Yonah to suck up more power

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consumption and yours may vary, particularly if you are playing 3D games at the airport. Increased power consumption results in shorter battery life.

A raised thermal ceiling can also lead to a heavier notebook, as manufacturers must increase the size of heat sinks or other components that eliminate heat from inside the chassis.

"Average power is important for battery life, but maximum power is important for notebook design," Krewell said.

The ratings could also help rival AMD. The chipmaker's Turion and other notebook processors have higher thermal ceilings than current Pentium Ms. Higher Yonah numbers will give the scrappy Sunnyvale, Calif.-based competitor something to bring up in their marketing; however, AMD also plans to deliver dual-core notebook models.

But beyond this, the Yonah family is likely to provide greater performance than current models. Besides having two cores, which effectively doubles the "brains" on the chip, the new models will run faster and come with faster buses. A few of the Yonahs are also expected to come with virtualization technology, which aims to let multiple operating systems run on the same computer more easily.

Cost of Yonah
Pricing will stay level, too. The T1600 Yonah--which runs at 2.16 GHz, comes with a 2MB cache and a 667-MHz bus--will sell for $637. That's the same as the top-end 2.26 GHz Pentium M, which has a 2MB cache, or reservoir of memory integrated in the processor for more rapid data access, and a 533-MHz bus.

The road map also identifies a 2.33-GHz Yonah, but the chip is not given a model number or price--an indication that Intel may not release it at the launch, but come out with it later.

The T1500, which runs at 2GHz, will sell for $423, the same as the next-fastest Pentium M. The pattern remains consistent throughout the line. (See chart for more details on pricing and specifications.) Intel also plans on releasing a 2.33-GHz version of Yonah, but pricing was not available.

By the second quarter, analysts anticipate that chips based around the Yonah design will start to creep into the Celeron M line of less expensive processors.

In addition, Merom, a new notebook chip family, is slated start to appear toward the end of 2006. One change will include a 4MB cache.

Kai Schmerer of ZDNet Germany reported from Munich.

[raitchison]

Not good for Intel, good for AMD

OK I'm pretty much an Intel zealot, I've been "burned" (pun intended) by AMD processors in the past to the point where I'm not likely to even consider an AMD based system for my own use.

But this seems like a serious problem, the excellent power consumption and heat generation characteristics of the Pentium M is pretty much the only area where Intel has a clear technological advantage over AMD anymore. At the same time AMD is starting to cath up Intel is taking a step backwards.

.. but it's still less power than for Pentium 4

I wanted to mention that although there may be higher power versions of Yonah, it's still better than the 70+W Pentium 4 processors used in full-size/desktop replacement notebooks. With a higher wattage Pentium M processor, Intel can ship faster versions fo Yonah. This is a good thing for those who want the maximum performance in a notebook (think gamers notebooks from Voodoo PC and others).

Kevin