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Intel Launches Cedar Trail Processors

by - source: Intel

Intel officially released its 32 nm Cedar Trail Atom processors, which are carrying the sequence numbers N2600 and N2800 in commercial products.

Intel said that the new CPUs will be available in early 2012 in computers offered by Acer, Asus, HP, Lenovo, Samsung, and Toshiba.

Intel claims that Cedar Trail netbooks will achieve up to 10 hours of battery life and consume up to 20 percent less power than its predecessor. The graphics chipset GMA 3600/3650 promises twice the performance of the previous generation platform. New features include WiDi and Wireless Music, which are now integrated in the product.

The N2600 arrives with core frequency of 1.6 to 1.86 GHz and a TDP of less than 3.5 watts. The N2800 features clock speeds of 1.86 to 2.13 GHz and a TDP of less than 6.5 watts. However, Intel did not announce two variants that are already listed in its technical documents, the 1.7 GHz N2650 and the 2.0 GHz N2850.

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amk-aka-phantom 12/29/2011 6:32 AM
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No chance; not getting anything less than a Pentium G620.

thesnappyfingers 12/29/2011 6:44 AM
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amk-aka-Phantom :
No chance; not getting anything less than a Pentium G620.



So in other words you are never getting a netbook?

CaedenV 12/29/2011 6:53 AM
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half the wattage with double the GPU of the previous generation, now we are talking! Now if only Intel could make a chipset that used less power than the CPU we might get somewhere...


I have used an atom netbook for almost 2 years now and (after installing a 2nd GB of Ram) my only complaint is the aweful gpu on the thing. I mean, I understand a netbook not being able to do HD video (the screen resolution wont even properly display it), but the thing has the hardest time even playing back normal video if it has any sort of compression (and what dosnt these days?), and God help you if there is any flash video lol, sure it will do it, but it really has a rough time of it. I think these improvements will really help. And getting 5 hours on my netbook is great, 10 hours would be really unbelievable.

DjEaZy 12/29/2011 7:04 AM
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... but gpu sux... as always...

amk-aka-phantom 12/29/2011 7:09 AM
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thesnappyfingers :
So in other words you are never getting a netbook?



My netbook has a Celeron and it performs better than most Atom netbooks. If I'd get a new netbook, I'd get a E-350 based one - Asus just announced it will make such netbooks in 2012, read the article from yesterday. And actually, I'd prefer an "ultra" book rather than a netbook - why quotes? Because I wouldn't buy an ultrabook as it's advertised, I'd just find a properly equipped yet light 14 or 15.6'' laptop - Asus N series would do. I don't see much use for a netbook any more. I mostly use my netbook as a test PC for network boot based solutions and for minor system administration tasks, with these small screens netbooks simply aren't suitable for any other tasks. Their era is over.

aries1470 12/29/2011 7:36 AM
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Well, when is the dual core comming?
I have a 330 dual core, and it is great :-) It is a home built net-top, with a 5450 running on PCI x1 and it can play back blu-ray with out stuttering! Albeit, I have put 4Gb of Ram, and I am using Win XP SP3 & Win7 in dual boot. Just have to disable anti-virus and it is great :-D plenty of open tabs in I.E. and FireFox. At times it does become a little laggy, but then I am beating it to a pulp and running boinc!

king_maliken 12/29/2011 7:54 AM
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Ok, this more of a question, isn't the purpose of a netbook the same as a tablet (or very close anyhow, surfing net, media sharing, very mobile, writing notes and so on)?

I personally have a tablet and I just don't see why I'd get a netbook so I'm agreeing with amk-aka-Phantom.

But as for the processor, that's really good if it does really get 10hrs battery life, but as mentioned in the comments above the chipset is still the one sucking more juice, I'd like to get more info on them.

De5_roy 12/29/2011 7:55 AM
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meh. bobcat/zacate still owns atom.

tlmck 12/29/2011 8:10 AM
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caedenv :
half the wattage with double the GPU of the previous generation, now we are talking! Now if only Intel could make a chipset that used less power than the CPU we might get somewhere...I have used an atom netbook for almost 2 years now and (after installing a 2nd GB of Ram) my only complaint is the aweful gpu on the thing. I mean, I understand a netbook not being able to do HD video (the screen resolution wont even properly display it), but the thing has the hardest time even playing back normal video if it has any sort of compression (and what dosnt these days?), and God help you if there is any flash video lol, sure it will do it, but it really has a rough time of it. I think these improvements will really help. And getting 5 hours on my netbook is great, 10 hours would be really unbelievable.



I got an Acer Aspire One with the dual core ATOM and 64mb discreet video memory. Do not really have an issue with HD video. Of course I replaced Windows Starter with Peppermint OS One since it runs very well on 1gb RAM. Don't know if this really helps the video though.


joytech22 12/29/2011 8:35 AM
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Oh awesome twice the graphics performance!
That means I should be able to play Portal 2 at 15fps instead of 8. in DX9 mode.

Anonymous 12/29/2011 9:19 AM
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*yawn* still can't knock AMD's brazos off its perch

wenqi 12/29/2011 9:37 AM
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Ronin Jin :
*yawn* still can't knock AMD's brazos off its perch


portal 2 works on an atom? i'm amazed already...

madooo12 12/29/2011 11:02 AM
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to compete with AMD in the lower end, if AMD gets destroyed there will be no competition
AMD has better GPUs, and that's what intel wants

zodiacfml 12/29/2011 11:13 AM
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benchmarks will tell.

dealcorn 12/29/2011 11:52 AM
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Assuming it tests competent at 1080p, Atom will have a better price and better efficiency than anything AMD has got at the moment. This should help sort out whether AMD's recent netbook marketing prowess is due to it;'s outstanding gaming performance vs the fact that it was the cheapest 1080p around until Atom got its act together.

