Intel To Improve Computer Performance By Going Green

I am furiously typing this article as I watch the power meter on my aging macbook pro slowly creep towards the dreaded red zone, wishing that I could squeeze out more than 1.5 hours of battery life.

Intel to the rescue.

The computer chip maker (not to be confused with chocolate chip maker) has discovered a way to comprise processing chips of 3D transistors that consume less than half the energy of their 2D predecessors at the same performance level.

Considering the fact that the processor is one of the top two power hogging elements of a computer, that is HUGE news.

Treehugger says,

Intel's 3-D Tri-Gate transistors enable chips to operate at lower voltage with lower leakage, providing an unprecedented combination of improved performance and energy efficiency compared to previous state-of-the-art transistors. The capabilities give chip designers the flexibility to choose transistors targeted for low power or high performance, depending on the application.

The 22nm 3-D Tri-Gate transistors provide up to 37 percent performance increase at low voltage versus Intel's 32nm planar transistors. This incredible gain means that they are ideal for use in small handheld devices, which operate using less energy to "switch" back and forth. Alternatively, the new transistors consume less than half the power when at the same performance as 2-D planar transistors on 32nm chips.

"The performance gains and power savings of Intel's unique 3-D Tri-Gate transistors are like nothing we've seen before," said Mark Bohr, Intel Senior Fellow. "This milestone is going further than simply keeping up with Moore's Law. The low-voltage and low-power benefits far exceed what we typically see from one process generation to the next. It will give product designers the flexibility to make current devices smarter and wholly new ones possible. We believe this breakthrough will extend Intel's lead even further over the rest of the semiconductor industry."

The first 22nm microprocessor with 3D transistors, codenamed "Ivy Bridge," is slated for high-volume production readiness by the end of this year.

Who will be joining me in line for a computer with one of those super-efficient processors?