Dothan, Merom, Gilo, Alviso-GM, Crestine-GM: new names in Intel´s mobile roadmap

First, something about new Pentium M (Banias). According to provisional data, in June-July we should see 1.70GHz Pentium M, Low Voltage 1.20GHz Pentium M as well as UltraLow Voltage 1.0GHz Pentium M. Japanese sources indicate no further frequency increase is planned for Banias chips.

Then in Q4 2003 the company is planning to launch production of 90nm Dothan. This chip will succeed Pentium M (Banias) architecture to debut with over 1.80GHz clock speeds. In Q1 2004 we should expect 1.90GHz and faster models along with 1.3GHz+ Low Voltage and 1.10GHz+ UltraLow Voltage models.

So the life cycle of current Banias chips is to end in Q3. As for Dothan family, their span is a year and a half – until 2005. According to provisional data, Dothan will be positioned in the market similar to existing Banias chips. Dothan’s L2 cache will increase to 2Mb, but features will remain similar to Banias. Of course, this doesn’t relate to energy consumption. As for the performance and desktop notebooks segment, it will receive Prescott-based chips followed by Tejas-based solutions in corresponding modifications: Prescott-M and Tejas-M with low core voltage and about 35W consumption.

Now let’s get back to Centrino, i.e. to Banias/Dothan processors. Dothan will actually be a Banias redesigned for newer 90nm process technology, not featuring any critical changes except for L2 cache. But after Dothan, in 2005 Intel plans to release a completely new core — Merom [FYI: Merom is mentioned in the Bible in the book of Joshua, 11:5-7. Today this place is called Bakrat el-Huleh.] I guess Intel moved from North America names to those from Middle East because these mobile chips are being developed in company’s Israel lab. Merom will be followed by 65nm Gilo, expected in 2006. [FYI: Gilo or Mount Perazim is also a historical place mentioned in Bible: Joshua 15:51, 2 Samuel 15:12 and 2 Samuel 5:20, Isaiah 28:21.]

No details are known about Merom for now except for 90nm process technology and its intention for <$1500 notebooks.

Now, a word about chipsets. In Q4 2003 we should see new Montara-GM+ (Intel 855GME?), an advanced version of the current Montara-GM; and Montara-GT (Intel 852GME) and Intel 852PM. New integrated solutions will feature faster graphics (Intel 855GME – 250MHz, Intel 852GME – 266MMHz), improved performance and will support DDR333 memory. Intel 852GME/PM chipsets will still support 533MHz FSB. ICH4-M will still be used as a Southbridge.

Do not forget that closer to Dothan release the focus will shift to DDR2 support. In H2 2004 the company plans to release Alviso-GM mobile chipset supporting DDR2 and featuring PCI Express 16x graphics bus. It’s hard to tell anything about the grapgics core, but it is to belong to a newer generation. Besides Banias-based systems, Alviso-GM chipset will also be designed for Prescott-M systems. Then in 2005 we’ll see Crestine-GM chipset for Merom. No information is available about this project except for its name.

This is all for now, and I hope we’ll get to know more details on these mobile processor and chipset roadmap updates.

P.S. In case you didn’t know: Banias is a waterfall near the head of river Jordan:

Source: PC Watch

Write a comment below. No registration needed!