Maximum PC arrandale RSS Feed

MSI Announces Arrandale-Based X-Slim X360

Paul Lilly — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 10:41:16 -0600

Arrandale is proving to be quite the popular platform of late, with the newest entry coming from MSI. We're talking about the X-Slim X360, which the company claims offers up to 9 hours of battery life.

Underneath the 13-inch hood sits an Intel Core i5-520UM processor, Intel HM55 chipset, up to 4GB of DDR2 memory, up to a 500GB hard drive, 2-in-1 memory card reader, 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, 1.3MP webcam, HDMI, two USB 2.0 ports, and either a 4-cell or 8-cell battery.

In an attempt to combine style with portability, MSI touts its exclusive rhombic pattern and Color Film Print, along with an ultraportable chassis measuring less than 1-inch thick and weighing just over 3 pounds.

No word yet on price or availability.

Image Credit: MSI

Intel Preps Dual-Core Celeron Upgrade for Notebooks

Paul Lilly — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 10:45:06 -0600

According to news and rumor site Fudzilla, Intel plans to beef up its entry-level Celeron notebook processor line with the introduction of its Celeron P4500 processor.

Due out in the second quarter of this year, the P4500 will supplant the T3300. Unlike most other Celerons, however, the P4500 is built around Intel's 32nm Arrandale platform. It will come clocked at 1.86GHz per core, while the graphics will cruise along at 500MHz. You won't find any Turbo Overclocking on the P4500, though the graphics can be juiced to 667MHz.

Other features include DDR3-1066 support, 2MB of cache, and a 35W TDP. By comparison, the T3300 comes clocked slightly higher at 2GHz, but has half the amount of cache at 1MB.

Image Credit: Intel

MSI Ships Newest Intel Arrandale Equipped PCs: "Classic Series"

Paul Lilly — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 08:14:32 -0600

MSI this week beefed up its "Classic Series" notebook line with a trio of new 15.6-inch models built around Intel's Arrandale platform, and one 16-inch model with Nvidia graphics.

The CR620-030US and CR620-033US -- both 15.6 units -- sport a Core i3-330M processor and a 320GB hard drive, while the former also comes with a DVD burner and the latter a Blu-ray reader. The last of the 15.6-inch models -- CR620-031US -- ups the hardware ante with a Core i5 430M CPU and 500GB hard drive, though no Blu-ray option. All three models boast Intel's Arrandale HD graphics and 4GB of DDR3-1066 memory.

The 16-inch CR600-234US notebook switches gears to a Pentium dual-core T4500, 3GB of DDR2 memory, 320GB hard drive, DVD writer, and Nvidia's GeForce 8200M G graphics.

All four models are available now for $$630 (CR620-030US), $700 (CR620-033US), $730 (CR620-031US), and $530 (CR600-234US).

Image Credit: MSI

Core i3 Laptops Leak in Advance of CES at Surprisingly Low Prices

Justin Kerr — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 17:27:26 -0600

CES is just a few short days away, and in keeping with tradition, the rumor mill has been working overtime to try and leak announcements in advance of the massive event. In the laptop space Intel has been making our job easy since new Arrandale based Core i3 machines have been popping up for sale around the web, and the good news here is that they are much cheaper than we would have expected based on it being a new architecture. Canadian based retailer Future Shop is offering a Core i3 based Gateway machine for less than $700 USD, or for just $70 more, you can opt for the Toshiba Satellite with a slightly larger display.

Core i3 is the new budget platform from Intel offering most of the advantages of the Core i5 and i7 parts, with the key exception being a lack of Turbo-Boost. The Core i3's will also only come in a dual-core design, and will have slightly smaller caches than there more expensive brethren. Arrandale specific benefits include Intel's fastest integrated graphics solution which is now built directly onto the CPU, and Hyper-Threading support which will make a huge difference for applications that are heavily multi-threaded. The new 32-nanometer design also promises to be much more power efficient, always a plus where you're talking about laptops.

Let's just say now is a great time to be on the market for a new laptop, but I'd still hold out until CES if I were you.

FCC Reveals Arrandale-based Core i7 Fujitsu Tablet

Paul Lilly — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 11:45:02 -0600

Two Fujitsu-branded tablets found their way to the FTC, including the LifeBook T5010, which is already on sale. But it's the T900/TH900 that has techies turning their heads.

According to the filing, Fujitsu's T900 tablet will feature Intel's new Core 2 Duo i7-670 Arrandale processor clocked at 2.66GHz on a 1066MHz frontside bus with 4MB of cache and an integrated graphics processor. It will be housed in Intel's QM57 chipset.

Other specs look to be the same as the T5010, including a 13.3-inch WXGA display and 802.11a/b/g Wi-Fi. Other than that, details remain sparse, but that's okay - Fujitsu had us at Arrandale.

FCC Filing (PDF)

Intel Slated to Make Big Announcements at IDF

Pulkit Chandna — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 15:08:18 -0500

The San Francisco leg of the Intel Developer Forum (IDF) 2009 will kick off on September 22. The chipmaker is expected to make some key announcements regarding its 32nm “Westmere” chips and the keenly anticipated Larrabee platform. According to PCMag, Intel is expected to announce that the manufacturing of the 32nm die shrink of its Core microprocessor line is underway.

Its next-generation microprocessors, which are based on its Westmere microarchitecture, are codenamed Clarkdale (desktop version) and Arrandale (notebook version). The “Dales” chips are a multi-chip solution featuring 45nm integrated graphics cores. Intel is also expected to shed light on a new system-on-chip technology, besides announcing transistor improvements. The event might also feature some updates on the company’s Larrabee platform.

Image Credit: PC World