Intel’s 2013 processor lineup is already notable for the strides the chip maker has made in reducing power consumption — especially in the company’s 4th-generation Core processors, also known as “Haswell.” Some of those chips are designed to use as little as 6 watts of power.
Now Intel’s going even lower with a new limited edition chip that will use as little as 4.5 watts, making it a high-performance (and likely high priced) alternative to the company’s own low-power Atom processors.
Intel says the new chip has an SDP of 4.5 watts. It actually has a TDP (Thermal Design Power) of 11.5W, but Intel introduced the concept of Scenario Design Power, or SDP earlier this year. The number’s lower because it measures the amount of power a chip is likely to consumer under typical usage conditions.
In this case, since we’re looking at an Intel Core Y-series processor designed for thin tablets and other computers with fanless designs, the 4.5W figure seems realistic — although at times it could jump higher if you’re running apps that aren’t optimized for low power devices.
Up until now the lowest-power Intel Haswell chips had an SDP of around 6W.
The new chip should enable device makers to offer tablets that are thinner and/or models that offer better battery life.
What we still don’t know is how the chip will be implemented. Theoretically it could end up in tablets that offer iPad-rivaling battery life while offering the ability to run both mobile apps and desktop-style software.
And if Intel prices these chips the way it prices its Atom, Celeron, or Pentium processors then you might even be able to buy those tablets for iPad-like prices. But if the new Y-series chips are priced more like higher-performance Haswell processors, you might be lucky to find a tablet with one of these chips selling for less than the price of Microsoft’s $899 Surface Pro tablet.
I wonder how the performance would compare with a quad core Bay Trail chip? I would really like to get a fanless 10″ screened notebook and install Arch Linux on it. No need for touch so I’d like a matte screen.
This is not about gimic tablets, but about replacing the desktop PC ( or even the notebook ) with a smaller and more portable compatible device.
Those who wants multimedia-only devices go for iPad ( no Flash though ), those who wants both portable, media and office working device, goes for the Surface or similar. Pure and simple.
those who wants multimedia-only devices go for ipad or android (no flash on either though) those who wants both portable, media and office working devices gets a thin and light windows laptop.
I think that tablets don’t need Intel and I hope they won’t. I don’t want to pay 1000$ for an Intel tablet.
What’s wrong with offering it for those who want to do things they can’t on non-Intel tablets?
Choice is always preferable for consumers and it doesn’t mean one takes over from another as everyone has different needs and wants!
Besides, pricing has already dropped below $1000 for Intel tablets… Surface Pro starts at $899 and there are cheaper Intel tablets than that model…
“The new chip should enable device makers to offer tablets that are thinner and/or models that offer better battery life.”…
By consuming 3 to 4 times more power than an ARM ??? Could be thinner, than other Intel tablet, sure ^^.
The “SDP” on an ARM is about 1W and TDP about 4~5W for the more powerfull, isn’t it ?
Not anymore, at least for the high end, the strive to make ever more powerful ARM SoCs has raised the max TDP for them as well… A Exynos 5 can go as high as 8W, it just keeps itself restrained to about 4W most of the time and only allows itself to go full out only when absolutely needed.
Intel is performing a similar trick with SDP… they’re keeping average usage within the safety range of below 5W to allow the Y processor to be used in a fan-less design.
While Intel’s idle states also now go pretty low… Previous Ivy Bridge may have been limited to say 3W while idling but Haswell can go much lower.
The Ultrabook and ULV range Haswell even supports mobile features like Alway Connected Standby and that requires idling down to low mw range.
This is not to say you would get the same battery life as ARM, Intel’s solution will still likely have more highs than lows, and ARM can still likely do more things in low states and be more efficient in those low states, along with other factors like running a desktop OS tends to be more resource and power consuming than running a mobile OS…
But it means Intel may finally be able to offer good enough battery life, while they could always use a dock with active cooling to allow higher performance for those who need it as a option.
While Intel has the ATOM for something to rival ARM power efficiency for max battery life and doesn’t need to be crippled to reach those low power states.
These 4.5 SDP Haswell’s will lose against Temash and Kabini quad cores.
Maybe, but only while operating at 4.5W…
Quad core Temash may start off at 8W TDP but at max performance it’s more like the 15W Kabini!
While the benchmark comparisons of the quad core Temash and Kabini were compared to dual core Core i3’s and i5’s and only achieved similar processor efficiency but not the same performance range!
