Intel Atom: test of new economical processors. Atom N450 processor: characteristics, photos and reviews. Test results and comparison with analogues

The characteristics of a laptop are determined by its central processor. Laptops do not use powerful video cards, so in any programs and games all calculations fall on the central processor. The Intel Atom series was developed specifically for laptops, netbooks, tablets and industrial computers. Processors are characterized by low power consumption. On average, it is 2-10 times lower than that of a CPU for desktop computers. At the same time, they have the same Intel architecture and performance (with the same clock frequency and number of cores). All supported programs are the same.

Intel Atom processors are installed only in budget equipment. This is one of the reasons why they are so popular in office equipment; their low price makes them very convenient for group purchasing by various organizations. Their disadvantage (lack of a socket; the processor can often be replaced only with a motherboard) is more than compensated by their low cost.

Characteristics of Atom series processors

• Clock frequency - 1.2-2.1 GHz.
• Number of cores 1, 2 or 4.
• Memory on the motherboard is DDR2 and DDR3.
• Years of production - since 2008 (currently actively produced, new modifications are being released).
• Technological process - 45-14 Nm.
• Power consumption from 0.65 W (so far only for smartphone versions, for laptops 10 W).
• Application: laptops, netbooks, tablets, smartphones, office computers.

The Intel Atom line uses everything modern technologies to improve performance: frequency multiplier, division of calculations into threads, floating frequency with overclocking capability. The company's products are constantly being improved and updated.

Technoprocess

• 2008-2011 - 45 nm.
• 2011-2013 - 22 nm.
• 2013–present - 14 nm.

Decrease technological process means physical reduction the sizes of transistors when they are printed on a chip. Simultaneously with their reduction, energy consumption decreases, temperatures decrease and reliability increases. Keep this in mind when purchasing a laptop.

5 energy saving modes

1. Normal operation at full or partial power. All ports and video controller are included. Both cores and multiplier. Energy consumption is maximum at 100% load and depends linearly on it.
2. Mode regular work, but with a reduced frequency (indicated in the specifications as LFM).
3. Disabling frequency multipliers, general reduction in clock frequency, lowering supply voltage.
4. Almost complete shutdown clocking, port controllers are working.
5. Disabling the processor, but with the ability to instantly turn it on when an application is launched or other manual user actions. Of the 203 processor pins, only 21 are active. Power consumption is 0.03-0.1 W.

These modes work in minus: i.e. only reducing the clock frequency and performance from the nominal. On the newest processors, the afterburner mode has been added. In this case clock frequency rises higher. This is precisely why it is unclearly indicated in the laptop’s characteristics, for example, 1.8-2.2 GHz.

Number of cores

Processors with one core cannot be recommended as modern ones. Many applications simply will not run on them. Two cores already radically change performance. Here the point is not so much in its twofold increase, but in the special architecture. Not all programs are sensitive to processor clock speed. For many, specialized architecture is much more important.

Laptop manufacturers and models

1. IRBIS (Irbis). Produces the largest number of laptop models with Atom. Models NB11, NB20, 21, 24, 26, NB45, NB47…. NB 116. The NB116 laptop comes with the most modern processor from the Atom series: Atom x5-Z8350 with 4 cores with automatic increase in clock frequency up to 1.9 GHz. In the rest there are budget Intel Atom Z3735, 4 Cores 1.3 GHz. Production of these processors began in May 2014.
2. . Also uses the Z3735 series. Produces two models.
3. DEXP. Produces the Navis L100 model. CPU version - Intel Atom Z3735 (most common for budget laptops).
4. BBmobile, Krez, 4 Good and other lesser known companies. The number of laptop models with atom is small.

Intel Atom for office computers and special purposes

Intel offers several versions of processors suitable for operation in conventional system units. They are installed on motherboards with DDR2 and DDR3 memory. There is no version for DDR4 yet, because... this standard is only being introduced on gaming computers and is completely irrelevant for laptops. Using Intel Atom - the opportunity to get system unit no fans. This solution is suitable for special computers, for industry, payment terminals and other equipment. Itnel Atom for motherboards are not equipped with a socket and are permanently soldered to them. Replacement is possible only at a service center using micro-soldering equipment.

• Processors of the same series have versions for computers, laptops, car consoles, and mobile devices (there are no such examples among other companies).
• Intel Atom is installed only on budget laptops.
• The crystal has 5 energy saving modes + afterburner mode.
• In motherboards for these processors, the north and south bridges are combined.
• Intel processors have been considered the most reliable in the world for many years.
• The total number of models in the Atom series is more than a hundred.
• All processors do not have a socket and are soldered to the motherboard (but they can still be replaced at a service center).
• Mobile Intel Atoms have special sections of the chip architecture for video and audio playback. This architecture saves energy.
• Production of mobile versions stopped in 2016 for commercial reasons.
• In the current Intel time develops a processor from the Atom series with 16 cores for laptops.

Introduction

For several months now, a new Intel processor designed for MID (Mobile Internet Devices, mobile internet devices) and designed to compete with ARM processors. Originally known as "Silverthorne" and "Diamondville", the new processors were called "Atom". And they have a lot of surprises.

Interesting choice

Atom processors are amazing if only for the fact that they modern features(EM64T, SSSE3, etc.) are integrated into the old architecture. Atom is the first x86 processor with queuing instructions since the Pentium. When developing the processor, Intel carefully monitored power consumption and manufacturing costs, even at the expense of performance. Therefore, you should not expect new competitors to Core 2 Duo from Atom. But what do Atom processors actually offer? Let's see.

Back in the days of the 80386, Intel offered lower-power versions aimed at the mobile sector. The 80386EX, for example, had some of the chipset's features integrated into the processor, and the system consumed significantly less power than the standard 386. Then came the 486, Pentium, and Pentium II (Dixon, with 256 KB of on-chip cache) versions with lower power consumption. But, in any case, they used a similar, if not identical, architecture to their desktop "brothers". In practice, the processors performed efficiently, but the differences between the standard version of the CPU and the mobile processor were small.

Pentium M

Released in 2003, the Pentium M processor was revolutionary in that it used a different architecture than the Pentium 4 and consumed significantly less power while still delivering high performance. Yes, the processor could be called a derivative of the Pentium III, with the same shortcomings, but subsequent improvements to the Pentium M, which led to the Core 2 processors, only increased power consumption. Intel tried to release low-power processors (A1x0, for example), but they were Pentium M variants with reduced frequencies.

