Intel bringing dual-core Atom D510 processors to netbooks as the N500?
By Tim Stevens 
posted March 9th 2010 12:43PM
posted March 9th 2010 12:43PM
It was hard to be anything but disappointed when Intel's dual-core Atom D510 processor started hitting nettops and was found to be no better performing than the earlier D330. Sure, it was more frugal, but most users were hoping for a bit more oomph not a bit less consumption. Soon, netbook users will seemingly get a taste of the same bitter pill, with talk that a netbook version of the D510 is in the works, likely called the N500. This is a rather less than shocking development and while it surely won't mean you'll finally get Crysis running on your Eee it could make for future netbooks that offer slightly better performance than their earlier brethren and yet deliver even longer battery life. Because, you know, if there's one thing netbooks need today it's greater longevity.[Thanks, Jarrett]
I have a client with the Sony X and it is a freakishly light, thin, easy to carry laptop with pretty good power consumption. But OOH the agony of the processor speed don't quite make up for it IMHO.
Just copying files from a server will max out the processor - seriously?
Hopefully OAK Trail will be all that and a bag o' chips. While I understand not everyone needs a netbook that runs crysis - there has to be some middle ground where running 2 apps at the same time or copying files or opening notepad won't max out your CPU.
@boe
There is a middle ground, a CULV Core 2 Duo 1.6ghz, for example... in a thin and light enclosure.
I wish all netbooks were like the alienware gaming netbook.... but cheaper :')
@BubblegumBalloon Even 3/4ths the performance at 3/4ths the price would be nice.
@scots79
Yeah that m11x is pretty awesome (I assume that's the one you're referencing). For me, the look deters my purchase as much as the price, which isn't that bad. I know it's an Alienware model, but it's just sliiightly too 'Alienwarish' for me. Otherwise, I love it.
@BubblegumBalloon
A few things made me hold off from buying the M11x, its weight, thickness (it's pretty fat), and the fact that I wouldn't be able to carry it around campus without embarrassing myself. Offer an XPS Style model for the same price Dell! I'd probably buy it!
This + ion2 = sold!
@69camaroSS
If they could package that in a relatively slim tablet form-factor (not standalone tablet, but with a normal keyboard), and get it around $500, that would be pretty sweet.
@69camaroSS take that maxIPAD!
Nevermind that whereas nettops had a dual-core part before, netbooks did not. This should make multitasking much more feasible on these little laptops that can.
Powerful Netbooks?
the oxymoron is soon fading away....
It recalls me the nVida's re-branding.
3/4ths is my new favorite fraction
Good. I like the idea of having a netbook, but I literally want to tear my hair out when using a single core Atom. Sure, sure, they aren't intended for performance, but until keep up with my regular usage than I am not biting.
@Nitesh *Until THEY CAN keep up, lol*
Are we talking about real or fake d510 processors?
Won't make a difference really, Atoms are in order CPUs and will barely benefit from dual core at all, Intel's customers probably think they can sell more netbooks by putting a big dual-core sticker on them.
@fourthletter Uh being in order has nothing to do with multicore speedup. Just look at Power6 , it's an in order dual core and it's a monster.
@fourthletter As jiggpig noted there is no reason why these CPUs (however slow and crappy for whatever design reasons) shouldn't work perfectly fine dual-core.
In fact the mystery is that it *doesn't* appear to help much by all accounts (cf sarcastic comments in this post). Of course, if you're comparing performance on web browsers, which are single-threaded, then you're not going to see an improvement - but certainly running software that is capable of using more than one thread - or running two busy one-thread processes at a time - should result in a large boost. (Unless these things are limited by... I dunno, memory bandwidth or something? Doesn't seem that likely.)
Would you say arm are to dominate this sphere in the next 4 years?
Sounds intriguing to me. I'd sure like a second core so I could, say, Skype and browse at the same time without taking a hit on the VOIP quality. Or keep bfrowsing while downloading.
Not sure if the Ion2 with an N500 would be as quick with video as the Ion 2 with N450. I've heard (read here?) that the nettop editions of the Ion2 have a lot more cores for better performance, but you can't use them in a netbook, at least in a 10.1" netbook, due to the thermal load. I've also heard that only the pokey netbook version of Ion2 can use Optimax to turn the Ion2 off to save power, and use the built-in graphics instead.
In other words, I suspect Intel can come up with a good netbook solution for its desktop Atom, but we need to see what Nvidia does with the Ion2 as well.
I'm over the Atom processor. I wish Intel and PC makers would just start using low end Celeron processors for netbooks.