5 Fast Facts About The Intel N470 Processor

5 Fast Facts About The Intel N470 Processor

Chance Stevens 19 January 2010 3,750 views View Comments

The Inte Atom N470 Pine Trail processor is starting to ship in etbooks and after doing some research I wanted to share 5 fast facts.

1) – The N470 supports DDR3 memory – Intel Atom netbooks typically only come with DDR2, but as DDR3 memory gets cheaper more netbooks with N470 processors will come with the updated memory. It’s worthwhile to point out that with some testing already done there are no significant advantages with DDR3 over DDR2.

2) – N470 chips are limited to 7 – 10″ netbooks – Intel and Microsoft dictate the specification in most of the netbooks. To help ensure that netbooks don’t cut into notebook sales, the N470 will only be available in netbooks up to 10 inches in size. The other concern may be that in larger netbooks there would be a significantly negative impact on battery performance.

3) – N470 netbooks can come with 2GB of RAM – Netbooks typically only come with 1GB of RAM and you have to upgrade from there. Some models of N470 Atom based netbooks will be available with 2GB. With Windows 7 now out and requiring more resources being able to use more memory will help improve the user experience.

4) – The N470 uses a lot more power than the N270 – The N270 processor is the most widely used netbook processor. It only dissipates 2.5 Watts of power. Conversely, the N470 will use 6.5 Watts. The difference in power usage comes from the built-in graphic controller with the N470.

5)- N470 based netbooks are here, and aren’t cheap – The IdeaPad S10-3t from Lenovo is now shipping and features the Intel N470. While it looks great based on the pictures it won’t be inexpensive. The 10 inch convertible netbook starts at over $600. No word on other N470 netbooks but it appears that the processor similar to the Z550 may only be fitting for the high end segment.

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Michael Kozakewich

"It only dissipates 2.5 Watts of power. Conversely, the N470 will use 6.5 Watts."

The maximum TDP for the Atom chip is only 2.5 Watts, but the entire SoC uses more than 10 Watts. The IO controller on the N270 chip actually uses more power than the Atom itself. The Intel 945GC chipset, meanwhile, uses 22 Watts, which makes the package seem like it's taking 33 watts.

The new Atom N450 chip apparently has less total TDP, which means it'll actually use less power than the older N270.
Chance_Stevens

It's all Apples and Oranges. When the N470 chips were announced I found these facts a way to roll up all the info that was available. The key to the Pine Trail chips is definitely the combination of everything in one chips.