Atom changed everything

The Atom processor is built on a different architecture, it was originally designed to minimize power consumption, so the design of the processor is completely new. This is not an adaptation of old architecture. Today, Intel can offer processors that consume very little power: high-end versions of Atom consume less power than the typically slow ULV versions of standard processor architectures.

Atom Z500 and SCH (Poulsbo)

The first generation of Atom processors, formerly known as "Silverthorne", received model numbers Z5x0. Atom Z500 processors are aimed at MIDs (the famous Mobile Internet Devices) and are paired with the new Poulsbo SCH (System Controller Hub) chipset.

Since the orientation is announced on MID, Intel's competitor is obvious - ARM processors. This is a very popular architecture (it is used by the vast majority of phones, PDAs and GPS navigators), supported by processors from many manufacturers (ARM licenses the instruction set), it gives good performance with very low power consumption. In the portable sphere, with the exception of some rare devices based on MIPS architecture (pocket game console PSP, for example), ARM processors make up the majority. Intel, interestingly, also produced ARM processors for various devices(XScale, then the division was sold to Marvell), and today it offers products such as, for example, processors for RAID controllers (the same IOP333). In practice, switching from ARM architecture to x86 is not a problem - Linux supports both, as does Windows CE (used in many GPS navigators) and Windows Mobile(at least older versions). Additionally, x86 can run the latest versions of Windows, and the architecture benefits from broader software (and technical) support compared to ARM processors.

Before we dive into the Atom architecture, let's take a look at the Z500 line. These processors are tiny, the packaging size is only 13 x 14 mm. The processors consist of approximately 47 million transistors (more than in the original Pentium 4), are equipped with 56 KB of L1 cache (24 KB for data and 32 KB for instructions), as well as a 512-KB L2 cache. The processors operate on a standard Intel bus, which is familiar to us from Pentium 4 processors. The bus frequency is 400 MHz (QDR) or 533 MHz (QDR). There is also support for SIMD instructions, from MMX to SSSE3, EIST and Hyper-Threading (back!). Please note that the latter feature is only available on some models (with 533 MHz (QDR) bus).

The SCH (System Controller Hub) chip is a “single-chip chipset,” that is, it combines the north and south bridges on one chip. The chipset is designed for Atom processors, and only it is compatible with new features such as using the bus in CMOS mode (we'll talk about this a little later). SCH is feature-rich - it contains a built-in GMA graphics core (based on the PowerVR architecture), HD Audio (simplified, supporting only two channels), a PATA controller (Ultra DMA 5, 100 MB/s), and also supports two lines PCI Express(for a Wi-Fi card, for example). There are three SDIO/MMC controllers and support for eight USB ports with the ability to use one in client mode. The choice of the PATA interface is quite logical: flash memory card controllers usually use this format, for example, Compact Flash. Three SD controllers may seem like a strange choice, but some memory uses just such an interface (OneNAND, for example). The DDR2 controller in the SCH chip supports memory with a voltage of 1.5 V instead of 1.8 V according to JEDEC specifications. This small detail also helps reduce energy consumption.

For graphics, we received a new GMA 500 controller. It uses a unified architecture and supports shaders 3.0+. Interestingly, the graphics controller has hardware support for decoding H.264, MPEG2, MPEG4, VC1 and WMV9 formats. The GMA 500 clocks at 200 or 100 MHz, depending on the chipset version, and supports DirectX 10 (hardly a big deal, but worth mentioning), although the drivers only support DirectX 9. Please note that the graphics core is not of Intel origin. Unlike other GMAs, it is built on PowerVR technology.

Interesting TDP

For Atom Z500 processors, the thermal package (TDP) varies from 0.85 W (for the 800 MHz version without Hyper-Threading) to 2.64 W (for the 1.86 GHz model with “Hyper-Threading” support). SCH consumes approximately 2.3 W in its most advanced version, which gives the SCH + CPU combination less than 5 W. When compared with existing solutions, the progress is obvious: Via Nano, for example, is stated at 25 W for the 1.8 GHz version, and Celeron-M ULV - 5 W at 900 MHz.

Atom N200 and i945

For Atom, aimed at standard computers, Intel offers another line (Diamondville). Atom processors of the N200 and 200 lines are precisely aimed at standard computers, but more, of course, at cheap portable PCs, such as Eee PC and competing solutions .

The Atom N200 processors are similar to the Atom Z500, the only difference being the support for 64-bit EMT64 extensions, which is present in the N200 and 200, and the lack of EIST support. Thus, Atom 200 processors cannot change the frequency on the fly. The prices are very attractive: Atom N270, with a frequency of 1.6 GHz (533 MHz bus) and 2-W TDP costs only $44. And the 230 version, with 4-W TDP, will cost only $29 (at the same frequency).

Veteran Chipset: i945

The main problem with the Atom N200 processor is the chipset: Intel only offers i945 variants. This chipset, not only is outdated (it was released in 2005), has a major drawback: it consumes a lot of energy (22 W in the GC version). The i945 chipset supports modern technologies: SATA (2), PCI-Express (1 line via ICH7), HD Audio, etc. It is clear that it works with DDR2 memory (two channels) and uses the integrated GMA 950 graphics core. As you can guess, using an old chipset (from the Napa platform) with a TDP that is 10 times higher than the thermal package of the processor is not the best idea. But nothing more interesting has been proposed yet. The laptop PCs use the i945GSE chipset, which consumes only 5.5W (4W north bridge and 1.5 W south bridge). It's clear that its performance isn't nearly the same - especially in 3D graphics, since Intel has lowered the GMA frequency (from 400 to 133 MHz).

Now let me say a few words about the GMA 950, the integrated graphics core in the Intel i945 chipset. It supports DirectX 9 and is capable of running the Aero interface, and is also widely available in laptops with a Core Duo processor. Performance is weak, there is no hardware support for decoding HD formats. Moreover, the graphics core is very sensitive to bandwidth memory, and the drivers are not optimized. Finally, Intel uses several frequencies for the graphics core - from 400 MHz for the i945G version (desktop PCs), to 250 MHz for laptops and 166 MHz for ultraportable models (with a proportional loss of performance). The version used by Atom processors (i945GSE) is limited to 133 MHz, although the i945GC chipset has a graphics core running at 400 MHz.

