Intel Atom N270 vs. Z530 (both 1.6GHz, 533MHz FSB, 512mb L2)- difference?

I was checking out the DELL Inspiron Mini 12 (just to familiarize myself with the product). The standard processor is an 1.33GHz Intel Atom Z520 and a 1.6GHz Z530 is optional. The Z530 has the same clock speed, FSB speed and L2 cache as the N270 (which is used in virtually every other netbook). I'm curious to learn what the actual differences are in these.

I've seen references to the Z-series as an MID (Mobile Interent Device) processor. It appears that the Z-models are physically smaller (13mm x 14mm) than the N270 (22mm x 22mm). The Z's TDP is 2W and the N's TDP is 2.5W.

I'm not sure how the pricing compares currently, but the introduction pricing shows the N270 at $44 and the Z530 at $70- a significant $26 variance.

I may have actually answered my own question, but that begs the question of why Dell would bother using the smaller, more expensive on the Inspiron Mini 12 (compared to the Mini 9)? An even more puzzling decision is why a slower 1.33GHz (Z520) is standard on the $549 Mini 12 base configuration???

 

Dell chose the Z series instead of N270 because it and the chipset run cooler and allows them to not use a fan, like the Mini 9. Comparison of N270 and Z series here.

 

not true. the difference is the intel VT, the virtualization present on windows 7. The chipset of the mini12 uses 4w and the chipset from 9 uses 12w, that needs cooler

 

I believe they both have 512kB of L2 cache

 

Not exactly true. Dell chose the Z-series because the supporting Poulsbo chipset with the GMA500 can take some strain off the Atom by supporting H.264, MPEG-4 and VC-1 decoding. Also, the GMA500 is Direct 10x capable whereas the GMA950 is not.

Unfortunately, the GMA500's potential is unfulfilled in Windows XP, and the soldered 1GB RAM on the Mini 10/12 sorta makes Vista out of the question.

Other differences include TDP (2.3W for Poulsbo vs. 6W for the 945GSE) and FSB speed (533Mhz for the Poulsbo and 667Mhz for the 945GSE).

 

Actually, they decided that the Mini 12 was going to be very thin and have passive (fanless) cooling then chose components to meet those objectives- Z-series, US15W chipset, 4200rpm hard drive.

When the Mini 12 was initially released, it was available with Vista Home Basic or Ubuntu (Linux) only. The GMA 500 was reported to be better suited to Vista than the GMA 950. A few weeks later, they replaced Vista Home Basic with XP Home.

 

I'm still on the fence between the 10v (n270) or 10 (z530). I'll mostly use it for watching videos (hooked to 720p tv) and internet.

You're saying that the z530 is faster at playing h264 videos? But then, it's not working properly on XP? And also can't really run Vista coz of the 1GB limit?

So complicated.

Should i go with the 10v or the 10?

i have a spare 1GB SODIMM..
I prefer HDMI > VGA
I prefer Alum aloy > plastic
I want good video playback.
And not hot and long battery (getting 6-cell)

Any tips?

 

Why not wait, the 10 with the Z Series will have an option for 2GB of ram soon, along with a built in tv tuner, and maybe the Z540 processor @ 1.86GHz.

 

Oh, wasn't aware of that. How soon is soon

 

How do you explain the fact that the Dell Mini 9 (N270) is also fanless? Dell didn't choose the US15W because it allowed the netbook to be fanless, because they already had an existing design (the Mini 9) that had no fan.

The Dell Mini 12 was designed to be a "media netbook" from the start, just like the Mini 10. The 10V (N270, also fanless) and Mini 9 are "travel companions." At least, that's what I got from reading Dell's explanations.

Vista was better suited for the GMA500 because hardware acceleration works MUCH better in Vista than in XP, and also the fact that the GMA500 supports DirectX 10. Simple as that.

 

My point was BOTH you and the original poster were correct. The Z-series and accompanying chipset achieved the design goals (fanless, ultra-thin) AND were optimal for the Vista operating system.

Although the Mini 9 is fanless and uses the N270, it runs warmer than a lot of other N270-based netbooks ( reference). LAPTOP Magazine commented that the Mini 9 became uncomfortably hot during extended use. They measured a keyboard temp of 100 degrees and the underside at of the system at 108 degrees.

