Intel’s Disappointing Pine Trail CPU
The Intel Atom Pine Trail platform, which was originally thought to be a grand step forward for netbooks, has not met our expectations. It may be in part due to over-hyping by followers of its development, but ultimately the performance gains provided by the new line were marginal at best and irrelevant at worst. So what caused this discrepancy?
Those hailing the Pine Trail as a godsend to netbooks graphics ultimately misconceived what the GMA 3150 controller could do. Compared to Nvidia’s Ion platform (currently the only way to get good graphics on a netbook) it is completely out of its league, and only looks good compared to the original Atom’s GMA 950.
But the real issue is what happened when Intel condensed the “Diamondville” platform from the original Atom to “Pine Trail”. A quick glance at the image up top (“Diamondville” left, “Pine Trail” right), clearly shows us that nothing really happened. Same cores and the same interfaces. And the problem is that while Intel was busy integrating the memory controller onto its chips for the i7 on desktops, they got lazy about Pine Trail on netbooks. The memory controller still needs to be interfaced via the front-side bus, so no lower memory latency, no drastic performance improvement. And to point out the obvious, the exact same core is being used on the old and new Atoms.
Is it fair for Intel to say that Pine Trail is a better product in terms of performance than the Atom 330? Arguably, yes. But really this whole affair simply shows that Intel is sitting unchallenged in the netbook market, as AMD has yet to provide a platform for it and ARM lacks the resources to take on Intel. And this gives them the ability to take easy, cheap, sloppy routes for chip development, while also hurting the consumer by trying to prevent a product like the Ion 2 from making its way to netbooks. Plain and simple like the early 2000s: a complacent Intel is a bad Intel.
via AnandTech
The Intel Pine Trail Netbook CPU is On The Way
Intel’s new Pine Trail is making its way into netbooks soon. While details are always hard to come by, the Pine Trail CPU is set to crank netbook graphics like never before.
While VP Sean Maloney is quoted saying “Better battery life. But performance more than anything,” it would seem that we can expect some major improvements in other important areas on laptops in the future. Intel has held off on selling preconfigured HP Mini 5101 netbooks directly from the HP website, with new models regarding the new Pine Trail processors being prepared for release. While we won’t be seeing the Pine Trail before 2010, it’s always good to know whats ahead!
Via CNet
Next Generation Intel Atom Netbook Platform Codenamed “Cedar Trail”
While most netbook users are looking forward to the release of Intel’s Pine Trail platform in early 2010, the company itself already has plans to further upgrade the Intel Atom platform in 2011. The newest platform will be dubbed “Cedar Trail.” 
Since 2011 is still quite far away, no other information is available on this new netbook chipset, but we’ll keep you posted on any future developments.
Via Fudzilla.
Intel Plans “Fast Transition” of Netbook Processors, Will Debut Pine Trail at CES 2010
Currently, most Intel processors installed in netbooks are the Atom N270 and Atom N280, but Intel is looking to quickly transition to the Pine Trail platform. Maybe you’ll want to hold off buying a netbook for now, as Intel’s new platform is expected to launch on December 21st of this year.
Intel wants to generate excitement for the new Pine Trail platform for netbooks by planning a press release in late December to disclose the details of the platform. Pine Trail will probably also be the talk of the town at the Consumer Electronics Show in January of 2010.
Here’s some details about the Pine Trail platform. The key component is the “Pineview,” which is a new CPU that integrates the Intel Atom N280 core with a DDR2 memory controller and graphics core. By integrating these last two parts with the CPU, the overall power consumption is reduced. The Pine Trail chipset, nicknamed “Tiger Point” handles the system I/O.
The three main chipsets that will debut at CES will include the 1.66GHz single-core N450 processor, the 1.66GHz single core D410 processor, and the 1.66GHz dual-core D510 processor, the former of which is for a netbook and the latter of which are for desktops.
Via RegHardware.
Image via BlogCDN.
Haleron Bold Series Netbook Will Sport Intel Pine Trail CPU
Electronics manufacturer Haleron gas already come out a dual-core netbook, the Swordfish Net102, but will soon be coming out with another dual-core netbook. Haleron’s Bold Series netbook will feature an Intel Atom D510 processor, a low power CPU that’s part of the Intel Pine Trail platform.
The Haleron Bold netbook is rumored to be available starting around November of this year, but other than that, there’s currently no more information about the device. No worries, we’ll keep you posted on anything we hear.
Image via Haleron.
MSI Wind U150 Touchscreen Netbook Confirmed
The rumor about the MSI touchscreen Pine Trail netbook that runs on Windows 7 is actually not a rumor at all. Turns out, MSI plans on officially launching such a machine at the next CES.
According to Intel, the Pine Trail platform is not yet perfected, but the company hopes to start shipping to its customers before the end of this year. Hoping to be the first to the market with a Pine Trail netbook, MSI is eagerly awaiting for Intel to put the finishing touches on the Pine Trail platform.
MSI hopes to introduce the Pine Trail platform with their 10″ Wind U150 netbook. The Pine Trail platform is different from other previous Intel Atom processors because it combines the CPU and the GPU into one chip instead of having two separate chipsets. Intel’s new platform is also expected to have 20+% better power consumption.
There’s no other new information just yet on the MSI Wind U150 touchscreen netbook, but when there is, we’ll be sure to let you know.
Via Gizmodo.
MSI Rumored to Launch Pine Trail Netbook in December 2009
It’s been awhile since we’ve heard any good rumors about the Pine Trail platform, but here’s the latest word on the street. According to DigitTimes’ “industry sources,” the first OEM to launch a Pine Trail-M netbook will be MSI, which is rumored to have chosen December 2009 as their window of launch.
Will this really be though? In the past, there have been rumors that the release of Pine Trail-M has actually been delayed from 2009 until 2010. At least Intel still believes the platform’s arrival is still on course for 2009.
MSI claimed that their intention for the release is to avoid the competitive pricing that may result from its rivals. MSI wants to instead focus “on the touchscreen and Windows 7 functionality that its Pine Trail-M netbooks are expected to offer.” Will it actually be able to avoid the “morning rush” though? I wouldn’t be surprised if ASUS and Acer were right on its tail.
Via SlashGear.
A Bit More About Intel’s Delay in Releasing Pine Trail Netbook Platform
We’ve already mentioned the rumor that Intel is planning on delaying the release of their Pine Trail platform until early next year.
Among possible reasons for this delay may be to prevent damage to netbook sales for the year 2009. There is also worry that the introduction of the PIne Trail platform may negatively impact the sale of ultra-thin netbooks.
A third possible cause for this delay of the release date is that up until now, Intel has only received limited demand from consumers for their Pine Trail platform.
The price of the Pine Trail processor is roughly $64, higher than that of the currently predominant Intel Atom N270 processor that many netbooks are equipped with.
We’re already halfway through the year and 2010 is approaching quickly, so make sure to check back to our site often for the latest updates about this development.
Image from Liliputing.
