The Pine Trail Platform

As mentioned earlier, the upcoming Intel Pine Trail platform will consist only of two chips - a new Intel Atom 2 processor (codenamed Pineview) and a single I/O chip (codenamed Tiger Point). Instead of a dedicated Graphics and Memory Controller Hub (GMCH), Intel moved both graphics and memory controllers into the Atom 2 die. This is similar to how Intel moved the memory controller to the CPU die in the case of the Intel Core i7 processor.

The integration of the memory and graphics controller within the Pineview processor die will allow both controllers to achieve much better performance. Currently, the Intel Atom uses a front side bus (FSB) which usually runs at 533 MHz to communicate with the 945GC/GSE chip. This limitation will no longer be present in the Centrino Atom 2 platform.

The Advantages

The biggest advantage of the new platform would be its energy-efficiency. The entire platform is said to use less than half the power of the current Intel Centrino Atom platform. This means that instead of a maximum power consumption of about 13.3 W, the new Centrino Atom 2 platform should only require about 6 W of power.

Also of interest would be its better performance. Intel did not provide any performance numbers but the new Intel Atom 2 processor will definitely be much faster than the current Intel Atom processor. In addition, the on-die graphics and memory controller will result in better graphics and memory performance.

Of course, netbook manufacturers would be more interested in the lower production cost. The Intel Atom 2 processor and Tiger Point I/O chip would, of course, come with a price premium over the current Intel Atom processor and chipset. But Intel promised that the new 2-chip platform will allow manufacturers to reduce production cost by :

• allowing 4-layer PCBs to be used.
• allowing fanless designs to be considered (with some tradeoffs in clock speed and voltages)
• allowing easier design and routing due to the smaller area required by the two chips

The only question pertinent to us, the users, would be whether these cost savings will actually filter down to us...

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