2.66GHz mobile Core i5 due in fall
updated 09:50 am EDT, Fri May 21, 2010
Intel to upgrade main notebook chip in Q4
A roadmap leak on Friday has pointed to Intel planning a refresh of at least its mid-range notebook processors in the fall. At least one chip, the Core i5 580M, is due to take over from the existing 540M and would step up from the earlier 2.53GHz to 2.66GHz. While it would still use the same 35W of power, its Turbo Boost would scale significantly higher (from 3.06GHz to 3.33GHz) and would be matched by a faster 766MHz integrated graphics core versus the older 500MHz.
The hardware identified by Notebook Italia would be virtually identical to the current dual Core i7 and would be separated from the higher-end model only by Level 3 cache, using 3MB to the i7's 4MB. An upgrade would imply a possible clock speed boost for the i7 to 2.8GHz or higher, but that isn't known to be part of the roadmap.
A fall update would let many computer builders upgrade the performance of their systems without having to wait for the launch of a notebook version of the Sandy Bridge architecture in early 2011.
