Intel Announces Three New ULV Processors for Notebooks Discussion

[Charles P. Jefferies]

Intel has quietly added three new low-powered Core i5 and i7 dual-core processors to its lineup; they may appear in the inevitable MacBook Air refresh.

Read the full content of this Article: Intel Announces Three New ULV Processors for Notebooks

[R3d]

Cool, I wonder how the performance is.

[Charles P. Jefferies]

Definitely fine for 99% of people. I tested a few notebooks with the old Intel ULV Core 2 Duo processors, and they performed perfectly fine even for moderate gaming. See here:
Alienware M11x Review

All processors should be ULV, in my opinion, though the full voltage CPUs should still be around obviously for power users.

[John Ratsey]

Originally Posted by Charles P. Jefferies

All processors should be ULV, in my opinion, though the full voltage CPUs should still be around obviously for power users.

The key difference between these ULV CPUs and the normal ones is that they have been tested to run at the higher frequencies at lower-than-normal voltages. What we don't know, however, is whether the normal CPUs would also run at these lower voltages if only Intel hadn't locked them or whether the ULV CPUs are the exception with many chips tested and only a few suitable.

Also, I haven't read the small print about the ULV CPUs but I would expect that the maximum turbo speed is subject to the power ceiling and may only be attained with one CPU core loaded and no significant graphics load. In the same way, my i5-2520M may claim to be 3.2GHz but will only sustain 3GHz when under load (with HWiNFO32 reporting a CPU package power of about 22W).

Anyone can get a feel for how the ULV CPU would perform by going into the advanced power properties and changing the maximum processor state from 100% to 99%. In my case this small change dropped the CPU speed from 3GHz to 2.5GHz with the CPU voltage at 1.11V and the reported CPU package power became around 17.5W - in the same range as the ULV CPUs.

So maybe there's not a lot of difference between ULV and normal CPUs except that they don't venture into the top performance range where the extra voltage and power is needed to ensure stability. I get the impression that some notebook manufacturers have avoided the extra cost of the ULV CPUs and just applied their own rules to throttle the normal CPUs to avoid overload the cooling system (that seems to be the case with my Toshiba R700).

John

[nando4]

Originally Posted by John Ratsey

So maybe there's not a lot of difference between ULV and normal CPUs except that they don't venture into the top performance range where the extra voltage and power is needed to ensure stability.

There are some specification differences. I wrote at Curious find: new CPU options available for x220

Are the i5-2xxx ULV CPUs going to have longer battery life than their full powered cousins?

Looking at ark.intel.com and comparing the i5-2537M to the i5-2520M we see they've applied additional tweaks to slow the iGPU down on the ULV part. Not surprised, they also want to charge more for the ULV CPU:

Clock Speed 1.4 GHz -vs- 2.5 GHz
Max Turbo Frequency 2.3 GHz -vs- 3.2 GHz
Bus/Core Ratio 14 -vs- 25
Max TDP 17 W -vs- 35 W
Recommended Channel Price $250.00 -vs- $225.00
Graphics Base Frequency 350 MHz -vs- 650 MHz
Graphics Max Dynamic Frequency 900 MHz -vs- 1.3 GHz

In the C2D series, the 4500MHD could be downclocked using software. The 1st and 2nd gen i-cores don't allow the Intel HD/HD3000 to have the clock adjusted via software.

While Throttlestop could be used to disable the Turbo on a full-powered i5-2xx it does appear that even then the ULV part will have some additional power savings from the slower iGPU.

[Mr_Mysterious]

Am I hoping too much to expect them in a netbook (or some such form factor, that is 12", less than 3.5lbs, excellent heat management and battery life) for under $500 within a year?

Mr. Mysterious

[sgogeta4]

In a netbook under $500, doubtful, especially since these CPUs are like $200+. In an ultraportable over $800, possible.

[Charles P. Jefferies]

Originally Posted by mrmysterious66

Am I hoping too much to expect them in a netbook (or some such form factor, that is 12", less than 3.5lbs, excellent heat management and battery life) for under $500 within a year?

Mr. Mysterious

Yes, as noted.

You will find AMD Fusion CPUs and older/stripped-down Intels in that price range.

[HTWingNut]

Nice. This in a 14" notebook for under $800 would be ideal. But how is the IGP? As good as the regular mobile IGP>

[hp79]

Originally Posted by Mr_Mysterious

Am I hoping too much to expect them in a netbook (or some such form factor, that is 12", less than 3.5lbs, excellent heat management and battery life) for under $500 within a year?

Mr. Mysterious

Originally Posted by sgogeta4

In a netbook under $500, doubtful, especially since these CPUs are like $200+. In an ultraportable over $800, possible.

lol. Who would have thought we would actually be able to get one of these for under $500 within a year?
I picked up a $480 Toshiba portege r835 with intel i5-2435m (2.4GHz/3GHz turbo) weighs 3.2 pounds, 13.3" screen, has dvdrw, battery lasts 7.5 hours (normal internet with power saving), and has excellent heat management (not the best, but works well when it's not loaded at 100%) from Officemax couple days ago. I also have a Samsung Series 7 Slate with i5-2467M, a ULV cpu, and I didn't really like the performance of it.

I wish Ultrabooks also used normal voltage cpus and let the customers choose the power profile depending on the usage. When all you do is office work and internet, it's much better to have the ability to boost to higher clocks for seconds.