Intel Atom N280 and Intel GN40, the future of the Netbook

[Golfert]

Intel revealed the first details about the new Atom platform, which will be introduced, presumably, during the second half of the month of February. So Intel decided to upgrade the CPU that has contributed, at least in part, to the great success that the Netbook had during the 2008.


Introduction

Intel Atom N270, the name of the CPU that is found in almost all mini-systems till date, giving way to Atom N280 that no other than a simple update that Intel has decided to launch in the market. With the new processor, the giant architecture of the processor that is Intel desires the operating frequency of the Front Side Bus, the interface connection to and from the CPU to the system, going from 533MHz to 667MHz FSB on the previous generation processor. Remains almost the same operating frequency, time of 1666MHz, the result of the multiplier increased to 10x.

Although from a performance we can not expect much (the rise of the Front Side Bus 667 MHz is a move that acquires meaning only in marketing) is the opposite of consumption that Intel is able to bring important and significant changes. The specifications of the new Atom N280 indeed speak of a TDP of only 2 watts, or 20% less than 2.5 Watt. Atom N270: the autonomy of the battery will get obviously the direct benefits, though the most expensive in terms of energy consumption is the chipset. We will carefully analyze when testing the actual increase in operational autonomy. Here's a table of the new Atom N280 and compared with the predecessor:

One aspect that needs to be stressed concerns the production process, which remained unchanged at 45 nanometers which let many to think that Intel has decided not to make the move to miniaturization specially to be able to add an additional step to their roadmap, particularly the simplicity of architecture that characterizes the solutions of the Atom family.

[Golfert]

Atom N280, however, represents only a half of news from Intel, the fact introduce a new chipset that, according to initial statements, it should make many improvements compared to the previous solution used in 945GSE coupled with Atom N270. It is this component that was the subject of many discussions over the past months: even though Intel has implemented significant improvements in energy level with the development of Atom, the chipset is to represent, in current Netbook, the higher energy consumption.

The "old" 945GSE was designed with a TDP of 11.8 W (about half of the desktop version from which the 945GC from 22.2 watts). To this are added the speech on performance, real sore point of all time for Intel graphics controller, including the GM950 which leads directly on the old platform of support for Atom N270.

To support Intel Atom N280 chip is GN40, which presumably derives from the solution GL40, notebook version characterized by the presence of GMA X4500HD graphics controller. The differences that distinguish the new chipset on the previous version seem to be three, and on power management (which now supports the consumption stages C5 and C6), support for memory, which is limited to DDR2 and not extended to the more expensive DDR3, and finally the integrated graphics controller, developed on GMA X4500HD, supporting, according to initial specifications, the decoding of video in HD 720p.

Intel is now in a position to provide an adequate response to competitors, although at a slower pace, are trying to put the sticks between the wheels on all NVIDIA that has designed its Ion platform increasing its emphasis on graphics, or which has always been the Achilles' heel of the giant leader in the development of CPU.

The first ion solutions, which will come in the market no sooner than the month of September, are decidedly more high than proposed by Intel, especially in terms of "multimedia". NVIDIA will be developed on the well-known GeForce 9400M, which has already shown the world its potential. The move to create a chipset with integrated graphics controller and thicker at the level of performance, than the present old GMA950 is a choice forced in some ways, especially in optical future.

One aspect still unclear and that will depend with the arrival of the first solutions as the different implementations of different manufacturers Netbook which decide to take: while the benefits of the new chipset, at least on paper, are evident, it is also true that improved with Atom N280 are limited. Large part of the changes were then made to GN40, which is the real news. This should then add the compatibility of the old chipset (945GSE), which has the same socket and supports a 667MHz FSB, and that further complicates the picture: the market may therefore have different solutions together by Netbook Atom N280 but with different chipsets.

Considering that this last component could represent the true and real key to the various implementations, the horizon is a situation that mislead the user, especially one with little knowledge of the market (which represents the customer of choice for Netbook solutions), which would thus be faced with a simple Atom logo, this was not considered to indicate clearly what is the chipset used on a Netbook solution.

[Golfert]

Acer has developed its own solution on the new Atom processor N280: a confirmation of what was written up to now, the new Aspire One D150 supports New Atom N280 chip of the old generation, characterized by the GMA950 graphics controller. This is the table of the technical features of the Aspire One:

The new Aspire one comes with a revised design compared to previous solutions: the Touchpad is now equipped with buttons for selecting the base, the hinge of the display is enhanced with a particular form of a drop and the area around the Touchpad has a brushed finish.

From a hardware the new Aspire one D150 features a new cpu. For this 10-inch Netbook was chosen the most recent intel Atom N280 solution with almost identical characteristics compared to the previous processor N270, but with a 667MHz FSB. Readers paying more attention to the purely technological aspects will be disappointed, in fact, contrary to expectations, Acer continues to use the Intel chipset 945GSE. For the new Intel GN40... have to wait another few months, but has not guaranteed that Acer will use this chipset only in Netbook.

Acer Aspire One D150-B is available with an Intel Atom N280 - in other European countries and will be shipped with cpu Intel Atom N270 - and 160GB hard disk. The amount of RAM required is equal to 1GB and the operating system is Microsoft Windows XP. No news is reported on the development of a product with a Linux operating system.

The hardware configuration described above in combination with a 3-cell battery is sold at 349 euros, while with the price of 50 euros more, the product is available with 6-cell battery and integrated Bluetooth module. All Aspire One D150-B is equipped with Wi-Fi module.

[Golfert]

During these days even Asus has presented its own solution on Atom N280, and, as made by Acer, has been chosen to accompany the new processor with old chipset 945GSE. This is the table of technical characteristics with which the new Asus Eee 1000HE was presented:

The technical characteristics, as well as the cost of marketing, reflects the specifications of the new Aspire One. Asus also brings to the market its 1000HE with a cost of 399 euros. Features and characteristic of the new solution is the operational autonomy that the producer says up to 9.5 hours, which must obviously be scaled assuming a use with WiFi enabled module and more intensive, the battery is always a common solution to six cells by 4400mAh.

No substantive change was made to design, which remains almost unchanged compared to previous versions except for the keyboard: Asus has produced this model with buttons called "island", which reflect what has been done by the company with the keyboard of its Eee Top. The solution in addition to change, at least in part, the look of 1000HE, should also groped to solve a problem that has plagued the Netbook: the size of the keyboard.