Intel Launches Penryn Mobile Processors

At the Consumer Electronics Show 2008, Intel introduced 16 new Penryn processors, including the first 45nm mobile processors. Amongst the 16 new processors, five are new mobile processors, three quad core and four dual core desktop processors, and four server processors.

The new mobile Penryn procesors feature a 45-nm architecture, ranging from 2.1 to 2.8GHz (previously detailed). Increased L2 cache (up to 6MB), and the new SSE4 instruction set can provide a significant boost in performance if supported:

"If you look at raw power from Merom to Penryn, the performance gain isn't going to be huge," says Intel spokesperson Connie Brown. "If it's something that relies on SSE4 instruction set, it's in the double digits."

The first of the Penryn-based processors should start appearing in notebooks as early as next week. Apple will be holding their Keynote speech at Macworld Expo 2008 on January 15th. Apple is widely expected to introduce a new thin-notebook and may also update their MacBook Pro line which is due for revision.