Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Intel's Menlow :The Baby Centrino Revealed

Menlow is the name of this new ultra mobile platform that Intel is working on.  In Intel's terms the platform refers to the CPU + chipset, much like how Centrino is a combination of an Intel CPU, Intel chipset and Intel wireless adapter. 
 
The Menlow project began back in 2004, so what you're hearing about today is much like what Centrino was back in 2003.  We're on the verge of something very big (I could insert a pun here about how Menlow is actually very small and it's ironic that it's also something very big, but I won't; you can thank me later). 
 
Menlow consists of the Silverthorne processor and the Poulsbo chipset.  If you're in dire need of yet another codename, the core used in Silverthorne is also known as Bonnenn. 
 
Silverthorne is a brand new architecture, highly simplified from current Core 2 chips (thus reducing die size and power consumption) but still compatible.  Silverthorne is an x86 chip, meaning it can run the same applications as your desktop and notebook; and it's technically ISA compatible with Merom (65nm Core 2 Duo), meaning it has support for up to SSE3 but lacks SSE4 instructions.
Read the full story HERE

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