Intel's new CPU technology brings performance benefits.For notebook users, working faster and getting more time from a battery charge are productivity priorities.
Many new notebooks based on Intel's Core Duo processor will do both, thanks in part to Intel's "Penryn" processor core. Fujitsu was the first to announce Penryn-based notebooks -- three Lifebook models -- at the Consumer Electronics Show in January 2008. In 2008, vendors including Acer, Fujitsu, HP, Lenovo, Panasonic and Sony will be offering notebooks based on Penryn processors.
"We will offer Penryn-based Intel Core Duo notebooks as soon as they're readily available and we have systems," said Howard Locker, director of New Technology at Lenovo.
Intel's Penryn family differs from previous generations in two significant ways, according to Karen Regis, marketing manager in Intel Corporation's Mobile Platforms Group. "Penryn is the first CPU to use the new 45 nanometer process technology, versus the previous 65 nanometer," Regis said. "Moving to 45nm lets Penryn nearly double the number of transistors in the same space -- more than 400 million in a dual-core processor, 800 million in a quad-core."
The second major difference, said Regis, is that Penryn is the first processor to use Intel's new "Hi-k" Hafnium-based high-k metal gate technology instead of silicon dioxide in its transistors. "Hi-k" is faster than the silicon dioxide used in previous chips, reduces the amount of electrical leakage and lets Intel lower the amount of power needed, according to Regis.
Intel co-founder Gordon Moore has referred to 45nm and Hi-k as "the biggest transistor advancements in 40 years."
Penryn-based mobile Core 2 Duo processors will also have a larger Level 2 memory cache -- up to 6MB, for greater performance across workloads; increased associativity -- 16-way to 24-way -- which will improve utilization of this larger cache; and several dozen new instructions that help with media processing and related software, by improving the performance of video accelerators, streaming load and graphics building blocks. For example, the Intel HD Boost in Penryn can provide up to 50 percent more speed for high-definition multimedia applications like viewing HD DVD and Blu-ray discs, encoding videos and manipulating photos. Penryn-based notebooks will support hi-definition TV features including HDMI interfaces and 1080p.
"Penryn will be better for Microsoft Vista's user interface, for security, as well as for graphics," said Lenovo's Locker.
Penryn also supports Enhanced Dynamic Acceleration Technology, which uses the power headroom of an idle core to boost performance of the non-idle core; this can improve performance on single-threaded applications.
And in mid-2008, Regis said, Intel will offer a version of Penryn with mobile-oriented performance and power improvements, including a "Deep Power Down" mode. "The more we lower power consumption, and the faster a notebook can get a task done and drop into power-savings mode, the longer a battery charge will last," Regis pointed out. In Deep Power Down state, the processor lowers the core voltage even more than in the "C4 state," and turns off the L1 and L2 caches, which results in significant power savings while the system is in this idle mode.
"For notebook users who 'live' in spreadsheets and usually have five applications open at the same time, more computing power that uses less battery power is always a good thing," said John Jacobs, director of Notebook Market Research at DisplaySearch, a market research and consulting firm.
