Intel Clarkdale CPU and Intel Arrendale CPU Benchmarks

I know that Intel’s Core i3 CPUs aren’t out yet, but that doesn’t stop some sites from getting closed-door previews of what to expect when these processors come out in the fourth quarter of 2009. Keeping in mind that the Intel Clarkdale and Intel Arrrendale CPUs these are dual-core processors (which I understand may be a bitter pill to swallow for some, but shouldn’t be when you consider the possible applications for these CPUs) the numbers are looking pretty good.

First, a little more info about the CPUs: the Intel Clarkdale is the 32nm desktop part that you can call Core i3. It’s a Nehalem-based CPU, but as mentioned above, this is a dual-core part, not quad. Similarly, the Intel Arrendale is also a 32nm part based on the Nehalem CPU, but where Intel Clarkdale is the desktop part, this is the mobile part you’ll be seeing soon.

Adding further intrigue to the two parts is that the Intel Clarkdale and Intel Arrendale include on-die GPUs. Yeah, that’s right: the GPU is actually part of the CPU, and while it’s one of Intel’s GMA parts (which I usually can’t stand), it’s an HD GPU, so performance should be perfect for an HTPC. (The only catch, if you can call it that, is that the GPU is a 45nm part, but I’m thinking it won’t matter in terms of power and heat.)

But, I can already hear the questions, what about motherboards and power consumption? Ha! You’re covered. Intel has already whipped up a mini-ITX (yay!) board, and because of the on-die GPU, there’s no need for a north bridge which allows for a slight redesign in what is an otherwise standard board design. The result? A full 16x PCI-E slot.

And how is that power consumption? Well, it doesn’t look like Intel released all of the numbers, but part of their presentation was to show that a Clarkdale HTPC system at idle consumes just about 28 watts of power, which is pretty damn remarkable, especially considering that the LCD they were using took more power by itself. And at load? Just under 70 watts for the system, which is still quite remarkable. That’s what 32nm does for you.

Unfortunately, there wasn’t much on the Arrendale part, but it looks like Intel has an intriguing product coming up that might find one hell of a niche in SFF systems even if it uses more power than other SFF parts.

With good memory bandwidth and high individual core speeds, Intel may have a winner on their hands with the Clarkdale and Arrendale. Legitreviews was lucky enough to get the closed-door preview, and they have more numbers and information for you to check out.