In a first review of non-official pre-production samples of Intel's upcoming 65 nm single and dual-core Pentium processors, Tom's Hardware Guide discovered a substantial drop in power consumption, if compared to the preceding processor models. The advantage of the new production process reveals itself especially within full-load scenarios.
Intel has turned the corned and entered a path of shrinking power consumption. The company declared a more efficient use of power as one of the main criteria for next-generation processors at the most recent and, as it appears, will deliver on this goal. Tom's Hardware Guide, a sister site of TG Daily, was able to review pre-production samples it had received from industry sources and found a surprisingly steep drop in power consumption.
| Row 0 - Cell 0 |
| Pentium D 930(65 nm Presler core) |
Although scaling of the production process typically results in increased current leakage, Intel still achieved less overall power consumption. Tom's Hardware Guide measured the power consumption of a 65 nm Cedar Mill (single core Pentium 4) system at 166 watts at full load - which is 17 percent less than the 200 watts a 90 nm Prescott (current Pentium 4) requires. The advantage decreases in idle and BIOS modes, but the new generation was able to run more efficiently in any scenario Tom's Hardware Guide considered.
A similar environment is displayed for the dual-core processors. A 90 nm Smithfield system (Pentium D 830) swallowed 252 watts under full load, while the same system equipped with the new 65 nm Presler processor (Pentium D 930) consumed just 214 watts - which translates into savings of about 15 percent.
For details and results on platform architecture, performance and power consumption please read the reviews at Tom's Hardware Guide:
