Intel’s new Atom chip, the 32 nm Medfield, is Chipzilla’s first true SoC, integrating graphics and processing funtions in a 32nm design that aims to make some kind of dent in tablets and smartphones, as well as its bread and butter – netbooks.
Intel Medfield 1.6GHz currently scored 10,500 in Caffeinemark 3 benchmarks, reports NetbookNews. That stacks up against its competitors NVIDIA’s Tegra 2 with around 7500, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon MSM8260 at 8000, and Samsung’s Exynos at 8,500.
The prototype version is consuming 2.6W in idle with the target being 2W, while the worst case scenarios are video playback: watching the video at 720p in Adobe Flash format will consume 3.6W, while the target for shipping parts should be 1W less (2.6W). This is said to be in-line with the latest ARM chips.
It may not be as fast or as power thrifty as new chips such as the Tegra 3, but it runs X86 code. How important that may prove to be on smartphones and tablets, however, is open to question.
Intel’s latest Atom processor, formerly called Cedar Trail includes two new dual-core Atom processors for netbooks — the 1.6 GHz N2600 with 400 MHz embedded graphics dissipating about 3.5W and the 1.86 GHz N2800 with 640 MHz graphics consuming 6.5W. The chips support faster graphics and DRAM while consuming less power than Intel’s previous generation Atom family, called Oak Trail.
Ivy Bridge is Intel’s shrink of its current Sandy Bridge architecture, used in laptops and desktops. The 22nm shrink using 3D process technology is expected to lower power and increase performance.
Intel plans to release a total of 25 models of its 22nm Ivy Bridge processors, including 17 CPUs for desktops and eight for notebooks and ultrabooks on or around April 8, 2012, reports Digitimes.
Desktop CPUs to be unveiled include quad-core Core i7-3770K, 3770, 3770S, 3770T, and Core i5-3570, 3550 and 3450, with prices ranging from US$184-332. The Core i5-3470T will be available in May priced at US$184, according to Digitimes.
Notebook CPUs Core i7-3920Qm, 3820QM and 3720QM will be released in April priced at US$1,096, US$568 and US$378, respectively. Other models including Core i5-3520M, 3360M, 3320M and ultrabook CPUs Core i7-3667U and Core i5-3427U will be unveiled later.
