Intel’s Atom processor had a flying start with its focus on power efficiency and price, which made it a perfect fit for budget-oriented laptops, a.k.a. Netbooks. Even if Intel hasn’t been going nuts over this new processor you can’t deny that others have been shoeing interest in it, much because of remarkable possibilities of minimalistic platforms. The top model of today is called Atom 230 has one physical core but through HyperThreading it can execute two threads.
It’s been known from the very start there would be a dual-core version, but it seems like Intel will announce the first dual-core Atom, Atom 330, next month already. The processor will most likely operate at the same frequency as Atom 230, but have two identical cores. Thanks to HyperThreading, Windows would identify it as four cores.
Unlike Atom 230, which mainly targets the ultraportable market, Atom 330 is targeting the stationary market, the so called nettops. These are of course also small and power efficient, and mainly used for the most basic things such as browsing the web and reading e-mail. There is of course the possibility of a mobile version, but with the somewhat ghetto-like design makes this uncertain.
RegHardware says that Intel will ship an embedded system with a dual-core Atom, Intel D945GCLF2, following the mini-ITX standard in September.
