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Z500
800MHz clock, 400 MHz frontside bus. No HyperThreading. TDP of 0.65W

Z510
1.1GHz clock, 400 MHz frontside bus. No HyperThreading. TDP of 2W

Z520
1.33GHz clock, 533MHz frontside bus. Supports HyperThreading. TDP of 2W

Z530
1.6GHz clock, 533MHz frontside bus. Supports HyperThreading. TDP of 2W

Z540
1.86GHz clock, 533MHz frontside bus. Supports HyperThreading. TDP of 2.2W

The Atom processors also are combined with the former "Paulsbo" System Controller Hub chipset and wireless adaptors into the Centrino Atom package. The SCH takes command of north and south bridges, memory control, PCI express, USB and other connectivity and an integrated GPU. This last supports Direct X9, and Intel says the top range version can also cope with HD 1080i output. That's pretty impressive for a chip that may be destined for portable gadgets.

Intel is ready to go with all these chips, and wants them to be on sale within 60 days. [Reg Hardware and Reuters]

The Penryn-based Q9300 "owned the night," with the Q6600 trailing, and Phenom in back of both. It wasn't "so far behind as to be dead in the water" but "it doesn't quite go head-to-head with the Penryn lite." (They call the Q9300 Penryn-lite because it has half the cache of the higher-end Penryn quad-cores.)

The 9850 X4 is the fastest AM2 chip around, however, so if you're sticking with that board "it's a pretty good upgrade." The bigger problem is that AMD still has nothing to touch Intel's top quad cores, and won't for months, at least. [Maximum PC]

The platform will scale from two to eight cores, and eventually from "notebooks to servers." That's the scalable part, so you'll see it everywhere. Simultaneous Multi-Threading will let each core run two threads at once, plus it quadruples the memory-bandwidth of the current top-o'-the-line Xeons. It's also got an 8MB level-3 cache, Quickpath interconnects (up to 25.6GB per second), integrated memory controller (AMD what?) and supports up to DDR3-1333 memory, plus a bunch of other hardcore geek stuff, which you can scope out at Intel. [Intel]

On the other hand, AMD's refusal to specify when in the second half of '08 they'll launch is a bit worrying—December would basically put them a year behind Intel, and it wouldn't be the first time they've been late. Come on AMD, be awesome again, please. Update: Press release below.

AMD Demos 45nm Native Quad-Core Processors for Server, Desktop

— Customer Testing of Product Samples Underway —

HANNOVER, Germany. — March 4, 2008 —AMD (NYSE: AMD) demonstrated at the CeBit electronics exhibition its first 45nm quad-core chips running multiple operating systems and a range of processing intensive applications. The processors were produced in Dresden, Germany, in AMD's Fab 36 300mm manufacturing facility, using an advanced 45nm process co-developed with IBM.

AMD 45nm transistors are engineered to enable greater performance-per-watt capabilities in AMD processors and platforms. AMD combines new processes and materials with leading edge technologies, such as immersion lithography and AMD's fourth-generation strained silicon, for a highly-manufacturable, highly-efficient production process.

This important milestone is the first of many as AMD moves toward delivery of 45nm products later this year. The first 45nm chips demonstrated by AMD include the "Shanghai" product for server and "Deneb" for desktop platforms.

It's about as powerful as the first Pentium M chips (Banias), but while those idled at 5W and averaged 24.5W, this little guy sips as little as 0.1W in its idle state, with peaks up to just 2W on the 2GHz model. It's really cheap to pump out too, tapped for the $200 OLPC at one point.

It comes in a couple different flavors up to that 2GHz version. To get athletic performance—it's a full-fledged x86 chip, not a half-baked cutdown—out of an anorexic processor, Intel worked all kinds of design mojo, like a new quick-wake deep sleep state. It's still a bit too hungry for smartphones, though. So, while it's a neat piece of silicon, as Ars says, it's still got a ways to go, especfially with stiff competition from ARM and TI. But that's a good thing.

The result is that they're smaller, faster, cooler and more energy efficient than the last generation of chips, so bet on the cram-as-many-cores-as-you-can processor race to really start heating up in 2008, with quad-core and higher becoming increasingly common. These chips also have the fourth generation of SSE instructions for faster technical and multimedia computing. You'll see Penryn chips in everything from gaming PCs to beefy servers to MacBook Pros.

We've also got 12 quad-core Xeons ranging from 2 to 3.2GHz with 1333Mhz or 1600MHz frontside bus options, as well as a triplet of dual-core Xeons that run up to 3.4GHz, but with half the L2 cache (6MB) of the other Penryns. The dual-cores also have a 30-day wait.

The cheapest Penryn you can score appears to be the $177 1.86GHz dual-core E5205 Xeon with a 1066MHz FSB. Quad-core wise, it'd be a 2.0 GHz E5405 Xeon for $209. All of those prices are given in bulk, too. So, race ya to Newegg? [Intel]

Intel Core 2 Extreme for Gaming Notebooks [Laptoping]

They demoed a dual processor setup alongside a quad-processor rig for ultimate 4x4 power. The folks at [H]Enthusiast claim the octo-core set up was able to encode 1080p video to H.264 very close to real time. They also said the CPUs are good at keeping their cool (though they did have fans on each CPU). Now all we need is for AMD to hurry and get them out. – Louis Ramirez

AMD Barcelona in Action [HEnthusiast via Gadget Lab]

A chain partner revealed to us that a new model of MacBook is coming out as soon as next week, which is pretty ridiculous if we do say so ourselves. However, since PC makers are making the transition to Santa Rosa very soon, it's not out of the question that Apple will as well—maybe as soon as WWDC. After all, it's been more than a year since the switch to Intel, and they should be pretty good with this stuff by now. What do you think? – Jason Chen

Your PC Could Knock Your GPS Out [Tech.co.uk via Navigadget]

Intel Penryn Performance Preview [Anandtech]
Intel Unveils Penryn Performance [DailyTech]
IDF: Intel Releases 45nm Penryn Benchamrk Numbers [TG Daily]
Image courtesy Anandtech

Intel's not saying how they plan on achieving this or what kinda battery life these lappies will have, but as long as they don't fry my kneecaps or burst into flames, this will definitely be worth waiting for, even if only for bragging rights. – Louis Ramirez

Intel to Offer Quad Core Mobile CPUs in 2008? [LaptopLogic]