Thursday, May 10, 2007

 

Inside Intel's New Centrino Duo and Centrino Pro

Inside Intel's New Centrino Duo and Centrino Pro

(Santa Rosa)
The latest Centrino Duo and Centrino Pro platforms give you a graphics makeover, support draft-n Wi-Fi, and take you for a ride on the 800-MHz bus.

By Cisco Cheng

Intel's unveiling of its next-generation laptop technology is practically a yearly tradition now. Last year, it was a new motherboard chipset and a dual-core processor (code-named "Napa" and "Yonah," respectively). This year, all eyes are on a new motherboard chipset. Most of us know it as Centrino Duo, though Intel calls it by its prelaunch code name, "Santa Rosa." To complicate things, Intel is splitting its Centrino brand into two market segments, consumer and corporate. You'll see the consumer version in stores as the next Centrino Duo. Corporate professionals have already gotten a glimpse of the Centrino Pro platform, which launched in mid-April. Intel has created a successful marketing campaign out of the Centrino brand name, while keeping its nomenclature simple for consumers—at least until now.

A new chipset is typically accompanied by a faster front-side bus (FSB), a new graphics core, and a wireless chip that reflects the latest Wi-Fi trends. Because the Intel Core 2 Duo processor (code-named "Merom") is still relatively new, Intel is not introducing a new processor core, but you'll see additions to the Core 2 Duo line that will take advantage of the faster FSB. With Santa Rosa, Intel moves to the Mobile Intel 965 Express Chipset, delivering a jolt of speed to the FSB (up to 800 MHz from the 667 MHz of the previous chipset). Integrated graphics get a makeover with the Intel GMA X3100. The Intel Wireless WiFi Link 4965AGN portion adds draft 802.11n support. These components, plus the Core 2 Duo processor, make up the new Centrino Duo platform on the consumer side. With Centrino Pro, Intel adds a fourth element—the Intel 82566MM and 82566MC Gigabit Network Connection—that will be a requirement in order for PC makers to be able to decorate their corporate laptops with the shiny Centrino Pro sticker. The Intel Gigabit Controller's most compelling feature is its ability to wake a computer from shutdown state (Wake on LAN), wirelessly.—next: Which Chipset Is Which?

Labels: centrino

by dayatna at 5:52 AM |