Intel Expanding Atom Line

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Intel seems happy to support their Atom line of processors that are the de facto standard for a netbook, despite internet report that Intel doesn’t make that much per processor on the Atoms. Last year, they unveiled the popular low-power Pine Trail line, and last week they showed off the AppUp store that provides apps for Atom users. Today, word has hit that they’re expanding the line with two new models.

The two new Atom processors will be called the N455 and N475, respectively. The N475 will be clocked at 1.83Ghz, while the N455 will be clocked at 1.6GHz. Carefuly TFTS readers will note that the N450′s 1.6GHz clockspeed is the same as the new N455. The benefit of the new Atom chips is that they’ll have support for the (sort of) new DDR3 RAM standard.

Netbook manufacturers were all too happy to quickly start plugging the new Pine Trail processors into their netbooks when Intel launched them, so we might start seeing DDR3 notebooks soon. However, this adaptation might not be as quick as you think as DDR3 RAM comes at a slight premium over the other types of RAM. And, of course, netbooks are all about the low, low cost.

The TDP (Thermal Design Power) for the two new chips come in at 5.5 and 6.5W. While it isn’t the lowest in the Atom line, it isn’t the highest either, and so you can expect these two new chips to be either in netbooks or nettops.

The two new chips will be out to manufacturers in the second half of 2010.