The Intel Core i7-920XM and intel core i7-940XM  are the highest performing quad core processors for the notebooks available at the time of writing. The X in the part number indicate that these are Extreme Edition parts. The suffix M in the part number indicate mobile parts.

The nominal clock frequency of the intel core i7-920XM is 2 GHz while that of the core i7-940XM is 2.13 GHz. Both these processors have 4 cores and support Hyperthreading, which means that we can have 8 threads running simultaneously. The Turbo boost function is supported in  core i7-920XM and core i7-940XM and their turbo frequencies are 3.2 GHz and 3.33 GHz respectively.

Built with 45 nm technology the extreme edition processors have a TDP rating of 55 Watts, which means that you will find them only in large notebooks with very good provision of heatsink, ventilation and fan.

The core i7-920XM and i7-940XM have integrated DDR3 memory controller which speeds up the memory transfer. The maximum supported memory is 8 GB.  The communication with the chipset is using high speed differential DMI Bus. The core i7-920XM and i7-940XM do not have integrated graphics controllers.

The  core i7-920XM and i7-940XM do support intel Virtualization Technology (VT-x as well as the VT-d) which is helpful if you need two operating systems to run simultaneously.

We found very few notebooks commercially containing intel core i7-940XM. One of the reasons could be its high cost. The budgetary price of the core i7-940XM is $1096.00 according to intel at the time of writing. The core i7-920XM was found to be priced at $1054.00

Some benchmarking results are available for the core i7-920XM as well as the core i7-940XM. The Super Pi 1M takes 13 seconds and Supert Pi 2M takes 31 seconds in the core i7-920XM.  Since the clock frequency of the core i7-940XM is 6.25% higher than the core i7-920XM, we expect a performance improvement of the order of 5 to 6% . The Super Pi 1M takes 12 seconds and the  supert Pi 2M takes 28 seconds in the core i7-940XM.

While these processors sounds good for gaming enthusiasts, there pricing has been deterrent in mass adoption. The AMD Phenom ii Hex core processors have more affordable prices.

The intel core i7-920XM can be found in HP Envy 17, HP Envy 15, Dell Precision M4500, Dell Precision M6500, Dell Alienware M15X.

Sources:

http://ark.intel.com/Product.aspx?id=43126

http://ark.intel.com/Product.aspx?id=43127

The clock frequency of the intel core i7-680um is 1.46 GHz.  The core i7-680UM is intended for the low power notebook designs. Its TDP ( Thermal Power Design) rating is just 18 Watts.  The core i7-680UM  does support  turbo boost. With the turbo boost the clock frequency can go upto 2.53 GHz. This means that with this processor the peak performance does not suffer.  The core i7-680UM consumes low power, have good battery life without sacrificing peak performance level.

The core i7-680UM has 2 cores ( not to be confused that some of the core i7 DO come with 4 cores – this one does not).

While core i7-680UM does contain the integrated intel HD graphics – the nominal clock frequency of the graphics section is 166 MHz, which is pretty low. Notice that the intention is to keep the normal power consumption as low as possible. The graphics processor, however, does support the turbo function,  and  its turbo frequency can increase to 500 MHz on demand.

The main CPU section is built with 32nm lithography while the graphics and the memory controller is built with the 45 nm technology.

The Level 3 cache in the core i7-680UM is 4 MB. The communication with the memory is using the integrated DDR3 memory controller. The speed supported is DDR3-800. The core i7-680UM communicates with the chipset using DMI bus – a fast differential bus with good bandwidth.

The core i7-680UM does support many advance features of the core ix series, including, intel virtualization (VT-x and VT-d), AES function support, Intel trusted execution technology among others.

There are very few notebooks seen at the time of writing which has Intel Core i7-680UM . We found that Acer Aspire TimelineX AS1830T-68U118 does use this processor and boasts a battery life of 8 hours. The decent performance notebook with huge battery life shows the strength and promise of the intel core i7-680um.

We should expect even better performance with the forthcoming Sandy Bridge low power processors. Since the integrated graphics of the sandy bridge is built with 32 nm technology, it should be reasonable to expect higher graphics performance at same power consumption.

Table : Intel Pentium P6100 Features and Specs

Feature	Intel Pentium P6100
Core Frequency	2.00 GHz
No. Of Cores	2 (No Hyperthreading)
Cache Organization	512KB L2 + 3MB L3
Turbo Frequency	No Turbo
TDP Rating	35 Watts
64 Bit Support	Y
Lithography	32 nm
Integrated Memory Controller	DDR3-1066
Integrated Graphics	Yes, Base 500 MHz, Turbo 667 MHz

Table : Intel Pentium P6100 Benchmarking

Benchmarks	Intel Pentium P6100
PassMark Score	1529
Super Pi 2M (Lower in better)	50 seconds
3D Mark 06 CPU	1840
Windows 7 Experience Score	5.7

The nominal clock frequency of the intel Pentium P6100 processor is 2.0 GHz. The Pentium P6100 is a dual core processor based upon the Arrandale architecture, the same architecture that powers the Intel Core i3 processors. However, the Pentium P6100 will have slightly inferior performance as compared to the similarly clocked Core i3 processor, mainly because the Hyperthreading is disabled. However, its performance is better than the similarly clocked core 2 processor owing mainly to the Integrated Memory Controller.

