Intel Mobile CPU & Chipset Roadmap - November 2000

Conclusion

Not too long ago, one could judge the performance of a desktop system by seeing how far behind notebook machines were. It used to be that when notebook processor speeds began to surpass a user's desktop speed, then the desktop was getting old. No longer is this the case.

With Intel out to maintain their stronghold on the mobile market, the processor performance difference between notebooks and desktops seems to be shrinking at a breakneck pace. The mobile Pentium III running at 1.0 GHz will hit the market in April of 2001, at a time where many of our system are running at half the clock speed or less. Intel will continue to increase the performance of notebooks with the release of the Tualatin processor with 512K of cache, a part that the desktop industry will only see included with 256K of cache. Most likely a result of not wanting the Tualatin based Pentium III to compete with the Pentium 4, it still does not make up for the fact that the mobile Pentium III chips will soon be more powerful than the desktop version.

The plans may look strong for Intel in 2001, but the competition may quickly become fierce. With AMD leaning in the mobile direction and Transmeta producing faster and faster speed Crusoe processors, Intel has to meet the consumer's expectations. After loosing all the ground they did in the desktop market by not executing properly, Intel must know how crucial the coming year is for mobile parts. Luckily for the consumer, AMD and Transmeta know the same thing, meaning we could have quite an interesting year head of us in the mobile arena.