Atom architecture: another execution and "Hyper-Threading"

Atom processors use new architecture, albeit with old technologies. This is the first x86 processor from Intel with sequential (instead of out of order) execution of instructions since the Pentium, which appeared back in 1993. All other Intel processors since the P6 use out-of-order execution.

Without going into too much detail, think of a processor as a device that receives instructions one after another and places them on a conveyor belt. In the next architecture, instructions are executed in the order in which they were received. And in an out-of-order architecture, the order of instructions issued to the pipeline can be changed so that they are executed as efficiently as possible. The advantage of an out-of-order architecture is that the number of waits can be reduced. For example, if you have instructions simple calculation, a memory access instruction and another simple calculation instruction, then in the regular architecture they will be executed one after another, and in the out-of-order architecture the processor can perform two calculations in parallel with long-term memory access, which saves time. But it is quite surprising that usually the next architecture has a short pipeline, but Atom has 16 stages, which in some cases leads to disadvantages.

"Hyper-Threading"

"Hyper-Threading" technology appeared with the Pentium 4 processor. It allows two threads to run simultaneously, optimizing the pipeline load. Of course, this is not as efficient as two physical cores, but the technology forces the OS to think that the processor can handle two threads at the same time, and this can improve the performance of the computer. On an Atom processor with a long pipeline and the old regular architecture, "Hyper-Threading" works very effectively; the technology can significantly increase performance without a noticeable impact on TDP. Intel claims only a 10% increase in power consumption.

Otherwise, Atom is equipped with two ALUs (integer units) and two FPUs (floating-point units). The first ALU performs shift operations, and the second ALU performs branches. All multiplication and addition operations, even with integers, are performed on the FPU units. The first FPU is very simple and limited to addition operations, while the second is responsible for SIMD and multiplication/division operations. For 128-bit calculations, the first branch is used in conjunction with the second (both branches are 64-bit).

If you look at the number of clock cycles it takes to execute an instruction, you'll find something interesting. Some instructions are fast, others are (very) slow. "mov" or "add" instructions, for example, are executed in one clock cycle, as on the Core 2 Duo, and multiplication (imul) instructions take five clock cycles, as opposed to just three on the Core microarchitecture. To make matters worse, 32-bit floating point division, for example, takes 31 clock cycles, compared to just 17 (or almost half) for the Core 2 Duo. In practice - and Intel confirms this - Atom is optimized for fast execution of basic instructions, meaning the processor dramatically reduces performance on complex instructions. You can check this by simply running Everest (as an example), which has a tool for measuring instruction execution times.

Cache and FSB

Intel chose a very unusual Atom organization, but without sacrificing performance, which is important for a processor with a regular architecture.

24 + 32 KB: asymmetric cache

Atom's L1 cache is 56 KB: 24 KB for data and 32 KB for instructions. This asymmetry, quite surprising for Intel, is a consequence of the cache structure. Intel uses eight transistors to store one bit, as opposed to six transistors in a standard cache. This technology reduces the voltage applied to the cache to store information. It seems that this move to eight-transistor cells was made late in the process, when the processor design was already close to completion, so in order to fit the cache within the previous boundaries, its size was reduced - this explains the 24 KB for data.

L2 cache 512 KB, shrinkable

The L2 cache capacity is 512 KB, it operates at the same frequency as the processor. The 8-way cache is classic and quite close in performance to what was used in the Core 2 Duo (its latency is 16 clock cycles compared to 14 for the Core 2). One of the new features is that parts of the cache can be automatically disabled if a program doesn't need a lot of cache memory. In practice, the cache switches from 8-way to 2-way mode, that is, from an available volume of 512 to 128 KB. This technique allows you to save a few more precious milliwatts.

FSB: two operating modes

The Atom processor uses the same FSB as other Intel processors since the Pentium 4. It operates in Quad Pumped (QDR) mode and GTL signaling technology. Interesting: Atom uses a different signal technology - CMOS mode. GTL is efficient (the bus can reach 1600 MHz QDR), but consumes a lot of power, and CMOS allows for lower bus voltage. Technically, GTL uses resistors to improve signal quality, but they are hardly necessary except at high frequencies. With an Atom processor and a bus limited to 533 MHz (QDR), you can go into CMOS mode - the resistors will be disabled and the bus voltage will be cut in half. At the moment, only the SCH chipset supports CMOS mode on the FSB.

Energy consumption: tests and theory

Power consumption is critical for this Intel platform, so many steps have been taken to reduce it. In addition to the chipset, which consumes a lot of energy compared to the processor, Atom itself has acquired many interesting features.

Bus and cache

As we already said, Intel has worked a lot on the bus and cache. A different mode for the bus (CMOS) was developed, and the cache can automatically turn off its sections depending on the load. Such features help reduce power consumption, as do the next architecture and 8T SRAM L1 cache cells.

State "C6"

In addition to lowering the processor voltage to 1.05V, the Atom has a new "C6" standby mode. Recall that "C" modes (0 to 6) are low-power states, and the higher the number, the less power the CPU consumes. In "C6" mode, the entire processor is almost completely turned off. Only the cache memory of a few kilobytes (10.5) remains active to maintain the state of the registers. In this mode, the L2 cache is emptied and disabled, the supply voltage drops to just 0.3 V, and only a small part of the processor remains active to enable wake-up. The processor switches to "C6" mode in about 100 microseconds, that is, quickly. In practice, Intel states that "C6" mode is active 90% of the time, which reduces overall power consumption (it is quite clear that if you run a program that loads the processor, or even watch a video on Flash, the processor will switch to this mode will not pass).

It should be noted that both Intel chipsets that can be used with Atom N200 processors consume quite a bit of power: the Atom 230 uses an i945GC, which consumes 22 W (4 W for the CPU), and the Atom N270 comes with an i945GSE, which burns 5.5 W (2.4 W for CPU).

