenty of them. There's already ones with Mobile 2800+ up through 3200+, and DTR (DeskTop Replacement) 2800+ through 3400+. And the only difference between the Mobile and DTR is that the former is 62W, while the latter is 80-something... not an insigificant difference, to be sure, but the only difference it'll actually make is that your desktop replacement notebook will have slightly less horrible battery life and be a bit less scalding. Not anything you could actually call mobile ("portable" is the correct term). (For reference, Intel's fastest Pentium M (Centrino) processor is 21W, and there's ultra-low voltage versions under 10W which are used in ultra-mobile thingies. AMD also has a "line" of 35W Mobile A64s (2700-2800+) which could also be used in something other than a desktop masquerading as a notebook.)
Work is punishment for failing to procrastinate effectively.
For motherboard, check silentpcreview.com (esp. the forums).
For the PSU, there you'll have also a impressive list of "what can run on a 300W PSU". FYI, my dual Athlon 2600 is between 100 and 170W (not overclocked). So far for the 500+W PSU myth.
#include "coucou.h"
Heat is becoming recognized as a big issue in server environments, too. You can stuff a rack full of 1U boxes for cheap, but if you have to buy a big HVAC plant to cool it all you just drove up your total cost of ownership.
I'd love to see a bunch of low-power rackmount server boxes, down around laptop heat output.
They are theoretically compatible, but it depends on whether the motherboard in question supports them. The Asus K8N-E Deluxe looks like it does a good job of that, though information is scarce as it's pretty new. As for heatsinks, they aren't inherently compatible, but the Thermalright SLK-948U is one that is.
And a true mobile will work just as well as a DTR, and have even better thermals (in the case of the 35W mobile 2700+/2800+, magnitudes better).
Work is punishment for failing to procrastinate effectively.
Proud AMD User
Actually you're right to think the processor shouldn't need to do this, but you're wrong to think the programmer should be the one to do this. The job of memory allocation/deallocation belongs to the programming language, libraries, and compiler. Programmers shouldn't allocate buffers at all. Runtime libraries should allow you to index beyond the bounds of an array, etc. The problem isn't (for once) a problem with Windows or with processors. It's a problem with C becoming the de facto business programming language.
There are plenty of ways to screw up security that SHOULD BE the programmer's job. Just not this one.
BTW, Linux has had a fix for this issue that did not require a hardware change--it changed the location of memory allocations so that you could never overflow a buffer and get a reliable code injection working. And because Linux works on more platforms, the injected code may not match the platform the OS is running on and may not work. So Linux didn't have this problem as much, and managed to fix it. Windows got chip manufacturers to fix it for them.
There are enough architectural enhancements in later processors that even if you got a Pentium core into the 3-5 GHz range, even a Celeron would probably walk all over it. It'd be like cranking a 6502 up to 10 GHz...it could be neat for bragging purposes, but it wouldn't give you all of the performance boost you'd expect.
20 January 2017: the End of an Error.