Intel Santa Rosa SFF Platform To Shape Future Design For The Desktop
Scheduled to debut in the first quarter of 2007, Intel’s Santa Rosa platform will utilize the Core2 Duo mobile processor, previously code-named Merom, for small-form-factor implementations for t he desktop.
SFF PC manufacturers indicated that Intel’s intention is to use the new processor core to narrow the gap between notebooks and desktops in performance, power consumption and heat dissipation, in an integrated architecture for the PC. Santa Rosa will be key to revolutionizing the size and design of PCs in the future, according to PC makers, who also mentioned Intel’s so-called “Mobile on DeskTop (MoDT)” project, another Intel-promoted term originally proposed by the Taiwan PC industry. Intel intends to push “MoDT”, which was previously titled the “Mobile in Desktop Platform,” as a concept for mini PCs featuring its Core Duo technology.
The term “MoDT” was initiated by AOpen in 2004, according to the company website, which indicates how MoDT-compliant products incorporate standards-based notebook components in traditional desktop platforms. With power consumption lower than that of an ordinary desktop, the new type of PC enables a shrink of the form factor.
The MoDT concept brings together Windows XP Media Center Edition, a flat-panel display and other high-end components, at the center of a home-entertainment system. Intel’s Core Duo CPUs are not mentioned as the only processors that could be selected for AOpen’s “MoDT” solutions, nor do AOpen’s designs incorporate Intel’s “Viiv” digital-home platform. However, to date, AOpen has only adopted Intel processors for MoDT-compliant products.
According to Intel Taiwan, “MoDT” is not an official product name introduced by the company, but a term for non-notebook PC applications that feature mobile processors with low power consumption, especially for SFF PCs. “MoDT” is just one type of product design that Intel and other industry players are currently developing to meet specific usage models and purposes, but there are also other ways to design and produce products that meet the needs of a very diversified market.
Intel presented the AOpen MP945-VX, an SFF PC incorporating its Core Duo processors with the Viiv platform, at the Intel Developer Forum (IDF) in San Francisco in early March, according to an AOpen March 6 press release. AOpen said it will begin shipping the MP945-VX in volume from next week.
According to International Data Corporation (IDC), digital-home applications will be key to triggering future demand for PCs, which will adopt ever smaller form factors. PCs currently come in a variety of form factors, including Tower, Mini Tower, All in One, Entertainment PC, Ultra Sleek and Mini PC, but demand for small-sized systems, including Media Center, SFF and ultra SFF PCs, will continue to grow through 2009, whereas the Tower and Mini Tower markets will see some decline.
Source: DigiTimes
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