Intel chips to boost laptop power

Battery-friendly, quad-core mobile processors due in 2008

More powerful laptops for niche markets are likely to follow the announcement of Intel's first Core 2 Extreme processors for mobiles, while the chip maker confirmed it expects to introduce battery-friendly quad-core processors for laptops in 2008.

Intel's announcement covered a raft of new chips, including new dual-core and quad-core chips for desktops. The Core 2 Extreme X7800, however, is the first such processor it has developed for the laptop market. While it will appear initially in games machines for consumers, Intel's Extreme chips also find their way into workstation systems, especially those aimed at creative media professionals.

One firm that uses Extreme chips in workstations is Dell. The company declined to comment on whether it will use the new chip in its Precision mobile workstation line, but has only recently unveiled its latest model based on a desktop processor.

The new dual-core chip has the highest speed of Intel's laptop processors at 2.6GHz, but also has mobile-specific power-saving features that enable more energy-efficient and higher-performing designs. It performs up to 28 percent faster than the current Core 2 Duo T2600, according to Intel.

“Due to our innovative technology and design capabilities, we can offer world-class, power-smart performance for the most demanding mobile users," said Mooly Eden of Intel's Mobile Platforms Group.

The emphasis on performance with energy efficiency will continue next year, with the introduction of laptop chips based on Intel's 45nm Penryn technology. While Intel has already said it will refresh its current dual-core mobile platform with Penryn, the firm has now confirmed it will ship quad-core laptop chips.

It is unclear how these will trade off performance against battery life, and so quad-core mobile chips are likely to be a niche product, as with the Extreme processors. However, Ovum senior analyst Carl Gressum argued that there is a place for such chips.

"Is there a willingness to pay for Intel's Extreme CPUs? Yes, however it is a targeted, limited niche market. Architects or engineers that work on site, or at a customer's premises, need a mobile power machine," Gressum said.

Steve Kleynhans, vice-president of platforms group at Gartner, agreed. "For those users, battery life isn’t their primary concern, as they will typically have wall power available," he said, adding that for the rest of the market, battery life is much more important.

Meanwhile, Intel rival AMD is gearing up to launch its first quad-core chips, codenamed Barcelona. However, these will target workstations and servers. AMD's forthcoming mobile platform, codenamed Puma and due mid-2008, will instead feature a dual-core chip called Griffin, the firm's first processor designed specifically for laptops.