Intel Reveals 4 Watt "Diamondville" Processor Details

[FA7]

According Intel partner roadmaps leaked to DailyTech, its Diamondville line of processors are based on a completely new architecture drawn up on a “blank sheet of paper.” Intel plans to release two versions of its Diamondville processors, one for desktops and the other for mobile platforms.

Intel’s first Diamondville chips are expected to be released towards the end of Q2’08. At this time, the company will launch the single-core Diamondville-SC 230, which is meant for desktop use, and the Diamondville-SC: 270, which is for use in mobile platforms. Both of these chips have very similar technical specifications, and will run at 1.60 GHz and feature 512KB cache.

Intel guidance suggests that the first dual-core Diamondville chips will launch under the Celeron 3xx SKU. These new chips are expected to be targeted for desktop use only and will make an appearance in Q3’08.

Diamondville processors have a mere 4W to 8W thermal envelope, and are heralded for fan-less design. Intel also boasts that a number of its “leading ODM” partners support Diamondville, so we can expect to see plenty of new products developed based on these chips.

http://www.dailytech.com/Intel+Reveals+4+Watt+Diamondville+Processor+Detail s/article10876.htm

http://img403.imageshack.us/img403/9956/7402largeinteldiamondvipt1.th.jpg (http://img403.imageshack.us/my.php?image=7402largeinteldiamondvipt1.jpg)

[thenrz]

4W? Wow. Watercooling just became overkill!

[RPGWiZaRD]

Haha, I wonder if these are perhaps some potential CPUs in overclockability just looking at overclockability in percentages. What are they going to use, 0.8v VID? :p: Imagine what they would do at say 1.5v then.

[technodanvan]

I always wanted to make a micro computer for no real reason other than just doing it. By the time I have cash to throw down I might have to look into these a bit more deeply.

[deathman20]

Intresting indeed. Having a low wattage CPU would be benificial for many things, expecially if its dual core and can handle itself quiet well at doing tasks, say media center anyone?

[Gogeta]

I smell a new router/firewall for my network! Hopefully there will be a version with onboard gigabit. :D

[Ugly n Grey]

Watercooling? I think you could blow across these and keep them cool.

[[XC] MarioMaster]

with power consumption that low it would be easy to run a computer off solar power

[saaya]

there are already faster cpus today that run with 4W, ulv anybody?
this doesnt make any sense... and they are working on a future cpu... and its singlecore??? :confused:

[Jacky]

sounds like silverthrone for desktop, but I hope it's something better than that...

[Zytek_Fan]

Embedded PCs for everyone! :D

[SparkyJJO]

another "ville" I guess they can't come up with another name yet :lol2:

4W, that's pretty low. Wonder what performance will be like though at only 1.6GHz with 512Kb cache... celeron material perhaps?

[XS Janus]

Begining of the end of ugly big PC boxes for regular users!! :woot:

I guess the idea of making a dual nehalem based server and terminal PC users for home network will be power friendly as well as cool!:D :D

:up:

[thenrz]

I guess the idea of making a dual nehalem based server and terminal PC users for home network will be power friendly as well as cool!

I had an idea kind of like that for cities. Enthusiast users will have their own box, obviously, but the battalions of web surfers and email users will have 'terminal' (nice word, XS Janus) PCs. You pay for your internet service and another $30 a month for the box, monitor, and periphs. Although, the ISPs will make a killing...they'll buy the hardware for pennies on the dollar...

[pythagoras]

I remember running cpus at 5v that consumed milliwatts:eek: Guess I'm getting old:( . And it ran Windows and the first graphical zork adventure with cut scenes using mpeg, at reasonable speed. To overclock I just doubled the clockspeed via a jumper and stuck a passive heatsink (i.e. no fan) on the cpu.

Regards

John.

[FischOderAal]

CPUs from scratch do sound good :)

[Frank M]

What I don't really get is, why did they use the picture of an existing
product, the D201GLY2 for the article? It may be possible that the
chip will be used in similar systems, but still..

I always wanted to make a micro computer for no real reason other than just doing it. By the time I have cash to throw down I might have to look into these a bit more deeply.

The D201GLY2 is really cheap. It's $60-70 for the miniITX board with the
soldered-on ConroeL-based ULV Celeron220 (1.2GHz)

Intresting indeed. Having a low wattage CPU would be benificial for many things, expecially if its dual core and can handle itself quiet well at doing tasks, say media center anyone?

The D201GLY & -2 was designed not to be too powerful... it has an old SiS
chipset, with Mirage 1, when Mirage 3+ was already available...

there are already faster cpus today that run with 4W, ulv anybody?
this doesnt make any sense... and they are working on a future cpu... and its singlecore??? :confused:

It does make sense. These are to go to the SFF sub-value market, where
you don't need that much cpu horsepower; OTOH it's cheap and low
consumption.

Wonder what performance will be like though at only 1.6GHz with 512Kb cache... celeron material perhaps?

This is Celeron ;)
The D201GLY had Cel215 (Yonah-based), the D201GLY2 has Cel220
(Conroe-L/Merom-based), and it is mentioned in the article that this will
be the Cel3xx-series

'terminal' (nice word, XS Janus) PCs. You pay for your internet service and another $30 a month for the box, monitor, and periphs.

