Original URL: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/09/dual_core_atom_h2_09_debut/
Netbook makers point to H2 '09 for dual-core mobile Atom debut
Year's wait ahead
Posted in Hardware, 9th October 2008 09:31 GMT
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Don't expect a dual-core Atom-based netbook until next summer, manufacturers of Small, Cheap Computers have warned.
This week, Asus chief Jerry Shen promised his company would offer a dual-core Eee PC whenever Intel ships a dual-core Atom suitable for mobile devices. The chip giant, he indicated, has not said when this will be.
However, earlier MSI's US sales supremo, Andy Tang, revealed in an interview [1] with Laptop Magazine that "Intel is holding off on the mobile version of the dual-core Atom processor.
"I don’t think we will see availability of that processor until the second half of 2009," he forecast.
Intel has now begun selling [2] a dual-core Atom, the 1.6GHz 330, but it's a desktop part and consumes way more power than would be suitable for an SCC sized around, say, an 8.9in screen.
The 330 consumes 8W of power - the 1.6GHz N270 found in most SCCs consumes just 2.5W.
Hopefully, the dual-core Atom will debut with a more compact, less power-hungry chipset than the 945GSE that today's mobile Atoms come with. It consumes up to 6W - more than double the power demand of the CPU it's paired with.
There's another reason for waiting: the dual-core mobile Atom will be based on a next-gen core, codenamed 'Pineview', which will connect to its I/O chip partner across a DMI (Direct Media Interface) bus rather than a frontside bus - just like the upcoming 'Nehalem' desktop [3] processors.