I used a friend's Mini 12 (with 1.6GHz Z530) for a few days and it never felt warm, even during extended/intensive use. Several reviews have commented that it runs surprisingly cool, including this one from Gizmodo- LINK.

 

I've wondered about the 1.86GHz Z540 (and there's a new 2.0GHz Z550) not being offered on the Mini 10 & 12. I've learned that the problem is likely Intel's pricing of the Atom processors-

N270 (1.6)- $44
Z520 (1.33)- $40
Z530 (1.6)- $65
Z540 (1.86)- $135

The Z540 costs more than double the cost of the Z530! That probably explains why it's not used on any netbooks. I've only found the Z540 in one product- a $3k Panasonic Toughbook H1!

 

Intel used to have rules that the Atom N270 was not allowed for anything over 1024*600. But it seems these rules are no longer applied, since HP 2140 has a HD display and N270.

Microsoft used to have something similar for the ULCPC licence for XP. Not anymore though, since Dell Mini comes with XP.

 

Actually, Microsoft has several restrictions on using XP Home in a new system. Some may have changed since this article- LINK. But I know that the limitation of 1GB of RAM installed is still in effect.

 

The Z540 pricing includes chipset...

Well you are right its still more expensive even after factoring that in.

 

The rule may still exist, but Micorosoft is just not applying it very strictly any more. We have several XP netbooks on sale here with 2Gb, like new Acer 10" and MSI Wind.

 

If i plan on using XP, should i go with Z530 with 1GB or N270 with 2GB (mostly for multimedia purpose (video playback)?

Thank you,

What if i plan on using Win7?

 

Benchmarks:

N270 (Samsung NC10)
Geekbench Punkte 103,30
Cinebench R9.5 (Single CPU Render Test) Sekunden 253,00
Cinebench R9.5 (Multiple CPU Render Test) Sekunden 167,00
Performance Test (Pass Mark Rating) Punkte 206,90
Povray 3.6 (CPU) Sekunden 5.693,00


Z530 (MSI Wind U115)
Geekbench Punkte 96,70
Cinebench R9.5 (Single CPU Render Test) Sekunden 249,00
Cinebench R9.5 (Multiple CPU Render Test) Sekunden 165,00
Performance Test (Pass Mark Rating) Punkte 170,30
Povray 3.6 (CPU) Sekunden 5.582,00

 

I've looked at some more benchmarks and it seems that there is no performance difference between Z530 and N270.

There are differences in overall system performance but these are caused by the chipset, no the CPU in my opinion.

 

http://www.pcworld.com/article/156766/intels_atom_grows_up_moves_out_of_netbooks.html

As i understand the CPUs don't preform much differently. However the difference comes with the chipset they are paired with. the Z520 ends up consuming less power than the N270 by quite a bit it seems.

Also, from the posts in the forum and the Acer AO751 review, it seems that the Z520 can play 1080p, but the N270 cannot...because of the different integrated video card?

finally, it seems that the netbooks using Z series can get 7 hours of battery life on a 6 cell, even with a larger screen!

 

Depends on the make of the laptop itself and the battery.

Please be careful when assuming things, because you don't want people to get burned.

 

Correct. GMA500 supports hardware H264 acceleration, while GMA950 doesn't.

 

Sorry, should have been more specific, I was refering to what I read about the Acer AO751 and the Asus 1101HA. Which both have 11.6 inch screens, and the Z520, and get around 7 hours.

 

The Asus Tablet T91 is the newest one with Z520. It just got reviewed in the news section.

Why all these models come with Z520 instead of Z530 puzzles me. Z530 is not even an option.

 

look here

http://ark.intel.com/Compare.aspx?ids=35463,36331,

 

The Z530 has Virtualization? o_0

...and Enhanced Halt State (C1E) so it should have a lower power consumption,

but what is Intel® Demand Based Switching (or at least how is it now different to Speedstep)?

 

The Z520 in my Acer 751 had a fixed multiplier. No speedstep or something like that.

 

Link

Also:

 

According to this, the Z520 is supposed to have speedstep.. that's weird.

 

I noticed that. I found it weird too.

But even without speedstep it lasted over 7 hours on the 6 cell so I did not complain.

 

The consumer oriented Z-series supports C6 or Deep Power Down, while the N series only supports up to C4, and will help at idle power greatly.

US15W chipset=2.2W
945GU: 5W+3W ICH7U