In practice

Is the Atom processor so low-power in practice? As for the processor, yes. As for the platform aimed at cheap desktop computers (NetTop), the answer is also positive, but... Why "but"? Because the chipset consumes a lot of energy, and the TDP for the processor is stated to be 4 W or 2.4 W for the mobile version. Our test motherboard consumed 59 Watts in idle mode, we got 62 Watts at maximum load (with the processor, 1GB DDR2 memory and 3.5" hard drive). It is clear that the given numbers refer to the full platform (without monitor) , and not to one motherboard, and also include losses on the power supply (our model had an efficiency of approximately 80%). Energy consumption can be called both small and large - a little for desktop computer, but quite a lot in absolute values. We should mention that a recently tested 1.5GHz Via C7 motherboard with the same configuration consumed less power: 49W idle and 59W under load.

Tests 1: Atom vs Pentium E and Sempron

For our tests, we took a Mini-ITX motherboard from Gigabyte, equipped with an Atom 230 processor and an i945GC chipset. The board has one DIMM slot (DDR2) and one PCI slot - that is, you will not get a modern video card. Interestingly, the chipset, which, remember, consumes 22 W, is actively cooled, and a simple aluminum radiator is enough for the processor.

Since this motherboard is designed for computers entry level, we took two solutions for comparison: Pentium E2160 (1.8 GHz), an entry-level dual-core processor based on the Core microarchitecture, as well as Sempron 3400+ (in in this case Socket 754). During our tests, the two processors were set to the same clock speed as the Atom (1.6 GHz). For the Pentium E2160, the GA-GM945-S2 motherboard was taken. It has the advantage of being built on (almost) the same chipset as the Atom motherboard - i945G. For Sempron we took an nForce4 motherboard.

Three motherboards were tested on the same OS - Windows XP Service Pack 2 with all updated drivers. We used DDR2-667 memory (1 GB) on the Intel platform, as well as 1 GB DDR400 DIMM on the Sempron platform. Finally, we took a 74 GB hard drive as a test drive. Western Digital Raptor.

We decided to compare the three platforms at equal frequencies, conducting several real and synthetic tests.

In Cinebench R10, the Sempron processor was placed between the Atom and Pentium E, and the combination of Atom with Hyper-Threading technology proved its effectiveness (with Hyper-Threading, performance increases by 1.53 times). Please note that the gain on the Pentium E, equipped with two physical cores, is not particularly higher: 1.86 times.

In Sandra, a synthetic test, the difference between the three processors is impressive. Pentium E turned out to be noticeably faster. Note that the difference between Atom and Sempron may seem small, but the tests are multi-threaded, and the Sempron only has one core, while the Pentium E has two cores, and the Atom supports "Hyper-Threading", which gives a significant increase.

In the 3DMark 06 and PCMark 06 CPU tests, the Pentium E processor is quite confidently in the lead, and Sempron, as usual, is located in terms of performance between the Atom and Pentium E.

In this test, which is so loved by overclockers, although its code is old and not optimized, the Atom processor is far inferior to its competitors.

Finally, we carried out a test which consists of compression in WinRAR files with a capacity of about 1 GB. Since Sempron uses a different memory subsystem (DDR) and a discrete video card, we did not include it in this test. In practice, the difference between the platforms turned out to be smaller than in synthetic tests, but the Pentium E is still about twice as fast.

Tests 2: Atom vs C7-M and Celeron

We decided to compare our Atom platform with two other systems that can compete with the Mini-ITX test platform. The first system is a Via PC3500G motherboard with a C7 processor; the second is an entry-level processor often found in ultraportable computers - Celeron-M (Dothan).

The Via PC3500G motherboard has a micro-ATX form factor, it contains the CN896 chipset paired with a 1.5 GHz C7 processor. For our test, we clocked the Atom to the same level as the C7 (12 x 125 MHz, or 1.5 GHz). Memory, hard drive and OS were the same.

In Cinebench R10, as you can see, the Atom processor was faster than the C7, but not by much - at least with one thread. On the other hand, Atom's support for "Hyper-Threading" has led to a significant lead.

In PCMark 05 you can see that the Atom platform, even at an identical frequency, turned out to be faster than the C7 platform. There are several reasons for this. PCMark 05 is a multi-threaded test, like many modern programs, so Atom with "Hyper-Threading" has an advantage. Besides, Intel chipset significantly faster (or not as slow, to be more precise) than Via.

Finally, we measured the power consumption of both platforms. Surprise: Thanks to the energy-efficient chipset, the Via platform consumed less power than the Intel platform. At idle, the PC3500G system consumed 49 W, while the GA-GC230D required 59 W. However, as the load increased, Atom began to consume only 3 W more, and the Via platform increased power consumption by 10 W, remaining, however, still below the Intel level. All measurements were taken from electrical outlet, that is, the result was influenced by losses on the power supply (efficiency 80%).

To compare with the Celeron M, we took a laptop with this processor based on the Dothan core. We did not conduct PCMark tests, since the hardware of the two configurations is very different, and it is incorrect to compare the results. As with the C7, we clocked the Atom down to Celeron M levels (1.3GHz in this case).

In a synthetic test like Cinebench R10, you can see that the Celeron is about twice as fast at identical frequencies. In any case, the "Hyper-Threading" technology added some points to Atom.

As tests show, the Atom is between the C7 and Celeron M at identical frequencies. Considering that both processors are used in cheap PCs (Netbooks), the C7 with frequencies close to Atom, and the Celeron M at lower frequencies, it can be argued that the performance of Atom computers will be more or less identical to modern systems. On the other hand, in modern laptops Celeron M operates at high frequencies of 1.6 GHz and 1.86 GHz, so the superiority over Atom will be noticeable.

Overclocking and 3D

Finally, we conducted tests in two areas that are unlikely to be relevant to the Atom platform, but for us and readers they are very interesting.

Since our motherboard did not have PCI slots Express or AGP (and PCI graphics cards are increasingly difficult to find), we limited our tests to the GMA 950. For comparison, we took a Gigabyte motherboard based on the same chipset with a Pentium E 2160 processor at 1.6 GHz, equal to the Atom. Both computers use the same GMA 950 integrated graphics core at 400 MHz, and the processors run at the same 1.6 GHz frequency. Both computers are equipped with one DDR2-667 DIMM.

As you can see, 3DMark 06 performance at 640 x 480 without filters is very poor. In addition, the Pentium E turned out to be significantly faster than the Atom.