I don't think he meant it like that (terminal is an old term, btw; this could
also be called a thin client, depending on how it's set up); and I'm working
on a sort-of similar project at a company ;)

Pythagoras, that's interesting, what was that? 5V and mWs, x86 to run
Windows and powerful enough for mpeg? I remember some 2/3/486s taking
5Vs, but they had higher consumption...

[Jamesrt2004]

right then get the TRUE out and OC IT lols

[dinos22]

no need for heatsink at all :D

[thenrz]

and I'm working on a sort-of similar project at a company


How cool! All I get to do is build a $250 linux box and call it a file server :( I'd really like to know what it would take for such a system.

[Blauhung]

sounds like silverthrone for desktop, but I hope it's something better than that...

It is, Diamondville is just the platform name. That is unless we're running it on another process that I don't see (unlikely).

[Periander6]

sounds like silverthrone for desktop, but I hope it's something better than that...

It's silverthorn for the new generation of Eee PC type mini-notebooks.

[grimREEFER]

iirc, this is meant for cheap alternatives to the macbook air.
making a super thin laptop wont be too hard with this.

[WeStSiDePLaYa]

Anyone else find it funny it has a 12v ATx 4-pin connector?

[xlink]

4W? Wow. Watercooling just became overkill!

TRUE on 45nm is almost overkill. it's the volts killing those suckers not the heat.

[Polizei]

Anyone else find it funny it has a 12v ATx 4-pin connector?

Wondered the same myself.

[maatriks]

Some1 already said, that on the picture, there is some old model, not the newone.

[Frank M]

How cool! All I get to do is build a $250 linux box and call it a file server :( I'd really like to know what it would take for such a system.

Well, I said sorta-similar. It might never take off, though :(
From $250 you could build a rig that is capable of more than just serving
files: media server, htpc, net-machine. Take a 690G or 780G+sp mobo +
a cheap dualcore k8 (dc-semprons are coming soon) and you're set.

It's silverthorn for the new generation of Eee PC type mini-notebooks.

Silverthorne is already for mobile, embedded or ultra-low-consumption, this
is more like a desktop version.

Anyone else find it funny it has a 12v ATx 4-pin connector?

The picture is of the D201GLY2, and not the chips in this piece of news;
this platform might be that system's successor, though.

[yonton228]

I smell a new router/firewall for my network! Hopefully there will be a version with onboard gigabit.

:up:

This CPU may be at the heart of an upcoming Ipcop,Smoothwall, etc etc etc box.





-yonton228/timmy

[XS2K]

Watercooling? I think you could blow across these and keep them cool.

:rofl:

[[cTx]Raptor22]

How would this compete with a 1400MHz PIII-s or a PIII-s at the same clocks. They seem almost the same as far as specs go...

[Frank M]

:up:

This CPU may be at the heart of an upcoming Ipcop,Smoothwall, etc etc etc box.

If it has GB ethernet.
As I said, the one pictured only has SiS Mirage1 graphics, although Mirage3+
was already avaiable when it was released. This is meant to be a cost-effective
solution, so I wouldn't be surprised if it only had 10/100.

Raptor22;2809096']How would this compete with a 1400MHz PIII-s or a PIII-s at the same clocks. They seem almost the same as far as specs go...

What makes them similar? I only see clock and cache, no more info.
The pictured D201GLY2 has a Cel220, which is based on ConroeL.
What this is capable of depends on which architecture/chip it's based upon.
I only have vague guesses what this is based on (I don't buy that tabula
rasa marketing bs). I'm quite certain, though, that if the significantly cut
down Silverthorne is supposed to keep up with Dothan, then this will not
be far behind ConroeL-Celerons of the same speed.

[[cTx]Raptor22]

If it has GB ethernet.
As I said, the one pictured only has SiS Mirage1 graphics, although Mirage3+
was already avaiable when it was released. This is meant to be a cost-effective
solution, so I wouldn't be surprised if it only had 10/100.



What makes them similar? I only see clock and cache, no more info.
The pictured D201GLY2 has a Cel220, which is based on ConroeL.
What this is capable of depends on which architecture/chip it's based upon.
I only have vague guesses what this is based on (I don't buy that tabula
rasa marketing bs). I'm quite certain, though, that if the significantly cut
down Silverthorne is supposed to keep up with Dothan, then this will not
be far behind ConroeL-Celerons of the same speed.

Clock and Cache make them very similar since they are both P6 derivatives. :)

[Frank M]

Raptor22;2809167']Clock and Cache make them very similar since they are both P6 derivatives. :)

So then a 3.73EE Netburst should perform on par with a Penryn of the same
speed by your logic? :)


Dug up some more tidbits of info:
[...]It is a tiny 45-nanometer processor that employs a simpler design (called an "in-order pipeline") than standard Intel processors, as spelled out in an ISSCC presentation (PDF) earlier this month. Diamondville also has lower-cost packaging than the Silverthorne processor, which Diamondville is derived from.

