Intel’s 22nm “Valley View” Atom processor is reportedly a quad-core SoC loaded with Ivy Bridge graphics. The next-gen chip – which could arrive by 2013 – may also offer a 4x performance boost.
According to Sean Hollister of The Verge, a “leaked” Intel slide describes a possible fanless Valley View system as follows: Up to four cores, 8GB of RAM and USB 3.0.
“We’d previously heard that Intel was planning to release a 22nm chip in 2013 with a brand-new architecture, codename Silvermont, with the company’s new 3D transistors on board,” writes Hollister.
“The leaked presentation just so happens to describe a 22nm SoC called Valley View, which also names a ‘Balboa Pier’ as its likely chipset.”
As Nicole Scott of Netbook News notes, the Valley View Atom report seems plausible, as Intel is definitely going to have step up its game if Santa Clara wants to remain competitive against AMD’s Fusion lineup – which Scott dubbed a veritable “graphic powerhouse.”
“Netbooks are evolving along with the ecosystem as we’re seeing many companies leave the Atom processor behind in favor of more robust Pentium or Celeron chips,” Scott explained.
“Even though Cedar Trail added graphic capabilities to support HD playback it still lacking when it’s put up against AMD’s E-350 pr E-450 which is starting to pop up in more and more Netbooks.”
Nervertheless, Scott emphasized that it remained unclear how Valley View would stack up against the competition, especially with both ARM and AMD readying a new generation of mobile chips.
“2013 isn’t exactly just around the corner, so we’re going to have to wait an see what ARM has up its sleeve, [though] this is good news if it’s true… [Of course], the Atom line up could up a bump since Intel hasn’t exactly been generous when it comes to performance gains,” she added.
