Intel Unveils 16 New 45nm Chips At CES
The new chips are part of Intel's new 45nm die-shrink family, code named Penryn, that was launched in November of last year. The seven new desktop processors are part of the E8000 series of Core 2 Duos and the Q9000 series of Core 2 Quads. The devices come in a range of clock speeds and are kitted with Intel's HD Boost SSE4 instructions for video editing, encoding and photo editing, the company said in a statement.
The new quad-core desktop products boost speed on HD multimedia applications like photo editing by 12 percent, Intel said, while HD Boost on the new Core 2 Duos "delivers up to 70 percent higher performance when encoding high-definition memories from your HD video camera."
Intel's first batch of 45nm Centrino mobile CPUs will feature a new design feature called Deep Power Down, which the chip giant said "reduces the power of the processor when it's not running data or instructions to the laptop." The chips support HD DVD and Blu-Ray with an optional third-party decoder, and serve as the foundation for the new Mobile Intel 965 Express Chipset and wireless networking notebook platform.
The 965 Express Chipset family also includes options for the Centrino vPro security/management platform; power savings via C6 Power State support and SATA Traffic Monitor on ICH8M; VC-1 hardware acceleration; and 3D graphics support for DirectX 10, Hardware T&L and Shader Model 3.0.
Four new Intel Xeon server chips are also expected to ship this quarter, Intel said. The new products bring Intel's total 45nm desktop, laptop and server offerings to 32 devices built on its new hafnium-based transistor fabrication process. All Penryn chips are lead-free. Intel promised to also make its chips halogen-free beginning this year.
Later in the first quarter, Intel will launch its Menlow platform for mobile Internet devices (MIDs) and ultra-mobile personal computers (UMPCs). That ultra-low voltage building block will include the 45nm Silverthorne CPU and Poulsbo chipset. The chipmaker said the first Menlow-based MIDs and UMPCs will hit the market in the second quarter of this year.
Intel CEO Paul Otellini is slated to deliver a keynote address Monday at CES, discussing the theme that "The Internet is Personal."