But it should be remembered that in portable PCs Atom will be used in conjunction with the i945GSE chipset, and the GMA 950 in this version will operate at only 133 MHz.

The Gigabyte Mini-ITX motherboard provides few options for overclocking: you can only change the FSB frequency, but from 100 to 700 MHz. On our CPU model, the multiplier is locked at 12, and the FSB frequency is 133 MHz. We were able to achieve stable operation at 1.8 GHz (12 x 150) without raising the voltage, as well as at 1.86 GHz (153 MHz bus), raising the FSB voltage in the motherboard BIOS (+0.3 V for the bus). Performance increased linearly, as did power consumption: from 62 to 65 W for 1.6 and 1.8 GHz, respectively. And after overclocking Atom to 1.86 GHz, the platform's power consumption was 67 W. The difference can be explained by the rise in bus voltage. It should be remembered that power consumption increases not only due to the CPU, but also due to overclocking the chipset.

Why is there no HD test?

Why didn't we test HD video playback? The first reason is that Atom processors are not designed for this. Intel is targeting them at low-cost NetTop computers designed for browsing the Internet rather than playing Blu-ray discs. However, just for fun, we tried to watch HD-DVD, but the Power DVD player refused to start without a modern video card capable of taking on part of the video decoding. We tried to play HD videos downloaded from the Internet, but here too we were disappointed. The result was affected by the type of player used, and the video quality did not match commercial HD discs. Decompressing a multi-megabit/s DivX 720p stream is one thing, but 36 megabit/s H.264 video is another.

Conclusion

What is our conclusion about the Atom platform? The impression is mixed. The processor itself can be considered a success - it is inexpensive, consumes very little power, and although its performance is not high, it is quite sufficient for the target market (inexpensive PCs intended primarily for browsing the Internet). In addition, the support for "Hyper-Threading" is nice. But the chipset paired with the processor is disappointing. Intel only offers two options, and they can be criticized. SCH Poulsbo seems efficient, but it hardly makes sense to install it in standard PCs due to its MID orientation (there is no SATA port, for example), and the i945GC and i945GSE chipsets are suitable for PCs, but they also have drawbacks - a small set of functions, very low performance of the integrated graphics core in 3D (and more and more applications use it), and the chipset consumes significantly more energy than the processor itself.

The feeling is that Atom is a trial attempt - it succeeds from one point of view and fails from another. Will computer manufacturers and ordinary consumers side with Atom? Without a doubt, and for two reasons: prices and marketing. The platform will allow you to assemble computers at very low prices, and Atom has already become a prominent brand. The opinion of an ordinary buyer about a possible configuration may be as follows.

"$450 Eee PC 900 (good) with Celeron (bad) at 900 MHz (bad)."

Or like this.

"$450 Eee PC 901 (good) with Atom processor (good) at 1.6 GHz (good)."

In other words, Atom processors will appeal to the public more, even if the practical difference is small.

The platform turned out to be truly paradoxical: a successful processor (even if the performance in absolute terms is low) and a chipset simply unworthy of it. Overall, there isn't much difference between the older platforms, so let's hope Intel comes up with new chipsets that are better future-proof.

Advantages.

• Price $29 for Atom 230;
• low processor power consumption;
• "Hyper-Threading" shows its best side.

Flaws.

• Weak overall performance;
• bad chipset;
• very low 3D performance;
• unbalanced platform.

Information about the new Intel Atom C3955 processor, which contains 16 computing cores, has leaked to the Internet.

New processor Intel Atom C3955, codenamed Denverton, contains 16 cores and has a clock speed of 2.1 GHz. The processor has 16 MB of second-level cache, i.e. one megabyte per core. With relatively low heat dissipation, the new chip is intended for NAS and other servers. Apparently, this will be one of the fastest processors in the Denverton line.

In the diagnostic and information utility SiSoft Sandra 2015, information was also found on the 16-core Atom C3955 chip. The Serve the Home website compared its performance results with other chips for the same application. The source also notes that the 16-core processor will most likely be delayed for a couple of months due to frequency problems identified in the Intel Atom C2000 series of processors.

Intel updates its Atom line

To make it easier for people to understand processor performance levels and to better inform customers based on their needs, Intel has decided to rebrand its low-end processors.

Intel Atom processors will now be offered in three different product lines with performance levels of "good", "best" and "best". These chips will be called Atom x3, x5 and x7 respectively. This change will take effect with the new generation of processors.

Atom x3 processors will provide basic but sufficient performance in tablet PCs and smartphones. Intel Atom x5 will have more features and functions and will be aimed at people who need more performance. The flagship Atom models, the x7, will provide the highest level of performance in this family.

Atom processors are designed by Intel to provide the longest runtime battery life mobile devices with increased performance in smartphones, tablets and other gadgets. The company has introduced a new slide that explains the position of all processor lineups. The slide includes basic Intel Atom, mid-range CPU, which consists of Core M for high-end laptops and more economical Pentium and Celeron, as well as high-performance Core line i.

14 nm Intel Braswell will be released in the third quarter

Intel's new Atom processors with Braswell microarchitecture should be available in laptops and netbooks in the third quarter of this year. These chips will be released under the Pentium and Celeron brands, and will contain 4 or 2 cores.

The built-in graphics subsystem will be based on Low Power Gen 8. With its 16 execution units and support for DirectX 12 and Open GL 4.2, the new GPU will be capable of displaying images with a resolution of up to 4Kx2K.

The platform will support DDR3L at 1600 MHz in the SODIMM form factor and will be able to address up to 8 GB of memory, which is quite enough for this device segment. The platform will also receive 4x1 PCIe 2.0, 2 SATA 3.0 ports, as well as support for eMMC 4.51 and SD Card 3.01. In total, the platform provides 5 USB ports, 4 of which are USB 3.0 and one USB 2.0. And, of course, there is a high-definition audio processor.

Up to 3 displays with a maximum resolution of 4Kx2K can be connected to a Braswell-based system. First of all, the eDP 1.4 standard will be supported with a resolution of up to 2560x1440 pixels; in addition, it will be possible to connect two more monitors via HDMI or DisplayPort.

