Intel Corp (INTC)

[wbmw]

Re: I wonder if this was going to be a dumping ground for those high-leakage parts

Keep in mind that the OLPC uses the Geode chip, which is a different design based on a simple in-order core, with SoC functionality. Geode was initially developed by National Semiconductor, and bought by AMD when National divested this division. It's exceptionally weak, computationally, and probably has the performance of a Pentium chip. This might be sufficient for an MIT science fair project running a stripped down Linux OS, but as an educational laptop for children, it's insufficient. Moreover, it's a 130nm design ranging from 3.1W TDP for the 433MHz version, to 5.1W TDP for the 600MHz version.

FWIW, Intel's Stealey design is a low leakage Dothan part running at 3.0W TDP, and 600-800MHz on a 90nm process. Although it's a process generation ahead of Geode, it's an OOOE core with probably 3-6x better performance. And following that design, Silverthorne is looking like it will deliver >10x the performance/watt of Geode, and make a far better low cost or ultra mobile product.