It may seem odd, but in the low price market, folks are sometimes interested in price and Intel wins there big time.

leper84 12/29/2011 11:54 AM
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I would be extremely interested to see how this stacks up to what AMD is offering with zacate. This part of the market + llano is all AMD has left so I think it has pretty big implications in general.

tului 12/29/2011 12:14 PM
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I seriously doubt even doubling the old Atom's integrated graphics performance will let it stand up to Llano and the other A series APUs. They are very very nice chips for low cost machines that still want some graphical oomph.

sonofliberty08 12/29/2011 12:32 PM
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if am a fan of crappy atom, then i must be a tard......

g4114rd0 12/29/2011 1:40 PM
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actually New species... Dodgy deal!
Just take a picture with your tiny Smurfs!

Anonymous 12/29/2011 2:15 PM
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well, ill rather buy a pc with nvidia tegra

Pyree 12/29/2011 2:16 PM
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Interesting if they go into phones.

amk-aka-phantom 12/29/2011 3:37 PM
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Pyree wrote :

Interesting if they go into phones.




That's actually the only use for them I see. Because "half the wattage of previous generation" REALLY doesn't matter. You know what eats the battery on the netbooks the most? WLAN and the screen. CPU doesn't matter much...

Anonymous 12/29/2011 5:37 PM
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You guys are crazy. These things are made for people who need to be mobile all day while having more capability than a silly tablet (ever used one... couldn't possibly call it productive). The whole CPU and chipset consumes less than 10W at it's highest performance so you're talking 10+ hours of battery life. It is useful for those who don't plug in like those at work whom are mobile or those on travel. It is not meant to play intense games (seriously). I mean blueray playback and simple games are enough. If you need your complicated games for your travel (doesn't sound very businessy), then you should wait for an Ultrabook which still maintains plenty of portability but will have a great deal more power. Netbooks are just really cheap business devices for mobile people who can't possibly be productive with a tablet (I am not using a touchscreen for business production and it's too damn slow).

freggo 12/29/2011 6:12 PM
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joytech22 :
Oh awesome twice the graphics performance!That means I should be able to play Portal 2 at 15fps instead of 8. in DX9 mode.



Not every device is made for 'gaming' :-)
Portable devices are used by business folks, and being able to run a spread sheet faster or look up a map or blue print quicker etc. is quite useful.



buzznut 12/29/2011 8:34 PM
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The netbooks are dying because of all the previous mentioned things- poor graphics and low performance. Now tablets are hot, remember PDA's? Form factors will come and go but mobility is here to stay.
I don't think a slightly more powerful netbook is going to save that market. Net tops are not that popular either. Cedar trail will likely lead to other things though, so that's good.

jacobdrj 12/29/2011 9:33 PM
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Fusion Fusion Fusion...
Already got 2 clients to buy into Fusion due to low prices, high battery life, and balanced performance. They are all quite happy. Can't say the same about Atom + Ion2...
I hope Intel hasn't signed the death certificate of the Netbook form factor by being the main representative in this category... AMD does a FINE job with this form factor, one which I love.

dalethepcman 12/29/2011 11:28 PM
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dealcorn :
Assuming it tests competent at 1080p, Atom will have a better price and better efficiency than anything AMD has got at the moment. This should help sort out whether AMD's recent netbook marketing prowess is due to it;'s outstanding gaming performance vs the fact that it was the cheapest 1080p around until Atom got its act together. It may seem odd, but in the low price market, folks are sometimes interested in price and Intel wins there big time.



Smoking crack again?? When has Intel ever been the winner in the low price market, or even attempted to compete in it?

Unfortunatly AMD still has an NDA for Zacate pricing, but I can tell you that Zacate has a die size of 75mm, Llano a4-3300 228mm, so Zacate must be much cheaper to manufacture than Llano.

A4-3300 2.5 GHz retail box, MSRP $65

32nm-based Atom N2800 (1.86GHz) priced at US$47 (OEM / 1000 unit pricing)



nottheking 12/30/2011 7:58 AM
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Unfortunately, in today's world, Atom has practically gone the way of Nokia in terms of market relevance. It's the most underwhelming per-clock performer of any modern x86 CPU, as it only roughly equates the old Pentium 4s. This means that the Bobcat-based Zacate APUs drastically beat it even at lower clock speeds. Plus, once you throw in the GPU, it's no contest at all: you're far better off with a 1 GHz Zacate than a 1.6 (or even really up to 2.0 GHz) Atom. And that's before you consider that Zacate features something at least within reach of the low-end 6000s, while Cedar Trail's GPU can be summed up with the letters "GMA," which tells us everything.

perplu 12/31/2011 5:43 AM
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You would think that from the press about Intel's WiDi that this was something new. But a simple display/audio extender does exactly this - these devices require no additional hardware connected to your notebook or PC, the only hardware supplied is a device that plugs into your TV's HDMI or other connectors and the other end plugs into your network via an ethernet or wireless connection. Install the driver software on your Notebook or PC and your display and audio displays on your TV. Examples of these are: Winstar's Network Adapter WS-UG17GN1 or StarTech.Com's HDMI over IP extender. So not sure what all the fuss is about. No need for a smart TV nor any need for a media player or remote keyboards or complex remote controllers - you have a tablet or laptop in the house - just use that to surf and display what you see on your laptop on your TV. Simple.

psiboy 12/31/2011 3:23 PM
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AMD Fusion C series and E series will still smash this piece of trash as they produce similar power results but can actually handle 1080p and some basic 3d... oh and the colour reproductions eats Intel for breakfast...

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