Laptops get extreme quad-core treatment

Once the preserve of the overpaid executive, laptops are increasingly the form factor of choice, even among gamers. The difference between the gamer and the executive is that the executive doesn’t need his laptop processor to model increasingly realistic physics, artificial intelligence and procedural animation. The gamer does. To meet that demand, Intel is rolling out the Intel® Core™2 Extreme Quad-Core Mobile Processor.

This amazing processor clocks in at 2.53GHz off the shelf (but there is nothing to stop you from over-clocking it, if you think you really need to). The cores share a whopping 12MB L2 cache and communicate with the rest of your system over a 1066MHz front side bus.

All that clout will come in handy. Thanks to Intel’s collaboration with EA, THQ, Activision and Capcom among others, an increasing number of games are optimised for multi-core.

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New architecture destined for desktops

Gamers who prefer to stick with the classic desktop form factor are in for a treat. Intel® Core™ i7 processors designed around a new micro-architecture, codenamed Nehalem, will begin appearing in desktop PCs before the end of the year. The new processors feature Intel® Hyper-Threading technology, which makes the quad-core processors capable of simultaneously processing eight threads.

Nehalem-based microprocessors automatically adjust to single- or dual-core applications by engaging a turbo mode. In the event that not all four cores are used, the clock rate of the active cores increases without ever exceeding the maximum permitted power consumption and temperature. The cores also switch on or off as required, via power gates, thus saving energy and optimising each individual application.

It’s time to start thinking about a serious upgrade.

Get technical

ESL Wire evolves

Intel and the Electronic Sports League (ESL) developed ESL Wire to integrate several features commonly sought by online gamers into one integrated suite. It is proving popular – and with good reason. The latest beta of the tool incorporates numerous big fixes and new features.

You can now broadcast your ESL matches, so that other users can watch the action in real time. The top broadcasts are also made available on the ESL website.

LagInspect is another new feature. It enables you to monitor your network connection to a specific game server. It logs processes and IP connections. Additionally gathers a ping time statistic, particularly helpful when you are trying to identify which programs might be contributing to lag.

ESL Wire also incorporates the anti-cheat tool ESL Aequitas, as well as latency compensation, to ensure technical fairness in online gaming.

Check out ESL Wire