Intel won't be able to supply 40 million CPUs for tablets

Initially, Intel planned to ship 40 million processors for tablet computers in 2014. However, most likely, these plans will never come to fruition, since processors based on the Cherry Trail core have been postponed from November of this year to the first quarter of 2015.

The release of 14 nm Cherry Trail processors was initially scheduled for the third quarter. With this step, Intel wanted to speed up sales of its own CPUs for tablets. However, the company was forced to postpone their release twice, first to November and then to the first quarter of 2015, DigiTimes reports.

To popularize the production of tablets based on x86 processors, Intel decided to subsidize their production for large brand manufacturers. Intel's largest client in the tablet market is currently Asustek Computer. At the same time, Intel did not refuse to support Chinese white-box manufacturers, and a clear confirmation of this is budget tablet Kingsing W8 based on Bay Trail-T for $100.

Cherry Trail processors use 14 nm Airmont architecture and support 32 and 64 bit addressing for Windows and Android OS. Thus, the source notes, devices with new chips will not hit the market before February.

As a result, some observers believe Intel will be able to ship no more than 30 million tablet CPUs this year.

Intel is preparing Cherry Trail Atom by the end of 2014

The next generation of desktop and mobile processors of the Atom family will be manufactured using a 14 nm process technology, called Cherry Trail, and is scheduled for release at the end of 2014. Intel is actively working to accelerate development of Atom chips, so the Broadwell and Cherry Trail laptop chips will be released in the same year, both using the 14 nm process.

A series of SoC Cherry View will be prepared for laptops, which is based on the new Airmont core. In turn, Cherry Trail will become processors aimed at tablet PCs. At the end of next year, most likely in September, a Moorefield architecture system-on-chip designed for smartphones will also be released.

Compared to Bay Trail TDP new platform should drop due to lower electrical losses of the 14 nm process technology, which means developers will be able to offer more Atom-based solutions with passive cooling. In addition, the 14 nm process will mean another trump card for Intel in the fight against ARM, since next year the leaders of this market, including Qualcomm, Samsung and MediaTek, will only begin to use 20 nm nodes in their chips. However, Intel has yet to integrate its SoCs with LTE modems, which has traditionally been a difficult task. In fact, now only Qualcomm has a processor with a built-in LTE modem. So even the transition to 14 nm production will not make it much easier for Intel to compete in the smartphone market, and only in the future will we be able to find out whether device manufacturers will be interested in new Intel chips. There's still a whole year left to wait.

Intel May Kill Atom Desktop Brand

Intel has high hopes for its quad-core Bay Trail D platform in terms of sales for the desktop PC market. But it seems that the new SoC may lose the Atom brand name, since according to rumors on the Internet, Intel will use the Celeron brand for all soldered-in BGA processors.

The list of processors includes the Celeron J1750, which will replace the Atom D2550 E, as well as the Celeron J1850, which will replace the 847 and 807 processors based on Sandy Bridge. The Pentium-branded J2850 chip will be faster than the Ivy Bridge Celeron 1007U, and both of these Bay Trail D processors in the BGA socket will appear in the fourth quarter of this year. At the same time, mobile versions of these processors should appear.

This decision by the largest chip manufacturer seems quite justified, since Atom processors have long been associated with terribly slow mobile gadgets, such as netbooks of the past, as well as with embedded solutions. Now Intel is counting on the success of its new generation of Atom, and although we will no longer see this name, at least on desktop PCs, the developers have significantly improved the chip, making it quad-core and introducing a graphics core with support for DirectX 11.

AMD Opteron X targets Atom

AMD doesn't look like it's successfully holding its own against Intel in terms of power consumption central processing units, so the firm decided to bring the new Opteron X-series CPUs to market to compete in performance.

Most recently, AMD announced two new 64-bit Opteron processors, the X1150 and X2150 models, designed for microservers. Both models are part of the family codenamed Jaguar architecture, widely known for its presence in the new generation of gaming consoles from Microsoft and Sony.

Intel has a strong presence in the microserver market thanks to sales of the 6-watt Atom S1200 processor, and although AMD's new solutions consume 9 and 11 watts respectively, they have a number of advantages. The company positions its APUs as the best solutions overall, thanks to the presence of four computing cores (compared to two for Atom), integrated graphics AMD Radeon HD 8000 in the X2150 model, support for up to 32 GB of RAM and built-in SATA ports. AMD processors are more expensive, $64 for the X1150 and $99 for the X2150, compared to Intel, which sells the Atom S1200 for $54. And although AMD’s proposal looks very interesting so far, its only competitor is already preparing to release 64-bit Atom SoCs with even lower power consumption, likely once again leaving AMD behind the scenes.

Intel ports Jelly Bean to Atom smartphones

Intel has long promised to port Jelly Bean to smartphones with Atom processors.

We had absolutely no idea when this might happen, but Mobile Devices Group General Manager Mike Bell recently broke the news to PCWorld that Android 4.1 for Medfield is ready and running on Intel workers' devices. And although this interpretation of the OS is almost ready, its release date is still unknown.

Bell noted that phone manufacturers and suppliers will still have to go through a long process of adaptation and updating. Existing users will no doubt be upset to be both so close and so far away from the new OS, but it is noted that manufacturers go through the same long process when releasing ARM-based phones.

Part 1: Background, Theory, Core, Power

Before Atom

Intel has long been paying close attention to the mobile consumer sector and releasing products aimed at it. At first, these were processors selected for low power consumption with all other parameters being equal (except that the frequencies were lower and the case was smaller). Then they began to produce CPUs specially modified for such applications. The story can begin with the i80386SL chip, which for the first time had SMM (System Management Mode), the dynamic core was replaced with a static one (i.e., to save energy, the frequency can drop to zero), and cache, memory and ISA and PI (Peripheral Interface) buses. All these changes tripled the number of transistors (from 275,000 for a regular 386SX/DX to 855,000), but the engineers felt that such a budget was justified. In addition, there were also versions of i386CX and i386EX without built-in peripherals with three power saving modes.

