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difference in processors

post #1 of 6
3/13/09 at 3:14pm
Thread Starter 
after looking at a few netbooks, i noticed dell had some different atom processors. N270 and Z520, whats the differences between the N processors and the Z. they seem to have come out around the same time.
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post #2 of 6
3/13/09 at 4:01pm
N270 chip itself commonly used in notebooks that have low power... a maximum Thermal Design Power of 2.5 Watts

Max Thermal Design Power for the Z520 is 2.0 watts

Intel® Atom™ Processor Z520 (512K Cache, 1.33 GHz, 533 MHz FSB)

Intel® Atom™ Processor N270 (512K Cache, 1.60 GHz, 533 MHz FSB)

both have Lithography 45 nm
both have 1 core
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post #3 of 6
3/13/09 at 10:06pm
Thread Starter 
so basically the N series is a faster processor correct? i was confused because i saw dells netbooks and the mini9 uses N 270, and the bigger netbooks use Z530. i dont understand the reasoning behind why they would use a faster processor for a smaller netbook.
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post #4 of 6
3/18/09 at 6:51pm
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silverthorne_(CPU)

"At Spring Intel Developer Forum (IDF) 2008 in Shanghai, Intel officially announced that Silverthorne and Diamondville are based on the same microarchitecture. Silverthorne will be called the Atom Z series and Diamondville will be called the Atom N series. The more expensive lower-power Silverthorne parts will be used in Intel Mobile Internet Devices (MIDs) whereas Diamondville will be used in low-cost desktop and notebooks."

So it sounds like the Z series are rated for even lower power and intended for devices even smaller than netbooks.

Brian
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post #5 of 6
3/20/09 at 4:08am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by briantaylor View Post
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silverthorne_(CPU)

"At Spring Intel Developer Forum (IDF) 2008 in Shanghai, Intel officially announced that Silverthorne and Diamondville are based on the same microarchitecture. Silverthorne will be called the Atom Z series and Diamondville will be called the Atom N series. The more expensive lower-power Silverthorne parts will be used in Intel Mobile Internet Devices (MIDs) whereas Diamondville will be used in low-cost desktop and notebooks."

So it sounds like the Z series are rated for even lower power and intended for devices even smaller than netbooks.

Brian
i thought so also from looking at the specs...but dell used the N processor for their mini 9..and for the mini 10 and 12 they used the Z processor which didn't make sense
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post #6 of 6
3/20/09 at 8:41pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by luvx77x8o4 View Post
i thought so also from looking at the specs...but dell used the N processor for their mini 9..and for the mini 10 and 12 they used the Z processor which didn't make sense
Actually it does make sense because 10 and 12 inch screens use more power (the larger the screen, the more power consumed). By using the more efficient, less powerful processor in the larger unit, Dell is able to increase battery up-time (at the expense of performance). By using the slightly less efficient (but cheaper) processor on the smaller 9 inch mini, Dell is able to increase it's profit margin with only a slight decrease in up-time. Netbooks aren't supposed to be performers, instead they're designed for maximum portability, so it's just a matter of using components matched to the price points Dell is trying to hit.

I hope this helps,

Ciao
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