Another improvement over Silverthorne is Intel’s addition of “Enhanced Geyserville,” or Intel Enhanced SpeedStep Technology. This is part of how Lincroft chips are able to run at 200 MHz, while Silverthorne bottomed out at 600 MHz.
Just as importantly, Lincroft now uses power gating across 19 “islands” within the processing core. We’ve seen similar power gating employed in recent Core i-series designs, where current is cut to an entire block within the CPU in order to prevent the leakage that increasingly plagues circuits the smaller they get. This is a much more granular and effective approach than the older method of dropping power (and thus performance) en masse across the core, which still left leakage doors wide open. This was the model that Menlow used, wherein power was either in an on, off, or sleep state. There was nothing in between. With Moorestown, we can now control which islands are active or powered down.
The conventional CPU power states of C0 through C6 still carry forward into Lincroft and are now often collectively called S0. But one of the critical improvements in this generation is the addition of two new power states called S0i1 and S0i3.
S0i1 gets utilized during idle periods in which user is still classified as being interactive but may not be doing anything at just that moment, such as when looking at the home screen or reading a Web page. As you can see in the image above, the majority of islands in the CPU are powered off in S0i1. This delivers a 10% to 15% drop in power use while active. There’s about a 600 microsecond latency when entering the state and an exit target of 1.2 milliseconds.
S0i3 kicks in when the user isn’t actively using the device. Essentially, this is Lincroft’s standby mode, the state in which Intel estimates that a handheld or tablet will spend over 99% of its time over prolonged use. Only the SRAM, GPIO, and System Power Management islands receive any power. Entry latency is 450 microseconds while exit latency hits about 3.1 milliseconds. To get a sense of just how much power S0i1 cuts across the Linfield die, check out the the following image. Then imagine nothing but empty, unmarked blue save for two fields in the top-left corner. That's S0i3.
Intel draws the analogy of walking into a house at night. Under the old model, there was one light switch. You walked in the door, flicked the switch, and the whole house lit up, albeit with a rudimentary dimmer attached. Under Lincroft, you get to turn on lights only in the rooms you need as you walk into them. When you exit the room, out go that space’s lights automatically.
Taken all together, the power improvements in Moorestown yield a 2x to 3x reduction in active platform power compared to Menlow, and a 50x reduction in idle platform power. Without this, Intel couldn’t have met its battery life objectives and become a real contender in the ultramobile market.
- Intel’s Ultramobile Future Arrives
- Little, Less, And Loving It
- Checking Checkboxes
- The Moorestown Breakdown
- Platform And Process
- Processor Power
- New Power States
- Graphics And Video
- Display And Memory
- Langwell Platform Controller Hub MP20
- Briertown Mixed Signal IC
- The Experience
- Why Moorestown Matters




Man, and I just got the HTC Incredible...
And so the march of technology continues!
Time to market. 45 nm was quicker for development and it accomplished what needed to get done at this time. That's the official answer. Unofficially, sure, we all know 32 nm will help, but this is business for consumers. Right or wrong, you don't play all of your cards right away.
I like the Atom, but not in this role. x86 adds inefficiencies that aren't balanced by a need for compatibility in this market.
I was considering buying a Sony Satio, but now I may rethink it.
1366x768 multi-touch S-AMOLED, magnesium case, 802.11 b/g/n, 3G/4G, miniDP, miniHDMI, miniDVI, microUSB, 64GB high quality flash memory, 12MP main camera with a 5MP front facing camera, a new turbo boost that pumps cocaine into the chip until it gets too hot when the performance is needed but puts the chip to sleep in idle, and a Linux based OS specifically tailored to the chip. Sounds like something I would pay a lot for. Complete desktop PC replacement.
Don't disappoint me Intel. I was hoping for 32nm 8 core LGA 1366 chips by now when I originally bought my i7 system, and you already disappointed me.
Now only if 5GB/month on 3G didn't cost $85/month in my area, never mind the texting/calling plan.
I charge my phone once every week, i would be pretty angry if it didnt hold a charge longer than 48 hours.
I also don't see the use of all these MIDs. I hardly even take my laptop out because I have a desktop and other then movement there is nothing the laptop can do that I wouldn't rather use my desktop for.
MIDs might be ok if they didn't cost an extra $30-50 a month to get access to the internet which I'm already paying $30-50 a month for for my general usage. They might start making sense when someone like Qwest starts included DSL and wireless together for a single reasonable monthly fee so I'm not paying twice for the same thing.
And unless you absolutely have to know the instant you get an email, and can't go more then a few hours without updating your facebook page, I don't see a daily usage for mobile internet. I probably don't think "boy it would be nice if I could check the internet while I'm out" more then once every couple months.
Good luck holding a car in your hands!
Anyhow, the article seems mighty detailed compared to what we're used to here. Usually only don writes anything this detailed.
Nice read, though imo the first page looks very much like a bought article.
Anyway beside the progress in the mobile and ultramobile sector I picture in the not so distant future an ultramobile CPU with memory and graphics and storage system the size of a phone in a modular and stackable design and you will have some very serious and scalable mobile supercomputing power. But will mobile form factor CPUs ever going to surpass the need for a desktop machine? Has the computing revolution started from the bottom up and I just noticed?