Centrino 2 processor details leaked by PC maker

Details of the first few processors belonging to Intel's latest Centrino 2 mobile platform have been leaked on a PC maker's Web site, preempting Intel's official launch of the platform at the middle of this year.

The Centrino 2 platform, codenamed Montevina, is an upgrade to Intel's current Centrino platform and will include five Core 2 processors running at clock speeds between 2.26GHz and 3.06GHz.

The processors will be offered by an Australian PC maker, Pioneer Computers, in its DreamBook Style 9008 Centrino 2 laptop, one of earliest based on Intel's latest mobile platform.

The Intel Core 2 Duo P8400 processor running at 2.26 GHz will include 3M bytes of cache, and the Core 2 Extreme X9100 processor, running at 3.06GHz processor, will include 6M bytes of cache.

Other Centrino 2 processors listed on Pioneers' Web site include the Core 2 Duo P8600 running at 2.4 GHz with 3M bytes of cache, the Core 2 Duo P9500 running at 2.53GHz with 6M bytes of cache and the Core 2 Duo T9600 processor running at 2.8Ghz with 6M bytes of cache.

The chips, which belong to the Penryn family, are manufactured using the 45-nanometer process.

Intel has said that Centrino 2 includes a chip that combines both wireless and WiMax capabilities. Pioneer is offering both capabilities as options with the laptop. The laptop, priced starting at A$1,399 (US$1,303) supports up to 4G bytes of memory and weighs 2.8 kilograms (6.2 pounds).

At the Intel Developer Forum last year, Intel talked about shrinking the size of chips by up to 60 percent for the Centrino 2 platform. Intel has small-form-factor chips will be released shortly after the normal-sized chips.

Source: IDG News Service