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Intel revealed the Intel Atom 330 today, a dual-core version of iis Atom (“Diamondville”) processor for low-cost “nettop” PCs.
Like the Intel Atom 230, the Intel Atom 330 uses 45nm technology, features a 533MHz frontside bus and is designed to work with Intel’s 945GC chipset (the 82945GC northbridge and 82801GB southbridge). Unlike the Intel Atom 230, however, the Intel Atom 330 features dual cores, plus second-level cache that has been doubled from 512MB to 1GB.
The Atom 330 will ship initially in a low-cost D945GCLF2 mini-ITX board that has gigabit Ethernet, S-video, six-channel audio, eight USB ports and PCI expansion.
Intel did not specify the Atom 330’s dimensions, clock speed or power consumption. But the picture in the link below of the D945GCLF2 suggests that the Atom 330 fits into the same 22mm x 22mm footprint as the Atom 230. In the meantime, the new processor has been rumored to have a TDP of 8 watts, twice that of its earlier sibling.
However much power it consumes, the Atom 330 will be a relatively minor contributor to motherboard TDP as a whole. That’s because the relatively thirsty 82945GC and 82801GB consume up to 25 watts on their own, according to a previously published Intel road map. Reviewers have measured the D945GCLF’s power consumption under load as falling between 50 and 60 watts; for more details, see our earlier coverage, here.
