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Hlafordlaes
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« Reply #1 on: April 26, 2008, 11:45:20 PM » |
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Lookin' good. Not surprising it beats the Atom, as the Isaiah sports out-of-order execution. But what really surpises is the 2x performance of the C7 with the same TDP and low heat. Also read somewhere the chip can go dual core without two much effort (2 dies on chip, as with Core2Duos).
I think it's also great that the Isaiah is socket and chipset compatible with the C7, so partners and users need not upgrade anything else in order to drop this baby in. Frankly, I am surprised, as I have been convinced Intel was going to have VIA's last remaining lunch. Apart from the global UMPC and laptop markets, in Asia and emerging markets, and increasingly in the West, low power small form factor desktops and even blade servers are coming into their own.
As a mini-itx user, what are your plans re this new chip?
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CrystalCowboy
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« Reply #2 on: April 28, 2008, 04:06:17 PM » |
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I don't know if I'll bite, I have not been impressed with VIA chips in the past. The C7 is so slow that a 2X improvement isn't enough to qualify it for "primary desktop" duty. If it's for some embedded purpose, then thermals and power use come into play, and the Atom has the edge there (from early reports).
There are also reports that nVidia plans to make a chipset for this thing. I'm sure nVidia can make a better graphics chipset than Intel, but once again, they would have to bring their thermals in line.
One big effect the Atom will have is bringing the price points into line.
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Cycle Guy
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« Reply #3 on: April 28, 2008, 07:47:41 PM » |
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I'm using a VIA CL1000 right now just testing out the mini-itx waters. The price of entry is what is holding me back. The Commell and iBase boards are nice but $400 for a decent board with a PCI-x slot is a bit steep.
I too hope that Intel's foray into this market will mean good boards that are inline with micro-atx prices. If that happens I can see the format really taking off, if they remain at the price point they are at now, I think mini-itx will always be a niche market IMHO.
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CrystalCowboy
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« Reply #4 on: April 29, 2008, 03:20:16 PM » |
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I presume you mean "PCI-express," not "PCI-X." They're not the same thing.
Anyway, if you want a low entry price, check out the Intel D201GLY2. It only has a 32 bit, 33 MHz PCI slot, but the price point is hard to beat.
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Cycle Guy
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« Reply #5 on: April 29, 2008, 04:18:15 PM » |
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Sorry, I did mean PCI-Express. I did check out the D201GLY2, and yes it does have a very nice price, it doesn't have the PCI-express I would like. Things may change when the Eaglelake boards come out. We can only hope...
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CrystalCowboy
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« Reply #6 on: May 29, 2008, 03:46:17 PM » |
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Original Atom press release
The chips have a thermal design power (TDP) specification in 0.6-2.5 watt range and scale to 1.8GHz speeds depending on customer need. By comparison, today's mainstream mobile Core 2 Duo processors have a TDP in the 35-watt range.
Product info on an Atom mobo
Intel D945GCLF... Intel Atom 230 @ 1x 1.60GHz ... This very low power CPU (TDP = 4W)
Dual-core Atom heads for mass production
Dual-core Atom systems have 16W of thermal design power (TDP), which is 4W up on the single core version.
The numbers don't seem to line up. What is it, < 2.5W, 4W, or 12W?
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CrystalCowboy
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« Reply #7 on: May 29, 2008, 03:48:46 PM » |
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Cycle Guy
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« Reply #8 on: May 29, 2008, 04:50:01 PM » |
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It's good to see Via finally announce the CPU. It will be interesting to see where the price point is on this one. The Via SN boards were pretty expensive coming in the $250 range. I certainly hope the price comes down a lot for boards with this new CPU. Here in Canada, I can buy an Atom board for under $75, so the Via boards have to be priced at a competitive price point or they will be lost in the Atom hype.
Competition is always a good thing, and with all the new mini boards announced for the coming months it's a great time for those looking at this platform.
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CrystalCowboy
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« Reply #9 on: May 29, 2008, 09:11:58 PM » |
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Artificial Atom limits
Intel has set some technology limits on Atom-based laptops to make sure the low-cost chips -- which run about US$30 each, according to a major Taiwanese hardware maker -- do not encroach on sales of Intel's flagship mobile processor, the Core 2 Duo.
That's the sort of thing that could influence my decision away from Atom. Does AMD have anything planned to increase their role in this market?
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Shadowtester
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« Reply #10 on: May 30, 2008, 03:07:49 PM » |
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I'm using a VIA CL1000 right now just testing out the mini-itx waters. The price of entry is what is holding me back. The Commell and iBase boards are nice but $400 for a decent board with a PCI-x slot is a bit steep.
I too hope that Intel's foray into this market will mean good boards that are inline with micro-atx prices. If that happens I can see the format really taking off, if they remain at the price point they are at now, I think mini-itx will always be a niche market IMHO. You might check out the MSI fuzzy m-itx boards some of them have a pcie 16x slot and they are a little cheaper than Commell and iBase boards. |
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Cycle Guy
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« Reply #11 on: May 30, 2008, 07:34:10 PM » |
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Hello ShadowTester. I did look at the MSI boards but I have the new J&W AM2+ mini board in my sights now. If only I can find a place to buy them in North America I'd be all set!
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Hlafordlaes
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« Reply #12 on: May 31, 2008, 01:58:36 AM » |
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This is close to what I would like to see more of in mini-itx ~ if I read the specs right, it would make for a nice gaming and media platform.
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Cycle Guy
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« Reply #13 on: May 31, 2008, 02:07:03 AM » |
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Hello Hlafordlaes, yes you are right, the Commell board is very nice and would make a great setup. The only problem is that I have never seen this board for under $400 for the board alone. That price is way too high for most people. The new boards from Jetway and J&W are going for around $150 with is alot more reasonable.
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Hlafordlaes
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« Reply #14 on: May 31, 2008, 02:51:43 AM » |
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Golly... there's a bit contradiction in my thinking, too. A card in the pcie x16 would require larger casing anyway, so why not stick with micro-atx.
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CrystalCowboy
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« Reply #15 on: June 08, 2008, 05:26:12 PM » |
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Cycle Guy
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« Reply #16 on: June 08, 2008, 11:48:00 PM » |
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The performance of the nano on paper looks not too bad but it really is going to come down to how VIA decides to price the nano. Right now in Canada I can get an Atom board for less than $70 so if VIA does what they typically do and price their cpu and boards in the $200 plus range I think I'll pass on the nano. If VIA wants the nano to compete they need to price in within the same range as the atom or else everyone will forget about the nano.
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