Dell quietly slips Penryn into American XPS M1330
updated 09:20 am EST, Thu February 7, 2008
Dell Penryn in XPS M1330
Dell on Thursday quietly upgraded its 13.3-inch XPS M1330 notebook, making it the first system from the Texas company to include Intel's new Penryn 45 nanometer notebook processors in the US. Although it starts with older 65nm chips in base trim, the gaming-oriented system now has the option of a 2.4GHz, 2.5GHz, or 2.6GHz Core 2 Duo with the extra Level 2 cache (up to 6MB), lower power draw, and generally higher performance of the new Intel hardware.
The update has yet to spread to other Dell systems in the US but is believed to be ready for most systems as early as Tuesday, providing most systems with one or more Penryn-based Core 2 Duo options for an added cost. For the XPS M1330, moving to the 2.4GHz chip adds $275 to the base $999 price tag but scales up by as much as $675 for the top 2.6GHz processor. Dell lists ship dates as early as February 14th for orders built on the faster chip technology.
