end of Intel's Atom brand?

[NTMBK]

I like this, but what about generational leaps? Eg : Core 2 Quad Q9550 was a 2.83Ghz 4 thread CPU. So :

Core i4-2895?

Which was basically replaced by Lynnwood (I consider 1366 to be a cut above the Socket 775/1156 grouping and separate as a workstation class, just imho)

So Lynnwood i5 750 would have been

Core i4-2695?

That's where it falls apart. Even at a lower clockspeed (2.66 vs. 2.83), the 750 is a much more robust CPU than the C2Q. It gets even more confusing if you continue by thread only like you say. An i3 w/HT becomes an i4, so a higher clocked i3 560 at 3.3ghz becomes :

Core i4-3373?

Too confusing.

Let's try :

Three 'brands'

Brand 1 : Ultra-mobile stuff. Not talking Ultrabooks, but more of the phones/tablet space. As a placeholder let's call it 'Nano'.

Brand 2 : Mass market laptop/desktop stuff, everything with two or fewer physical cores. Call this all 'Pentium'.

Brand 3 : Higher-end desktop/workstation stuff, everything with four or more physical cores. Call all of this 'Quantum' (placeholder).

Then for the rest of the number, start with a letter for generation, then cores, then threads, then clock speed. TDP and cache can be on the package, but not on the model number itself.

So let's apply this to current chips starting with Lynnwood.

i3-530 becomes Pentium A24-2.93
i5-750 becomes Quantum A44-2.66
i5-2500 becomes Quantum B44-3.33
i7-4770k becomes Quantum-X D48-3.50

It's imperfect, but you do get a quick and consistent understanding of which generation it is, number of cores, number of threads, and clock speed. Put the unlocked moniker with the -X instead of a K. Still you'd need to know : cache, socket, TDP, unlocked or locked, turbo, etc, but to have all of that in the model would mean chaos. I still think it is far better than the travesty that AMD and Intel model names currently are. It's not the end of the world if you already know the real situation well, but it's extremely confusing to people who don't follow it super closely. AMD stealing the 'K' moniker, stealing the four-digit system, but one-upping Intel on naming makes for comedy as well. After all, who would want a crappy 4770K, when for much less you can go buy a 6800K!

And this is why Intel's entire marketing team deserves to be fired. Hobbyists can come up with a better naming system in 10 minutes, what the hell are they playing at?

 

[JDG1980]

Rebranding Atom seems to be a no-brainer. Intel wants to position their upcoming small-core/SoC processors as a premium option for smartphones and tablets. But that's going to be much harder to do if they keep a brand name associated primarily with crappy netbooks.
Maybe "Intel Core Mobile" would be a good brand name for the upcoming Silvermont line.

 

[blckgrffn]

I think the Apple naming scheme is likely the best one to take.

Late 2010 i7. Early 2013 i7. Rolls off the tongue.

Realistically though, there is some benefit to the ambiguity for Intel. If you can train your customers to always want the i7, regardless of its actual increase in performance, then you can do away with the number shenanigans.

I mean, even for us? If they had i5 and i5-K, and i7 and i7-K (or someting) that's really all they'd need. i7-S and i5-S - does the the rest of it really matter? Do a couple hundred mghz really add market differentiation?

Then it would be on NewEgg to tell us that this is the "new" i7 and we'd have to hope there is a clockspeed/cache size difference to really tell the difference. So long as Intel keeps moving to new sockets, that would be differentiation enough for us to shop effectively. To the layman, it's all greek anyway.

 

[Concillian]

I think Intels fundamentals are sound.

i3, i5, i7

If you knew nothing about these processors you'd still know which is the lower, mid, high end model.

Right, but some i3s are faster than i5s of the same generation. In fact there are some generations where a (desktop) i3 is faster than a (mobile) i7. Intels product naming schemes are a bit of a mess. Less of a mess than video card naming converntions, but still a mess.

I mean, c'mon, it's not immediately obvious that an i7-4770k is actually faster in ways that most people care about than an i7-4950QH. Most people would assume the i7-4950QH was faster.

 

[aigomorla]

Most people would assume the i7-4950QH was faster.

no...

most people who buy cpu's understand.. "K" means unlocked.
"Q" means lower TDP.

Q i tell people means Quiet... cuz they run less voltage and put out less heat.


Mah.. ive had super PC illiterate people ask me why my intel logo is black and not blue at private lan meetings...
You had to see the reaction to the people next to me when they heard the guy ask.

I guess thats worse then getting K and Q mixed up. So i guess i shouldn't underestimate people's thinking.

