Intel Ramps Up 45nm Chip Production, Announces 'Atom' Line

Multiple readers have written to tell us of the latest developments out of Intel. Earlier this week, Intel announced the Atom brand of low cost, low power consumption processors. The CPUs, measuring only 25 square millimeters, are the result of the Silverthorne and Diamondville projects. The announcement has caused this CNet columnist to question whether Intel can "spur innovation in ultrasmall devices the way it has in the PC and server industry." Concurrently, Intel has increased its production of 45nm processors to a rate of roughly 100,000 chips per day. As TG Daily notes, the massive investments Intel has made into chip production will make it difficult for AMD to catch up.

Comments

Laughably high power consumption for handheld

[pslam]

The Atom architecture is intended to give Intel a foothold in handheld devices that have traditionally been the sole domain of very low-power RISC processors. The chip itself is tiny at less than 25mm square, and, according to Santa Clara, has a TDP of 0.6W - 2.5W, as compared to a 35W TDP for a "typical" Core 2 Duo.

Sigh. They do this every year or two - Intel announces a new core that will get them into more handhelds. They're still an order of magnitude short. Typical "very low-power RISC processors" you see in a device such as a mobile phone or MP3/video player are more like 0.01W - 0.25W, or even less. They're way more efficient clock-for-clock (and MIP-for-MIP) than any x86 core Intel has ever churned out.

Unless they have a funny definition of hand-held device we don't normally use, of course.

Re:Laughably high power consumption for handheld

[CajunArson]

These chips aren't designed to go into cellphones, and Intel frankly says they are not going into cellphones. They are instead designed for MIDs that will predominantly run Linux. Think of these things as smaller & lighter than your notebook with customized interfaces (not just mini-desktops) that are also easier to use than cellphones for accessing the Internet. Considering that Atom chips are roughly equivalent in processing power to first-gen Centrino chips, these devices should be extremely capable with the right software. The next generation of Atom at 32nm will have the proper power envelope to run your cellphone BTW.

Re:Laughably high power consumption for handheld

[pslam]

These chips aren't designed to go into cellphones, and Intel frankly says they are not going into cellphones. They are instead designed for MIDs that will predominantly run Linux.

That's funny, because according to the link, MIDs are a class of hand-held device invented by Intel. So I'm right - they have a different definition of hand-held to everyone else.

The next generation of Atom at 32nm will have the proper power envelope to run your cellphone BTW.

They will be 10 times more power efficient than their 45nm version? Extremely unlikely. Also consider that the real lower power processor market isn't standing still either - they're managing about a 25%-50% power efficiency improvement per year. Also consider that the current high-end low-power CPUs you find in mobiles are comparable in performance to the first-Gen Centrino chips.

The kind of "hand-held" devices Intel are talking about have big batteries and are held with two hands. 1 Watt is not a lower power device in this market. The real hand-held device chip market measures their power in milliwatts not watts. They idle at a single milliwatt and average a 20-50mW in use. Intel is still running orders of magnitude higher than that.

Re:The Ars Performance Judgement

[billcopc]

If Atom is cheaper than the AMD's lowest offering, then yes, they should feel threatened. We've reached a point where even the most basic processor has more power than the common person needs. Combine that with the mindless eco-babble that has tainted every aspect of North American life in the last few years, and you've got a market that's perfect for a power-miser medium-performance processor that will be at the heart of numerous little PC-like gadgets.

Via's line doesn't get much traction outside of the tinkerer circles, because they're still tied to clumsy legacy chipsets and the costs are ridiculous, considering their extremely limited performance. If Intel can release a slightly better processor for less money, that can be paired with an inexpensive chipset and tiny power supply, they could take a bite out of the microcontroller segment and ARM's small but tenacious market share.

Re:Isaiah

[Unoti]

Cmon, get with the program. The next version of office is going to near a dozen cores just for the ribbon bar alone, plus a handful of cores for the new Clippy.