AMD’S RESPONSE

Core 2 duo processors giveIntel a clear performance ad -vantage over AMD for the fi rsttime in years. But don’t count the latter company out.AMD recently introducedag gressive price cuts, loweringthe cost of its Athlon 64 FX-62f rom $1031 to $827, whilemainstream chips like the 2.4-GHz Athlon 64 X2 4600+dropped from $558 to $240.And later this year, AMD willlaunch 4x4, an enthusiastplatform that enables systemsto use a pair of highenddual-core chips.Although applicationsand games that take fulladvantage of multipleCPU cores are still rare,the performance—andprice—of 4x4 systemswill probably be quite high.Further in the future, AMDwill open up its HyperTransportbus, allowing other fi rmsto design specialized coprocessorsand accelerators anddrop them onto the superfastbus AMD uses to shuttle databetween the CPU, RAM, andother key system components.Such coprocessors could bebuilt into a CPU package formultisocket PCs or designedas add-in boards for a new slottype dubbed HTX. This initiative,called “Torrenza,” willde but on servers, where multisocketsystems are alreadycommon and where specializedchips could accelerateJava code or database operations.Desktop and gamingapplications are farther away.However, though 4x4 andTorrenza are interesting, neitheris likely to have a largemainstream impact.AMD’s true answer toCore 2 Duo will arrivein 2007, when it is ex -pected to launch itsnext-generation CPUarchitecture, dubbed“K8L.” K8L and singlechipquad-core CPUs will becompatible with 4x4 motherboards,according to AMD.Meanwhile, no matter whattheir budget, demanding PCusers now have a terrifi c op -tion in the Core 2 Duo line.

Laptops That Aren’t
“DO NOT LEAVE the bottom of the computer in contact with
your lap or any surface of your body for extended periods.
Prolonged contact with your body could cause discomfort
and potentially a burn.” That’s Apple’s cautionary advice
about allowing its notebooks totouch your person, but the
problem isn’t just a Mac thing. With all the powerful
technologies packed inside today’s notebooks,the bottoms
of many portables get hot, hot, hot. Long-term,using a
laptop on your lap could be hazardous to your health—or
at least your comfort.What to do? One option is to use a
lap desk. Such desks not only put some distance between
lap and laptop but provide a flat surface that helps a
notebook keep its cool.

50TB ON A SINGLE DVD
IF BLU-RAY’S 50-PLUS gigabytes of storage isn’t enough for
you, here’s a storage technology to watch. Several researchers
at Harvard Medical School have produced a prototype of a
protein coating they believe will eventually storeup to
50 terabytes on a DVD-size disc. By modifying a lightsensitive
protein found in microbes that live in salt marshes,
the team created a medium resilient enough to store data for
years. NEC, which has been codeveloping the technology,
hopes to have a USB thumb drive a year from now, and a
DVD-size disc a year after that. But experience tells us tech
like this usually belongs in the “five years away” bucket.