Intel’s second-gen Atom platform, Moorestown, positions the chip giant to have a killer smartphone and MID platform in 2010. The old Atom Z5xx drawbacks seem fixed. Why does Moorestown rock, and will it be enough to let Intel advance in this market?
Imagine you’re running a 3DMark graphics demo at perfectly fluid frame rates. Then imagine you’re watching 720p, 8,000 Kb/s video at a steady 30 FPS. And just for giggles, pile on a camera with a little videoconferencing app showing you streaming at the same 30 FPS. Now put all three apps on the same screen. Not earth shattering for one system to pull off, by any stretch, but not bad, right?
Now, imagine all three of those apps running with that level of performance on the smartphone in your pocket.
Impossible, you say. There isn’t a phone in the world right now that can play video at those rates, never mind having the other two tasks running concurrently with no performance impairment. Well, my friends, I’ve seen it with my own two eyes.
Today, Intel goes public with its Atom Z600 processor series. Perhaps netbook performance has left you uninspired. Perhaps Intel’s prior-gen ultramobile platform (meaning smartphones and mobile Internet devices, or MIDs) left such an indifferent impression on you that you’re now asking, “What? Intel had a phone chip?” Rest assured that the Z600 is a different beast altogether.
The company invited Tom’s Hardware to its Austin, Texas ultramobility development center for a pre-launch peek at the platform that has until now been called “Moorestown.” This wasn’t another fluffy press tour. Intel left no doubts that it is serious about this market segment, and was prepared to explain in extensive detail why Moorestown was a game-changer.
So buckle up and give your current phone one last gaze of admiration. You might not be as enamored with it by the time we’re done.
- 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?