Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) is looking forward to bringing down the amount of power consumed by its Core-branded chips in order to fit them into more sleek devices.
Intel making chips more efficient
Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) said in a statement that it will reduce the power consumption of its 4th generation core processor, also known as Haswell, by 4.5 watts. This parameter of Intel is called Scenario Design Power (SDP).
Prior to the announcement in June, Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) said that its lowest Scenario Power Rating for Haswell would be 6 watts. Now aiming for 4.5 watts reflects that Intel has attained efficiency in bringing down the power consumption further.
New devices to be fanless
“It’s the first fanless Core processor,” an Intel spokesperson told CNET. This is crucial because tablets that are growing rapidly in popularity are fanless. However Intel’s core business is in Laptops, which are equipped with a fan in order to cool down the system, and thus are thicker and heavier.
Haswell, which Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) claims would be more power efficient, imply that the laptops will be thinner, lighter and hybrid tablets. Operating System for these laptops might be Windows 8.1. Devices can be without a fan and can be very thin. There are no indications if the PC companies would opt for low power Haswell in a pure tablet design.
Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) two surface tablets are the best device to describe the difference between fanless devices and fan-equipped devices. Surface RT tablet is without fan and uses a power efficient Nvidia ARMchip. Whereas Surface Pro model is thicker and heavier and equipped with fan to cool down the more powerful Intel Ivy Bridge chip cool.
Windows tablets to use Bay Trail
It is expected that the majority of Windows tablets, which will be powered by Intel, would use “Bay Trail” Atom chip. Bay Trail belongs to latest Silvermont Atom segment, which is the most economical design by Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC), and is targeted towards fanless devices like tablets and smartphones. However, performance of this device is less than mainstream Core Haswell chips. The low-power Haswell chip is expected to be available in limited quantities later this year.