Intel Pentium P6100 Architecture

The package of the intel pentium P6100 consists of two dies. The first die contains a pair of 2 GHz processor sharing a 3 MB of L3 cache. The second die has an integrated DDR3 memory controller and an integrated HD graphics controller. The graphics controller runs at 500 MHz. The second die is manufactured using 45 nm lithography.

Built with 32 nm Lithography, the pentium P6100 processor has 2 cores. The P6100 has TDP rating of 35 Watts, which is suitable for the low power ( but not ultra low power) notebooks.

The communication with the chipset in P6100 is using high speed, high bandwidth differential DMI bus. This fast bus increases the throughput of the data communication with the peripherals.

Some benchmark results are available for Pentium P6100. The passmark score gives it a score of 1607 ( By comparison Intel Core i5 750 has a score of 4219). More benchmark results for Pentium P6100 are awaited.

Here are some of the Pros and Cons of the Pentium P6100

Pros of Intel Pentium P6100
- Competitively priced.
- Has integrated DDR3 memory controller.
- Integrated graphics controller – keeps the system cost low by eliminating the need of external graphics chip and still giving acceptable graphics performance

Cons of Intel Pentium P6100
- Does not support turbo boost for processor.
- Does not support Virtualization (VT-x)
- No support for AES.

Some of the recent notebook with Intel Pentium P6100 seen in the market include Acer eMachines D732 and E732, Lenovo IdeaPad Z360 and Z560 notebooks, Acer AS5742Z-4685 15.6-Inch Laptop, Fujitsu LIFEBOOK NH570 and LIFEBOOK A530/AH530, Lenovo G560 among others.

The  Intel Core i5-460M has a nonimal operating frequency of 2.53 GHz. It has two cores and it supports turbo boost functionality. By turbo boost, we mean that its frequency can increase for a small period of time to cater for processes that demand more processing power. The turbo frequency of the Core i5-460M is 2.8GHz. Note that the core  i3 processors do not support the turbo functionality.

 

The two good factor about the architecture of the Core i5-460M is the integrated memory controller and the high speed differential DMI bus to communicate with  the chipset.

Intel reintroduced hyperthreading in the core i5 processors which means that we can have 4 threads running simultaneously.

Both the core i5-460M as well as the core i3-380M are clocked at 2.53 GHz. Obviously core i5-460M is better. The question is by by how much ? Read in Core i5-460M Vs Core i3-380M.

Based upon the Arrandale architecture the core i5-460M is manufactured with 32 nm technology. Notice that there is integrated graphics controller in the core i5-450m and the graphics section is based upon the 45 nm technology.

The performance of the graphics section is decent but not great. If you are looking for a good graphics performance you may like to wait till the release of the Sandy Bridge processors. The sandy bridge processors promise the graphics performance improvement over the Arrandale architecture by 2x ( even though we do not get substantial improvement in the CPU performance).

 

As far as the performance benchmarking is concerned, the core i5-460M is shown to take 16 seconds with super pi IM and 39 seconds with super pi 2M. Its performance is better than the earlier core 2 processors at 2.8 GHz.

Comparison to Core i5-540M
The core i5-460M has the same nominal frequency as the Core i5-540M ( 2.53 MHz) , however the turbo frequency of core i5-560 is higher at 3 GHz ( Vs 2.8 GHz of core i5-460M). Also the 460M does not support AES, which is useful is encryption. The core i5-460M also does not support VT-d and Trusted Execution functions.

Some of the notebooks powered by Intel Core i5-460M include HP G62T, HP G42T, HP G72t, HP touch smart 600t, HP Envy 17, Acer Aspire TimelineX AS4820TG-7805 among others.

The nominal core frequency of the intel sandy bridge Core i7-2620M processor is 2.7 GHz. Notice that the Core i7-2620M has only two core ( the Intel core i7-2920XM i7-2820QM i7-2720QM are quad core processors). The Core i7-2620M does support Hyperthreading and there could be a maximum of 4 threads running at a time.

The Intel Core i7-2620M does support turbo boost and its turbo frequency is 3.4 GHz. Its low TDP rating of 35 W makes it ideal for the design of low power and high battery life notebooks.

Built with 32 nm technology the Core i7-2620M will have integrated GPU unit with nominal frequency of 650 MHz. The GPU unit has a turbo boost which work in tandem with the main GPU turbo boost. The turbo frequency of the core i7-2620M is 1300MHz.

Some of the initial benchmarking result show exciting performance of the integrated GPU for the Sandy Bridge processors. Intel’s claim of more than doubling the GPU performance has been verified in some of the initial benchmarking test results. It will be interesting to see how the gaming community takes up this processor.

The sandy bridge processors are going to be launched in the last quarter of the 2010 and the systems should be available by the 1st quarter of 2011. If you are a gamer, you may like to wait till the launch of the Sandy Bridge processor.