Intel's Silvermont- A New 22nm Atom Architecture | NotebookReview

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SemiAccurate

2013 Release

37% Performance Increase

22nm

Out of order execution

Single and dual cores

3D Tri-Gate Transistors

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DirectX 11

Silvermont however changes everything. It is the first new redesign of the Atom architecture and it marks the beginning of Atom being on a tick-tock cadence. Say goodbye to 5 year updates, say hello to a new architecture every 2 years.

Given what Intel said about Atom being in-order for 5 years, I think it's safe to say that Silvermont is an out-of-order microprocessor architecture. The other big news is that Silvermont will be built using Intel's 22nm transistors. What may not have been possible at 45nm gets a lot easier at 22nm. Assuming perfect scaling, a chip built on Intel's 22nm process would be a quarter the size of the same chip built at 45nm. With Apple paving the way for 120mm2+ SoCs, Silvermont can be much more complex than any Atom we've seen thus far.

Intel isn't talking core counts at this point, but for 2013 I'd expect both monolithic dual and quad-core variants. If we use history as any indicator, Intel will likely drop the FSB in favor of a point-to-point bus interface between Silvermont and its cohorts.

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Today Intel said it will address that, they will change Atom's strategy. They will implement a Tic-Toc cadence for Atom, which means a new architecture every two years. They will try to beat ARM in the power curve by keeping Atom one node ahead in the manufacturing process at the same time retaining a performance advantage and x86 compatibility.

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Intel's Silvermont: A New 22nm Atom Architecture

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