Because of this extreme emphasis on cost, Diamondville will appear in ultra-low-cost notebooks and to a lesser extent--at least initially--in desktops. Intel refers to the low-cost notebook design as "netbook" and estimates the pricing for these devices will go as low as $250. The initial thrust by PC suppliers such as Hewlett-Packard and Dell is expected to be in emerging markets. Performance is expected to be commensurate with the Pentium-M processor (a single-core chip first released in 2004).

There will be one exception to the single-core designs: a desktop version of Diamondville will be dual-core, according to a source close to Intel. This is backed up by a recent report in Taipei-based DigiTimes that refers to a Diamondville platform as "Shelton'08." That platform will come with two Diamondville processor models: a dual-core CPU, whose specifics are currently unknown, and the 230, a single-core CPU running at 1.6GHz with a 533MHz front-side bus and 512KB cache. The Shelton'08 for notebooks will include a single-core Diamondville, the N270.

http://blogs.cnet.com/8301-13924_1-9879151-64.html


Here's some more:

We're short on specifics, but MSI looks to be getting behind Intel's upcoming 45nm Diamondville processor in a big way -- a totally unsurprising turn of events. Diamondville is pretty much built from the ground up for powering low-cost ultraportables of the Eee PC's ilk, so we're sure to be seeing it in all sorts of cheap computers in the coming year or so, but MSI is one of the first to announce a budget laptop built around the platform. The chip is due to be formally unveiled in April, and MSI says the "when Diamondville is ready, our project will be ready." That should be around July or August, and we can't wait to see those design chops (pictured above) put to good use.

http://www.engadget.com/tag/Diamondville/

[[cTx]Raptor22]

So then a 3.73EE Netburst should perform on par with a Penryn of the same
speed by your logic? :)


Dug up some more tidbits of info:


Here's some more:

The 3.73GHz Netburst is not P6, its netburst. The C2D comes from the PentiumM which comes from the PIII-s, the PII, and ultimately the Pentium Pro. Since these CPUs share the same architecture, they should be similar clock for clock. Since the new Diamondville CPU is P6 based, 1.4GHz, and 512kb cache, performance should be similar using that logic. All a PentiumM is, is a PentiumIII with enhancements for higher clock speeds since they couldnt put the hot burning P4s in laptops. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_P6
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_Core_microarchitecture

They are so close that many benchmarks originally referred to them as "Pentium III 2400MHz" Etc.

[Frank M]

Raptor22;2809241']The 3.73GHz Netburst is not P6, its netburst. The C2D comes from the PentiumM which comes from the PIII-s, the PII, and ultimately the Pentium Pro. Since these CPUs share the same architecture, they should be similar clock for clock.

Since the new Diamondville CPU is P6 based

Based around/on != same. There'd be significant difference even clock-for-clock
if you compared the PIII and Penryn.

Silverthorne and Diamondville are loosely based the Core uArch, much
cut down in size and features, e.g. no OoO processing. Intel still said they
expect it to perform similarly to the first PentiumMs, if that was your question.

[Movieman]

Watercooling? I think you could blow across these and keep them cool.

Hell, this is XS.. I have one of these sweet "little" 40x58mm 16,200rpm fans for that HS!:rofl:
Thinki like the sound of a F-15 taking off..on full burner..:D

[[cTx]Raptor22]

Based around/on != same. There'd be significant difference even clock-for-clock
if you compared the PIII and Penryn.

Silverthorne and Diamondville are loosely based the Core uArch, much
cut down in size and features, e.g. no OoO processing. Intel still said they
expect it to perform similarly to the first PentiumMs, if that was your question.

And since the PentiumMs were simply rebadged PIIIs then yes that answers my question. I find it humorous that a high end CPU family from 2002 has stayed relatively current since... :up:

[Donnie27]

Anyone else find it funny it has a 12v ATx 4-pin connector?

I'm sure the motherboard is made to be compatible with more than just this ULV CPU only.

[ronaldor9]

this would be sweet for like mini torrent box server

[MuffinFlavored]

I am aware that this offers x86 support and ARM processors do not, but I wonder how this thing would compare to a beefy ARM processor (like the one used in the iPhone).

[[cTx]Raptor22]

I am aware that this offers x86 support and ARM processors do not, but I wonder how this thing would compare to a beefy ARM processor (like the one used in the iPhone).'

This thing is a very beefy desktop CPU and compares favorably to a 1.4GHz PentiumIII-s or a 2.4GHz P4B.... would wipe the floor with an iPhone... :ROTF:

[Shadowmage]

It is, Diamondville is just the platform name. That is unless we're running it on another process that I don't see (unlikely).

4W for the TDP is disgusting. What happened to 2W TDP maximum for Silverthorne processors running at a much higher frequency than 1.6GHz? I'm guessing the desktop chips are basically just the rejects?

[xlink]

this might be good for ultra portables.but for home computing in an ultra small form factor... get me a celery e2100 and undervolt, then add in a small passive heatsink.

one of these days I will make a "system in a showbox" just for the hell of it. Admitedly the shoebox would be self made and constructed of allu, but...