There are plans for three processors, two at 1.6 GHz clock speed, one of which has 32 PCI Express 2.0 lanes, and an 11.7 watt TDP (Atom S1269), while the other one as 40 PCI Express 2.0 lanes and a 13.1 Watt TDP (Atom S1279). A third chip, the Atom S1289 has a slightly higher clock speed of 2 GHz and an analogous higher TDP (14.1 watts), while other characteristics correspond to the model S1279. All processors have a 1 MB L2 cache, and are very similar to Centerton, designed for saving servers.

The Briarwood will have many similar things with Centerton chips for servers, since they both belong to the Atom server-class offerings. These new Briarwood processors could become very popular due to their low power consumption and compatibility with x86 microarchitecture. Intel did not comment on this, but they are expected to release official news on it soon.

[Ed – Intel Atom CPUs have been used in many storage solutions in the past. In fact most of the Network Attached Storage Devices we have tested in the lab run on Atom. This is due to its x86 compatibility and low power consumption. We were not surprised to hear this news and expect to see this have a very interesting impact on the world of storage.]

Tell us your thoughts on the new Atom CPU in our Forum