Friday, July 25,2008 @ 9:05am
Intel prepping 2.93GHz mobile Core 2 Duo?
Intel already plans to upgrade the Core 2 Duo processors for its Centrino 2 mobile platform with a new range-topping model, a new leak says. With its present mobile chip line topping out at 2.8GHz, the semiconductor firm is reportedly set to introduce a 2.93GHz model that would share the same 1.07GHz system bus and 6MB cache and which would still keep its power usage down to a peak 35 watts, rendering it efficient enough to run in thin-and-light notebooks while offering performance close to the 3.06GHz Core 2 Extreme.
The processor isn't given a release date in the apparent slip, though Intel has in recent years released a higher-speed part several weeks after a major update to its mobile platform, leading to a likely introduction in the late summer or fall.
A quad-core 2.53GHz processor is also expected slightly after the main Centrino 2 launch and should be ready in August, although its power consumption may be as high as 44 watts and thus rule it out for all but large desktop replacement systems.