Intel Medfield Atom Chips Benchmark Results Leaked

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Intel is trying to break into the mobile and tablet market, after having lost its relevance in this field to the likes of Qualcomm and Nvidia. With the upcoming release of its “Medfield” class Intel Atom chips, benchmarks have been leaked, and results are said to be mixed to positive.

Intel’s foray into the mobile and tablet business will not be an easy one, given the dominance of the ARM platform, which virtually all smartphones and tablets use today, from Apple’s iPhone, iPad and numerous devices running Android and other platforms. But this 2012, Intel plans to release its first true system-on-chip (SoC) Atom processor, which is based on a 32-nm fabrication process.

Dubbed Medfield, the processor promises performance, but with power-saving, given that the chip’s core system components will be integrated onto the IC. The chip will compete against Apple’s A-series processors, Nvidia Tegra, Qualcomm Snapdragon, Texas Instruments OMAP and such processors.  Medfield will be come in a 32-nm process, like Samsung’s own Exynos processor.

After Intel giving out reference specs for Medfield-based smartphones and tablet computers (pictured above), benchmarks have been done on a Medfield-platform tablet, with an x86 processing core running at 1.6 GHz, 1 GB low-power DDR2, WiFi, Bluetooth, FM radio chip, 10.1-inch capacitive touchscreen running at 1280×800 resolution, and a microSD card for expansion. Benchmark tests used Android 3.0 Honeycomb, while products that will ship with Medfield will use Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.

As for results, the Medfield platform has scored relatively well against comparative platforms from other manufacturers. The Medfield 1.6 GHz scored 10,500 in Caffeinemark 3, while Nvidia Tegra 2 scored around 7,500. Qualcomm’s Snapdragon got a 8,000 score, while Samsung’s Exynos got an 8,500 score.

But as for energy consumption, Intel’s platform leaves much to desire, consuming 2.6 W at idle, and 3.6 W at load. Intel is reportedly targeting an idle consumption of 2 W, with 2.6 W at load. Will Medfield be successful in the tablet and smartphone space? Intel will have to improve power efficiency, given the size and longevity requirements of tablet and smartphone users today. But the performance benchmarks seem promising.