Next-gen Atom to launch in October, say moles
'Pine Trail' coming sooner than thought?
Intel has said that its next-generation Atom processor for netbooks - codenamed 'Pine Trail' - will debut in Q4, but it now appears we can narrow that down to 'early Q4'.
Asian moles say the CPU - to come to market as the Atom N450 - will launch in October. The 64-bit capable part will run at the same speed as today's N280, 1.66GHz, and it'll contain 512KB of L2 cache.
Unlike today's Atoms, the N450 has on-board graphics and a memory controller. It'll connect to a secondary chip, the NM10 - codenamed 'Tiger Point' - which will handle other I/O operations.
The CPU consumes no more than 7W - 1W less than the N280.
The N450's desktop equivalent is the D410, which is the same basic processor, though oddly isn't roadmapped to appear until Q1 2010. A dual-core version, the D510, will arrive in Q4 2009. ®
COMMENTS
So, same processor power, same power comsumption...
... I must be missing something. I want my passively cooled, moderately capable PC and I want it now!. Can you hear me Mr. Intel, away with fans on chipsets.
Power draw from the whole system?
With an integrated graphics and io controller I assume that the power draw of the entire system will drop a fair bit?
IIRC the current generation of netbooks draw around 25-30w, mainly thanks to the chipset. If this eliminates the need for the big drinkers in the chipset, could this lead to an entire-system figure closer to 15-20w?
Chipset power
"The CPU consumes no more than 7W - 1W less than the N280."
and up to 20W or so less than the ancient 945 chipsets the atom cpu is lumbered with. This is more or less current atom with low power integrated chipset on board - that was the headline you missed.
Good work
I like the combination of analysts and moles giving early warning to purchasers of IT hardware.
The cloak 'and' the dagger please.