A lot of water has passed under the bridge, each subsequent CPU (except for server ones) was produced in both regular and mobile (sometimes also built-in) versions, but all manipulations mainly consisted of adding energy-saving modes to the core and selecting chips capable of operating at reduced voltage at lower frequencies. Meanwhile, competition from architectures designed specifically for mobile devices intensified: the 1990s brought the PDA (starting with the Apple Newton MessagePad), and the 2000s brought communicators, Internet tablets (the half-forgotten acronym MID) and ultra-mobile PCs (UMPCs). ). On top of that, it turned out that the main tasks for the user of such devices have small computing needs, so almost any CPU released after 2000 already had the necessary power for mobile use, except, perhaps, modern games (for which then mobile consoles with 3D graphics appeared).

There is a need to create a special architecture for a compact mobile device, where the main thing is not speed, but energy efficiency. At Intel, this task was taken on by the Israeli branch of the company, which had previously created a very successful family of mobile phones. Pentium processors M (Banias and Dothan kernels). In these CPUs, energy-saving principles were put at the forefront from the very beginning of development, so dynamic shutdown of blocks depending on their load and smooth changes in voltage and frequency became the key to the economy of the series. The Pentium M looked especially bright against the background of the Pentium 4 released at the same time, which in comparison seemed like hot frying pans. Moreover, operating at the same frequency, Pentium M outperformed the “fours” in terms of performance, which was the first time that happened in the practice of processor development - usually a mobile computer pays for its compactness with all other characteristics. However, the Pentium 4 itself was, let’s say, not very good as a universal CPU...

The success of the platform showed that not everyone needs such high speed, but saving more energy would be nice. At that time (mid-2007), Intel released the “dad” of our today's heroes - the A100 and A110 processors (Stealey core). These are single-core 90 nm Pentium M with a quarter of the L2 cache (512 KB in total), greatly reduced frequencies (600 and 800 MHz) and consumption of 0.4–3 W. For comparison, standard Dothan at frequencies of 1400–2266 MHz have an energy consumption of 7.5–21 W, low-voltage (LV subseries) - 1400–1600 MHz and 7.5–10 W, and the first introduced ultra-low voltage (ULV) - 1000–1300 MHz and 3–5 W. Reasonably believing that a modern computer spends most of its time waiting for the next keystroke or moving the mouse another pixel, the main difference between the A100/A110 and the ULV subseries Intel made the ability to fall asleep very deeply, when there is no need to count at all, due to which consumption during idle falls. by an order of magnitude. And a greatly reduced cache (a large L2 at such frequencies is not really needed) helped reduce the size of the crystal, which made it cheaper. The size of the processor case has decreased fivefold, and total area CPU and chipset - three times. As we will see later, such techniques were used in the Atom series.

Despite the fundamentally correct goal setting, the A100/A110 remained in little demand on the market. Either 600–800 MHz was still not enough even for a simple Internet tablet, or there were only two chips (which even model range hard to name) from the very beginning they were an experimental product for testing the technology, or the processor was simply not promoted by marketers, knowing that it was being replaced by something much more advanced... Less than six months after the release of the A100/A110 on October 26, 2007 Intel announced the imminent release of new mobile CPUs codenamed Silverthorne and Diamondville and Bonnell core - the future Atoms. By the way, the name Bonnell comes from the name of a 240 m high hill in the vicinity of Austin (Texas), where a small group of Atom developers was located at the local Intel development center. “Whatever you name the yacht, that’s how it will sail.” ©Captain Vrungel

In 2004, this group, after the cancellation of the Tejas project led by it (the successor to the Pentium 4), received the exact opposite task - the Snocone project to develop an extremely low-power x86 core, dozens of which would combine into a super-efficient chip with a consumption of 100–150 W (the future Larrabee , recently relegated to “demonstration prototype” status). The group included several microelectronic architects from other companies, including “sworn friend” AMD, and its head Belli Kuttanna worked at Sun and Motorola. Engineers quickly discovered that the various options for available architectures did not suit their needs, and while they were thinking further, at the end of the year, Intel CEO Paul Otellini informed them that the same CPU would also be 1-2 core for mobile devices. Then it was hard to imagine exactly how and with what requirements such a processor would be used after the 3 years allotted for development - management, with a high degree of risk, pointed to handhelds and 0.5 W of power. History has shown that almost everything was predicted correctly.

Device CE4100

Interestingly, after the Atom in the summer of 2008, the EP80579 (Tolapai) was released for embedded applications with a Pentium M core, 256 KB L2, a 64-bit memory channel, a full set of peripheral controllers, frequencies of 600–1200 MHz and a consumption of 11–21 Tue And almost immediately after it - the Media Processor CE3100 (Canmore) model for the digital home and entertainment: Pentium M architecture, 800 MHz frequency, 256 KB L2, three 32-bit memory controller channels, 250 MHz RISC video processor and two 340 MHz DSP cores (digital signal processor) for audio. How these things were purchased is not clear, because after the announcement nothing was heard about them, including from Intel. Apparently, not very much... After the heyday of Atom, in September 2009, Intel tried again and released the CE4100, CE4130 and CE4150 (Sodaville) with an “atomic” core with a frequency of 1200 MHz, two 32-bit DDR3 channels, updated peripherals and technology 45 nm. Once again, little has been heard about these highly integrated systems-on-chips (SOCs) since then. Maybe the market is not ready to meet a hero?
Left CE4100, right CE3100

Atom Theory

First, let's look at the main characteristics of the processor from the consumer's point of view. There are three of them: speed, energy efficiency, price. (True, energy efficiency is not a very “consumer” characteristic, but, nevertheless, it is the easiest way to judge some important parameters final device.) Next, remember that in an ideal CMOS chip (all modern digital chips are manufactured using this technology), energy consumption is proportional to the frequency and the square of the supply voltage, and the peak frequency depends linearly on the voltage. As a result, by halving the frequency, we can halve the voltage, which in theory will reduce energy consumption by 8 times (in practice, by 4–5 times). Thus, mobile processor must be low frequency and low voltage. How then will he be fast? To do this, it needs to execute as many instructions as possible during each clock cycle, which most often means increasing the number of pipelines (degree of superscalarity) and/or the number of cores. But this leads to a sharp increase in the transistor budget, which increases the area of ​​the chip, and hence its cost.

