What you should know about Intel’s Atom N450 processor
With Intel claiming at least 80 new netbook design awards for their Intel Atom N450 this coming year, the Pine Trail processor is certain to become the new standard netbook spec. There’s been a lot of hoopla generated about the Pine Trail processor and in all of that hype, the facts tend to be set aside. So let’s get into what the Intel Atom N450 really means for netbooks and netbook buyers.
Processor design integrates chipset
Earlier models have a separate graphics controller and memory controller, but this has been integrated onto one board. So instead of having three chips (CPU, chipset, I/O controller hub), it’s now down to two (CPU and chipset). This has resulted in a shrinkage in size, with the N450 being only 60% as big as its predecessors.
Increased Battery Life
The most noticeable improvement is in the longevity of batteries. Intel claimed that the integrated chipset design would result in less wattage being utilized. We recently reviewed the ASUS 1005PE, which is basically the ASUS 1005HA with the Pine Trail series of processor. The battery life is up from 9 hours to close to 11, which is more than a 20% increase in the battery life. The biggest gainers will be 3 cell netbooks, whose battery lives will reach a much more acceptable level with the N450 processor.
Sleeker Designs
As a direct result of the reduced chipset size, netbook manufacturers have a bit more space to play around with while designing netbooks. This will lead to sleeker and thinner netbooks. Batteries of current netbook models sometimes jut out of the chassis, and this is something that may be solved with the newer chipset
No performance improvements
This is an aspect which is sorely misleading. If I’m an average Joe and I buy something that has the number 270 in it, and something comes out that is the 450 , I assume its about 60% better. Now I’m not saying its illegal or anything, but its a thought process that Intel would not stand in the way of. The Atom is a lower powered processor and within it, clock speeds are what matter. The clock speed of both the 270 and 450 are 1.6GHz, and in running benchmark tests, we found that both netbooks performed similarly. Just for comparision sake, a 1.6GHz Atom would perform probably as well as a 0.8GHz Celereon.
No real improvement in graphics either
The N450 features the Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 3150, as opposed to the IGMA 500 or 950 in earlier processor models. Again, one would assume that the IGMA 3150 is much better than even the IGMA 950, but this is not the case. If you were expecting improvements in things like media playback, multimedia capabilities and gaming – you’re going to be let down. The Broadcom video accelerator does a decent job with video graphics, but doesn’t affect graphics performance as a whole and doesn’t come cheap either.
Conclusion
The main benefits of the new processors is the battery life increase, and maybe the fact that OEMs will be able to design slimmer netbooks. There is absolutely no other tangible benefit. At least Intel has decided to keep costs the same as current processors.
Filed under: Netbook