Yes they do. Peak efficiency is usually above 90% and these days it depends mostly on the quality of the power switches and inductors, and the switch drivers strength.

There have been computer systems (especially notebooks) that did a double conversion (Vbatt to 5V, then 5V to whatever voltage was needed, CPU, memory etc), but it did not caught on.

There is also the "hidden" double conversion scheme in which the final VRs are powered from the battery, while the charger acts as a first VR,converting the adapter voltage to the battery voltage. Systems with this type of power tree are becoming more popular.

Bollocks! Since the internal VR uses the same process as the CPU itself, it can't sustain high input voltages, therefore a one-stage 12V to 0.9V conversion is just a pipe dream.

The longer pdf presentation actually shows the motherboard-level 12V to 2.2V VR, which would be still rated for the full power (85W plus margin). OTOH, it's quite impressive that the 22nm process has support for 2.2V CMOS.

As others mentioned already, Intel is just trying to solve the power distribution issue, not eliminating the main down-conversion stage, which will *always* be external.

As a CPU VR designer myself, I'm very interested in seeing how this concept will play out. Beside the issues of more peak power dissipation on the CPU die and increased EMI, there is a long-term reliability issue involved, especially on the power stage; switching inductive loads creates ringing, which will degrade in time (through HCI) the switching transistors.

What a steamy pile of BS! Virtually all of the increase in yield in the past hundred years or so have been created by mechanization and synthetic fertilizers. Some GM crops have marginally better yields, but most genetic material inserted there was for pesticide-related benefits (roundup) or desirable features of the harvest itself, not for yield.

Monsanto must be really desperate for a better image if it targets /. with such pitiful shills.

I guess you flunked your chemistry class, that's why you're so bitter (and stupid). There is no acid produced in this reaction, you basically have Al interacting with NaOH.

Referring to this minor exothermic reaction as "fucking dangerous bombs" just shows your complete lack of perspective about life in general. Did you know that any car dealership has "bombs" on their lot (these make a loud BANG! when explode and clearly have the ability to kill and maim people)?

The concept is rather easy. After a negotiation preamble (checking that both ends support the silly-named USB), the power port will change to a higher voltage (20V as spec'ed) so that the current stays reasonably low. For the full 100W though, the sorry cable will have to pass 5A, which is not easy.

The problem is that all the things that must be done to keep the appearance of an USB-port compatibility are expensive to implement, making the whole concept unattractive.

Amen to that. The only downside to that is that you either get a powerful hood to remove all the smoke or you remove the batteries from the smoke alarms...

The devastating effects of a fertilizer heap catching fire have been known for 60+ years (Texas City 1947 etc).

Firefighters should have known better than a layman like me to steer clear and not attempt putting out this fire. I heard on bbc news that there are about 60 to 70 lives lost and scores of injured. Why people don't learn from the past?

Hmmm, it's been done many times before, the oldest I recall seeing dates from the early 2000s: http://www.canuck-boffin.net/sonde/

It's still an amazing project and I wish I could pull off something like that - maybe next life...

Pure Horse Manure. Very few electrical-design related patents are granted to all-Chinese (and virtually none to Indian-sounding names). Today, yesterday, last year, ten years ago etc.

Top-notch Electrical Engineering requires a certain kind of mindset incompatible with the fast-n-loose approach of certain Asian nations. You would find much more Software people coming from these areas than EEs.

Fact is, good EE skills continue to provide job security in US and partially in Europe. Freshmen have a double handicap to overcome: lack of experience and lower-quality training. The biggest threat to us is the insane race to the bottom..

Ahem, do you know how the multi-core GPU/whatever is made? All of the blocks sit nicely on the same die (except some MCM/stacked fancy stuff).

The article talks about "printing" (i.e. placing) small dies onto a holding substrate, similar to present-day PCBs. This has obvious penalties regarding footprint, communication speed, manufacturability and cost of both "tiny chiplet" production (where large amounts of wafer area will be wasted on scribelines) and assembly/testing.

A weird solution in search of a problem.

of the weed they're smoking here at PARC in Palo Alto must be really good. It allows them to dream wide-open-eyed, glossing over showstoppers such as reliability and poor cost structure.

What next? Tiny chiplet sections assembled to create tiny chiplets, then the ultimate goal of assembling components one atom at a time?

it's actually quite useful for pointing out stars and dark sky features.

giving birth in space? they better stock up on baby formula too when planning the life support cargo...

Tsk, tsk, tsk!

http://slashdot.org/story/04/10/05/1539203/a-car-with-a-mind-of-its-own