Computex is one of the most important times of the year for PC hardware – whether you’re a manufacturer or enthusiastic follower, the Taiwanese tech show is the place to be to see the best and brightest.
After all, Computex is where the netbook craze took off after Asus showed its EeePC 701 back in 2007, and it’s typically where we first see all the tech that’ll we be buying in the September rush and that’ll appear in our Christmas stockings.
We’ve already seen some news from Taiwan, but we thought we’d put together a few predictions before the show starts in earnest and see how they come out. [break]We’ve only listed the companies that we’re fairly sure will announce something note-worthy or interesting here, but feel free to add your own predictions about your favourite (or least favourite) manufacturers in the comments thread.
AMD
All the major motherboard manufacturers will have Socket AM3+ boards, whether they’re based around the new 990FX chipset or the older 890FX one. Socket AM3+ boards are compatible with Socket AM3 CPUs and the forthcoming Socket AM3+ CPUs, but not any new APUs from AMD – the integrated graphics unit of an APU will require a completely new type of socket.
We expect the graphics front to be calm from both sides, as TSMC is still working on the desired 28nm manufacturing process. As the Radeon HD 7000-series is rumoured for production in May we might see something GPU-shaped, but we doubt we’ll be able to share that if we do.
Intel
There’s a slight chance we might see some more of LGA2011, the successor to LGA1366. Intel has form in this area, with the Intel booth at previous Computex shows featuring a wall’o’motherboards with a few next-gen examples. Typically we’ll ask a booth attendant what these previously unseen boards, only to be told that he or she didn’t know and couldn’t possibly say, but that we’re welcome to take pictures and speculate. The teases.
Nvidia
With the all-quiet on the graphics front, we expect Nvidia to be pushing Tegra 2. We saw the First Tegra 2 smartphone at CES earlier this year, and we might see a Tegra 3 quad-core device, but it’ll be a demo unit or a concept.
Asus
We’re expecting a pretty strong show from Asus, who is holding an entire press conference for its Republic of Gamer sub-brand. Stay tuned for revelations from that one. Asus typically has some mental-looking motherboards and graphics cards at tech shows, plus some funky concept designs for devices – most of which wouldn’t look out of place in a high-budget sci-fi film – and some sleek laptops and netbooks.
What won't happen
We don't expect to see any news on GDDR6 - next-gen graphics cards will have a similar amount of memory bandwidth to this generation. We also don't expect to hear anything about DDR4 (or another new type of desktop memory), though Intel might surprise us on that front with LGA2011.
We also don't expect to see much news from Indilinx, despite OCZ buying it - the next round of the SSD fight will be between Marvell and SandForce.
While Intel might well show LGA2011, we doubt Ivy Bridge will present - those looking for a 3D Tri-gate transistor teaser will have to be patient.
Do you think we've called it right? Let us know in the forum!
After all, Computex is where the netbook craze took off after Asus showed its EeePC 701 back in 2007, and it’s typically where we first see all the tech that’ll we be buying in the September rush and that’ll appear in our Christmas stockings.
We’ve already seen some news from Taiwan, but we thought we’d put together a few predictions before the show starts in earnest and see how they come out. [break]We’ve only listed the companies that we’re fairly sure will announce something note-worthy or interesting here, but feel free to add your own predictions about your favourite (or least favourite) manufacturers in the comments thread.
AMD
All the major motherboard manufacturers will have Socket AM3+ boards, whether they’re based around the new 990FX chipset or the older 890FX one. Socket AM3+ boards are compatible with Socket AM3 CPUs and the forthcoming Socket AM3+ CPUs, but not any new APUs from AMD – the integrated graphics unit of an APU will require a completely new type of socket.
We expect the graphics front to be calm from both sides, as TSMC is still working on the desired 28nm manufacturing process. As the Radeon HD 7000-series is rumoured for production in May we might see something GPU-shaped, but we doubt we’ll be able to share that if we do.
Intel
There’s a slight chance we might see some more of LGA2011, the successor to LGA1366. Intel has form in this area, with the Intel booth at previous Computex shows featuring a wall’o’motherboards with a few next-gen examples. Typically we’ll ask a booth attendant what these previously unseen boards, only to be told that he or she didn’t know and couldn’t possibly say, but that we’re welcome to take pictures and speculate. The teases.
Nvidia
With the all-quiet on the graphics front, we expect Nvidia to be pushing Tegra 2. We saw the First Tegra 2 smartphone at CES earlier this year, and we might see a Tegra 3 quad-core device, but it’ll be a demo unit or a concept.
Asus
We’re expecting a pretty strong show from Asus, who is holding an entire press conference for its Republic of Gamer sub-brand. Stay tuned for revelations from that one. Asus typically has some mental-looking motherboards and graphics cards at tech shows, plus some funky concept designs for devices – most of which wouldn’t look out of place in a high-budget sci-fi film – and some sleek laptops and netbooks.
What won't happen
We don't expect to see any news on GDDR6 - next-gen graphics cards will have a similar amount of memory bandwidth to this generation. We also don't expect to hear anything about DDR4 (or another new type of desktop memory), though Intel might surprise us on that front with LGA2011.
We also don't expect to see much news from Indilinx, despite OCZ buying it - the next round of the SSD fight will be between Marvell and SandForce.
While Intel might well show LGA2011, we doubt Ivy Bridge will present - those looking for a 3D Tri-gate transistor teaser will have to be patient.
Do you think we've called it right? Let us know in the forum!
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