David Flynn03 March 2008, 2:45 PM
Intel has taken the wraps off a family of tiny processors for handheld devices, called Atom -- also destined for low cost notebooks and desktop PCs which may run Linux.
Get ready for a new brand in the already cluttered world of tech marketing. Intel has chosen Atom as the name for its super small low-power processor formerly known as Silverthorne, due to be launched during next month's IDF in Shanghai.
Silverthorne - sorry, we mean Atom - is the child of a ground-up effort to create a new processor for the ultra-mobile market, ranging from UMPCs to mobile Internet devices. There's even the chance it could pop up in a future generation of the iPhone.
Small wonder: Intel's own concept mobile Internet device typifies the products that will run on its Atom 'Silverthorne' processorHowever, Intel also sees Atom as becoming the powerplant of "a new class of simple and affordable Internet-centric computers" including notebooks and desktops, which Intel has respectively dubbed ‘netbooks' and ‘net-tops'. These devices will run a beefed-up variant of Silverthorne formerly codenamed Diamondville. (The name change will no doubt please the guys running the
Neil Diamond tribute Web site of the same name).
A bird in the hand: Asus already uses Intel's ultra low voltage Celeron M in its best-selling Eee PC, but we're tipping a shift to the Atom 'Diamondville' later this yearThe Diamondville line is intended to compete with processors from Via and also replace some of Intel's own ultra low voltage Celeron M chips, which already runs the Asus Eee PC and Intel's Classmate education mini-notebook. With any luck, we'll see more manufacturers embrace Linux for both the notebook and desktop systems built around Diamondville, both to maximise performance and minimise cost (no exorbitant Microsoft licensing fee).
The Atom family of processors is built using the same 45nm technology as the Penryn line of Core 2 Duo processors, with models clocking up to 1.8GHz at launch. Although Atom is a single core design, Intel claims the chip uses ‘hyperthreading' to execute more than one thread of code at the same time, and it's been tipped that the Diamondville version will sprout a second core next year.
Penny for your thoughts: the Atom processor package is smaller than a US penny, while 11 of its cores could squeeze into the same spaceIntel also trumpets this as their smallest processor yet, with 11 of the Atom's cores able to can fit on a single US penny (or an Aussie 5c coin, or 2 Euro-cents, or 5 pence in Britian, or 10 Sen in Malaysia - well, you get the idea).
It's also parsimonious when it comes to power, with a peak out put of 2.5 watts - compared to 35 watts for Intel's mainstream 45nm Core 2 Duo series - and the ability to throttle back as low as 600 mw in its low-power run state.
Centrino Junior: okay, it's actually called 'Centrino Atom', but you get the idea - CPU, graphics chipset and wireless all rolled into one small slabIn an effort to surf of it success with the notebook Centrino strategy, Intel will also launch the ‘Centrino Atom' package, previously known as Menlow. This will partner the Atom processor to the ‘Poulsbo' chipset with integrated graphics and a wireless module capable of scaling from Wi-Fi to
3G and WiMAX, depending on what boxes the manufacturer ticks.
Intel SSD drive: here we see just how much mileage Intel's photographers can get from a single shiny pennyAlso on the ‘optional extra' page will be Intel's new Z-P140 solid state drive, to be offered in 2GB and 4GB. Capacity can be boosted to 16GB by connecting four 4GB NAND modules to the drive's conventional PATA interface.