In our mini-review of the Xbox One I speculated that the shipping version of Microsoft's console featured 14 AMD GCN CUs (Graphics Core Next Compute Units), with two disabled to improve yields. Microsoft publicly stated that Xbox One development kits featured 14 CUs and Sony similarly had 20 CUs with only 18 enabled with the PS4. With Xbox One hardware in the wild, Chipworks went to task delayering the SoC/APU and confirmed the speculation - the Xbox One does indeed feature 14 CUs (pictured above). Microsoft claims it weighed the benefits of running 12 CUs (768 cores) at 853MHz vs. 14 CUs (896 cores) at 800MHz and decided on the former. Given that the Xbox One APU only features 16 ROPs and ROP performance scales...
The Xbox One - Mini Review & Comparison to Xbox 360/PS4
Earlier this morning Microsoft lifted the embargo on press reviews of the Xbox One. I’ve been playing with final hardware and near final software for a few days now...
286 by Anand Lal Shimpi on 11/20/2013Microsoft Surface Pro 2 Firmware Update Improves Battery Life
Shortly after general availability of the Surface Pro 2, Microsoft pushed out a firmware update that allowed the Marvell WiFi solution to drive down to even lower power states...
62 by Anand Lal Shimpi on 11/2/2013Microsoft Surface Pro 2 Review
When Microsoft introduced its first Surface devices last year, it did so in a staggered fashion. Surface RT showed up first, then four months later Surface Pro went on...
277 by Anand Lal Shimpi on 10/21/2013Microsoft Surface 2 Review
A year ago Microsoft first threw its hat into the tablet race with a new brand, a new OS and a completely new strategy. To make a challenging situation...
139 by Anand Lal Shimpi on 10/21/2013Windows 8.1 Update Now Available
October 17th is here, and as previously announced by Microsoft Windows 8.1 is now shipping. Microsoft’s service pack/update for Windows 8 is being distributed through the Windows 8 Store. Microsoft...
104 by Ryan Smith on 10/17/2013Microsoft Comments on State of Direct3D, Mantle Support, & Names XB1 API “Direct3D 11.x”
In a somewhat unusual technical/promotional blog entry called “Raising the Bar with Direct3D”, Microsoft has released some additional details on the version of Direct3D for Xbox One, along with...
36 by Ryan Smith on 10/15/2013Windows Phone 8 GDR3 Update Breakdown
Today, Microsoft announced the third developer update to Windows Phone 8, which brings support for larger screens, and 1080p display resolution. This also means a larger start screen, going...
44 by Joshua Ho on 10/15/2013Microsoft Announces Surface Pro 2 & Surface 2, Shipping October 22
Microsoft just announced the long awaited successors to its Surface RT and Surface Pro devices at a press event in NYC. We were fans of the original Surface devices...
91 by Anand Lal Shimpi & Brian Klug on 9/23/2013Microsoft Surface Event Live Blog
We're seated and inside at Microsoft's Surface event in New York City, where Microsoft will hopefully announce the upcoming Surface RT and Pro successors. We'll be live blogging away inside.
85 by Brian Klug on 9/23/2013Xbox One: Unboxed
We’ve already discussed the hardware of the Xbox One (or Xbone as Brian likes to call it) and compared it with the PlayStation 4, so all that’s left is...
41 by Jarred Walton on 8/8/2013Surface Pro $100 Price Drop - A Prelude of Things to Come?
Techreport.com posted earlier today that there's currently a $100 rebate from Microsoft on the Surface Pro. That brings the price of the 64GB SSD model to $799 and the...
100 by Jarred Walton on 8/5/2013Welcome to the Preview Release of Microsoft 2014
Today Microsoft released a couple of major announcements regarding the restructuring of their entire business. The complete One Microsoft email from Steve Ballmer along with an internal memo entitled...
79 by Jarred Walton on 7/11/2013Windows 8.1 Preview Released
Coinciding with Microsoft’s BUILD 2013 conference this week, the public preview of Windows 8.1 has been released over at Microsoft’s Windows website. Windows 8.1 (née Blue) is Windows 8’s first...
51 by Ryan Smith on 6/26/2013Outlook 2013 RT Coming Free to Windows RT 8.1 Tablets Later this Year
Microsoft has been pretty quiet at Computex thus far, but today we got a bit of expected news. Outlook 2013 RT will be coming with the free Windows RT...
10 by Anand Lal Shimpi on 6/5/2013Windows 8.1 Sings the Blues
There’s a saying dating back to the early MS-DOS days: “Wait for the point release.” The implication was that the x.0 version of any new MS-DOS was sure to...
75 by Jarred Walton on 5/30/2013The Great Equalizer Part 2: Surface Pro vs. Android Devices in 3DMark
While we're still waiting for Windows RT and iOS versions of the latest 3DMark, there is one cross-platform comparison we can make: Ivy Bridge/Clover Trail to the Android devices...
57 by Anand Lal Shimpi on 4/2/2013Microsoft Surface Pro mSATA SSD Upgrade: Dangerous but Successful
Unlike current ARM or Atom based tablets, Microsoft's Surface Pro integrates a full blown mSATA SSD. My review sample included a 128GB Micron C400, while I've seen reports of...
35 by Anand Lal Shimpi on 2/17/2013Microsoft Surface Pro Teardown: mSATA SSD Inside
After we published our Surface Pro review I went back and updated it to confirm that the SSD inside was indeed of the mSATA variety. My particular review sample...
12 by Anand Lal Shimpi on 2/13/2013Microsoft Surface Pro Review
There's clearly interest in a device that converges the tablet and notebook. ASUS saw some of the earliest success in this department with its Transformer line of Android tablets...
228 by Anand Lal Shimpi on 2/5/2013