« Secret Affiliate Weapon 2.0 By Ewin Chia

Dual Core Atoms Coming To A Netbook Near You

Netbooks have been on a strict single-core Atom diet. But one model that has appeared in Japan is gorging itself on a dual-core Atom processor and Nvidia graphics.

Japanese technology Web site Akiba Hotline says a Netbook made by Shenzhen Weibu Electronics will soon hit the market that uses a dual-core Atom 330 processor and Nvidia 9400M “Ion” graphics–the same graphics used in Apple MacBooks.

These silicon specifications have become fairly common in so-called Nettops–tiny Atom-based desktop computers–but have yet to catch on in Netbooks. One reason: the Atom 330 has power consumption requirements double that of a single-core Atom (though the 330 is still low, at 8 watts, compared with mainstream Intel laptop chips, which typically are rated at 25 watts or higher).

The 330, like other Atom processors, supports hyper-threading, a feature also found in Intel’s newest Core i “Nehalem” processors. With hyper-threading, the operating system sees a single processor core as two cores. For example, a dual-core system would be seen as having four cores, thus potentially improving multitasking–or doing tasks (threads) simultaneously.

The 1.6GHz Atom 330, because of its two cores, also integrates twice the cache memory (1MB) of single-core Atom chips.

The “N10A” Netbook from Weibu is expected to go on sale “soon” for 49,800 yen, or just under $530. It will come with 1GB of memory, a 150GB hard disk drive, Web camera, and 802.11 g/b wireless. It will not come with a pre-installed operating system, according to Akiba Hotline

Think you need that latest core2duo by Compaq? Think again. Most netbooks are already capable enough to run even intel-atom-roadmap demanding software like Photoshop CS4 (if you don’t mind the small screen). In fact, I’ve tried running Autocad 2007 on my Asus EEEPC 1005HA and I’m impressed. This tiny PC renders screens as zippily as once did my Pentium 4 2.4Ghz PC. A line is indeed beginning to blur between Netbooks and notebooks. That leads to the question: do you still need to buy overpriced notebooks when netbooks on the Atom processor will do?

But it gets better. Everyone knows that Netbooks have been on a strict single-core Atom diet. A recent trip to japan changed my view. I saw that one prototype model displayed in Japan boasted a dual-core Atom processor and Nvidia graphics. Holy….. now you can play Age of Empires V on your netbook!

Local techies doubt the dual core Atom will become popular. One reason is that the Atom 330 has power consumption requirements double that of a single-core Atom. But who cares? The atom is still less than half the price of a core2duo!

Seems to me that from now on, I’m confining my laptop needs to netbooks. What about you?

The 1.6GHz Atom 330, because of its two cores, also integrates twice the cache memory (1MB) of single-core Atom chips.

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