@ Velcro_SP

As efficient as the Atom N270 is (at 1.3-1.6Ghz the specs say 2W-4W) it is always coupled with the Intel 945GC/945GM northbridge, which has specs topping 25W in use.

You cannot use the Atom without that bridge, and Intel are not moving Atom to the "integrated northbridge" model they are pushing for their new high end quad-core chips (possibly because it would increase the die size way past their target, and die size directly impacts cost).

Then of course on any design, you have to add RAM power costs; this can be anything from 3W to 10W depending on how much you have.


Compare an equivalent PowerPC - the MPC8610 or MPC8640D at the lower clock rates - and you are looking at chips which do all the Atom and 945 combination do, in a single chip package. This makes layout easier, which makes PCBs easier to design and smaller, and of course even the dual-core PowerPC chip uses less power with zero power management than the Atom and 945.

Of course the MPC5121e does better, but it's nowhere near as good as CherryPal say it is. Not by a long shot.


To contrast the i.MX515 uses a lot less than the MPC5121e plus it has highly aggressive power management as all ARM chips do.

[ Edited by Neko on 2009/1/25 19:02 ]