14 DAY TRIAL // It appears that almost everybody is talking these days about the overclocking capabilities of Intel's newest Core i7 processors and AMD's upcoming 45nm-based Phenom II X4 CPUs. However, news about an overclocked Intel Atom processor, the CPU that currently powers most of the low-power, low-cost portable computer systems on the market, could be considered equally impressive, as we are talking about a processor that has been specifically designed for systems that aren't required to deliver high levels of performance.
Late last month, MSI announced the release of an updated BIOS for the company's ultra-portable netbook computer system, the Wind. It was exactly this BIOS overclocking tool that was used by Team Australia to overclock Intel's highly successful netbook CPU, the Atom N270, which is shipped with a standard core speed of 1.6GHz. The overclocking platform included the motherboard of an MSI Wind U100 netbook, to which the team attached a liquid nitrogen cooling system, to achieve a core speed of 2.385GHz.
Aside from providing the well-needed liquid nitrogen cooling solution, the platform has also been equipped with 2GB of Kingston DDR2 667 MHz RAM memory, compared to the 1GB available on most Atom-powered netbook systems. Other than that, the system's processor was overclocked using MSI's own software, which took it up to a 12x multiplier. The performance is impressive from a technical point of view, but then again, netbook users are unlikely to want to rip their system apart and try to boost the performance by "messing" with the clock rates.
Given that the Intel Atom has been manufactured using a 45nm process technology, the impressive overclocking setup appears rather justified. However, considering the specific market segment for which the Atom processor has been developed, everyday users will probably stick to the factory settings, leaving the overclocking for computer enthusiasts.