Processors
Marvell’s new Armada 610 to bring better gaming to MIDs and PMPs
Jan 6th
MIDs and PMPs are nice devices, but if you buy one today you’re probably not going to be able to do much more than Nintendo DS quality gaming on one.
That’s going to change very soon, thanks to the new Armada 610 from Marvell. The chipset includes a gigahertz cpu, full 1080p HD and Open GL 3D graphics support, and is able to out to HDMI on up to four displays at a maximum resolution of 2,000 by 2,000 pixels.
While I don’t think you’re going to any crazy fold-open MIDs or PMPs anytime soon, you could very well see much more powerful devices from companies like Archos. The Armada should provide a less expensive platform for OEMs to build devices like the Archos 7 tablet – devices which currently rely on the juice of the Intel Atom.
I’m excited to see what kind of devices the Armada spawns. It’s got a ton of potential, and if it’s picked up by anywhere near as many OEMs as Marvell’s Sheevaplug, we should see some seriously cool portable devices based on the new tech.
via Slashgear
1.8GHz Atom just around the corner, DDR3 support on the way!
Dec 15th
According to Fudzilla, Intel will begin full-scale production of the new Atom N470 in January – which means the 1.8GHz CPUs should start arriving in netbooks some time in Q1 2010. Their post also notes the the 1.6GHz N40 is already being pushed out by Intel’s factories and should surface even sooner.
One other development worth noting is that Intel is ready to make the move to DDR3 memory on the Atom and will be adding it to the Pine Trail platform some time in 2010.
If you want the deliciously speedy ram now, of course, you can always pick up an HP Mini 311. the XP version
via Liliputing
Via’s VN1000 platform boasts serious multimedia kung-fu
Dec 10th
Via has started clawing back netbook market share, and it looks like their VN1000 chipset could very well lead to even bigger gains.
VN1000 boasts an impressive array of media-processing skills, including Via Chrome 520 graphics DirectX 10.1 capabilities, Shader Model 4, OpenGL 3.0 and OpenCL 1.0, and ChromotionHD 2.0. On top of that, VN1000 does hardware decoding for H.264 and Windows Media 9, and VC1 video codecs. It also features support for DDR3 memory and a bevy of display options including HDMI, VGA, and Display Port.
I’ll be curious to see how the VN1000 handles gaming – it certainly looks like it will be more than capable.
And it’ll does all this while consuming a maximum of 12W. Now that’s impressive.
via Softpedia
Intel’s Cedarview could double 3DMark scores in 2011
Dec 10th
With Pine Trail just around the corner, Fudzilla turned their eyes toward the future today – waxing poetic about Intel’s next bit thing: Cedarview.
Due in 2011, Cedarview Atom CPUs will step up (or is it down?) to a 32nm process. They’ll also, of course, bring DDR3 support. Fudzilla believe the new chips will easily be able to handle 1080P HD video – which I think we’d all expect. Heck, over the next year I think we’re all going to start expecting HD playback to be silky-smooth regardless of which CPU a netbook is packing.
Will that translate to better gaming graphics scores? Frankly, I’m getting tired of Intel chips that can only manage an Experience Index of 3 for 3D. Let’s hope the start of the new decade – and their upcoming chips – signal the beginning of a new era for Intel.
One where crap graphics performance just isn’t acceptable.