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quingu is offline quingu
2009-09-26 , 10:37
Posts: 271 | Thanked: 124 times | Joined on May 2006 @ Aperture Science, Inc.
#1
Heya,

just stumbled upon this article.

Its looking like we’re going to have a very closely-matched range of platforms come mid-2010 then.
Pinetrail – Netbook platform. Atom 1.66Ghz + GMA500 GPU
Menlow – MID platform. Atom ranging from 800Mhz-2.0Ghz + GMA 500 GPU (with PowerVR SGX core)
Moorestown – Atom CPU (clockrate unknown) + GMA 500 GPU (With PowerVR SGX core)
Sodaville – Atom CPU + PowerVR SGX core.

Note: In each case the graphics may be clocked at different speeds ranging from 133 – 400Mhz. On current devices we see a 133Mhz graphics clock.
I think this could become very interesting. This means there will be future combinations of x86-cpus and the magnificient PowerVR graphics which are also used in the Pandora, the 3GS and the N900.
Which would provide enough oomph to play 3D games and HD content with a TDP of 1-4 watts (wild guess), while keeping x86 compatibility.

On the other hand, we get ARM CPUs way more powerful than their atom counterparts while still being more power efficient.

I, for one, welcome our new Doom3-capable phone overlords.
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lma is offline lma
2009-09-26 , 11:49
Posts: 2,802 | Thanked: 4,491 times | Joined on Nov 2007
#2
GMA500 is a problem if you want to run Linux on the device.
 
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allnameswereout is offline allnameswereout
2009-09-26 , 12:51
Posts: 3,397 | Thanked: 1,212 times | Joined on Jul 2008 @ Netherlands
#3
Originally Posted by lma View Post
GMA500 is a problem if you want to run Linux on the device.
Indeed, the driver isn't open source like previous GMA series.

Drivers for recent Linux kernel are being worked on. Still has proprietary bits like GLX and firmware. By the time these Atom go live there may be a working driver in Linux distributions, including Moblin.

There doesn't seem to be an open_source, embedded/low_power graphics chipset...

For laptop and desktop I'd put my money on ATI (AMD) because the 3D drivers are maturing, or for lower end Intel GMA 3x00/4500. Maybe in future Larrabee.
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