There has always been a great compromise for users of portable systems: A faster (and hotter) CPU always meant shorter battery life. To end this trade-off, Intel has introduced 75- and 90-MHz Pentium processors specifically designed so that mobile systems perform better without compromising battery life.
The key to this paradox is Intel's Voltage Reduction Technology (VRT). It lets
the Pentium processor
operate at 3.3 V using off-the-shelf components, while its inner core operates at a cooler 2.9 V. This means that VRT-based Pentiums will consume as much as 30 percent less power than their desktop counterparts. The chips have a typical power dissipation of 2.5 to 3.5 W and idle power consumption of less than 1 W, according to Intel.
One of the first systems
to debut with the Mobile 90 Pentium is Toshiba America Information Systems' Portégé 610CT (see the sidebar "The Incredible Shrinking Pentium"). By the time you read this, portable systems featuring the two new 2.9-V chips will be shipping from such leading vendors as AST Research, Compaq, Dell, Hewlett-Packard, and NEC.
While Intel boasts that it will convert the entire notebook market to Pentiums by the end of this year, Cyrix has plans of its own. Cyrix showcased its mobile-slanted 5x86 CPU family last summer. According to Cyrix, it rivals 75-MHz Pentium performance. Power management features, which include System Management Mode (SMM), conserve power within the processor, as well as power flowing to peripherals.
One advantage of Cyrix's chip design that makes it attractive to vendors is that you can easily insert it into current 486 footprints. The chip will be in production in the fall, and many Taiwanese vendors (e.g., ASE, Chicony, Dataexpert, and Veridata) have shown preproduc
tion 5x86-based notebooks. Epson plans to use the chip in upcoming portable and desktop systems.
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The Intel Pentium: More power means less.
Hot CPU Chips Keep Their Cool
