May 24, 2011 10:11 GMT  ·  By

Later this year, Intel is expected to launch its new line of Atom processors based on the 32nm Cedar Trail architecture and recent reports claim that the CPUs won't arrive in the fourth quarter of the year as previously thought, but about a month sooner than this, in September.

The Cedar Trail platform is comprised of the Cedarview processor and the NM10 chipset, which is the same controller logic used by the current Pine Trail chips.

However, unlike these processors, the CPU used by Cedar Trail will be built using the 32nm fabrication process and features a unified architecture that packs both the processing cores and the GPU on the same die.

It's important to note that the architecture of the CPU cores will remain unchanged from that of the current Atom chips, but their operating frequencies will be increased to allow for better performance.

The on-die GPU, which is based on a PowerVR design, will also be improved to feature much more powerful specs as this will gain DirectX 10.1 compatibility and hardware decoding capabilities for HD content, including MPEG2, VC1, AVC, H.264 and Blu-ray 2.0.

Intel will use this new CPU design for both their mobile and desktop Atom processors and the initial CPU lineup will include four chips.

In the desktop space, these will be the D2500 and D2700 and both carry dual processing cores, 1MB of Level 2 cache, a DDR3 integrated memory controller and have a TDP of 10W.

The D2500 has an operating frequency of 1.86GHz, while the D2700 is clocked at 2.13GHz and also features Hyper-Threading support.

On the mobile front, Intel will introduce the N2600 and N2800 chips, which also pack 1MB of L2 cache, but have their operating clocks set at 1.6GHz and 1.86GHz, respectively.

Pricing of the upcoming processors is set at $42 and $47 for the N2600 and N2800, while the desktop D2500 and D2700 will have an MSRP of $42 and $52. (via Fudzilla)