Intel Dothan (Pentium M 760) beats VIA Nano and Intel Atom

@ 2008/07/31
The Nano L2100 and Atom 230 take very different paths to completing the task with almost the same amount of energy consumed. The Atom takes quite a bit longer finishing, but keeps its power draw vastly lower as it works. The Nano consumes more power, yet finishes the work over a shorter period of time.

Looking at these results, one can't help but think that the Atom could be an astoundingly power-efficient processor when coupled with a chipset and platform with a lower power use floor. Intel, of course, has such things in the works for other markets. In the same vein, we're definitely at the ugly end of the clock frequency/voltage curve with the Nano L2100. The Nano U2400, which runs at 1.3GHz and has an 8W TDP, ought to offer much better performance per joule.


As it stands, though, the Pentium M 760, an older chip manufactured on a 90nm fab process, used markedly less energy to encode an MP3 than either of the low-cost platforms we're testing today—a testament to the remarkable energy-efficient performance of the Dothan Pentium M design.


Comment from jmke @ 2008/07/31
interesting outcome in the power usage/performance charts