14 DAY TRIAL // The new platform, code-named Sonoma, will include a new version of Intel's Pentium M mobile processor, a new wireless chip and a new chipset, which Intel claims will boost double the graphics performance of its current products.
The Dothan is in charge of putting in the muscle for the new platform, a processor which will run a t a little faster clock speeds, from 2.13GHz, and as much as 2M bytes of on-chip memory. The fasters of the bunch will be Pentium M 770 and will cost about as much as the high-end 2.1GHz Pentium M 765. All told, Intel plans to launch five new versions of Pentium M, including a new low voltage and ultra low-voltage processors.
The most interesting developments in Sonoma, however, link to the platform's new "Alviso" chipset and the frontside bus architecture, which connects the chipset to the processor. The 533 Mhz FSB will allow the processor to communicate with other components much faster than in the current 400 MHz FSB systems.
Sonoma will support Intel's PCI-Express standard and DDR 2 memory for the first time, but will also include a new wireless networking chipset, the Intel PRO/Wireless 2915ABG network connection, and will be 802.11a/b/g wireless standards compatible.
Sonoma systems will also include new wireless networking software, called Intel PRO/Set and new High Definition Audio technology, all of which were developed with the consumer market in mind. They want to make the user able to do a lot more with their laptops, and get closer to home entertainment capabilities regular PCs now have.