Slashdot Mirror
Intel's New Atom D510 Benchmark Tested
adeelarshad82 writes "The Atom processor in nettops and netbooks is one of Intel's success stories for 2009. Recently PCMag put the new Intel Atom D510 processor through its paces, to see how it stacks up against previous generation Atom CPUs. Using a whitebox system from Intel, they ran their usual set of benchmark tests on the system. In summary the D510-equipped whitebox finished neck and neck with the dual-core powered Acer R3610-U9012. So while there are differences between the two, if you already have a nettop running the dual-core Intel Atom 330 processor you won't have to upgrade 'just because' there's a new CPU in the wings."
The very existence of netbooks and nettops are an admission by the entire industry that the majority of tasks performed by computers these days are served well enough by a "Pentium III", perhaps with the addition of a better GPU than existed back then.
It's confirmation of the old suspicion that computers were becoming TOO powerful for most current uses, that hardware has been advancing quicker than the typical needs of the software. While everyone may benefit from a quad-core 3GHz CPU once in a while, it's not many of us even here that require it every hour of the day (you guys playing Forged Alliance in Mom's converted basement are excepted). It's that "subjective experience" bit all over again: having to wait longer than an instant for something to complete, even just for a few minutes total a day, is the subjective experience that sticks with us, while we conveniently forget the good times that went on the rest of those 24 hours. It's like what they say about it being the little (negative) things that wind up killing marriages.
No joke. I can live without a full PCI-e bus IF you give me some decent performance I would let it ride. God don't they own Ati?
But this thing? Its DESIGNED to take the Ion and anyone else who wants to make a chipset for it out of the game. Look at the whitepapers here: http://www.intel.com/products/processor/atom/techdocs.htm
There will NEVER be a system, using this chip, with a DVI out neither. Why? The CPU outputs DIRECTLY to VGA. It has a LDVS interface, but it doesn't look like you can split it off for a second display. Maybe as a motherboard but never for the laptop. With the exception of directly connecting it to memory, the only outside interface to the chipset is its "direct media interface", but it looks like the same signaling for PCI-E. One channel.
Thats it. You got a PC with a signle PCI-E slot, were all your USB/Wireless/Ethernet and Hard drive pipe though. They did this to lock down the chip.
All that being said, if they make this chip cheap enough then everything I said is moot. IF the D510 sells for under 299 and the D400's make a 199 laptop, its worth it for the price. But if AMD can get on the ball with their new chip and the ion chipset, they might win this war.
You want to add a PCIe video card to an atom system? WTF? Do you also want to fit a racing spoiler on your Smart Car? This is a low power chip. It is designed for efficient systems that doesn't do a whole lot, like netbooks. It is not designed for gaming. If you want a system with external graphics Intel makes a chip for that too. You hay have heard of a little thing called the Core 2, which is available in desktop and mobile versions, is fast as hell, and uses external graphics.
Well wonderful then, I'll just get an ARM netbook and run all my apps on it! What's that? My apps don't run on ARM? Well there you go then.
ARM fanboy: The reason people like the atom is because it runs the massive amount of x86 OSes and apps out there. You can crow on about how much better your CPU is as much as you like, it doesn't make any difference when you are sitting there not running anything because it doesn't have a good base of software. There is some extreme usefulness is having binary compatibility between your desktop, laptop, and netbook.
Fine, you stick with x86. But I'm looking forwards to the ARM netbooks, but I might wait for the A9 ones. I don't need massive about amount of CPU, just enough to play HD video comfortably. I don't need x86. ARM Linux runs what I'm running now, I can see it in the repositories. If there is something I really want that doesn't run on ARM, I'll look at porting it as a project. Which is part of the joy of open source and why so much is already cross platform. On both the netbook and desktop, you install software from the repository for, so binary compatibility doesn't matter.
Actually the entire design is marketing enforced, everything smells of we try to kill ION in its infancy. Atom itself had the potential to impact the desktop sales of NVidias more powerful processors by simply attaching a decent graphics card on their utter garbage the Atom in fact really is. (Atom is a wannabe ARM which needs ten times the power of a similar specced ARM)
Intel tried to kill ION over illegal pricing structures the last months and now they are doing it the legal way by simply cutting off the cords ION was attached to.
If one platform screams for decent graphics coprocessors it definitely is the netbooks, and Intel tries to hamper that as much as possible by shutting out the only vendor who delivers such a combination! (for now, NVidia already is working with Via to bring the ION to the via processors and its ARM combo already is underway and used by some)
(Atom fanboys: First add the giant north bridge monster to your calculations before you answer. ^^)
Perhaps the ARM fanboy should RTFA, since there is no more giant north bridge?
Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings