14 DAY TRIAL // Intel is not through with the Atom line of central processing units yet, especially since even these chips have GPUs now, so there are new ones on the way, like the Atom D2550.
According to murmurs on the web, Intel plans to soon introduce a new Cedar View CPU (for the Cedar Trail platform), one that will be almost identical to the Atom D2500.
This D2550 will have the same x86 clock speed and TDP, but a higher frequency for the integrated graphics.
That is to say, while the two standard chip cores operate at 1.86 GHz, the graphics part works at 640 MHz instead of just 400 MHz.
For those who want a reminder, the remaining features of the chip are 512 KB of L2 cache on each core, a TDP (thermal design power) of 10W and Hyper-Threading support.
The Atom D2550 will be used in nettops and other, small form factor computers, as soon as it is released sometime in March, 2012.
It is unclear how well it will perform, though, marketing-wise. Probably better than the Cedar Trail chips for mobile PCs at any rate.
While the performance of the N2600 is in no way lacking compared to the D desktop versions, netbooks have been losing market share to tablets at a fast rate.
Granted, PC makers are still producing netbooks, and they are even doing their best to get people interested in them again.
Recently, ASUS even gave them the sort of Instant On functionality that only its higher-end PCs used to offer.
Fortunately, nettops are not in the same peril, and neither are HTPCs (home-theater personal computers). As such, the Cedar View Atom D2550 should have more than enough prospective buyers when the time comes. It only remains to be seen if the D2500 can coexist with it.