Intel Atom Processor Z3740

The Intel Atom processor series has been the weakling of the block; in other words, the chip that the other ones would push around the school yard. The Atom was born with the intention of an x86 processor that could work within a small power envelope, and keep the low power ARM chips from taking over the lower segment of the market. Intel originally envisioned their Atom chips in the gamut of low power devices, from tablets, to smartphones, and to long battery life laptops. The Atom did find some success in netbooks (N270), but many consumers got frustrated with the limited performance of a single core processor, and even when Atom went dual core (N550) it still offered only a minimal performance gain.

Ivy Bridge Delayed

Intel's next upcoming processor, code named Ivy Bridge, was not exactly a well guarded secret.  Last year when the current generation of chips was released, the so called Sandy Bridge parts, they also announced that Ivy bridge would be out around a year later.  As I had no pressing processor needs, I decided to sit tight and wait for the Ivy, that promised higher performance with less energy, and better graphics.

The part was expected for 4/8/12, but that is on hold.  Apparently, through a variety of factors, the Ivy Bridge chips won't be out till late summer is the current thinking, if not early Fall.  What is frustrating is that the reason for the delay is not that the chip is not ready to go, or cannot be made in quantity.  Rather, it is that the manufacturers don't want to be stuck with the current chips.  Sales have been weak, and with nobody buying the supply chain is backed up.  On top of that, Windows 8 looms on the horizon and is expected to debut officially in the Fall, which should spur sales.  Finally, add in that AMD has not released a new part in a while, taking pressure off of Intel to bring new parts to market.

Well, I still think that patience will be rewarded, and would wait for the Ivy Bridge parts to be available.  There is still a small chance that this is just rumor, and the situation is not as dire as they are making it.  At any rate, I would love to see the Sandy Bridge parts pile up at this point if they are manipulating the market to avoid this.

PC Perspective

-Jonas