Intel announces Pineview Atom processors for fanless, long-lasting netbooks

Intel announced its new ‘Pineview’ Atom processors today, as predicted back in early November. They are the single-core 1.66GHz Atom N450 for netbooks, and the 1.66GHz Atom D410 and D510 for desktop PCs.

The Atom N450 and D410 are both single-core chips with 512Kb of level 2 cache and a TDP (Thermal Design Power — read ‘power consumption’) o 5.5W and 10W, respectively. The Atom D510 is a dual-core processor with 1Mb of cache and a 13W TDP.

Intel didn’t announce the the Atom N470 processor, but this is expected to be a 1.83GHz, dual-core chip for netbook use.

The Pineview processors are manufactured using the same 45nm process as the current ‘Diamondville’ Atom N270 and N280 chips, but they now incorporate both memory and graphics controllers onto the same slice of silicon as the processor.

This, Intel claims, results in a 20% improvement in average power consumption and, thanks to overall size reductions and the need for one less dedicated chip (i.e. the graphics controller), the resulting ‘Pine Trail’ package is 60% smaller than before.

Since clock speeds are the same as the current Diamondville Atom processors, the new Pineview chips are unlikely to offer much of a performance increase, but the improved energy efficiency should allow manufacturers to develop slimmer, lighter — and fanless — portables, with much longer battery life. Graphics performance from the GMA 3150 controller is unlikely to be much better than that of the current Intel GMA950 chipset either, although Intel has yet to announce details about its performance.

Intel reckons that netbook manufacturers will be launching models with the new Atom processors from 4th January, so we’ll no doubt see lots on show at CES later in the month. Some new models have already been announced and MSI is first off the blocks in the UK, with the Wind U130 and U135 netbooks.

Here’s an Intel video that shows Cindy Ng from the Netbook Marketing Team, demonstrating the Intel Atom Processor N450 for netbooks and the Intel Atom Processor D410 and D510 for entry-level desktops.

[ Intel]