[Leaplist] Different netbooks ... CPU and GPU limitations (or not) ...

[Bryan J. Smith]

Some FlexATX and MicroATX have slightly different pin-outs than
standard ATX.  In the worst case, there are sub-$10 adapters.  I've
never had to change one out, although eBay makes things cheap.

As far as power, Atom will vary.  Desktop Atoms are typically 4-8W.
The problem is the chipset.  If you can get the same 65nm 965GSC
they put in the notebooks, then you will get sub-12W + the Atom for
under 20W total.  If you get the crappy 90-120nm "leftover" 965G crap
they typically put on this OEM, non-netbooks, then they will suck up
30W+ total.

I have had the same problem with ViA C3/C7 systems.  They can
make some mean, low power CPUs, but their chipsets are fabbed
much higher and suck up a crapload of power because of the gross
GPU design inefficiency and higher feature sizes (90nm+).

The P3, ironically, is not bad at all.  Even the original, "power hungry"
designs to 1GHz (with some failures) never, ever exceed 40W, and the
866-933MHz were 26-30W.  They dropped that further with the
Coppermine-T and Tulatin.  And the chipset is simple -- just simple
SDRAM memory plus "dumb" 64-bit @ 66-133MHz PCI signaling at
the Memory Controller Hub (MCH) using a few watts plus the 82801
I/O Controller Hub (ICH) sucking up no more than 3W.  With memory
you're not going to exceed 50W, and average power will be closer to
30W than 50W.

The Socket-479 Pentium M is based on a revision of the Tulatin and
uses from as high as 27W to low-power modes with only 5W consumption.

A couple of years back I played with both fanless Socket-479 Pentium M
units versus fanless 8-20W, Socket-462 Geode NX (rebranded and
underclocked Athlon XP) units.

Atom has had so much promise, but has been plagued by support
logic that has been recycled.  The 32nm Atom is supposed to integrate
everything into a System-on-a-Chip (SoC), plus just a low-power ICH
(couple of watts max) when needed for additional support ([S]ATA, LPC,
etc...).  But it's GPU will still suck ... hard.


----- Original Message ----
From: Jason Boxman <jasonb at edseek.com>

I take it those systems don't use Dell's weird proprietary ATX pin-out that my slot 1
based 500MHz P3 does?  What a pain that is.

That's some sweet low power usage.

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