 

[jaqie]

re the atom being terrible:

Back when it came out, I got a jetway JATOM-GM-1 motherboard, it was flexATX with an atom n330 and two ram slots. Unlike most, it was dual channel, and also supported 4GB of memory. I have to say that compared to all my other experiences with atom, that one has been quite positive - when I turned hyperthreading off that is. The system was even enough to play sims 2 decently on lower resolution monitors, and that is no small feat for such a cut down processor and integrated gpu especially from that era/age.

I used it first as an experimental desktop and then as my primary file server, with an intel gigabit card, for years. I only replaced it very recently with that intel mini itx LGA775 board that was on clearance everywhere and a core 2 duo 2.33ghz with 1333 fsb. The only time I ever notice a difference in performance is when I try to serve games on it, the atom couldn't quite handle a 5 person modded minecraft server, this can.

I recently tried the amd e-300 APU in a brand new HP laptop, now that has ddr3 and the atom n330 had ddr2, but I could most definitely feel the sluggishness compared... thinking about how much later the e300 came out really highlights how at least this one atom was a decent 'little system'.

Diss the atom all you want, but I know at least one that was a decent low end one. I still keep the motherboard around, and would rather use that than most other low end stuff for a basic system.

 

[NTMBK]

no...

most people who buy cpu's understand.. "K" means unlocked.
"Q" means lower TDP.

Q i tell people means Quiet... cuz they run less voltage and put out less heat.


Mah.. ive had super PC illiterate people ask me why my intel logo is black and not blue at private lan meetings...
You had to see the reaction to the people next to me when they heard the guy ask.

I guess thats worse then getting K and Q mixed up. So i guess i shouldn't underestimate people's thinking.

1. I always thought the Q stood for quad?
2. Why do you have a black Intel sticker?

[/noob]

 

[escrow4]

Now be fair, I have a D2500 serving my files day in day out no problems. Atom does have some (extremely limited *cough* *cough*) uses.

 

[poofyhairguy]

ION1 was awesome. When Intel screwed Nvidia is when Atom went downhill.

 

[ultimatebob]

It makes perfect sense to me. Your typical IT purchase manager has the intelligence of a kumquat, so simply rebranding the next generation Atom processors to something like the "Pentium L 3600" (L being Low voltage) would probably be enough to fool the people writing the purchase orders into thinking that they are buying something with half decent desktop performance.

I kinda feel bad for those people who will be requesting upgrades for their 5 year old Core 2 Duo based systems a few months from now, as they'll end up getting a SFF desktop or laptop using one of these processors.

 

[ultimatebob]

Here is my knowledge of Atom processors:

Use in netbooks

Totally gimped

Tablets came out, they become useless

Netbooks suck

Atom useless

Atom processors are actually useful for building cheap embedded products like POS systems, Kiosk systems, and digital signage. If all you're trying to do is run a web browser or a flash player showing some ads, it's more than powerful enough for the job.

 

[jpiniero]

I kinda feel bad for those people who will be requesting upgrades for their 5 year old Core 2 Duo based systems, as they'll end up getting a SFF desktop or laptop using one of these processors.

I doubt they'd notice. If it came with an SSD they would think it was a huge upgrade.

 

[JDG1980]

It makes perfect sense to me. Your typical IT purchase manager has the intelligence of a kumquat, so simply rebranding the next generation Atom processors to something like the "Pentium L 3600" (L being Low voltage) would probably be enough to fool the people writing the purchase orders into thinking that they are buying something with half decent desktop performance.

I kinda feel bad for those people who will be requesting upgrades for their 5 year old Core 2 Duo based systems a few months from now, as they'll end up getting a SFF desktop or laptop using one of these processors.

According to Anand's article on this new architecture, a 2.4 GHz Silvermont will have about the same single-threaded performance as a 1.2 GHz Penryn (die-shrunk Core 2 Duo). That would work fine for most standard office desktop workloads. HDD performance (and user input!) is usually the bottleneck here. Besides, many companies are keeping systems for longer than they used to, since an old Core 2 Duo desktop or laptop is still perfectly adequate in a lot of real-world applications.

 

[Idontcare]

2. Why do you have a black Intel sticker?

[/noob]

Black = Intel extreme CPU (the $1000 one, not the lesser priced ones)

Aigo is a shameless self-promoter, he'll tell you so himself, the quip about the black sticker was just him making sure he worked it into the convo to mention that his epeen is teh big

 

[Torn Mind]

Killing off "Atom" would do Intel quite a favor because there won't be as many people screaming "DON'T GET IT, It's a terrible Atom" to the friends and acqaintances.

