Intel announces the Pentium 4 processor-M for mobile PCs

This announcement should hopefully bring down the cost of the older Pentium 3 notebooks in the near future. It also means we will be seeing much faster notebooks and the boundary between the notebook and the desktop PC is steadily becoming more blurred. Although the performance of some laptops now equals or exceeds many conventional sysetms there is still a heavy premium on the price. Still many photographers who need digital editing on the move will welcome this new processor.

Press release
Intel today brought its flagship microprocessor - the Pentium 4 processor -- to mobile PCs. With the introduction of the mobile Intel Pentium 4 processor - M, designed specifically for mobile computers, this processor powers a new generation of mobile PCs that deliver outstanding performance, long battery life and wireless capabilities for today's full-size and thin-and-light systems.

Intel also announced the new mobile Intel 845chipset family supporting DDR memory. Together, this new platform delivers a quantum leap in performance for mobile PCs. The new products are shipping in volume worldwide with system availability from leading PC makers.

"The new mobile Pentium 4 processor-M delivers on end users ever increasing demands from their mobile PCs, "said Anand Chandrasekher, vice president and general manager of Intel's Mobile Platforms Group. "Intel's NetBurst micro-architecture, the new Intel mobile 845 chipset and advanced power management technologies deliver unprecedented performance in mobile PCs."

On-The-Go-Performance, Connectivity
The new mobile Pentium 4 processor-M is designed to enable both consumer and business users to take full-advantage of the most intensive applications such as: Internet, streaming audio and video encoding, digital image processing, speech, 3D content creation, games, multimedia and multi-tasking environments. When the new level of computing capability enabled by the mobile Intel Pentium 4 Processor - M is combined with today's emerging wireless technologies, productivity and efficiency can be enhanced even further, enabling users to maintain a productive, secure working environment from anywhere, at anytime.

"Wireless connectivity will change the way you use your PC," Chandrasekher added. "The mobile Pentium 4 processor-M enables seamless, smooth-and-speedy file, and multimedia transfers without putting unnecessary drain on your battery."

Mainstream Mobile PCs Deliver Performance and Long Battery Life The mobile Intel Pentium 4 Processor-M at 1.7 GHz is the fastest processor available today for mobile PCs. It delivers up to a 43 percent** performance gain over the previous mobile Pentium III processor-M, and an 88 percent** increase over the mobile Pentium processor. Higher performance and capabilities are provided by a 512k on die L2 cache, and the Intel Netburst Micro-Architecture, consisting of: a 400 MHz processor system bus, Hyper Pipelined Technology, an Execution Trace Cache, Rapid Execution Engine, and 144 Streaming SIMD instruction extensions.

What makes this processor different from non-mobile processors is its support for advance power management features to extend battery life such as: Enhanced Intel SpeedStepTM technology, that automatically switches between Maximum Performance Mode and Battery Optimized Mode based on the application demand on the processor, the Deeper Sleep Alert State, enabling the processor to operate as low as 1 volt, reaching power levels as low as two tenths of a watt or less * even while running software applications * and an enhanced version of Intel Mobile Voltage Positioning (IMVP). The IMVP III is a voltage regulator technology that dynamically changes processor voltage based on processor activity to lower thermal design power.

The combination of these low-power technologies enables the processor to consume less than two watts of average power**, providing long battery life.

High-performance, full-size and thin-and-light mobile PCs are also possible due to Intel's small Micro-Flip Chip Pin Grid Array (uFCPGA) packaging.

The Intel 845 Chipset Goes Mobile
The Intel 845 Chipset family includes two new chipsets, the 845MP and 845MZ. Both are designed, validated and optimized for the mobile Pentium 4 Processor - M. The Intel 845MP supports external graphics and is available today. Later this year Intel will provide the Intel 845MZ, optimized for value systems.

The Intel 845MP offers external AGP 4X graphics, a 400MHz processor system bus, and DDR 266 MHz SDRAM for up to 1GB memory support. DDR memory offers high reliability and consumes minimal power, critical to the mobile PC platform. The Intel 845MP also supports Enhanced Intel SpeedStep technology, Deep and Deeper Sleep low power alert states, a low power graphics power management mode for smooth and seamless graphics power management and an
internal mobile clock manager that automatically turns off the chipset clock when the chipset is inactive.

Additionally, the Intel 845MP chipset is designed using Intel's most advanced Flip-Chip Ball Grid Array packaging, supports 6 USB ports and supports Intel's I/O Hub Architecture providing a high bandwidth pipe that delivers fast communications and reduces latency time for I/O operations.

Specifications
Designed on Intel's 0.13-micron process technology and including 55 million transistors (25% more than previous mobile processor), the mobile Pentium 4 Processor-M is available today at speeds of 1.7 and 1.6 GHz. In Enhanced Speed Step automatic mode, the mobile Pentium 4 Processor-M runs at up to 1.7 GHz at 1.3 volts (Maximum Performance Mode). In Battery Optimized Mode, both processors run at 1.2 GHz at 1.2 volts, consuming less than 2 watts of average power.**