Intel-Based Notebooks to Sport 4GB Memory Next Year

by Anton Shilov
07/12/2005 | 09:05 AM

Even though the majority of notebooks today are shipping with 512MB of memory, Intel seems to see necessity of 4GB of memory in a notebook next year. According to some reports, the chip giant’s next-generation mobile chipsets will support up to 4GB of memory, two times more than today.

Intel’s 945PM and 945GM core-logic sets, earlier code-named Calistoga, designed for mobile computers, which will be built around Intel code-named Napa mobile platform, will support up to 4GB of DDR2 memory, two times more than mobile chipsets can support today. Currently it is unknown whether the chipsets will support DDR2 memory at 667MHz, or will stick to slower or, otherwise, faster speed-bins.

In a news-story filled in by DigiTimes web-site it is claimed that Intel had cancelled development of a chipset called 955XM, which was reportedly supposed to become top-of-the-range mobile core-logic offering for high-end notebooks aimed at professionals or gamers.

Intel’s Napa platform will inherit all the major innovations of Intel's latest Centrino incarnation previously known as Sonoma, such as PCI Express, DDR2 memory, etc., but will add next-generation chipsets with new graphics cores and speed enhancements, new power management tools that will increase battery life to over 5 hours, as well as WiMAX and 3G options, according to Intel’s previously discussed plans.

The main building block of Intel’s Napa platform is code-named Yonah processor. Intel Yonah processor is a yet another derivative of the so-called Banias architecture, which inherits many peculiarities of the P6 architecture. Yonah will have two processing engines and will be produced using 65nm process technology late this year with commercial availability scheduled for Q1 2006. The target clock-rate for Yonah processor is 2.17GHz, while the chip’s processor system bus will clock at 667MHz. Intel also plans single-core Yonah flavours.

Intel plans to ship Yonah mobile processor for revenue in late 2005 and officially launch the platform in 2006. Intel believes that by the end of 2006 more than 70% of performance mobile processors it produces at that time will be dual-core chips.

Intel did not comment on the news-story.