More details on Napa, Intel's next-gen Centrino chipset
As Intel gets ready to bust out the their new version of the Centrino chipset, codenamed Napa, they're divulging some more details on just what makes this chip worthy of a whole new codename from Intel's random Bay area/Pacific Northwest codename database. Some quick facts first: the chipset, based around the new dual-core Yonah processor, will supposedly boost performance by 68 percent over the Sonoma, reduce power consumption an average of 28 percent, improve your wireless bandwidth, and allow laptops to be 30 percent smaller than those clunkers we're currently lugging around. Sounds good, no? They're claim they can keep the whole shebang running on 3 watts of power, compared to the 5 watts of the Sonoma, with average power consumption hovering around 14 watts — a major slide in power. Intel uses what they call Dynamic Power Coordination to achieve these numbers, power-managing each of the processor's two cores independently, allowing one core to even shut off while the other works, which might be more common early on as programmers are just starting to optimize programs for dual cores. The shared 2MB Level 2 cache also works into the equation, allowing full access to either core, even when one is shut down. Of course, if this whole low-powered laptop action isn't for you, the Yonah processor is also the brains behind Intel's media-centric Viiv platform, so it'll get you one way or another. Whether or not all these wattage and performance numbers will ring true in the real world has yet to be seen, of course, but Intel's certainly turning up the hype machine on this one.
