Intel Sandy Bridge to ship with low-power Core i5, i7 models
updated 07:45 am EST, Mon November 15, 2010
Intel to intro Sandy Bridge with five LV chips
Intel's Sandy Bridge notebook processors will include five low-power processors for ultraportables, a roadmap slip has uncovered today. The range would start with three low-voltage Core i7 chips, the 2610LM, 2620LM and 2640LM. Two ultra-low voltage chips are set to make their start, Digitimes said, including the Core i5 2530UM and Core i7 2630UM.
Clock speeds and other performance traits for the low-power chips weren't given out, but Intel's ultra-low voltage processors usually have an 18W peak power when including the chipset. Low-voltage chips have a combined 25W power draw.
The regular notebook range has already been revealed. Dual-core processors vary from the 2.5GHz Core i5 2520M through to the 2.7GHz 2620M. Quad-core should begin with a 2.2GHz Core i7 2720QM and top out with a 2.5GHz 2920XM Extreme Edition.
All of the chips should use the new Huron River platform, which is now known to involve a QS67 or QM67 system controller chipset along with Intel's 6000 series 802.11n Wi-Fi only or combo Wi-Fi/WiMAX chips for wireless.
The platform should launch at the start of 2011 and will likely have a debut at CES in early January. Whether or not the lower-energy chips will be a part of the first wave isn't known, but their introduction should provide significant speed updates to ultraportables and may be instrumental to speed updates for systems like the MacBook Air. Sandy Bridge graphics are expected to finally compete with dedicated graphics in speed and are rumored to support OpenCL general-purpose tasks.
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Oct 2010
I will believe that Sandy Bridge has
good enough graphics performance if Apple adapts Sandy Bridge for their MacBook Airs.