Thus, it will not be possible to win on all three points, even theoretically (which explains the presence of such a variety of processor architectures on the market). Therefore, somewhere you will have to give up positions. A historical excursion says that it is necessary to pass it quickly, which will make it possible to make the CPU core as simple as possible. This is exactly the path that engineers from Austin took. After considering the options, they decided to return to the architecture of 15 years ago, first and last time (among Intel processors) used in the first Pentiums. Namely: the processor remains superscalar (i.e. we will have 2 instructions per clock cycle - but not 3-4, as in Atom’s contemporaries), loses the mechanism for shuffling instructions before execution (OoO), but acquires something that the Pentium did not have - hyperthreading technology (HyperThreading, HT), which allows, on the basis of one physical core, to emulate the presence of two logical ones for the OS and software. To explain why this choice was made, the reader is advised to first recall all the possible ways to increase CPU performance. Now let’s evaluate them from the perspective of energy consumption and transistor costs.

Using a multi-processor configuration in a pocket or laptop device is unacceptable, but multi-core is fine if the speed of one core is not enough. At first, Intel did this in the same way as in the first 2-core Pentium 4 - by placing a pair of identical 1-core chips on a common substrate and a common bus to the chipset. Of the other shared resources, there is only the supply voltage, which is selected from a maximum of two requests. That is, the cores can separately change their frequencies, but fall asleep and wake up synchronously. In December 2009, Intel released the first integrated versions of Atoms, where there are 1-2 cores and a northbridge on one chip. The board still has a south bridge connected to the CPU via the DMI bus, which is slightly faster and more economical than the previous combination. We won't be offered more than two cores soon, so the main speed focus is on their internals.

At this stage, Intel engineers were also not very concerned about the issue of increasing the frequency ceiling, although no one was going to abandon the principle of conveyoring and decoding x86 commands into internal micro-operations (mops) - this would have been too radical a step back. But transition predictors, data preloaders and other auxiliary systems for filling the pipeline have become very important, because an idle conveyor that cannot execute other commands bypassing the stuck one means precious watts wasted - and Atom has all the necessary “supports” made only slightly worse than the Pentium M and more modern Core 2, except that the buffer sizes are smaller (again for the sake of economy). Ultimately, the main battle plays out around performance per clock.

Over the past year, a number of literally galactic cataclysms have occurred in the universe of Intel Atom processors, both destructive and creative. As a result, it was, one might say, completely rebuilt. In this post, we will recall the history of Intel Atom, talk about the latest events associated with them, and in conclusion, we will get acquainted with new models from this family, more similar to Intel Xeon.

Intel Atom was conceived by Intel as a budget solution with minimal power consumption for various types of mobile devices. The first Atom appeared in 2008, it was made using 45 nm technology, over time the process technology was reduced to 14 nm. The success of Atom processors varied greatly depending on their application. So, some of them definitely appeared in right time and became widespread in the then newfangled “netbooks” (“laptops for working on the network”). Such netbooks did not work quickly compared to laptops with Core processors, but they were cheap, compact, did not have a cooler (and the problems associated with it), and sold well. Let's remember the super popular ASUS Eee PC 901, and note that netbooks were produced by such reputable manufacturers as HP, Lenovo, Dell and Sony.

ASUS Eee PC 901

The fate of Intel Atom as an x86 competitor to ARM processors for smartphones and tablets was much less successful. Although there is a very noticeable result here - the release in 2015 of Microsoft Surface 3 with Intel processor Atom x7-Z8700.

It should be noted that Intel has done a lot in this key area - mobile Atoms latest generation, which appeared in 2013-2014, in terms of performance they are far from their first ancestors, and in terms of capabilities they are closer to Intel Core: they have a completely updated graphics core - Intel HD Graphics, the microarchitecture has been changed to out of order execution, vector graphics have been added SSE4 instructions. However, interest in Atoms on the part of manufacturers was moderate: despite decent energy efficiency indicators (as stated by highly respected resources), the operational advantages were not so significant as to start a large-scale movement to change the platform. The financial issue also played an important role here: Intel Atoms were still more expensive than their ARM rivals.

By 2013, about a dozen Atom smartphone models were announced, some of which were never put into production. In our country, the Megafon-branded Orange San Diego smartphone was sold under the Mint brand.

Megaphone Mint

Intel actively promoted the Android x86 platform among developers: it created development tools, published training materials, and held events. Moreover, a unique binary translator was created that worked on all Atom-based Android mobile devices, and on the fly translated ARM code into x86 instructions with almost no loss of performance.

However, as mentioned above, few Atom-based devices were released (compared to the number of ARM devices on the market), which led to a vicious circle - independent developers were in no hurry to release new x86-exclusive applications for these few devices, and device manufacturers , in turn, were in no hurry to release new models due to the lack of unique applications. In addition, the theoretical competitive advantage of Atom did not work - the ability to run desktop applications on mobile devices of the same architecture. Firstly, applications still had to be ported simply because of the mismatch between desktop and mobile operating systems (Windows or MacOS -> Android) and form factors, and this usually turned out to be even more difficult than a possible transition from x86 to ARM; and secondly, during the time of ARM's undivided dominance in the mobile market, all companies that wanted to create mobile versions of their desktop products had already done this for ARM devices, so the advent of x86 only added to their hassle - the need to create and maintain versions of the application for different CPU.
Be that as it may, during the global reorganization of 2016, the Atom direction for mobile devices was cut down at the roots.

However, the work of the processor creators was not in vain. A new direction has emerged at Intel, which has gradually become one of the key ones: “Internet of Things”. It is the totality of “Internet of Things” components that is the optimal consumer of Atom family processors with their low power consumption and wide range of characteristics. Thus we have imperceptibly approached our time.

To date, Intel has released a huge number Intel models Atom, but there are not many of them that are relevant. This is, first of all, the newly announced E3900 series (you can see its comparison table above). The series is designed to fill the need for high-performance “Internet of Things” hubs (Moderate requests are designed to satisfy the Intel Galileo, Edison and Curie platforms).

However, this is not yet the limit of “pumping” the Atom. Here we come to a new announcement. The “server” Atom C2000 line from back in 2013 is being replaced by the C3000 series, which is designed to raise Intel performance Atom to new heights. The flagship of the series will be a 16-core model - there have never been so many cores in Atom before. At the same time, all the “proprietary” features are energy efficiency and affordable for server models price - remain unchanged. So far, information is available about one of the younger models in the series - the C3338 processor. We expect announcements of the rest in the second half of 2017.