But Haswell offers quad core as well and the Y chip can go up to just over 11W TDP at max power when it’s actively cooled. So will likely offer a higher max performance than either the 15W Kabini or Temash can offer.
You are an retard and a troll and try to coinvince people that you know about computers while in reality you don’t.
Intel specs of Haswell chips leaked months ago, they were 9.5 watt TDP chips that had an SDP of 4.5 watts. SDP is a lie!
A6 1450 Temash is an 8 watt TDP chip you retard, can’t you learn? Its only 12 watt while in dock mode when all cores are clocked at 1.4 Ghz and GPU clocks rose from 300 to 400mhz.
So deal with it…
You get the specs and sheets wrong, you are just a pathetic little man spreading lies and rainbows. You are like nVidias Tegra.
Sorry but SDP isn’t a lie for Haswell, it’s what they’re tuning it to operate at… Much like ARM SoCs also limit performance for average use and only allow max performance under certain conditions.
A Exynos 5 for example can go up to 8W under max load but it operates most of the time around 4W and specifically limits itself to that range most of the time.
It’s what’s required to keep the average below the 5W needed to achieve a fan-less design.
So complain all you want but AMD isn’t employing any of the advance mobile optimizations for their SoCs yet.
There is no support for features like Always Connected Standby, idling states are still high by ARM standards, and for any real performance they give up on being low powered and ramp up very quickly.
The lowest Kabini starts at 15W rating for its 1.5GHz A4-5000 and goes up to 25W for its 2GHz A6-5200.
While Temash is basically just the more tablet optimized version of Kabini and the quad core only has a 8W rating when it limits itself to the base tablet optimized 1GHz but in Turbo mode it goes as high as 1.4GHz and that brings it close to the Kabini’s 1.5GHz for its 15W rating.
So, no, AMD’s SoCs aren’t as low powered as you think they are!
Really, even the dual core A4-1250 has a 8W max TDP rating, with the iGPU clocked at 300MHz.
So there’s no way the quad core can stay at 8W, with double the number of cores and increasing the iGPU from 300MHz to 400MHz!
At least not without throttling performance, like only allowing one CPU core to go to 1.4GHz but under clocking the others.
Never mind how to explain why the Kabini jumps to 15W when it’s basically the same SoC as the quad core Temash, just clocked higher at 1.5GHz, instead of the Temash max of 1.4GHz!
So, even if Temash sticks to 8W by throttling and juggling power consumption, the only real performer is the Kabini and that’s a 15W rated APU SoC!
While, for the 4.5W Haswell to be fan-less it has to be able to stick below 5W and it couldn’t do that unless SDP was actual operating range and not just a idle range!
So like it or not, I spread the truth… and being in denial won’t change what the truth really is!
While I agree that CyberGusa can be an unpleasant troll sometimes, I have to accuse you being an even worse abusive fanboy. There is no need for name calling when he has a valid point.
Historically, AMD processors have run past their TDP. Anandtech’s article points out the same for the A6-1450. SDP is a lie when it is the only number given, but so is TDP if a chip regularly runs past it.
On the graphics side, I’ve noticed that AMD GPU’s don’t scale downward very well. On laptop mobility parts. HD4000 come awfully close in synthetic benchmarks to even the 7500G Whereas they held a considerable lead in desktop parts. I haven’t seen comparisons between Y-series HD4600 vs Temash, but I expect Intel to have closed the gap if not completely overtaking AMDs 128 shader part as in A6-1450. The only beating Temash may give Haswell, is in price.
I appreciate the acknowledgment that I had a valid point but when do I ever Troll?
All I’ve ever done was state what I know and correct any misinformation that I see.
Trolling means someone posting inflammatory posts in order to provoke an emotional response but that’s not the reason why I make comments at all!
I only ever post to either provide information or correct misinformation.
Now, I can be rude on occasions but mainly only to people who are rude to me first. Like accusing me of only making a post for increasing my post count for example!
Really, if you ever really bothered to track my activity… you’d see over 90% of my comments are to help people. I’m even known on some forums for specifically helping people.
So, I disagree with the notion that I’m ever trolling!
Now, you may not like what I’m stating all the time but that’s not the same as trolling!
It was meant to be more tongue-in-cheek, but point noted. ;p
Thank you