Intel quad-core mobile chip coming: Is it overkill?

Is four processing cores inside a laptop overkill? Probably not for gamers. Intel is expected to meet this insatiable need for speed when it rolls out it first mobile quad-core processor.

An Intel executive is on the record stating an August roll-out.

And this may happen sooner in August than later. System vendors may go public with information about the quad-core mobile processor as soon as August 11, according to sources. This is when other processors, such as the Core 2 Quad Q9650 (3GHz), are expected to go public.

Falcon Northwest already uses quad-core processors in its laptops.

(Credit: Falcon Northwest)

Many of the details of the quad-core mobile processor are public already. At the roll-out for Centrino 2, Mooly Eden, an Intel senior vice president, said the quad-core mobile chip will have 800 million transistors and a 45-watt power envelope--10 watts higher than the 35-watt Intel mobile processors used today. "You'll see gaming machines and (mobile) workstations with more compute power than servers two years ago," Eden said.

The quad-core QX9300 chip will be part of the Intel Extreme series of mobile processors. HP's high-end Pavilion HDX gaming laptop line and Dell's Alienware unit both offer laptops with Intel Extreme mobile processors such as the X9000.

Last week, Intel announced the Intel Core 2 Extreme X9100, a dual-core mobile processor running at 3.06GHz.

So, is a quad-core mobile processor overkill? "Definitely not for our customers," said Kelt Reeves, president of enthusiast PC maker Falcon Northwest. "We've been putting quad-processors in (laptops) for a long time."

To date, Falcon Northwest has used desktop quad-core processors and currently uses a Q9550 quad-core chip, which has a 95-watt thermal envelope--unsuitable for a standard-size laptop. But Falcon Northwest quad-core laptops are typically "big power-hungry beasts that weigh twelve pounds," Reeves said. The upcoming mobile quad-core has half the power envelope of the Q9550.

[ikramerica--2008]

It's not overkill because these mobile chips are also used in various small footprint desktops, not least of which are the iMac and Mac mini models. Really, they should be classified as "low power" chips and not mobile chips, as they are applicable to any lower power/low heat/low noise product.

[gerrrg]

Everyone knows better. As processors improve, software can become incredibly sophisticated.

We've only just begun to enter the digital age, let's not assume that what we have is good enough.

[coryschulz]

Do you think these will get put into the iMac this October? I'm hoping so!!!

[Raabscuttle]

I am reminded of when Time (or maybe it was Newsweek) called the original Pentium a "Hyundai with a jet engine" - saying that some particular processor is too much processor isn't anything new at all...

[Maccess]

It depends on the use. The trend in laptops is towards mid-power, but long battery life computers that are perfect for malling and surfing in Wi-Fi hotspots. However, I use a higher end laptop for work that is attached to multiple monitors. In this configuration I fully maximize the CPU with over a dozen applications running simultaneously. Undocked, however, I don't use as many applications, so the perfect use for a dual or quad core mobile CPU would be in a laptop with multi-monitor capability whose main use is as a desktop replacement, but is light enough without the dock to be almost an ultraportable.