[Leaplist] Intel Yonah Mini-ITX and new Atom (ultra-low'n slow x86) -- WAS: RFC: LEAP Linux NON-dream boxes

[Bryan J. Smith]

"Bryan J. Smith" <b.j.smith at ieee.org> wrote:
> o  Firewall/router
> Pair it with an 6-15W AMD Geode NX ("NX" = low-power Athlon --
> kicks the crap out of ViA C3/C7 or Intel ULV Celeron), which
> you can get bundled in a MicroATX form-factor for $75 ...
> There are Mini-ITX options, but they are most costly, and
> you'll have to go with a special header/card for more than
> 1 slot (extra ports).

BTW, it seems Intel also offers a relatively inexpensive, Mini-ITX
compatible system based on the original "Yonah" (32-bit, 7-8 issue
"Core") processor -- the D201GLY[2A]:  
  http://www.intel.com/products/motherboard/D201GLY/index.htm
  http://www.intel.com/products/motherboard/D201GLY2/index.htm  

They are also very good options for the price, and use the similar
SiS chipsets as the AMD Geode NX options (yes, stock, Intel branded
mainboards using SiS chipsets ;).

Also, by now some of you may have heard of Intel's new, ultra-low
power, tiny "Atom" running at 500MHz to up to 2GHz.  These new "Atom"
processors are compatible with the IA-32e/EM64T "Core 2" instruction
set architecture (ISA).  But what you were _not_ told is how _slow_
these cores are.

I.e., Atom is an in-order, 2 issue design.
What's that mean?

It means the out-of-order 9-10 issue AMD and Intel processors you
find in your desktop processor (much less even the "old" Yonah
embedded that is 7-8 issue) smacks it silly MHz for MHz.  L1/L2 is
also reduced some, but that's not the major kicker.  Even though the
in-order greatly reduces the control logic (e.g., Core 2 processors 2
ALU + 2 FPU + 2 SSE + 3 control), offering a simple 2 issue (1 ALU +
1 FPU), it's still a crapload slower than Intel Core 2 MHz for MHz
(let alone the 3 ALU + 3 FPU + 3 control of Athlon designs -- FPU is
used for SSE in Athlon).

This is being grossly under-reported in the media.  At 0.6W TDP for
500MHz, an old Via Eden 500MHz still smacks it silly.  In fact, Atam
at 2GHz and 2.5V, a 1GHz Via C7 (6W or so) should still smack it
silly.  So that's also a consideration.  Although the chipset is also
supposed to be low-power (something I've always taken issue with ViA,
they use their desktop chipsets too much with the GPU sucking a lot
of current), so that's also a consideration.  We'll see what becomes
of "Atom" soon, although it should be enough to run a IPCop box
easily.

More interestingly is that Intel will start embedded Atom into its
chipsets.  I.e., TCP/IP and Storage off-load.  So we may soon see
low-end, server-class GbE and RAID-5/6 off-load.  ;)


-- 
Bryan J. Smith       Professional, Technical Annoyance
b.j.smith at ieee.org  http://www.linkedin.com/in/bjsmith
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       Fission Power:  An Inconvenient Solution