My thoughts when the term "Atom processor" comes to mind is lag and the inability to play HD video, and even standard def without sometimes having skipping on it. Disgusting rubbish, that N455. Didn't help that single-channel memory was there, but yeah, it sucked regardless of that.

Atom apologists are an interesting breed(seen many when reading various netbook reviews. I guess people just are not as sensitive as I am when it comes to the clock ticking away while waiting for a webpage to render, even if my internet connection is slow and the time saved is "minimal". I acutally preferred a 3.2 Ghz Prescott with DDR1 single-channel memory and an old 20 GB hard drive over the Toshiba NB505 netbook.

 

[Torn Mind]

I doubt they'd notice. If it came with an SSD they would think it was a huge upgrade.

If the system had an E8400, yes they will notice, and yes they will be "less happy" that browsing the Internet has become worse.

 

[NTMBK]

Black = Intel extreme CPU (the $1000 one, not the lesser priced ones)

Aigo is a shameless self-promoter, he'll tell you so himself, the quip about the black sticker was just him making sure he worked it into the convo to mention that his epeen is teh big

Pfft, my Phenom II came with a black sticker too, big deal

 

[Keysplayr]

How about "Adamantium" for the "Pentium" brand successor?
"The Intel Adamantium Line of Processors"
"Must be something inside"
Don't drink and don't smoke kids.

 

[Lonyo]

Celeron AND Pentium for basically the same thing also makes no sense...

So... like. Celeron and Pentium for the same thing now is fine, but if they applied it to Atom it wouldn't make sense?
Because a Celeron and Pentium now are both just cut down non-HT Core processors, but with different clocks/cache.
As Atoms they would be the same CPU but with different clocks/cache/features. In fact, as Atoms, there might be more differentiation between a Celeron and a Pentium!

 

[Keysplayr]

The Pentium name should have went out with the "586".
I have always thought it a bit dumb of them to keep the "pentium" name.
I know, marketing success and brand recognition would beg to differ with me, but still dumb to me.

 

[NTMBK]

The Pentium name should have went out with the "586".
I have always thought it a bit dumb of them to keep the "pentium" name.
I know, marketing success and brand recognition would beg to differ with me, but still dumb to me.

Well the majority of people won't make the connection between Pentium and five- heck, I only twigged a few years ago!

It made things clearer, in my mind. Pentium version_number- you knew you were getting Intel's top line processor, and it was a clear improvement over version_number--. If you said "Oh, I've got a Pentium II, but I'm jealous of my mate who has a Pentium III"- anyone in the street could grasp that. But "I've got an i7, but my mate has a newer i7"?

 

[Keysplayr]

Yes. It was so much simpler to follow and understand the performance and generational hierarchy back then.
This i3 i5 i7 nightmare must go away.

 

[ultimatebob]

Well the majority of people won't make the connection between Pentium and five- heck, I only twigged a few years ago!

It made things clearer, in my mind. Pentium version_number- you knew you were getting Intel's top line processor, and it was a clear improvement over version_number--. If you said "Oh, I've got a Pentium II, but I'm jealous of my mate who has a Pentium III"- anyone in the street could grasp that. But "I've got an i7, but my mate has a newer i7"?

Yeah, but even back then Intel had stupid add-ons to the processor name like the 486-DX, 486-SX, and 486-DX2 processors. I doubt that most people knew that the difference between the SX and the DX was a math coprocessor.

 

[StrangerGuy]

Yeah, but even back then Intel had stupid add-ons to the processor name like the 486-DX, 486-SX, and 486-DX2 processors. I doubt that most people knew that the difference between the SX and the DX was a math coprocessor.

Those days MHz was king and was an number intuitive to follow. Laymen would just assume higher MHz is better regardless of actual performance.

 

[frozentundra123456]

I agree intels lineup is extremely confusing. AMDs was decent until they started naming Kabini as Axxx, like the big core apus. I saw a really nice looking thin/light laptop in Costco with an Axxx something, but dropped it like a hot potato when I saw it was a 1ghz kabini.

But back on topic, Intel reminds me a lot of general motors in the US before their restructuring. Way too many models, and a confusing mess for the consumer. I am not very creative in thinking up names, but this is what they should do IMO.

First, drop the atom name for sure, but don't rebrand it celeron or Pentium. Give it a new brand entirely, market it as intels new super mobile chip. A bit of a stretch, but whatever.

Second, the desktop naming by itself is fairly decent. They could pretty much keep it as is.

Finally, give another new brand to mobile to eliminate the confusion with the desktop chips, and another brand for the ulv chips, or at least add a suffix like they do now.

Edit: I've got it!!! Do the above and replace "intel inside" with something like, "The new intel: we have your mobile solution."